Very cool Dwayne. Nice to see some progress already with it.
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Project -XJ Evolution
- Thread starter dwcjwerfner
- Start date
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Dirk
Guest
Are you closing off the ends of the rectangular tube?How about bracing the underside of it, or would that interfere with ground clearance?
Question about geometry, about the relation of the u-joint to u-joint centerline and the ball to axle-mount location centerline. Are they parallel, trapezoidal or cross?
Question about geometry, about the relation of the u-joint to u-joint centerline and the ball to axle-mount location centerline. Are they parallel, trapezoidal or cross?
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If you are talking about the crossmember tube and not the control arm tubes, it will be pretty well the sames as my front cross member which was 1/4" flat bar welded to the ends and bolted through the frame and that has never moved. I have done a bunch of work on the crossmember tonight but am too tired to post the pics so I will post them tomorrow night when I am done it. You know I do things two ways, either rushed and just barely hanging on or take my time and do it right. This is why I hadn't started this all year because I knew it had to be done right so of course I even think the crossmember is overkill with my gusseting but I want it to be just like my front end and just don't have to ever think about it again. Oh and rereading yes it definitely closed in on those holes in the centre of the crossmember.....kinda closed in like a Brinks truck. :lmao:
It is going to be pretty close to parallel except that the Link location is actually a few inches forward of the cv and on a lower plane so it will be a flatter arc but from what I can see it will always stay above the control arms which is what I am hoping for as I will probably skid the control arms to protect the DS.
dj
D
Dirk
Guest
nothing wrong with overkill..
cool, thats how i figured it should be. like the skid idea also....
Alright I have been so busy at work and other RL things that I am moving much slower than anticipated and haven't had time to post pics.
The 1-Link comes with a 1/2" plate it attaches to but I like over kill so I cut a piece of 5/8 I had and welded as the attachment point. You can see where I am reusing the pieces I cut out of the crossmember to make the sides and strengthen the bottom.
I wanted a weld on this side but couldn't have too much as I had to leave room for the original plate to butt up against it, in the end I beveled the 3 sides of the original plate that had to go against weld.
Apparently my Miller 180 will weld 5/8 to 1/4 with .35 wire but the ground clamp got hot enough that it melted a grinder cord that happpened to be lying on it.
Here I am being "frugal" again and cutting a piece of angle in 2 so I can use it for gussets, the reality is that I probably have over 100 little pieces of steel in the garage that I will not throw out as steel is so stupidly expensive and so I am trying to use them up. :lmao:
The finished crossmember:
It took me over 4 hours to drill the 4 holes through the 3/8 plate, the plating on the frame and the "frame" itself. Nice dirt packed in the unibody.
It seems like a long time but they were 3/4" holes and I only know how to sharpen drill bits 2 ways, either they don't cut worth a crap or they are so sharp they bite chunks off at a time. I used this monster and when it would bite it took Steve holding from the top of the truck and me from the bottom all we had to stop it from spinning. On Sunday I was by myself so I could only run it a few minutes at a time as I injured my elbow and it was howling by the time I was done. Actually when it would jam up it kept bending the shaft on the drill bit and I had to keep straightening it.
The 1-Link comes with a 1/2" plate it attaches to but I like over kill so I cut a piece of 5/8 I had and welded as the attachment point. You can see where I am reusing the pieces I cut out of the crossmember to make the sides and strengthen the bottom.
I wanted a weld on this side but couldn't have too much as I had to leave room for the original plate to butt up against it, in the end I beveled the 3 sides of the original plate that had to go against weld.
Apparently my Miller 180 will weld 5/8 to 1/4 with .35 wire but the ground clamp got hot enough that it melted a grinder cord that happpened to be lying on it.
Here I am being "frugal" again and cutting a piece of angle in 2 so I can use it for gussets, the reality is that I probably have over 100 little pieces of steel in the garage that I will not throw out as steel is so stupidly expensive and so I am trying to use them up. :lmao:
The finished crossmember:
It took me over 4 hours to drill the 4 holes through the 3/8 plate, the plating on the frame and the "frame" itself. Nice dirt packed in the unibody.
It seems like a long time but they were 3/4" holes and I only know how to sharpen drill bits 2 ways, either they don't cut worth a crap or they are so sharp they bite chunks off at a time. I used this monster and when it would bite it took Steve holding from the top of the truck and me from the bottom all we had to stop it from spinning. On Sunday I was by myself so I could only run it a few minutes at a time as I injured my elbow and it was howling by the time I was done. Actually when it would jam up it kept bending the shaft on the drill bit and I had to keep straightening it.
I have been thinking about it, I never did on the front and it was not plated on the outside but this one will be......but I think I will do tubes as I am going to have the frame open there anyway.
dj
Update, I have to much to do and I keep not getting my truck done and missed 2 runs in October and I am still not done because things have to be done to get ready for winter like Bus winterizing and sorting out scrap and vehicles in my yard.
Anyway this is how I calculated the height of my centre of gravity which the general consensu is at the top of the bellhousing. So I lined 2 tape measures up like a gunsight to aim at the bottom of my dash (or so) and determined that it is 43" from the ground.
Just some shots of axle sitting on in the approximate location
Part of the reason why I bought the 1-Link in the spring was it was going to be fast and easy to install. I still believe this to be the case if I would have just welded the tubes onto a plate for the link, welded them onto the axle and put a cross brace in but it would seem that I always like to make things more complicated.
So here I am doing compound angles by hand to assure that slight bit more articulation, flatter links and frame clearance .... :banghead: and that is why I don't get out wheeling.
New driveshaft made from Schedule 40 pipe turned down to fit inside the old driveshaft end with agricultural shaft and receiver in the other end.
More tomorrow, Matt and I were up until 4 this morning working on the Excursion oil pan situation.
dj
Anyway this is how I calculated the height of my centre of gravity which the general consensu is at the top of the bellhousing. So I lined 2 tape measures up like a gunsight to aim at the bottom of my dash (or so) and determined that it is 43" from the ground.
Just some shots of axle sitting on in the approximate location
Part of the reason why I bought the 1-Link in the spring was it was going to be fast and easy to install. I still believe this to be the case if I would have just welded the tubes onto a plate for the link, welded them onto the axle and put a cross brace in but it would seem that I always like to make things more complicated.
So here I am doing compound angles by hand to assure that slight bit more articulation, flatter links and frame clearance .... :banghead: and that is why I don't get out wheeling.
New driveshaft made from Schedule 40 pipe turned down to fit inside the old driveshaft end with agricultural shaft and receiver in the other end.
More tomorrow, Matt and I were up until 4 this morning working on the Excursion oil pan situation.
dj
Absolutely.......well that is the plan.....yeah......well for now anyway. If I do go bigger it will be to 6-0-9's and I don't think that is in the plans for the next year.dj
Actually it has a very small wow in it but not in the direction the picture shows it lol. It looks that way because the rotor is out of kilter just hanging there and the Mustang calipers have their own unique casting that looks off centre, I did notice that myself when I was working on it.
dj
dj
Here are some shots of it mocked up and then tacked into place.
Then rolled out for welding.
Then of course I can't just weld things and make it easy, I have to drill more 3/4" holes through everything I can find all so it will be easier to work on later......it is kind of cool really how easy it comes out but man I didn't have that much time, hence me not wheeling two weekends in a row when I was positve I would make it out the first one.
Then magically painted and in place.
More time consuming necessary work. Cross member for shock absorbers, strength and cage tie in.
As you can see I am making an effort not to have the truck held together like the Millenium Falcon and although it has been very slow I am sure I will be happy with the finished product where I can just worry about breaking driveline and flopping over.
The garage was getting to have quite the war zone look.
Note to self and others.
Measure Twice and cut Once......
But if your reference point (the centre of my front hubs) are off by only 3/4" due to misalignment that is a huge difference on the arc of the rear axle and where it mounts. That is part of what Jon noticed and I saw too, but I was like "the numbers are right!!!". It would have been a good time to have had a helper instead of back and forth and side to side which would keep causing me to lose perspective.
So I modified the mounts on both sides, yay more drilling! A little persuasion with a hydraulic jackissed: and then got the axle straightened out.
Recessed bumpstops.
The finished product
dj
Then rolled out for welding.
Then of course I can't just weld things and make it easy, I have to drill more 3/4" holes through everything I can find all so it will be easier to work on later......it is kind of cool really how easy it comes out but man I didn't have that much time, hence me not wheeling two weekends in a row when I was positve I would make it out the first one.
Then magically painted and in place.
More time consuming necessary work. Cross member for shock absorbers, strength and cage tie in.
As you can see I am making an effort not to have the truck held together like the Millenium Falcon and although it has been very slow I am sure I will be happy with the finished product where I can just worry about breaking driveline and flopping over.
The garage was getting to have quite the war zone look.
Note to self and others.
Measure Twice and cut Once......
But if your reference point (the centre of my front hubs) are off by only 3/4" due to misalignment that is a huge difference on the arc of the rear axle and where it mounts. That is part of what Jon noticed and I saw too, but I was like "the numbers are right!!!". It would have been a good time to have had a helper instead of back and forth and side to side which would keep causing me to lose perspective.
So I modified the mounts on both sides, yay more drilling! A little persuasion with a hydraulic jack
issed: and then got the axle straightened out.
Recessed bumpstops.
The finished product
dj
L
longzook
Guest
Dwayne i hope that aint a rci fuel cell up untill now i've known 3 guys with them and all 3 have failed mine included
How did it fail? So many people use rci aluminum fuel cells. I ran one for a year without issue. The only failure point I can think of is if one were to use the 'mounting tabs' that rci specifically says not to use.
L
longzook
Guest
mounted the same as mine is now and none by the mounting tabs
George was the first to have issues splitting along the seams then mine did the same thing but worse then a another buddy from the US with an awesome built YJ had the same issue
again none were mounted with the tabs and all had straps of some sort holding the cell.
they are the last cell i would recomend for what we do.
George was the first to have issues splitting along the seams then mine did the same thing but worse then a another buddy from the US with an awesome built YJ had the same issue
again none were mounted with the tabs and all had straps of some sort holding the cell.
they are the last cell i would recomend for what we do.
Hmmm....well I have bought it so I guess I will run it until it explodes issed: lol
dj
issed: loldj