The Tuki Suzuki - Toyota drivetrain, Samurai body

[MiniSimp]

Got started on the front Lower Link crossmember tonight. It was a major PITA drilling the frame for the sleeves since the outside was double wall with a small gap between the two plates!





Then after that my hole saw died while I was about 1/2 through this gusset plate....



It should look pretty much like my rear crossmember by the time I'm done.



You can also see that it just clears the tranny.



And having these two solid cross members will make for a nice starting structure for the flat belly.



And since I'm going to be running a two piece front driveline - I ordered up the billet carrier bearing mount from www.HendrixMotorsports.com today also...

Looks like a good plan so far.

For the imagination impaired:

Most drive-train combinations will require a two-piece front drive shaft. For this reason Hendrix Motorsports developed a billet aluminum bearing carrier for use with Toyota two piece drive shafts. $65.00 (includes mounting hardware and snap ring, bearing not included)

[Duffil]

uhm...its a billet pillow block bearing. I don't see the specialness that should occur in a 4RnrRick build.

[4RnrRick]

I figure this way I can use the factory bearing and driveshaft stub. So in the long run, I see this being pretty economical and durable. No reason to over complicate it with custom parts.

[toyotanner]

DANG its coming along

[Gittinit]

What thickness of steel did you use for your crossmembers?

[MiniSimp]

What thickness of steel did you use for your crossmembers?

.095

[4RnrRick]

Nope.... 1 1/2 x 4 x .120 wall






Got the other side done and welded the crossmember up to the bolt plates.







Then I started trying to mock up the exhuast routing with this piece of flex tubing and I used masking tape for the driveline. And for the lower link location I tack welded a tab to the crossmember to get a better look at it - I think this is where it will probably end up. Its a bit lower than I was hoping for, but with it being a front link mount, it shouldn't be too much of a rock anchor.

[DeadlyPeace]

Looking reall sweet. awesome work.










It might just be me, but I'm not sure if that masking tape will  hold very well.

[4RnrRick]

It might just be me, but I'm not sure if that masking tape will  hold very well.

Guess I should of used duct tape!

[Duffil]

so, now that it's mocked up, how long will the slip section of DL be?  looks like you have maybe 2ft? at full compression of course.

[4RnrRick]

the driveline slip will be hardly anything since its linked, which basically means the front axle is going to rotate around the same point as teh driveline, so the length won't really change much - unlike a leaf sprung toyota front suspension!

(can't really measure it until i get the lower links and panhard installed.)

[4RnrRick]

Made some more cardboard templates, burned them out of plate, ground down the edges and mocked them up...

[4RnrRick]

Got some new stuff today.







Then I mocked up the lower links, exhaust routing and the driveline clearance. Still can't exactly decide how I want to mount that pillow block, but it will be somewhere around here.







And then I finished up the front lower link crossmember.

[DeadlyPeace]

Nice work on the x-member

[rocktoy83]

your do sum bad  work 

[4RnrRick]

Got the driveline pillow block mounted, still got atleast one more plate to add to it.



I also decided to add a couple more plates to the front link crossmember, so I added those to the burn list.



Got some tabs welded to the axle for the lower links and shortened my old links from the Toyota.



Here's the angle of them at approx. ride hieght with 5" of uptravel. Thats with the upper link axle side in the top hole and the upper link frame side is in the middle hole, so I can tweak them later if I want. From my calcs so far it appears this will give me around 40% AntiSquat and -1 degree roll axis.



Then I worked on the steering box mount since I wanted to get that done before I decided where I was going to put the panhard. So I sleeved three of the holes and plated the frame rail inside and out. On the 4th hole I decided to just weld a nut to the frame rail because I didn't want to have an interference issue with the lower radiator hose if I used a long bolt full width of the frame rail.





You can see there isn't much room in there with the axle at full compression and I still need to clearance the frame rail for the pitman arm. Also you can see were I would like to put the panhard mount. And right infront of the will be the winch.

[DeadlyPeace]

Awesome work as always.

[twistedtoy92]

damn you do some nice work!

[4RnrRick]

Frame rail is now clearanced for the pitman arm, tie rod end and panhard.







Next up is a notch for the York OBA. I tried doing that tonight, but my bit for my hole saw broke - so I have to buy a new one tomorrow.

[KDXSR5]

  This is so awesome!

[DeadlyPeace]

Awesome work on the frame notching.
Just wondering, was there a reason you couldn't mount the steering box lower on the frame to allow more room for the pitman arm?

[Gittinit]

I don't mean to answer for you rick, but correct me if I'm wrong... If he were to lower the steering box he would also need to lower the panhard bar in order to keep the panhard and draglink paralell. This would cause interfearance issues.

He is building the frame to fit the suspension, and its coming along great! Nice job Rick! 

[MiniSimp]

Are you going to install some bump stops this time?

[4RnrRick]

Just wondering, was there a reason you couldn't mount the steering box lower on the frame to allow more room for the pitman arm?

If you look in this picture....



I can't lower the box any more and have the hydro assist tie rod clamp clear the sector shaft of the steering box when I turn left. Same goes with if I ran the Flat pitman arm, I would have had to notch the frame even more for a flat pitman arm and the tie rod nut because I lower the box. hence way I choose to just run the FJ-80 pitman arm.

He is building the frame to fit the suspension...

Yeap - Thats what I'm doing - trying to build it at full compression to so I can maximize my uptravel.

Are you going to install some bump stops this time?

Yes.... you can actually see them mocked up in the above photo.

[DeadlyPeace]

Gotcha

Didn't catch that. Plus to be honest, I haven't done a link system yet, but would like to on my trail rig. Been looking into it and studying up on them, so I'm still somewhat in the learning process as far as links go. Got most of the figured out, but I'm sure that if or when I get the chance to do I'll probably be asking about it just to make sure I'm doing it right my first time.

[twistedtoy92]

your suspension and COG is going to be incredible!!!! i cant wait to see this thing flexin!!!!

[fatt_matt]

this is going to be rediculous

edit: this IS rediculous

[4RnrRick]

Only got 45 minutes in the garage today.... but that was enough to get this done.

And here is the info on the York mount I made and the 6 groove pulley:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5310888&postcount=340

This also requires the coolant inlet to be modified like this:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5431772&postcount=634

And I'm thinking about getting a shorter belt or shaving the grooves off the
idler pulley to help the routing on the belt.

[GrenadedToy]

wow

what did the PSC hydro assist run you?

[MiniSimp]

Nice work. When you cut in to the frame like that do you use the same ga. metal or go thicker?