Project Hillclimber

[brinner]

Outers came in today.......

[brinner]

D44 axle tube dia. = 2 3/4"

Toy 8" axle tube dia. 3"

[Bear]

nice, now I am having to resist the urge of going out and buying some just like those. I see a few "features" on yours that I wish my shafts had.

[twentyfootdaredevil]

Keep me in mind for your custom axleshaft needs....this is a service I now offer!!!!!

[brinner]

Originally Posted by Hoss

You giving Jeff and Drivelines Plus some competition?

Originally Posted by twentyfootdaredevil

that is the plan!!!!!

quit hijacking my build thread!

brake caliper brackets are done

[brinner]

9/16" wheel studs

[brinner]

got the wheel studs today, spindle studs should be delivered by 5pm today.

[brinner]

I have made a very difficult decision regarding this project.............as of NOW, my truck is going to be a street rig until next summer. I am doing this for the following reason:
--- i need to reserve all my money i have for the SAS thats in the parts collection phase. If i keep wheeling it, it is very likely that i will just end up breaking something major, then have to spend all my money on the repair. So that being said, my involvement with the club will not change (i will probably be abit MORE involved actually). I will try my best to attend every single trail ride/WAT/meeting.

As i mentioned, this is what i must do in order to do my SAS the way i want. What i would expect is for those who have been "followers" on trail rides to become the "leaders" on trail rides now. (b/c for some reason i always end up leading the Badlands group)

[Bear]

well it is better to be in "parts collection" then "bill collections".

and the only reason you lead the badland "tours" is because when I lead, I tend to get in over everyones' head…including mine regarding trouble.

I tried going the route you just decided to take when I built my project. I even went so far as to leave my skids off so I wouldn't be tempted to take it offroad…and I still ended up bending my tranny cross member! how? I couldn't resist and ended up taking it to the bad lands on street tires, no skids and no front locker.

I expect better restraint from you than what I showed!

[brinner]

300M U-joint ordered (waiting to order custom inner shaft) went with these cause they are just as 'beefy' (they cryo some things instead of adding more material) as others, dont have fitment issues and cost less.

http://www.longfieldsuperaxles.com/i...StressTest.pdf

[brinner]

saw the 38X11x16 Boggers at the jambo sunday....dont like how skinny they are, plus with the direction this project has now taken...im going to think about the 35x16x15's or the 37x13x15's

[brinner]

to do this weekend:
pull the spare tire carrier DONE
secure fire extinguisher DONE
cb spring mount DONE

[brinner]

4130 Data Sheet
http://www.suppliersonline.com/prope...asp#mechanical



4340 Data Sheet
http://www.suppliersonline.com/propertypages/4340.asp

[brinner]

ok so they SDHQ told me they were 4340.......(even though they keep referring to them as 4130 axles) so im saving the correspondance and see if i can find a metal scanner at the scrap yard when i take my rims. (they should have a method for determining the alloy #.)

[Bear]

Call Dave, I think he might have a metal scanner at his new job. (he has everything else a person would need)

[brinner]

"buy what ya can when ya can" ordered my leaf spring hangers to use for the link attachment points on the frame. Inchworm





total so far....$620 (not counting the custom inners from previous post)

[brinner]

Originally Posted by Bear

hmmm,

leaf spring hangers? those are items easily made.

I know you want a "clean" build, but dude come on, with a little time and some help from your "friends" you can be saving money and getting stuff done.

have you figured out all your angles and distances yet? I am trying to envision how you are using spring hangers for your link attachments. I think I see it, but you need to make sure where everything is going to land on the truck before starting to "piece" parts together that are intended for other uses.

Not belittling you or the build, just trying to be the air of wisdom for a change. (scary thought huh?)

oh i know but i really dont want things like that to be too raw. and i have already discussed some of this with wyatt and crew and as far as what goes where....im copying link placement off of the demello SAS for the 05 DC. ive reviewed the pics alot and its the same thing i want (minus the D60). Thanks for keeping things in check thought.

[brinner]

did some rear suspension planning tonight, got the bed brushed out and put the tool chest where i wanted it (right up next to the cab, in the middle for best weight balance) then i put small screws in the center of where i need to make holes in the bed for longer shocks (so i can get full stuff) and in the four corners for the rectangle i need to cut out of the bed so i can weld hoops to the frame rails......then a straight cross piece that the shocks will attach to.(shocks will be pretty much straight up and down and on top of the axle for stability and to get them out of the way of rocks, trees, whatever).

To finish this, ill need 3"-4" springs(yes after the SAS my back end will be slightly lower than my back just like it is now), about 10ft of DOM 1.5"dia-(maybe .120" wall round tube, and 4ft of .25" square tube (the same kind that my bumper is made of) and 4 sets of shock tabs. Then my welder/tech adviser/truck dunker help me get all this welded/bent. then i will cut the bedsides along the line that is already there for clearance and ease of cutting.

[Bear]

Hey Buddy, I am not doubting your abilities the slightest so never think that. Hell you impressed me the first time I saw you weld, so your fab skills are not in question so don't ever think that from me.

With that said, you do sometimes "draw outside the lines" but I should shut up and wait for the final master piece.

I was just trying to watch the penny's as I knew what all was involved with mine.

Speaking of which, so you think my hangers are raw huh?

what, you don't like 5/16" think hangers? or are my cuts too blunt for your taste? One thing about building a leaf sprung v.s coil, it allows your brackets to be as beefy as you want them up front. I think if I went coils up front, I would not have worried so much about the thickness of those brackets (they wouldn't have been needed. ) but you get the point I am making.

Let agree now, that on your decisions, I am going to evaluate them and probably come up with completely opposite opinions to what your research and decide upon. But we both know, your ideas will be perfect in the end.

( I think I took some extra stupid pills this morning or something, I think I am even confusing myself)

[Bear]

Are you going to do the removable bed sides also?

I assume you have allowed for your bed cage to be gusseted correct?

I can't remember if you were going to link the rear as well or just use leafs?

I know of a set of 63" chevy's that are going to be available by maybe next summer.

[brinner]

i have no problem with your critique.....im a scientist, you could critique my hand writing and it still wouldnt really phase me (whether or not i do anything about it depends upon how good/bad the advice is ).

besides thats why i post all this stuff up, to make sure that i dont miss something that i need to take into account. (like the gusseting the rear shock cage....which still havent worked out how im gonna do that yet.)


and yes, your spring brackets are like eddie murphy in a red leather jumpsuit.......RAW





and oh yeah, im staying with leafs in back, it keeps things simple.

[Bear]

Originally Posted by brinner

i have no problem with your critique.....im a scientist, you could critique my hand writing and it still wouldnt really phase me (whether or not i do anything about it depends upon how good/bad the advice is ).

well your hand writing is a bit small and feminine! So you might want to look into that

besides thats why i post all this stuff up, to make sure that i dont miss something that i need to take into account. (like the gusseting the rear shock cage....which still havent worked out how im gonna do that yet.)

Originally Posted by brinner

and yes, your spring brackets are like eddie murphy in a red leather jumpsuit.......RAW

Guess it is a good thing I did not paint them as originally planned. My truck would be skipping round singing "I got ice scream, I got ice scream and you can't have none because you are on welfare" But I tell you, I can crack rocks like walnuts with them.

LIVE FROM NEW YORK…IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE!!!!!!!

[brinner]

next step for the hillclimber will be a custom true dual exhaust with header cutouts from Autospecialty in Lafayette. (i just know these guys LOVE me, lord knows i give them enough business )


plus i suppose i should put this in here just to keep track of things: Custom clutch plate, disc and throw out bearing went in 3 days before T.O.




im pretty much used to not driving my truck now.

[Bear]

Originally Posted by brinner

next step for the hillclimber will be a custom true dual exhaust with header cutouts from Autospecialty in Lafayette. (i just know these guys LOVE me, lord knows i give them enough business )

ain't that the truth!

Have you gotten to the point of having an idea on when you are going to start cutting? and out of curiosity, where are you going to being doing the conversion? I don't think we ever talked about all that.

[brinner]

eta on the dynatrac custom shaft: 2 weeks.

ive thought alot about when the conversion will happen but i wont know until i have all the pieces, could be Aug.-Sept......could be Next Jan.-Feb. Depends upon $$$ (of course). Ive been throwing around a few ideas about where to keep it DURING but everything is still in the negotiation phase right now. "A" still has to happen in order for "B" to be a viable option.

[brinner]

D44 specific shock tabs and frame link tabs came in today






ssshhhiiiiiitttttt........does anyone know how to take 1/8" off the diameter of a D44 shaft?

[brinner]

Originally Posted by Bear

...............Best bet would be to send them back. I can't imagine what it would be like if you were to get the shafts out of "balance" could be some major vibes going on........

So what is the story?

ok i MAY have dodged a huge bullet, the story is he asked me what the diameter of the splined part was, so i measured then i was crusing the Bella Vista Bible today and i see that the D44 front axle shaft for my era axle was 1-5/16" and i was telling SDHQ 1-7/16". so figuring that i would play it safe and have my spines the same diameter of my axle shaft (so it wouldnt be 'necked down' in any fashion), i emailed Ryan @ SDHQ with my declaration of idiocy and he said he would call Dynatrac ASAP. soooooo maybe they havent started making the cuts yet.

[Bear]

Best thing you should have done was take the stock axle shaft out and measured it. I don't care what part you are researching, information sources have been known to be wrong. There is always exceptions to what was written and left over items used from pre production years to post production years. (left over parts from one year used in later years production)

I learned the hard way with my front axle shaft, you can't assume anything, take the measurements yourself.

That axle shaft i bought from Jamie in Kansas, was suppose to have come out of the exact same year model and model Grand wagoneer. He shipped it I put it in, and the damn outter shaft was 1/4" too long. I confirmed with him what the axle shaft came out of after discovering the difference, and neither one of us can explain why the shafts are different lengths but they were. the bad thing about my broken shafts and the ones Jamie sent me was they were the same overall length, but the outter shaft on the new one did not match the length of the broken shaft.

[brinner]

okay, this is the setup of the Demello 05 Taco, which i will be using as a template so all the credit goes to Demello......With that out of the way, what problems do you think there would be with moving the mounting point of the lower links to the frame rail instead of how they are in this pic (which is just inside the frame rail) ?

[muddertrucker99]

I have never setup a link system in the front but i wouldn't see why you couldn't set on the outside of the rails. There pics wasn't very clear but ithink it wouldn't matter where they setup. But i would say the reason they are inside of the frame would be for clearance. And clearance would be the big issue if any. But that is just my worth.