"The mistress"

rockmike · Aug 16, 2009

Thanks man,the adapter went pretty good as far as time.But i dunno,I kinda feel like the project is taking forever.
I thought I would be closer to a roller chassis by now.But the drivetrain swap/hunt/buy/convert thing killed a good 2 weeks.

It all still sits as the pics I posted last.I blew my backout last monday then tuesday I come down with the flue....so ya tuff week ,no progress.

But i did deside that im happy with the fit and location of everything so imjust going to drop back and finish the front housing then the rear suspension,build the skid plate mount system then tie the trans/t case mounts to that.

rangerboyhoff · Aug 17, 2009

Looks good mike, keep up the good work!

chrissybf86 · Aug 19, 2009

sweet if you need any help just let me know. i should get my next toy on thursday i hope! then its getting cut up lol.

rockmike · Aug 28, 2009

Finished fabbing the last pieces for the housing.made the ball gussets out of 3/8" steel.

Turned down some pieces to reduce the i.d. of the carrier bearings to fit my 1 1/4" alignment rod.

And this piece to keep the tension on the carrier bearing so they stay true to center,

Set up on the jig thing I rigged.

I was told the housing was true,guess what it aint.I think I can manage if im real carefull welding it.I cut some of the tack welds and stressed this thing to the point where its straite now.Ill try to give it a sqeek more before i start welding.
Should have built this alignment gizzmo before I started,oh well live and learn i guess.Done plenty of that on this project so far.

Any advice at this point would very much appreciated.

Should a guy preheat this before I start welding?

btw fordzuki gave me agreat idea on how to reinforce the big windows on that upper link mount.Im going to step it up abit more ,I have a cool idea youll like I hope.Appreciate the feed back guys!!:beer:

heep70 · Aug 28, 2009

That looks all to familiar. A buddy and I just straightened my Toy front housing. Pretty cool I thought. :awesomework:

rockmike · Aug 28, 2009

Im hoping for 1/8" tollerance all the way around when Im done,That should keep the tube seals from going to hell.I think marlens tube seals will be on my next parts order.

as you know there alot of toy housings out there alot worse than that,that still work fine.Crossing fingures,I feel like a whore in church lol what the hell have I got myself into:eeek:

rockmike · Aug 28, 2009

heep70 said:
That looks all to familiar. A buddy and I just straightened my Toy front housing. Pretty cool I thought. :awesomework:

How far did you have to bend it past the middle to get strait? did you have a problem with it wanting to spring back?

heep70 · Aug 28, 2009

It was bent on both tubes. The short side was right before the outside u-bolt and the long tube was bent at the housing. After we straightened it we tigged the gussets in place to help hold it. Even added a couple small straps from the diff to the tubes. So far so good.

It will move again while adding the gussets. Just need to watch it and quench it with a cool wet rag if it does move.

The Marlin HD seals are worth the buck. Three times the seal. :awesomework:

Here is a before pic. I don't have any after pics.

rockmike · Sep 8, 2009

whats up with marlin?

I tried to order some tube seals and just died on hold.Called back the next day same thing after about 5 minutes on hold i just hang up.

That **** erks me,maybe ill just get some o.e. seals for the axle tubes?

Anyway,I got some stuff done over the weekend.Lots of welding on the front housing.

Some of the welds look desent some are not that great,but I think it will hold together.Im getting better,I have a hard time seeing the puddle to know when to move.
Some more.

While I let the housing cool between welds I worked on the bracket/tabs for the rear suspension.I seem to be alil better at building the tabs than welding them on,need more practice....
The lower rear link crossmember and mounts.

Ill split the post for some more pics:awesomework:

rockmike · Sep 8, 2009

More tab building.

All the lower link units built and checked out.

I was drawing up a gusset on some cardboard for the crossmember tabs.Instead of making one for each link mount I decided to just make it one piece.
Pretty cool...

I mocked up the lower link axle mount to build a top gusset for it.

That will work but it just needs a lil style and the ability to wash gunk out of the nicks and crannys....so I speed holed her out some.

More better.:redneck:

A lil bit more welding and I can throw this back under the rig and start building the rear suspension soon !!!:awesomework:

Been really working long and hard on this,I want it to be a roller so bad:;

tomsbrokeagain · Sep 8, 2009

A little advice, with all your work and having a alignment jig, use stock seals but line up the spindle bore and all will be good. You don't need to run bar thru the whole housing (as long as housing is straight) you need to line up the spindle bore with the seal:awesomework:

Let me know if this makes sense.

rockmike · Sep 9, 2009

Your talking about the shims in the knuckle/for the trunnion bearings.Use those to center the knuckle to the seals index?

tomsbrokeagain · Sep 9, 2009

rockmike said:
Your talking about the shims in the knuckle/for the trunnion bearings.Use those to center the knuckle to the seals index?

Correct:awesomework:as long as the housing is fairly straight and you line up the spindle with the proper shims the stock inner seal will work.

rockmike · Sep 12, 2009

Thanks guys,the short side came out real good.The long side is bent upward a fat 1/8" so I think im in pretty good shape.The jig made all the differance im sure.

Now time to get this rearend built I may jig it up also just to check it out,make sure its straite before I start this time:awesomework:I think Ill have all kinds of **** welded on it also,Need to make it real strong cause I plan on beating the **** out of this rig:beer:

bobbed_84_toy · Sep 12, 2009

rockmike said:
Need to make it real strong cause I plan on beating the **** out of this rig:beer:

Then why are you using toy axles?:fawkdancesmiley::stirpot:

Build looks awesome

rockmike · Sep 14, 2009

This housing will not be bending when Im done.Thats what im telling myself anyway.The 30 spline chromos will get me back to camp.
I like my toy axle so.....:flipoff::redneck:

rockmike · Sep 14, 2009

Im not done yet!!

I built a bottom truss for the front housing and Ive got a front truss to go in yet also.

The long side was still bent upward so I welded in the bottom truss and that brought the housing almost perfectly straite.:awesomework:

Im starting to really get a feel for how much heat this housing can take before it moves and better yet I can manipulate how much and where It goes:beer: Diggin this alighnment bar.

So heres some more pics of my progress on this front housing.

And jusrt some pics from some of the other welding i did this weelend trying to get this finished up.

Getting the axle guard in place,ill tie into this and make a front gusset also.

The bar says it all....

more......:redneck:

rockmike · Sep 14, 2009

While I was letting the housing cool off I worked on the rear suspension.:awesomework:

Top links at ride heighth are nice and level.I get about 24" of rear wheel travel before the links hit them selves,I may try to get alil more out of it:awesomework:

Hope yall enjoy all the pics.I sure enjoy bringing them to ya.:beer::beer:

Pook · Sep 14, 2009

What are you going to do with 24" of wheel travel?

rockmike · Sep 14, 2009

Pook said:
What are you going to do with 24" of wheel travel?

Fly low across the desert:redneck:

I hear ya man,I really dont know what I was thinkin.Thats is articulated travel,I doubt my coilovers will allow that much movement.Just getting a lil burned out and mentally exausted I think.:looser: