daily doubler build

[Bray D]

danger - no ticket for the 25" bumper height. in IL the max height for a truck with my gvwr is 27", rear is 29". he tried to get me for a bunch of stuff, I called bs on it all, so he made me sit in his car and go over every law. in the end I just got a written warning cause he knew he didn't have shit on me lol

neal - so just a 2 piece front driveshaft? I don't think that'll be necessary for me. I see why they do it but it's not worth the extra work for me. I took my shaft to Midway Truck Parts. a lot of people recommended them so that's where I went. they did a good job, and had it done in the same day. its in the ghettos of peoria though haha. I've also heard good things about vachons, my buddy has a huge superduty and he said they lengthened and balanced his front shaft for 80 bucks. I'm sure they'll hook you up.

got some done tonight but after taking these pics of my frame height, the batteries died in my camera.

other than getting those measurements I started working on modding my trans crossmember. I've got the pieces all fabbed I just have to take the crossmember down and weld it all up/cut out the old piece. I also cut my front d-shaft so I can take it in to get the right size tube to extend it. I use 4wd strictly offroad so I'm not too worried about balancing and such. sucks my batteries died, I'll get pics next time I go down to work on it.

 

[Dangeranger3]

Dang, jealous of your GVWR. I'm stuck with the 24 and 26 limit. That doublers lookin awesome. I just met a guy from manito at work today. Brian or Ryan who drives a s10 with a fox racing sticker in the back. Hes an electrician. I know you've got a fox sticker too. Do ya know him?

 

[Bray D]

danger - ummm I know a guy with an s-10 with a fox sticker in the back, not sure if he's an electrician though and his name is Adam. his wife's name is Sherry. thanks for the compliment, here's today's progress

welp she's officially a truck again I got batteries for my camera too

these are what I made last night, started out as 4 pieces of 3" wide plate steel. had to weld together to make 2 6" pieces then torched and ground out these

today I stopped by 14th street hardware (steel shop) and picked up some material to extend my driveshaft. I lucked out too, found a piece that fits inside perfectly and a sleeve that is the same OD as the driveshaft itself

sooo tonight I got the crossmember modded and the driveshaft lengthened

the tranny crossmember isn't the prettiest thing in the world but it works. I'll fab a new one when I eventually but a d44 under there. I'm just pumped to have 4wd again :whoop:

 

[metalmacguyver]

So lets get some action vids!

 

[compleckz]

look good!

oh btw--can you come to MA and teach me to weld? lol

 

[Bray D]

vids are coming! still waiting on my shift knob so I can fab the shifter but yeah, I'm itchin to do some wheelin.

compleckz - pick up a welder, some scrap metal, welding rod, and I'm willing to bet you could learn how to weld in less time then it would take me to drive to MA lol. finding the right amp setting is key. after that all it takes is a steady hand.

 

[CheapThrillB2]

i like it

 

[dabomb5756]

Lookin great man.

Howd that HF tube notcher end up working? I am gona try the chopsaw/angle grinder method for a while to see how it works out.

 

[Bray D]

Howd that HF tube notcher end up working? I am gona try the chopsaw/angle grinder method for a while to see how it works out.

like shit. the bushing kept sliding out allowing the shaft that was connected to the hole saw to wobble around. I kept going through hole saws too. after that I just notched all of my pipe with an angle grinder, pretty much the same as the chopsaw method: straight cut 2 sides then grind out the middle to allow it to fit the other pipe better.


well I was pumped to get my shifter built and get some 'froadin done but as I was leaving work saturday afternoon my clutch officially died. the pedal was super hard when shifting from 2nd to 3rd then while I was in 3rd I could only go like 30 mph. it was slippin like crazy. got out, checked the inspection hole and my slave was drippin it was leaking so bad. checked my resivoir and it was empty so I topped it off, pumped the pedal to halfass bleed it, and started my truck again. I was able to get it into gear so I drove it straight to the shop, which is where it sits now.

I'll buy a clutch kit tomorrow and start working on that but I've got one question: I looked under there and it looks like I'll have to remove my exhaust to get my tranny out (3.0L m5od). anyone have any suggestions? I don't think I can just unbolt it at the flanges, its so rusted they'll either round off or break for sure. I was thinking of just cutting it then trying to weld it back up after I'm done or buying some pipe to sleeve/clamp it back together. any ideas?

 

[danger88ranger]

like shit. the bushing kept sliding out allowing the shaft that was connected to the hole saw to wobble around. I kept going through hole saws too. after that I just notched all of my pipe with an angle grinder, pretty much the same as the shopsaw method: straight cut 2 sides then grind out the middle to allow it to fit the other pipe better.


well I was pumped to get my shifter built and get some 'froadin done but as I was leaving work saturday afternoon my clutch officially died. the pedal was super hard when shifting from 2nd to 3rd then while I was in 3rd I could only go like 30 mph. it was slippin like crazy. got out, checked the inspection hole and my slave was drippin it was leaking so bad. checked my resivoir and it was empty so I topped it off, pumped the pedal to halfass bleed it, and started my truck again. I was able to get it into gear so I drove it straight to the shop, which is where it sits now.

I'll buy a clutch kit tomorrow and start working on that but I've got one question: I looked under there and it looks like I'll have to remove my exhaust to get my tranny out (3.0L m5od). anyone have any suggestions? I don't think I can just unbolt it at the flanges, its so rusted they'll either round off or break for sure. I was thinking of just cutting it then trying to weld it back up after I'm done or buying some pipe to sleeve/clamp it back together. any ideas?

I'd try the cut and sleeve method, IF and only if you cant get that flange apart. I also heard its easier to pull a trans with the transfer case on, but i don't know what it would do since you have a doubler.

 

[dabomb5756]

Man, exhaust work sucks.
I'd cut the bolts if they dont come off, then use new bolts and some washers so you can reuse the stock flange.
If that doesnt work, i'd make some new flanges, cut the old off, and tack on new flanges. I'd be easier than trying to weld two pipes together in there.

 

[metalmacguyver]

I used a bottle jack to get the tranny out and then remodeled with a sawzal and BFH for some more clearance to get it back in. Left the exhaust on.

 

[Bray D]

Man, exhaust work sucks.
I'd cut the bolts if they dont come off, then use new bolts and some washers so you can reuse the stock flange.
If that doesnt work, i'd make some new flanges, cut the old off, and tack on new flanges. I'd be easier than trying to weld two pipes together in there.

I thought of cutting the bolts and using new, that'd definitely be the easiest, but I can't get to the flange to cut em. it'd be the flange at the end of the headers so its hidden pretty good. same problem with welding on new flanges, couldn't weld on new flanges without taking the headers off.

danger - I think I'm gonna take the doubler off and drain the tranny fluid. I'll be working on it by myself so I need things to be as light as possible. I know I'd be pissed if I left the doubler on, lost balance on the jack, it fell off and broke something too. thanks for the insight though, I may end up doing the sleeve method

metalmac - care to elaborate on your process, I'm not sure I follow. pics maybe?

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

The y-pipe on my truck was cut and rewelded to do the clutch. The guy I bought it from did it before I bought it, so I don't know if it worked out better. Also I have a 4.0 it might not work out the same with your 3.0.
When I did the clutch in my old 88 2.9 B2 I was able to work the trans over the y-pipe with the help of a big pry bar.

 

[danger88ranger]

I thought of cutting the bolts and using new, that'd definitely be the easiest, but I can't get to the flange to cut em. it'd be the flange at the end of the headers so its hidden pretty good. same problem with welding on new flanges, couldn't weld on new flanges without taking the headers off.

danger - I think I'm gonna take the doubler off and drain the tranny fluid. I'll be working on it by myself so I need things to be as light as possible. I know I'd be pissed if I left the doubler on, lost balance on the jack, it fell off and broke something too. thanks for the insight though, I may end up doing the sleeve method

metalmac - care to elaborate on your process, I'm not sure I follow. pics maybe?

I don't blame you for wanting to do it that way, especially because finding the doubler parts you have would be next to impossible if something broke.