Rangebe...version 2.0

[Kyle M.]

F*ck it, Ill just pony up and get a stick of 2" 0.25 wall.

 

[-Nathan-]

Mandatory heim vs. beer can shot for size comparison....

 

[-Nathan-]

FINALLY got the drivers beam finished. So much cutting/welding/grinding.

So, the drivers beam is extended 1.25", with a lower Dana 50 ball joint, relocated 1" outwards to correct camber for 3-4" of lift, and the lower BJ gusseted after the relocation.

 

[SAY789]

Damn thats alot of work but its end result should be spectacular. You gonna incorporate a diff cover while your at it to top off the cake?

 

[-Nathan-]

Both beams still need to be plated and trussed, and I have to get the uni-balls in place of the rubber bushings.

 

[88_Eddie]

sweep up all that metal dust and take it to the scrapper, you're probably sitting on 10 bucks there

 

[-Nathan-]

Haha yeah, theres probably close to 20 hours of cutting/grinding in these things, makes lots of mess.

Didnt get a ton done today, but a few little things. Cleaned up the shop for starters.

Now before assembling the axle back under the rig again to test my camber correction, I needed to address the middle u joint and slip section. The 2 halves are assymetrical, the diff side half (one that goes into diff) is a high angle shaft, and has tons of clearance, and does not bind, as indicated in the picture below.

You can see there is about 38* before bind in the one direction, however this is of no use, as the outer half (portion with slip) is boxy, and is severely limited, to about 20*.

So, I spent some time clearancing the slip half, and gained another 10*, for a total of 30*.

While this still does not match the other half, it is significantly better. This was made very apparent when I re-assembled the axle again, and cycled the suspension while rotating the pinion. I have MUCH more useable travel now.

 

[-Nathan-]

Made my radius arm mounts today...

Made a pattern of what I wanted, then transferred over to 0.25" steel

Before cutting/drilling/welding, had shop-dog approve...

Once cut out and ground down, welded pieces together...not bad for my 110v MIG eh? These are all continuous passes.

And its done. Will mock up a crossmember to run between the two mounts once in place.

 

[SAY789]

Damn not too shabby at all for 110v mig.

Any cool design for the radius arms?

 

[-Nathan-]

The radius arms will be a twin tube design, one horizontal terminating in the heim, and one below with a radius at the frame end that turns up to meet the other tube....pretty standard design.

Have a bunch of explaining, did a lot of thinking and figuring out tonight.

The drop brackets have holes for both a 35 (outermost holes) and 44 (innermost holes) TTB axle...however I have neither axle. Even though I have 44 beam ends, remember I extended the drivers beam. I didnt extend the passenger, as I wanted to keep stock Dana 50 axleshaft lengths, for ease of replacement later on. So I used the outermost (35) hole for the drivers beam, and the innermost (44) hole for the passenger. This centered the WMS on both sides and they were equal.

The problem was that the slip joint (at middle ujoint) only had 3/4" of spline engaged at ride height. When both axles were cycled at full droop, the shaft actually came out of the sleeve, and came apart. So, I thought I would move the passenger beam to the outermost hole, bringing the beams closer together, and then I could decrease the length of the beam at the drivers mounting end. BUTTTT when cycled, the axle plunged, and bound up.

My solution, did some math and figured if I moved the drivers beam 3/8" outwards from the 35 hole, as well as the passenger beam 3/8" outwards from the 44 hole it would be perfect. Here is the result.

There is 2" of engagement at ride height, and no binding at full droop, or at full bump. Im happy with the position of the beams, and they cycle without axle bind.

I had to clearance the crap out of the passenger beam, remember it still needs to be plated/trussed. At full droop the axleshaft was grinding hard on the lower section, and at bump was grinding on the top...hence the extent of the clearancing.

Need to pull the tranny/tcase and get cracking on the radius arms.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Is that a grade 8 pegboard hanger?

 

[88_Eddie]

it's not gold, so i'd say grade 5

 

[-Nathan-]

Hahaha yep, was waiting to see how long it took before someone noticed. Needed something 1/4" in diameter to use as a pivot (before drilling final holes) and didn't have long enough 1/4 bolts. Looked around and use those . As a FYI, they aren't permanent lol.

 

[-Nathan-]

Was getting tired of welding 3 inches of bead, let the welder cool down, and repeat. Plus it was always on the max setting, and never left it.

So I sold it

Bought this today, Im super pumped.

Hobart Handler 190. Just need to wire up my NEMA 6-50r and Ill be set. Now that Ive got some more go-go juice to burn stuff together, I wont hesitate to really start pumping out the custom parts....stay tuned for steering swingers, drop shackle brackets, bed cages and more...

 

[4.0B2]

ah the Hobart 190... i'm trying to convince myself to get one.
all i got at the house in an old arc welder.

but i got access to a huge Miller at the shop.

anyways, can't wait to see what's next!