Project 4x4 Commuter Mazda

[railman]

but that's why you have the overflow container, right? the pressure builds up and it can escape through the hose so that it doesnt crack the radiator.

true....but if the cap is defective and or too high of a PSI then that isn't the radiators fault....

l8r, John

 

[legoms013]

Right, if the cap isn't letting coolant escape to the reservoir, excess pressure could possibly be building up that is beyond the design characteristics of the radiator.

Calling around town today about a custom made all aluminum one. And a 13 psi cap of course.

 

[legoms013]

Prolly just gonna go with this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...sPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en#ht_4645wt_1161

The 3 row all aluminum radiator I found is actually smaller than the one above (18 x 18 vs 18 x 21) And may not have the same mounting provisions.

 

[88_Eddie]

i think you could work up some sort of friction mount for the aluminum one

 

[legoms013]

Burned some perches on today. Still need to weld the housing to the tubes, and shock mounts, then paint!

 

[The Jester Race]

Not as many pics as I wanted, but that was because significantly more time was spent driving the trail this time around. The winter has really eroded out the trail and its getting pretty hairy in places. Much more technical now. There was tons of snow drifts close to the top, making the trail VERY challenging. Where my dad's jeep and his cousin's jeep did really well with their short wheelbases on the rocks, my long wheelbase worked wonders in the snow drifts. I was pulling my dad through some of the time because of it.

I aired down to 14 psi in the new KM2's. All I can say is holy wow. Major step up over the AT's. The sidewalls worked wonders, bit hard and never let me down. The tread deforms nice, and the lugs hook up consistantly. I got to use them on mud, snow, rocks (wet and dry), dirt, gravel and every kind of combination and shade between. Never once did they disappoint me

My newish radiator exploded right at the inlet on the plastic end tank at a very un-opportune place in the trail. So We pulled off, pulled it all apart, and put JB weld putty all on and around the break, tying it all off with bailing wire to keep it tight. I will get a pic later of it when I take it all back apart. Thanks for the JB Darrin!

Once we did that, we had lunch and let the JB set up. Then filled it with water, and kept a continual pile of snow in front of the radiator. I kept wheeling like this for the next 4 hrs, with not even a hint of overheating. I only added water once and the whole trip home and none was leaking. In fact it ran at normal temps for the rest of the trip on straight water. The key was to leave the radiator cap not all the way tightened down, so the pressure couldn't build up and blow out our JB-weld job.

Oh, and dad's new D44 is kick-butt. Solid, stable, and way beefier than before. D30's are boat anchors! His new highsteer setup performed flawlessly.

Fixed:

The view od Caples Lake:

Strawberry? I can't believe there is still snow, this is turning out to be a real late season.

Yeah but that one has no provisions to mount the same way as the one I have now. No wing supports...I wish I could TIG weld....

And it is not as thick.

Need something welded, let me know. I can weld anything you need, steel(carbon and stainless), cast iron, aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, magnesium, chromoly, inconel, titanium.

-Jester

 

[legoms013]

Well I was throwing around the idea of finding some aluminum end tanks and having them welded to my old radiator so I could have an all aluminum replacement should the one I just ordered fails. Not sure if its even possible.

Welded the shock mounts on today:

 

[01B3K]

Damn man your trucks sick, gotta love the lifted mazdas

 

[The Jester Race]

Well I was throwing around the idea of finding some aluminum end tanks and having them welded to my old radiator so I could have an all aluminum replacement should the one I just ordered fails. Not sure if its even possible.

What would you say if I told you we are building radiators now (been programming the robot all week)and I could "find" a couple end tanks......I might be able to just "find" you a whole radiator.

-Jester

 

[Bennybooster]

What would you say if I told you we are building radiators now (been programming the robot all week)and I could "find" a couple end tanks......I might be able to just "find" you a whole radiator.

-Jester

I'll take one haha

 

[legoms013]

New radiator in, all seems good. I hope.

This is what you do with all that perfectly good anti freeze that sprays all over your truck when you take off the lower radiator hose.....I caught it in a 20 gal tupperware....then put it in the 5 gal bucket, with a fish tank filter. In about 3 hrs its pretty damn clean:

This is what happens when they don't sweep the freeway after they grind the asphalt down:

Time for HID's?

 

[kris97ranger]

I hate road crews..... The worst is cold patch whenever I clean my truck sure enough I end up running a half ass done job of cold patch and get asphault down the side of my truck

 

[legoms013]

I could really go for like a 12" LED bar...that would be BA!

Here are some poser pics on the yard, since I haven't done some of those in a long while:

Picked up some 3/4 chevy 63's for $60 on CL! Will need to subtract out some leafs, with the overload its a 6 leaf pack! How many leafs do most ppl run for good flex and good on road ride w/o a crap load of axle wrap?

Probably won't be puttin' them in for a while, but I'll have them for when I do!

 

[legoms013]

Looking at the 20" SR 6400 Lumen LED bar:

http://www.rigidindustries.com/product-p/92031.htm

Or the 7900 Lumen 20" E series LED bar:

http://www.rigidindustries.com/product-p/rgdl20.htm

Welded the tubes:

7018 HR4 stick welds ftw! Dad's welds of course...mine don't quite look like that.

 

[legoms013]

Axle all painted up.

Looking at the D2 2600 lumen LED (a pair of course, so 5200 lumens) or a single E-series 10" 3950 Lumen bar.

Either setup will be right around $400