The Saga of Truck Norris

[SenorNoob]

Found an FX4 Level II rear axle. That'll give me a 4.10 final, 31-spline ring gear, Torsen LSD, and 10" brakes. I'm hoping they ship, because it would be a long trip otherwise. Of course, what's a build thread without a road trip in the middle?

Which direction? If it's farther west than me by a couple days, I'd copilot...

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

Indiana, from SC. Gotta see if it's a feasibility in the near future.

 

[SenorNoob]

Damn. What part of Indiana? Parts of it I can be there in 2.5 hours. Anywhere is a day trip at moat from my house. South Carolina is the same way. Though I'm not on the direct route.

Pm me. If it's close enough I could get it and hold it here till I come to the fall colors campout. If that works for you. They got 2 of them? Lol.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

IT'S THE DAMN BULL BAR MOUNTS!

That noise that's been plaguing me for weeks, has been theing bull bar shaking. That's right, that's an italicized duck. Wanna know how I found out, after losing my sanity on every nut and bolt I could get my tools on? I closed the door while I was looking at my beautiful wife, and saw the brush guard wiggle. Just a little bit. That's a small vibration, but you traverse a few pothole-ridden (Welcome to South Carolina!) roads, and that thing is gonna try and rip itself off the truck.

I got up under the truck and looked around. There are two main sources of noise. 1 is the completely exhausted cab mount, but the other one...

The bull bar mounts are 1/4" plate steel, mounted right by the radiator mount bushings.

The best thing I can think of is to pull the bar off and have metal plate bent and welded to the mount around the outside so that it has lateral strength.

Then powdercoat it for looks, because it does stick out front there kinda raw. Maybe bedliner. I dunno.

I feel better now.

 

[SenorNoob]

Rustoleum and rubber washers. Easy peasy.

Edit: I see support in every angle in those pictures. What do you think needs made?

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

Rustoleum and rubber washers. Easy peasy.

Edit: I see support in every angle in those pictures. What do you think needs made?

That's a great idea, actually.

The support is about 1.5" wide as it moves down the back of the bumper cover and out from underneath. That's flimsy enough to cause swaying. The mount at the frame is great! I just want something more solid than flat plate steel coming down from the chassis. If that were C-channel or boxed steel I think the rigidity would cancel out the sound and actually give the brush guard some strength. I realize it's more decorative than functional, but that section could use some reinforcements. Like this:

 

[SenorNoob]

Now I get it. It wouldn't take much. A piece or two of angle on each side of the truck would make it significantly more rigid. Could even bolt it to the current bracket if you wanted.

 

[SenorNoob]

Like that.^

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

View attachment 147722


Like that.^

I see! I don't know how difficult it would be to drill through that, but I bet it wouldn't be too much to weld some in place.

 

[SenorNoob]

Good drill bit just over 3/8 and it'll cut like butter. I'm sure it's all mild steel.

Weld would be stronger and easier if you have a welder. Very few shops wanna do any welding that touches a vehicle because of liability.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

Good drill bit just over 3/8 and it'll cut like butter. I'm sure it's all mild steel.

That's both nice to know and slightly annoying at the same time just due to quality of parts, but I suppose it's a fake bar anyway so if nothing else it's being improved by perforation and reinforcements!

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

Okay. The next day it doesn't decide to rain like hell, I'm getting under that truck and revisiting every. Damn. Bolt. I spent $2K on suspension components and it rattles like a horse-drawn buggy! I know the bar mounts are part of the problem, and when driving down the highway that isn't riddled with potholes it rides really nice, but add an immediate transition and it almost sounds like the engine's coming out of the thing.

Realistically, it sounds like control arms moving in their frame mounts, and while I got an alignment from a reputable place, I'm not sure they torqued the UCA's camber bolts down enough. So many "what-ifs" running through my head...

Just going a bit stir crazy.

Any way to test a torque wrench? This HF Pittsburgh unit might be out of spec...

I'm thinking about swapping the super-soft Moog LCA to swaybar links, too.

 

[SenorNoob]

Testing a torque wrench correctly involves a lab with special equipment. If you have another that you're more sure of, you might could torque a bolt with it then put that one on it.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I disagree in the case of the backyard mechanic. Put the drive end in a socket and put that into a vise parallel to the ground. Hang a weight or 2 off the end at the place where your hand should be. Amount of weight preferably in the center of the weight range. Then its just math. Easiest with the old style beam, but can be done with clickers.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

I disagree in the case of the backyard mechanic. Put the drive end in a socket and put that into a vise parallel to the ground. Hang a weight or 2 off the end at the place where your hand should be. Amount of weight preferably in the center of the weight range. Then its just math. Easiest with the old style beam, but can be done with clickers.

This is super interesting! I'll look into this.