might as well start a build thread

[mavereq]

i'm worried about only having one upper link that far from the axle centerline. i'd rather have 2 links with 4" separation than 1 link with 7" if i can't get the upperlink on the inside of the framerail.

 

[DanWheeler]

Take a read through this thread I started on pirate:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=884258

I was worried about that too. Sounds like plenty of people are running the upper on the outside of the frame with no issues.

 

[mavereq]

hhmmmm maybe i'll try out the single upper. this should be interesting.

 

[mavereq]

i played hookie from work today and stripped the frontend back down so that i can reconfigure my links. i decided to run it as a 3link with panhard instead of a 4link with panhard. i'm not burning another damn thing onto this housing until i mount the drivetrain onto the frame so i can see if anything is going to hit. from looking at someone elses eb at the cookout on sunday it doesn't look like i can get my upper link inside the framerail and i read up on danwheelers threads on pirate that a lot of people are running the single outside the frame so i'm going to probably go with that.

i was looking everything over today trying to figure out where i'm going to mount my shocks to the axle. it's going to be interesting with my upper link directly above my lower.

 

[mavereq]

2 steps forward and 1 step back...

one of the biggest lessons i learned from this build so far is that you always leave stuff tacked in place until you are almost finished. i didn't like where i put the front upper coil brackets and decided to move them back. unfortunately, they were pretty well welded up. i thought about leaving them but they kept bugging me so i finally cut them off.

i was really surprised at how warped and thin the frame wall behind the buckets were. i decided to use some angle iron to strengthen up the areas for the coil buckets and the trackbar mount. the weather turned to complete crap and we have lots of thunder and lightning so i'm calling it a night, but here are some pics of where i reinforced the frame.

 

[mavereq]

i'll try and get some pics up this week. i haven't made too much progress lately because of work and travel. i set the drivetrain up on the frame so i could figure out where to mount my upper link on the front and it looks like i have room on the passenger side and will just miss my starter at full stuff. i pulled the drivetrain back out and built the upper frame mount and upper axle mount. hopefully i'll get the lower mounts built this week and will be able to cycle the suspension.

so.... no eye candy yet. pics will follow