Low Budget rear engine, 37"s

Eddyj · Sep 19, 2018

I've been waiting for this to pop up.
Excellent tech.
What did you use to cut?
You freehand it?

jeeptj99 · Sep 19, 2018

RustyC said:
I need an upper link mount for the drivers side. Up the that point I was trying to keep it symmetrical. I drew out a couple ideas but they looked funny...ended up copying the upper half of the chunk. Back to symmetrical it was. It's different for sure.

Considering welding on some spinner bait blades to look like pasties where the nipples would be for a good laugh.

I like it. It's going to make people stop and do double takes for sure.

RustyC · Sep 19, 2018

Re: Re: Low Budget rear engine, 37"s

Eddyj said:
I've been waiting for this to pop up.
Excellent tech.
What did you use to cut?
You freehand it?

Everlast 50 amp plasma and a Dewalt portaband mounted off my table. Love the saw it is a game changer.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

drycreekjeep · Oct 10, 2018

Great work!!

Beerj · Oct 10, 2018

Shoulda just thrown in another r&p while you were at it. Haha. Great job!

zeke392 · Oct 11, 2018

WOW, nice job, definite pride in building this yourself.
I can't see it but is the back side of the saw mount plate cut for the sawblade? I know they make a kit to mount those saws in a vise but never thought about what you did, another great idea.
And you are right, the portaband is a must have tool for fabricating.

RustyC · Jan 5, 2021

zeke392 said:
I can't see it but is the back side of the saw mount plate cut for the sawblade?

Just seeing this. Better late than never. The 3/8" plate is cut for the blade to pass though. The red line indicates the cut. The saw is mounted to the plate using the 2 bolts indicated by the green lines.

RustyC · Jan 5, 2021

Life of a trailrig is great until it's not.
Replacing custom length axle shafts still sucks.
Time for an upgrade.

RustyC · Jan 5, 2021

Time for an new front axle.
What I want

Chromo housing,billet alum third, RCVs, fabricated knuckles.
What I can afford. :dunno:

DIY housing, reused 3rd, oem 1550's, 05 up outers.

I learned my lesson that just because you can build a 9" housing from scratch doesn't mean you should.
This time around I used a Rhodes builder kit from Summit racing.
1/4" wall 3" tubes and 3/8" faceplate.
(https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rhc-16-0003-60)

Donor axle was a 2008 F250 they didn't even charge me extra for the rust.

RustyC · Jan 5, 2021

First order of business, Axle seals. I've used the seals from Seals-it before and they do an ok job keeping the lube in the hole I like the 2pc 05 up Supeduty seals better. They new 05 up inner shaft lip seals do not seal onto the surface of the shaft like a traditional inner seal. The inner piece id seals to the shaft and the outer of the 2 pcs seals to the housing. The seal rotates within is self. Kinda hard to explain. I the past if an inner shaft had a worn groove a the seal it would leak. These would just cover the groove and no longer leak.
The id of the tubes from the kit were opened up to accept the oem off the shelf seals.
1550 ujoint 35 spline shaft made by Hudlow to fit the long side. Factory length 05 up short side used.

RustyC · Jan 5, 2021

A 1.5" alignment bar and a little dom tubing make for a great fit for axle housing work.

RustyC · Jan 5, 2021

Sometimes a blind nut gets a squirrel or something like that but anyway...

I had planned to remove the inner c's from the donor axle and install them on the new housing.
After measuring I found the id of the donor tubes to match very, very closely to the od of the new housing.
Torch + plasma + hammer = removed the tubes with inner c's from the donor center section.
Trim the length to fit the new housing and add a few holes for plug welds.
Results are some thick ass axles tubes. Heavy too. Keep in mind I was running water in the front tires on the old axle so not a deal breaker.

Eddyj · Jan 5, 2021

So what you doing with the old axle?

RustyC · Jan 5, 2021

Eddyj said:
So what you doing with the old axle?

Scrapped the housing. I kept the 99-04 inner C's , knuckles unit bearing and 1 good 35 spline chromo stubshaft. I think I still have a 20" or so 35 spline inner.

Eddyj · Jan 6, 2021

Would have looked good under a tracker...

so what exactly happened to the axle?

RustyC · Jan 6, 2021

Eddyj said:
Would have looked good under a tracker...

so what exactly happened to the axle?

Broken shafts which were custom length.
Rear engine Tracker sound interesting. The housing was upside down due to the rear engine. Make it look like a high pinion 9". Not rear good for anything else other than a rear engine rig.
Tracker deserves 14 bolts anyway.

ridered3 · Jan 6, 2021

RustyC said:
Broken shafts which were custom length.
Rear engine Tracker sound interesting. The housing was upside down due to the rear engine. Make it look like a high pinion 9". Not rear good for anything else other than a rear engine rig.
Tracker deserves 14 bolts anyway.

Since it's Ed, you misspelled Rockwells...

RustyC · Jan 6, 2021

ridered3 said:
Since it's Ed, you misspelled Rockwells...

True , I figure his children only have half of his genetics. There's always hope.

Eddyj · Jan 6, 2021

This were you want to be when Jesus comes back? Making fun of poor ol me who can't afford custom axles.

so just to clarify you have 1/2 thick axle tubes, more or less combined?

RustyC · Jan 7, 2021

Eddyj said:
This were you want to be when Jesus comes back? Making fun of poor ol me who can't afford custom axles.

so just to clarify you have 1/2 thick axle tubes, more or less combined?

If I remember correctly the 05 up D60 axle tubes are 3/8". I can measure as confirm.
The Rhodes 9" kit has 1/4"" tubes.
So the total tube thickness should be almost 5/8"

Or if you are of the metric persuasion. 9.52mm + 6.35mm = 15.87mm.

I actually started using a metric metal scale to do layout work and it really does make the math easier.
Not sure why the US still holds onto the standard system.