Hey all, I did a search for shaved housings and didn't find a solid thread on the subject. Maybe I missed it?

I pulled my rear housing apart last night so I could shave it down this weekend. Thought I'd check here first for any advice on the subject. Photos or links would be great too.

I have a club member that runs shaved Toys front and rear (hybrid front) and it really does work well, and has held up VERY well for him. But he is off at Moab this weekend, so I will have to get by without his assistance.

Thanks,

-Wayne

Here's a link to Boogers (http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62681&highlight=I+like+em+shaved)

http://www.rivercityrockcrawlers.com/~erikb/3-02/8inch3.jpg
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22134


And...
http://www.rivercityrockcrawlers.com/~erikb/3-02/tacoaxle3.jpg
http://www.rivercityrockcrawlers.com/~erikb/3-02/tacoaxle4.jpg
http://www.outdoorwire.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=11;t=006524


And I remember Booger doing his too using RogerB's kit:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=646952
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62681

Here's my original writeup:

http://4crawler.cruiserpages.com/4x4/CheapTricks/AxleTech/index.shtml#Clearanced

Thank you very much. Very useful links.

I'mm off to go cut some metal. :D

-Wayne

It's a pretty easy job. I just did my rear. Less than 2 hours to do it, except for the bottom stud that snapped. Drilled the center out for an EZ out, snapped it. Tried drilling it out on the press, drill bit metal is no match for ez out material. Ended up torching the whole area out and welding in a bolt from the backside. Hope you have better luck than I did, just watch the bottom two studs, they're the real oil holders.

I've found that removing the 4 lowest studs (at least) will help prevent them bending with the heat of cutting and welding. Otherwise, they seem to bend and this makes it hard to install the 3rd member. Then, put them back in, tighten down the nuts ont he lowest two and weld them on to form a bolt to use when draining the gear oil.

Thanks guys.. All went well.

I'm not sure of the ground savings, but it came out pretty clean. The hard part was welding up the inside. I spent a fair amount of time making my 1/4" plate fit the way I wanted, and a fair amount of time cleaning it up.

Also I welded about 1 inch at a time to keep the heat down. I'll do something a little different for the front axle, but I'm happy with this first attempt. I'll post some pictures in a day or so.

Thanks again.

-Wayne

Originally posted by rotozuk
I'm not sure of the ground savings, but it came out pretty clean. The hard part was welding up the inside. I spent a fair amount of time making my 1/4" plate fit the way I wanted, and a fair amount of time cleaning it up.

Also I welded about 1 inch at a time to keep the heat down. I'll do something a little different for the front axle, but I'm happy with this first attempt. I'll post some pictures in a day or so.

My first one took a long time, but now with pre-cut/bent plates and a template, its a lot easier. You do get more clearance on the front axle, its got a rounder bottom section.

Here are some pictures of my rear axle.

http://RZ-Products.COM/WAYNE/UPDATES/update21.html

-Wayne