daily doubler build

[metalmacguyver]

Man, you do such clean work........

 

[fordxranger]

hahaha as this build progresses your basically doing almost EXACTLY what I want to do on my 89 when SAS it. good deal, now I'll know how everything will work hahaha. at the rate I gather parts/find a job to get enough money to buy everything ill be starting mine in 2020. I agree with metalmacguyver, looking real clean. BTW is that a ruffstuff front diff cover?

 

[JohnnyU]

Good progress! I hate to agree with RoxRoes, but a small tab with vertical bolt on the rear of that cross member might not be a bad idea, but I'm sure it'll be fine without.

 

[Bray D]

Thanks guys. Well I ran into my first real problem today. Seems there's been little problems around every corner but this is the first one that I haven't been able to come up with a decent solution for. Here's some pics of how I have my track bar mocked up for now:

Its at more of an angle than that after I got my frame side mount built. The right side of the bushing is right below the right side of the right-most steering box bolt (follow that?). I had to push it out that far to clear the coil spring (not shown in pic). This puts a decent angle on the trac bar.

When viewed from the front, the frame side bushing's mounting hole sits almost right below the face of the frame, leaving ~1.5-2" of the bushing past the frame. This would interfere with the coil spring if I mounted it in the center of the coil bucket (to make the track bar on the same plane as the axle).

I guess I have a couple options.

1) Rotate the axle side bracket so the joint will be more forward - helping with the track bar alignment. Doing this will require me to trim the front of my engine crossmember off as the bar will interefere during compression.

2) Cut the track bar down, and mount it centered with the coil bucket. This would put the track bar in the same plane as the axle and make it so I would clearance the center of the crossmember, keeping the strengthening lip at the front. Down side is my track bar would be ~2" shorter than my drag link and bump steer would be inevitable.

I'm not sure what to do. I'm tempted to just mount it like it is - since I have the frame side bracket halfway done (mounting plate is done and one side of the bracket is welded on) and the axle side tacked. Run it like that, observe what needs done, then revise the track bar design later. Only problem with this is I'd really hate to have to cut the axle side mount off and build another one, that'd be a lot of cutting/grinding/cleaning up housing, and I'd rather weld on my housing the least amount possible.

Mounting it under the coil would clean up the front a lot, its pretty tight with it mounted at the angle, being that length. Depending on the amount of uptravel, I may run into problems of the steering contacting the joint at that location.

Any ideas?

 

[bobbywalter]

i would put it in line under the bucket with double shear on both ends, shortening it slightly to do that and possibly putting a small bend in it doent usually give bad bump steer.


from the pics i dont see a problem with that.

 

[Bray D]

Thanks for the reply bobby. I think I'll knock the axle side mount off, notch the bottom of it and move it back so it's halfway on the cast and half on the axle tube. That way it'll be as long as possible, but mounted under the bucket. I measured yesterday, and it should only be ~1" shorter than the drag link if I do that.

 

[wahlstrom1]

I find I only have a small amount of bumpsteer with my setup and I've got a few decent bends in my track bar. As long as you keep your end's in parallel to the drag link, the bends themselves shouldn't have an effect on it. Also, if you need to mount the draglink higher to keep the trackbar clear of everything during flex you could try swapping a TTB F150 pitman arm as they're flat and slightly longer giving you a better turning radius if you can use it without rubbing.

-andrew

 

[Bray D]

Yeah, I'm not concerned with the bends. The thing could be a cork screw and still have 0 bumpsteer as long as the distance between the mounting points is the same as the length of the drag link and the imaginary line between the mounting points is parallel with the drag link.

I move the axle side bracket, and mocked in the track bar under the bucket. I think it was a good move. I could probably get away without shortening it at all, but I may take a little out of it to keep it clear of the coil. I'm uploading pics now, I'll post em in a bit.

Good tech on the pitman arm. I knew I would want a shorter pitman (I had a drop arm), so I got ahold of a stock one before the build. That's what's on there now. At ride height the drag link is at ~ 9.5*.

 

[wahlstrom1]

Ya, I'm running the stock arm too, the drop arm put everything way outta line. I figured the longer/flatter F150 pitman arm would be the way to go when I get a chance to push the axle ahead. How long did your radius arms end up being, say from flat end of the C's to the center of the swivel joint?

-andrew

 

[Bray D]

In the pic where they're welded up, next to each other, they measured 47" from the ground to the center of the joint.

Ok here's the pics

I started by bolting up the stock buckets, and getting it to support its own weight (with the old track bar setup). Once it was on the springs, I could see where it was gonna sit and modify the full size buckets accordingly. You can see how much I pushed the axle forward with this pic

and a pic of the track bar path

Supporting its own weight, on ranger buckets. The full size buckets should add ~1" lift.

I went ahead and knocked the old track bar setup off, then cut the full size buckets, drilled and installed.

and the proposed new trackbar setup

How close it is to the pass. side spring

and the frame side

and the path.

the whole in the middle of the engine crossmember is where the oil pan drops down lower. Staying at or in front of this hole will gain some clearance for the track bar at full compression, after clearancing the crossmember of course.

The buckets aren't done either, I'm going to add the piece that attaches under the frame as well.

For the frame side trackbar mount, rather than having it angle around the frame, and bolt over the bucket, what is the down side to integrating it into the bucket itself - so the mount and bucket are one piece? This may cause problems if I need to service just the mount, or just the bucket, but how often does that happen? Any thoughts on that idea?

 

[wahlstrom1]

I'd do it that way. When I fab new buckets, thats what I intend to do as the factory buckets mount under the frame as well as the sides and the fullsize's do not. Tying the track bar mount into the engine crossmember and the coil bucket should help support everything.

-andrew

 

[chico4554]

What was your cost for making those radius arms? Including the johnny joints and x-member. Seems to be the best way to get some beefy arms for cheap. Sure beats the $700 for duff arms. I plan on making some this spring.

 

[bobbywalter]

what you have now with the bar mount as part of the bucket, thats what i would do. unless you want a seperate t bar mount. up to you.

 

[Bray D]

I'll assess the situation when I get to work on it again. Depending on the condition of the underside of the frame, I may make the mount and bucket as one piece. If I go that route, that'd probably keep me from having to drill more holes in my frame, which is a plus.

 

[JohnnyU]

Looking good so far. In all honesty, as long as you keep the length of the drag link and track bar close, with pivots in similar locations you should be fine. Granted it won't be perfect, but I haven't really noticed any bumpsteer with mine the little bit I've driven in on the road.

What are you doing with your old JJ's? Keeping them for spares?