PlumCrazy's Beater DD 4x4 Build

[ryan]

Love that it's straight up called the rivet buster

 

[PlumCrazy]

Even with the track bar this truck still doesn't drive as nice as I was hoping for. I planned to continue putting 15-20k a year on it and it honestly I havent been driving it as much because it kinda sucked on single lane back roads with a decent crown and bumps. It didnt bump steer but really took a lot of steering wheel action to keep it straight.

I have the caster set best I can while keeping driveline angles and the shackles in a reasonable spot and it the steering wheel self centers pretty well.

So I put a front sway bar back on the truck and it really made the difference. I think the only thing that would make it better would be a less aggressive tire. Now i think what little wander it has left is just like new 10.50 wide MT behavior.

Bolted up the factory Ranger bar and mounts and used RWD Ranger rear end links with the studs pressed out. The offset is about perfect for the YJ U-bolt plate mount and the length is pretty close (ideally 1" longer, but the 4x4 links are like 4" longer). I pressed out the stud and the bushing came out with it, but I had a random box of new split type bushings laying around from my dually project.

Also decided to address the leaky D30 pinion seal. It didn't make sense to me for it start leaking randomly because with the CAD it doesnt spin going down the road....turns out it wasnt leaking at the lip seal, but rather the metal casing had rusted through.

The original D30 vent hole was not in an ideal location due to the Ranger crossmember, so I used the 1/8npt hole in the CAD housing to relocate the vent tube

Also picked up a little side project. Snagged a nearly free Doodle Bug frame and used an engine from a free roadside rototiller to make a little pit bike. I need to rig up a headlight still, but its a ripper.

 

[sgtsandman]

 Just throwing it out there as a possibility, what psi are you running in the tires? A few of us have found that if the psi is to high, these trucks tend to wander some. I'm not sure why, but it does appear to be a thing.

 

[PlumCrazy]

 Just throwing it out there as a possibility, what psi are you running in the tires? A few of us have found that if the psi is to high, these trucks tend to wander some. I'm not sure why, but it does appear to be a thing.

I'm running 30-32ish as far as I know. Ill play with PSI and maybe finding some street tires to test on.

The steering box does have some slop too (330K miles), but I put fresher-ish intermediate shaft in when the old one's slip yoke rusted up.

I would like to try the cheap Jeep shaft swap that I see people doing to eliminate the rag joint on this truck and my 88...but the 88 has a manual box with a smaller spline count.

 

[sgtsandman]

I'm running 30-32ish as far as I know. Ill play with PSI and maybe finding some street tires to test on.

The steering box does have some slop too (330K miles), but I put fresher-ish intermediate shaft in when the old one's slip yoke rusted up.

I would like to try the cheap Jeep shaft swap that I see people doing to eliminate the rag joint on this truck and my 88...but the 88 has a manual box with a smaller spline count.

Generally running with what is on the door jam is good. I did run the math on my 31" load C, BFG KO2s and came up with 36 psi, the door jam says 35. So, unless you are running something out of the norm, the door jam recommendation should be good. It probably wouldn't hurt to do a math check, just to be sure.

High pressure seems to be where the wandering rear it's head. I never noticed a thing with low, unless a tire was real low.

 

[Shran]

I run 35psi in my crawler on the highway, that actually seems to help with wandering. It gets really sloppy and tippy and weird if I run trail air pressures (10-15psi.) I don't have a sway bar but it's got 73-79 radius arm & coil setup so I wonder if that's just the difference with coils vs leafs.

Bad ass little pit bike, my youngest son has a Coleman CT100U about that size that he's trying really hard to wear out. Mini bikes and scooters and dumb toys like that are so much fun.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Generally running with what is on the door jam is good. I did run the math on my 31" load C, BFG KO2s and came up with 36 psi, the door jam says 35. So, unless you are running something out of the norm, the door jam recommendation should be good. It probably wouldn't hurt to do a math check, just to be sure.

High pressure seems to be where the wandering rear it's head. I never noticed a thing with low, unless a tire was real low.

Over 30psi and mine is a handful. Outside of the tread isn't touching the road either.

A lot of solid axle rigs run steering stabilizers, I wonder of one would help dampen things.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Over 30psi and mine is a handful. Outside of the tread isn't touching the road either.

A lot of solid axle rigs run steering stabilizers, I wonder of one would help dampen things.

I think makes a pretty even contact patch with whatever is in them now.

I have the factory style YJ damper setup on this truck. I have had installed since day one of the swap, so I couldn't tell you if it helps or not .lol

I did find some play in the unit bearings even though they sound and feel smooth. I have a pair I bought when I assumed this axle would need everything on day one, but they were okay enough to run for a while after I removed the crusty calipers and rotors it came with. I also ordered new 5-760X wheel joints and axle stub hardware for when I replace the unit bearings. Ball joints still feel fine, so at least I have that going for me.

 

[Shran]

Over 30psi and mine is a handful. Outside of the tread isn't touching the road either.

A lot of solid axle rigs run steering stabilizers, I wonder of one would help dampen things.

That's weird, I run 35psi in the front of my Explorer and 40 in the rear... my other little trucks gets 35 all the way around. The Explorer is perfect like that, feels like it's glued to the road.

I do have a steering stabilizer in my crawler, it was a sloppy mess before I added that. Substantially less wandering, I would highly recommend that.

 

[PlumCrazy]

I run 35psi in my crawler on the highway, that actually seems to help with wandering. It gets really sloppy and tippy and weird if I run trail air pressures (10-15psi.) I don't have a sway bar but it's got 73-79 radius arm & coil setup so I wonder if that's just the difference with coils vs leafs.

Bad ass little pit bike, my youngest son has a Coleman CT100U about that size that he's trying really hard to wear out. Mini bikes and scooters and dumb toys like that are so much fun.

My crawler with the 73-79 setup drives amazing with anything from 5-35psi in the TSLs. The 37" military tires arent ideal with the little contact patch they have. I run them at 25 and the fronts on backwards. No safety bead makes me scared to run under 25psi. I had a stabilizer on it back in the LP44 days, but it didn't seem to matter when I took it off. Now the hydro assist it has now is the ultimate steering stabilizer

The CT100U is nearly the same bike. Just tweaked enough to avoid copy rights lol Its a riot to buzz around on. Had it up to 35mph with the stock 70 tooth rear sprocket, so I put a 75 on to slow it down and move my fat ass from a dig faster.