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Money Pit - Phase III

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KyleQ

KyleQ

Bronco Guru
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
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5,480
The Bronco is looking great! I'm loving the uncut flex pictures, I'm gonna have to do that. Keep up the good work.

Hehe - thanks. It is tough to decide if I'm going to work on it, or just drive it around... I'd say it is 50/50 on that ;D

Speaking of uncut flex - check this out... stock springs :eek: Couldn't get the front end up any higher, there was still room to go and I still hadn't lifted the other side off the ground...

Bronco Flex 2.jpg
 
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KyleQ

KyleQ

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Apr 24, 2008
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5,480
Well - I've been driving the Bronco around and screwing around in the snow and now it is time to update the thread. There is a winter event tomorrow and I've been working on the Bronco to get it ready to pass trail tech.

Pop'd the 3rd member out and found this - I think this was it's first time out!
DSCI0201-1.jpg


Split the carrier apart
DSCI0209-1.jpg


Threw some goodies inside and buttoned it back up
DSCI0212-1.jpg


It looks like it was lubricated by mud, but it wasn't There was no sand, grit or grim in the axle housing, just some sludge. I also mounted some tow hooked on the frame and built a battery hold down tool. I just need to mount my fire extinguisher and pack too much gear into the back.
 

BRONCOchild

Bronco Guru
Joined
Sep 4, 2005
Messages
2,029
nice looking project. you seem to be coming along just perfectly. keep up the awesome work. all the blood, sweat, tears and money will be well worth it.
 

neonizagas

Sr. Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2004
Messages
389
Loc.
Minneapolis, MN
Hey Kyle,

Did you check the lube in your tranfercase too.:eek: Maybe you will find the same in there! I remember you talking about it getting warm when you drove it to the meeting a couple weeks ago.

Gerry
 
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KyleQ

KyleQ

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Apr 24, 2008
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Thanks - one of the greatest parts of this project is all of the time I get to spend with my Dad in the garage wrench'n. I hope to have the D60 and D70 slung under the rig before Memorial ;D


Hey Kyle,

Did you check the lube in your tranfercase too.:eek: Maybe you will find the same in there! I remember you talking about it getting warm when you drove it to the meeting a couple weeks ago.

Gerry

I checked all the fluids before I came out, the transfer case is the only fluid I actually changed besides the oil for that trip, so it is nice and fresh. It came out just NASTY and gray - new synthetic is in there now...
I pumped more gray fluid out of the front diff - all fluids will be changed besides transmission for the Dresser run.
 
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KyleQ

KyleQ

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Apr 24, 2008
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5,480
Well yesterday was a lot of fun - did some wheeling in the Bronco and had a blast as usual. Truck drove well there, spool worked as advertised and there was lots of ice from our meltdown earlier in the month. Bronco only ever gave issues on steep hills being I never rebuilt the card which is in desperate need of one - I'll take care of that before Memorial weekend :D

DadandBronco.jpg

 
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Mono

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
May 18, 2004
Messages
1,859
Looks like fun Kyle!
When are the 37" 's going under those rear skirts?
Dresser Memorial Weekend too?

Mono~
 
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KyleQ

KyleQ

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Apr 24, 2008
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Dresser Memorial is the plan - I need to but the Cage lift, wheels and hydro steering stuff - but I've got all the cash I need for it, I just need time and some motivation :D
 

ufospy

Jr. Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2009
Messages
81
Loc.
Elk River mn
Sounds like you guys had fun, sorry i couldn't make it in the middle of a rework on the truck, but hopefully i will see you up at the new bog opening on april 15th, truck looks good by the way
 
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KyleQ

KyleQ

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Apr 24, 2008
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Is this even a build thread anymore :p Check back in a few weeks when more updates are to come... I found where to spend my savings and tax returns - packages in the mail :cool:

We finished up our tube bender -


Well - not finished, but it is mostly done.
 
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KyleQ

KyleQ

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Apr 24, 2008
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5,480
My back hurts... that means I got a lot of stuff moved and work done ;D

Dragged the D60 up from the shed and got it prepped for some work.
First order of business - cut off the floppy steering,get it up in the air and mobile.

As you can see on the floor a cutoff wheel retrofitted to a grinder exploded - bounced off me, but didn't do any damage. After using a plasma cutter, a cutoff wheel in a grinder, 2 cutoff wheels in a die grinder, a 5lb hammer, a 7" grinder and a few choice words I got it nice and clean.


Test fit - looks like I'll have the Cage arms welded on much easier afterall. There isn't jack on the Bronco boards about running Cage arms on a D60 - I plan on fixing that with a complete writeup.


The garage is a complete mess and is fill with parts... pretty soon they will be bolted under the Bronco and I won't have to trip over that stuff in the future. The wheels I got don't even fit on the axle right now without grinding - they hit the caliper hanger by around a 1/16" :-X

I also took the time to take apart the D70 (got the socket after over a week) and everything inside (besides the oil) looks new. I just need to pound out the wheel studs and slip the rotors I need to order on the backside of the hub. Then I can bolt the calipers to the weld on brackets, tack then down and burn em in - install under truck with the goodies I have in the mail...

 
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KyleQ

KyleQ

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Apr 24, 2008
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Got some work, err grinding done tonight


I hacked off the last 2 brackets and ground on the brake hanger to get the wheel to fit.


I got it darn close - the wheel fits flush with the hub, but it doesn't spin very well.


For kicks I threw on the caliper and didn't even expect the wheel to fit, but it fit all the way onto the mounting surface again.. I don't have the caliper pinned into place, but it is a good start.



I tried tearing the axle down to get at the spindle bolts but the hub socket I bought isn't correct - so I've got a tool I cannot use and I couldn't get my axle apart.

Without knowing how wide the tire is going to sit on the wheel - here is the exact width of the front axle and rear axle with ONLY the wheels on. 4.5" BS on the wheels...

Front - 69.5" WMS + 7 = 76.5"
Rear - 72" WMS + 7 = 79"
 
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KyleQ

KyleQ

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Apr 24, 2008
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5,480
I got plenty of work done on the 60 tonight - thought it would be a good idea to test out the new hub socket I got and tear one side down. Well - it went so smoothly that I tore the other side down as well. I've never had an axle come apart so nicely before - I was just shocked when the spindles came off with minimal pounding and they easily separated from the brake hangers. The axle shafts came out and the u-joints look and feel fine - but I have some nice beefy Spicers to go in, so why not.


Lots of goodies showed up at the door today - I got my perches, shock mounts, u-bolts, spring plates and brake brackets from RuffStuff today. Got two more heavy boxes too - a tube notcher and a huge 2" OD die for the hydro bender.
 
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KyleQ

KyleQ

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Apr 24, 2008
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5,480
Last night I had some bddies over and all were were able to get down was to torch the u-joints out of the D60. It fought hard - but not hard enough.



Never saw a u-joint do that before - today I am going to paint the tube bender.... rust season is here.
 

23firefly

Full Member
Joined
May 31, 2004
Messages
340
Nice work

Now hurry up and get the Cage arms on the Dana 60 HP so I can see how it's done. I have the exact same Front Dana 60 and plan on welding on the Cage arm bracket like your doing. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to set the pinion angle just right. Your Build up thread will help me.

Have you figured out how where to mount your Track bar?

What steering setup are you going with? I'm leaning towards Chevy 1 ton Tie rod ends like these:


http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Steering-Kit-Chevy-Tie-Rod-Ends_p_113-1338.html


Are you considering High Steer?

So many Questions for yah

By the way, I have all the material cut to make the same bender, let me know how yours works when you bend your first stick.
 

BroncoBoy72

Sr. Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
357
Loc.
Marana Arizona
Nice work

Now hurry up and get the Cage arms on the Dana 60 HP so I can see how it's done. I have the exact same Front Dana 60 and plan on welding on the Cage arm bracket like your doing. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to set the pinion angle just right. Your Build up thread will help me.

Have you figured out how where to mount your Track bar?

What steering setup are you going with? I'm leaning towards Chevy 1 ton Tie rod ends like these:


http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Steering-Kit-Chevy-Tie-Rod-Ends_p_113-1338.html


Are you considering High Steer?

So many Questions for yah

By the way, I have all the material cut to make the same bender, let me know how yours works when you bend your first stick.



Jeff is a good friend of mine over at ballistic, he will take care of you. I bought all my material to build my 4link, front radius arms and front and rear adjustable coil buckets from him, good stuff!

Jonathan
 
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KyleQ

KyleQ

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Apr 24, 2008
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5,480
Nice work

Now hurry up and get the Cage arms on the Dana 60 HP so I can see how it's done. I have the exact same Front Dana 60 and plan on welding on the Cage arm bracket like your doing. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to set the pinion angle just right. Your Build up thread will help me.

There isn't jack on setting up this axle - so I hope my build changes that. I did a LOT of looking around and this looks to be where the bracket will mount - there is plenty of room to weld it on.

As for pinion angle - this suspension is going to flex a lot - so I'm more worried about drive shaft angles over caster. I'm going to point it a little high - under torque the axle will want to wrap a little bit and that will lower the pinion.
Have you figured out how where to mount your Track bar?

Not yet - will figure that out. Going to move the front axle forward and try and build the frame side mount int the coil bucket width extenders for more strength.
What steering setup are you going with? I'm leaning towards Chevy 1 ton Tie rod ends like these:

This will take care of my steering -
FH-K100-P-sm_LRG.jpg


Are you considering High Steer?

Yup - ordered these
d60hsa1.jpg


So many Questions for yah

By the way, I have all the material cut to make the same bender, let me know how yours works when you bend your first stick.
So far so good - we got the big die and spendy notcher from Pro-Tools.com Stuck one of my roll cage tubes into the bender and it fits like a glove - chucked up the notcher and cleaned up one of the notches, that is going to work very good as well...

I take a TON of pictures and upload them to my photobucket pro account - take a peek.
 
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KyleQ

KyleQ

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Apr 24, 2008
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5,480
Well - between finishing up the painting, having a car professionally tinted in the garage and a lot of cleaning - this afternoon Dad and I got the disk brakes taken care of. This is stupid simple - no reason to have disk drum brakes on any axle....

Mount the rotor on the back of the hub, assemble the caliper with the bracket and hang it on the rotor, position the bleeder screw on the top and tack weld it down. After it is tacked, take off the caliper and hub so you can burn in the bracket. It is as simple at that - I got my BEEF brackets from Dan @ RuffStuff - very affordable with the pirate4x4 discount on top of his low prices. The calipers, rotors and brake hoses (not shown) are from a 75' Chev due to the simple sliding caliper bolt style and cheap calipers.

15's fit - I'll clearance them a bit before I am done...

Got the bender and parts coated with a nice etching primer and then we sprayed the black parts with appliance epoxy paint and we hit the silver stuff with hammerite.



Ground off the spring mounts and axle perches that were on there... That 7" grinder is a lifesaver!


Got the wheels mounted up -

Grabbed a tape measure...

The Bronco is this wide-


Looks like ~10" tire will be sticking out!

This week is going to be busy - here is what I have laid out.

Monday - grind down axle and wire wheel it.
Tuesday - get tires mounted on wheels
Wednesday - pull Bronco in and get on stands (have appointment - get suspension in mail this day)
Thursday - remove rear suspension
Friday - install springs, shocks and axle under truck - cut sheet metal.

I've got 5 more week until the big 4 day event... as long as I keep at it like this I should get it done. I've had to deal with parts being on back order or out of stock -only parts I need to order is the expensive hydro steering.
 
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KyleQ

KyleQ

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Apr 24, 2008
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Didn't get much done - I spent over $100 on wheel studs and nuts at the store :mad: Pounded them in as far as they would go and there was still some travel - so I took a piece of 1/4" steel, drilled a 5/8's hole in it to act as a wheel and got the impact. With the new air compressor I had that steel bent up in no time and there was no more play in the stud :D Dad ground down the 70 for me and that was it. I had some mad vibration from the front left wheel on the way home so I pulled the car into the garage. I come to find that the TRE wiggles on the inner TRE - which could have had disastrous results if it were to leg go. Off to the store and $40 later I've got a Moog replacement. That went very smooth - had the only one out and the new one installed in under 20 min - car steers better then before. Tomorrow I mount the tires up on the wheels and I'll put them on the 70 just for fun :D
 
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