Project B2R

[Hahnsb2]

Cool, I was about to say truss the 30

 

[truckmanson]

Looks great, can't wait to see it done

 

[mjonesjr]

That looks awesome!

 

[rickcdewitt]

lookin good,are you going to add a gusset to the track bar mount?

i guess the unit bearings don't bother you.at least you can swap em and the axleshaft out in a hurry(lug nuts,caliper bolts and spindle bolts) and you don't need to ever service them after watercrossing,mud,etc.
my brother has replaced his once but considering the trucks mileage and his lack of concern for bearing maintenance i'de say its win-win except the mileage loss on highway from the lack of hubs.

 

[Maverick]

lookin good,are you going to add a gusset to the track bar mount?

In what way do you mean? It's pretty stout as it is, I'm not sure that it needs to be gusseted. The lower part of the mount is .250 wall 2"X2" square tube with the upper being 3/16" plate. As you can see the truss also ties into it from the side.

i guess the unit bearings don't bother you.at least you can swap em and the axleshaft out in a hurry(lug nuts,caliper bolts and spindle bolts) and you don't need to ever service them after watercrossing,mud,etc.
my brother has replaced his once but considering the trucks mileage and his lack of concern for bearing maintenance i'de say its win-win except the mileage loss on highway from the lack of hubs.

You nailed it on my thoughts of the unit bearings. As far as mileage is concerned, I'm not to worried about it. I've accepted the fact it will probably get poor mileage due to the lack of overdrive and low gearing. Between that, being soft sprung, rather tall, and having a short wheelbase I don't think it will see a whole lot of highway use.

 

[rickcdewitt]

In what way do you mean? It's pretty stout as it is, I'm not sure that it needs to be gusseted.

your right the truss is half-way up the 2x2 stock and it does look pretty beefy.

but i was really thinking that those mounts are the only thing thats been an ongoing issue with my bro's tj and he doesn't drive near as hard as me.i might cut out a triangle to fit along like in the pic because the mount is kinda tall.sorry to knitpick

You nailed it on my thoughts of the unit bearings. As far as mileage is concerned, I'm not to worried about it.

yeah it doesn't matter on a trail rig,and is kinda nice and simple as far as spare parts.i don't even own a heep and i have two sets of axle shaft/unit bearings sitting in the garage ready to go.makes me want to build a little trail rig that my 33" boggers would seem big on

 

[Maverick]

After a industrial size tub of turd polish:

 

[sluginxlt]

awsome project you got going. i was thinking about doin a d30 in my truck also with 79 radius arms, my question is, are the c bushing wedges regular steal or are the a casting? ive done a lot of mig welding and a little tig, but ive never done anything with a cast steal. can you mig it just as you would regular steal?

 

[sluginxlt]

also one more quick question? do the wedges have the correct contour or are the danna 44s a bigger tube? and if they are bigger what did you do to make them work?

 

[crawlin91]

wow. nice build so far, cant wait to see it progress

 

[Maverick]

awsome project you got going. i was thinking about doin a d30 in my truck also with 79 radius arms, my question is, are the c bushing wedges regular steal or are the a casting? ive done a lot of mig welding and a little tig, but ive never done anything with a cast steal. can you mig it just as you would regular steal?

They are a casting, but it's no big deal. You can weld cast steel just as easy as mild steel. Just preheat the weld area (around 500F, I use a digital heat gun) before welding and it melts like butter. I use a MIG for everything.

also one more quick question? do the wedges have the correct contour or are the danna 44s a bigger tube? and if they are bigger what did you do to make them work?

Those wedges are designed for 2.75" axle tubes (D44) but the truth is they fit a 3.25" tube about perfect. The contour runs big. I used some 3/16" plate steel strips top and bottom of the wedges to fill the gap. I tacked the wedges on, stuffed in the filler plate, welded that to the housing, and then burned it all together. It's pretty simple and rather self explanatory when you have it all sitting in front of you to look at.

 

[Roger]

Just curious where this project stands.

 

[Maverick]

Currently Im trying to locate a manual 1354 t-case. Once I do that I can assemble and install the doubler, which will allow me to find and set the correct pinion angle for my rear end. Besides that I've just been doing a bunch of unexciting BS work that needs to get done. The last time my front axle was in I found some clearance issues with my steering and trac-bar. I went ahead and solved the problems once the axle was out. I took about 2" off the front of the engine crossmember and then added a chunk of flatbar to cap it off.

For the trac-bar I just notched out the center of the crossmember.

 

[Maverick]

Got the front end back in today, for good. The only things left to do up front now are mount the shock towers, run the brake lines, and come up with some bumpstops.

Finished trac-bar mount, added an extra bolt for insurance.

A few pics to give you and idea of how close everything gets at full compression, and the reason I need bumpstops.

And a few pics assembled

The rear Toyota springs were basically a bolt in affair. The only changes that were made was enlarging the front hanger bolts to 5/8", and using a big 5/8" flat washer on each side of the bushing to make it a tight fit (2.25" wide vs. the Ranger 2.5" wide springs).

 

[96RedRanger]

this build is awesome. I wish my dad would let me do this lol........