Author Topic: yotalet buildup....wheel it some.... build it some (Read 10798 times)

Birfailed · « **Reply #30 on:** Jan 19, 2008, 06:13:19 PM »

Sweet build! Where are you located at? I'm in western colorado and don't have much more than slick rock around here. Get's a lil boring after a while. I just stripped the ring gear on my Yukon 5.29's on the front end. I got a 60 and a 14 bolt laying in the garage but gonna hold onto those for a later project with a different truck.

skipnrocks · « **Reply #31 on:** Jan 20, 2008, 08:40:53 AM »

I just noticed your steering ram, do you ever have it on the streets? Just curious how it handles and if it stays "tight"

bayouhazard · « **Reply #32 on:** Jan 20, 2008, 06:03:01 PM »

I'm located in Houston, TX. As far as the steering, the rig is off road only. I have driven it a few miles to the gas station and the car wash. With the tractor supply ram there is a little slop on the 1" pins that hold the ram, especially after a lot of wheelin miles so it is not the tightest feeling steering, but managable. I raced a ford lightning out on the steet and got it up to about 70 mph. It's a little twitchy.......If the money ever gets right I would like to convert to the double ended ram with heim joint linkage. It feels like a regular car and is very drivable.

bayouhazard · « **Reply #33 on:** Jan 20, 2008, 07:04:19 PM »

Been working hard to get the 60's put in. got the gears (7.17's) set up and the detroit installed. I really wanted to run hi steer but have been plagued in the past with broken studs resulting in a suck ass wheelin day. After four failures and four diffirent ways to keep the arms on I ended up going back to low steer.
This rig I am determined to run hi steer and am not chancing breaking any more steering arms. I have never seen this done before but it's got to be better than those damn studs.

and the back side....

I first had a friend run the knuckles through a caustic wash machine to rid the castings of any oil or grease in the pores. I then preheated the castings to about 300 degrees. I used 7018 rods and cranked the machine up to 175 amps and went to town. it took almost 15 rods per knuckle. I ground V grooves everywhere there was gonna be a weld and welded the arms on first. I made a gusset out of some 3/4 inch and welded it in next. The welds came out pretty decent, couple of small pin holes but all in all I don't think these arms are ever going to break off.

I pre fabbed a new cross member with 32 inch centers for the full width diffs. I will be running the rears up front.

I also fabbed up the new offset shackles from some 3/8 material. Next I cut out the old spring mounts and notched a 2x2 chunk of frame out to make room for the cross member.

It was a pain to cut out as the stock cross member had to be notched and the old bumper was welded to the spring mounts.

bayouhazard · « **Reply #34 on:** Jan 20, 2008, 07:19:42 PM »

Here's a pile of scap that came off. it took over an hour with the torch to get it all cut.

After some grinding and measuring I tacked and welded the new crossmember up. It fit real nice, and the front spring hanger is now 1 1/2" forward and 1 inch down from stock. I welded some gussets underneath to tie it into the frame rails real good and stitched the rest

I installed the shackles, built the leafs with a mix of yota and izusu trooper leafs and installed the springs. I plan to drill new center pin registers on the diff too, so I should hve the front diff moved forward almost four inches from stock location. The 36's cleared the cab just barely so I'm hoping the 42's will clear now. Stay tuned for some pics of my new rims and tires. Scored a brand new set of 17x8 mickey thompson rims with trail ready bead locks and some 42 inch brand new Irocs. can't wait to see what it's gonna look like..........

skipnrocks · « **Reply #35 on:** Jan 20, 2008, 07:47:26 PM »

Looks good man, came out real clean! $Beer Chug\'n$ when you gettin your locks and iroks?

bayouhazard · « **Reply #36 on:** Jan 20, 2008, 07:59:44 PM »

Just picked em up last thursday, just forgot to take a picture today. Man, they look bling!!!!!!! I also like they have five inches backspacing so the tires won't hang outside the body too far.

Yota87Truck · « **Reply #37 on:** Jan 20, 2008, 10:41:24 PM »

sweet rig

bayouhazard · « **Reply #38 on:** Jan 22, 2008, 07:14:35 PM »

Got a little further today on the install. Since the steering arm sits under the kingpin cap I was going to make a 3/4 inch spacer, but found it easier to cut 3/4 inch out of the cap and weld it back together.

The pinion angle was way off so I cut a wedge out of the passenger side spring perch with a porta band. I then used the wedge I cut out and welded it to the U bolt plate in order to keep the bolts pointing straight down.

I also cut and re welded the driver's side perch and bolted the diff in. I made the mount for the steering ram, dis assembled and re clocked the fittings coming out of the ram to keep the fittings out of the rocks or the oil pan. I got the passenger side hub and bearings installed so I could mount one of the tires. Holy crap, the truck's gonna be huge!!!!!!!!

Stopped when i figured out I put the brake backing plates on the wrong sides. Also found that my calipers are ceased, as well as a piece is missing for my lockout hub. Hopefully by tomorrow I will have the brakes, wheelbearings and maybe the front shocks done........

skipnrocks · « **Reply #39 on:** Jan 22, 2008, 07:19:51 PM »

Are you going to be able to get your truck out of there with those tires on!

bayouhazard · « **Reply #40 on:** Jan 22, 2008, 07:41:07 PM »

Hadn't even thought about that!!!!

Might have to drive it out on the rotors......

skipnrocks · « **Reply #41 on:** Jan 22, 2008, 07:46:14 PM »

LOL take a vid!

ajordan1975 · « **Reply #42 on:** Jan 22, 2008, 08:28:56 PM »

looking good roland...

Jud · « **Reply #43 on:** Jan 22, 2008, 09:33:00 PM »

This thing is lookin bad ass!

bayouhazard · « **Reply #44 on:** Jan 24, 2008, 08:55:20 AM »

A little more progress. Got the brakes installed and hooked up, just cut off the metric fitting and installed a standard fitting. Found some 2wd brakelines from a one ton dually chevy and used those as they were plenty long. Also mounted up the bilstein shocks too. Ended up using the stock towers and cutting the top off and making an extension that accepted the bolt that goes sideways through the bushing. The shocks are 14 inch travel and I set them up at half travel at ride height. Bolted the tires to it and cut the fenders back. Sure changed the way it looks. Should have some more pics later tonite.

Doable · « **Reply #45 on:** Jan 24, 2008, 09:26:12 PM »

WOW, Thats a lot of work . But I don't understand the shim on top of the spring welded to the spring plate ? Been following your build and like the work just lost me on that one.

bayouhazard · « **Reply #46 on:** Jan 24, 2008, 11:01:40 PM »

The passenger side spring perch is cast into the hosing. The pinion angle was way off, so in order to turn the pinion up you have to grind or cut a wedge out of the perch. The spring plate on top of the spring has one u bolt on the outboard side and has bolts on the inboard side. The spring plate will no longer be perpendicular to the bolts and there is no good way to bolt it down. That's why I put the wedge under the spring plate so it sits flat and the bolts will go in straight. Look at the bolts on the spring plate and look at the angle the spring runs.....hope I made sense.

bayouhazard · « **Reply #47 on:** Jan 28, 2008, 08:34:42 PM »

Been hacking away at it. Seems like all the little things take a looong time. Brake lines, packing bearings, shock mounts, driveshafts, new seals, making spring perches, digging through piles and piles of u bolts to find the right ones......thought I was gonna complete the punch list today and pull it out, but had a few glitches. Found a blown wheel cylinder in the rear and the rear u joint needs to be replaced too.
I did get all the 42's bolted to it, cycled the steering and added fluid, remounted the electric fan, quick paint job on the new diffs and adjusted the rear brakes.
I will probably install a gm master cylinder tomorrow before I pull it out of the shop. Once outside I will take some pics. I measured and it has 29 inches under the frame. Might be a little tal, but keep in mind I'm running 42's. Might change around the front spring pack to lower it later. First I want to see how it works like it is. With the way I mounted the shocks in the rear it should take advantage of the 63's, and I installed 14" bilstein's in the front. Still need to trim the rear fenders too, but really want to twist it up And see how much I need to lose. May have to relocate the fuel filler neck....or maybe the whole tank.........dangit!!!!! Will I ever finish?

?? Already thinking how I want the exo to fit, as well as already toying with thoughts of four link.

bayouhazard · « **Reply #48 on:** Jan 29, 2008, 07:22:28 PM »

Here's a few pics we took today. .....

Twisted it up on the stump jump and found we needed a little more tire clearance.....

Played around at the ravines and flexed it out a little....

Everything worked pretty good, still rubs a little in the back but it's against the wheel tub which is not a sharp edge. Steering needs a remote reservoir and I need to build a traction bar. The gearing is very low with the 7.17's, especially in double low. I could probably get away with a single case if needed now. Also need a brake upgrade too, the pedal is real low and I can't hold the truck in double low. All in al I'm real happy how it works now........

crawlerdan · « **Reply #49 on:** Jan 29, 2008, 07:24:54 PM »

very nice man, very nice. looks killer

ajordan1975 · « **Reply #50 on:** Jan 29, 2008, 08:02:00 PM »

HOLY S%!T!!!! man roland that thing looks awesome!!!!

skipnrocks · « **Reply #51 on:** Jan 30, 2008, 04:13:44 AM »

Truck came out lookin pretty sweet!

Yota87Truck · « **Reply #52 on:** Jan 30, 2008, 12:02:16 PM »

pretty tight

twistedtoy92 · « **Reply #53 on:** Jan 30, 2008, 12:16:11 PM »

crazy fab work

bayouhazard · « **Reply #54 on:** Jan 31, 2008, 05:51:06 PM »

Been piddling with a few loose ends I'm ironing out. The steering is giving me fits. I installed a remote reservoir because the tank on the gm pump didn't have enough capcity. I drove it for an hour orso, crawling on some of the rock courses and testing out the new capabilities. My steering finally went to almost nothing. checked and found the fluid was foamed up. Today I pulled the reservoir and took the top off. I made a baffle kinda like a funnel without the spout and tack welded it about halfway down inside. Then I relocated the return line up at the top instead of the bottom, pointing it to swirl the fluid around the baffle, which should reduce the airation. I've seen some dry sump tanks set up in a similar fashion. Went and tested and even after an hour of hard use there was no more foaming of the fluid. I am running hydraulic fluid like I put in my backhoe. The steering was still hard to turn. Guess I wiped out the pump when the fluid got airated. Bummer because I can't take the pump back for warranty now that I welded a cap and nipple to it for the remote reservoir. Hopefully a new pump will cure the problem.
I also installed a larger m/c, as the brake pedal was really low. I took out a 13/16ths bore and installed a 1 inch bore from a 90something toyota. Walla!!!!!!!! Instant fix, and a lot easier than trying to adapt a g.m. cylinder. Slowly I'm working the last few bugs out.
Still have plans to make a wrap up bar and an exo cage. Stay tuned.........

bayouhazard · « **Reply #55 on:** Feb 04, 2008, 07:55:13 PM »

Added a few more touches today. First I mounted an underhood light from a chevy on the console just in front of the shifters. It has a switch on the body to turn it on and off. It also has a 15 foot retractable cord so you can use it under the truck or wherever needed.

also mounted my bare foot gas pedal. I've had this pedal for 20 years and it has been installed on countless projects over the years. Burned plenty of rubber with my foot on this one.....

We were throwing away an old monitor and keyboard today. We tossed the monitor in the dumpster first. Then my buddy chunked the keyboard at it with all he could trying to break the screen. Something whizzed past his ear and landed in the truck bed. Picked it up and it was the escape button. Ended up fitting on one of the heater control slides just right. can't wait to have a newbee in the truck and act like we get stuck.....wiggle the shifters.....push the escape button.....and drive it out......saying "gee that new escape system works great!!!"

Been wheeling it some more but really having to hold back on the hills till I get the cage built.

Lots of clearance underneath....right at 29 inches....

Really like the way it rides....feels very balanced front to rear nice and soft, but still firm enough to do some speed wheelin too....

Should be getting the material for the cage this week. Can't wait to get started on the exo, got a pretty cool design in mind.....

bayouhazard · « **Reply #56 on:** Mar 02, 2008, 10:07:22 PM »

Here's a few pics shortly after the roll over. First one is a chunk of bondo that came off the roof..

Got a buddy with an old subaru brat body. Kinda kicking the idea around. Sure would be different......

ajordan1975 · « **Reply #57 on:** Mar 03, 2008, 05:27:46 AM »

that sucks man.

i know where there's a cab. i'm sure you could have it? let me know

bayouhazard · « **Reply #58 on:** Mar 03, 2008, 07:23:39 AM »

Does it still have a good windshield? How's the rust? Is it a first gen?

twistedtoy92 · « **Reply #59 on:** Mar 03, 2008, 08:26:35 AM »

wow!!!! thats a bum deal, howd you manage that one??

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