Project Running out of Time

[FbOmRxD]

bed metal work finished up, need to body fill and paint



added some bracing to boatsides, probably add more to from the frame to the top slider



Doubler shaft back



gotta spend some time making this work but shouldn't be to much of a problem



Started boxing in the frame, got a bunch more to go but this allows me to mount the drivetrain



Lil exhaust adapter rigged up



Whooops



All better



Haven't made the truss to hold the upper link but i've got all the material too, should could out pretty nice when i'm done. Had to grind back the stock spring pad to get the link brackets to fit, i'll weld this shit up nice and solid when i'm done, that and the truss i shouldn't give me any problems:



and the link numbers for anybody who wants to know. Didn't have a ton of room to place things as its super tight everywhere, more or less played around with the length of the links to get good numbers



Slow and steady she goes, but its getting there.

[FbOmRxD]

All the cool kids are doing it so time for an update I guess...

got these awhile back, 2.5x16" SAW's



Did this to the front axle:


Got the links in, used 2" 0.375 wall lowers, 1.75 0.25 uppers, they are pretty stout, no pictures however.

Cut hole in floor for doubler, also set up the OBA out of some old compresssors from my bagged truck



Everything should clear


moved the rear axle forward a few inches to shorten my 130" wheelbase. Still need to cut the bed to fit but should come out nice when i'm done



Then picked up one of these gadgets

[FbOmRxD]

Started simple with a new winch mount, not done just mocked up




Girlfriend wanted a try





Got more sophisticated and started on a cage


roof halo



getting there



Still a shit ton to do, to much else going on to get any good amount of work done on it hopefully i can finish it up in the next few months

[86 slo-vo]

its looking good...what all did you have to cut in the front to bring the fenders in?

[WHITE RHINO]

looks really good man, you need to get a longer handle and tits or gtfo

[FbOmRxD]

Originally Posted by 86 slo-vo

its looking good...what all did you have to cut in the front to bring the fenders in?

I just cut off the front clip completely and then did some cutting on the cowl to fit the fenders at an angle.

Originally Posted by WHITE RHINO

looks really good man, you need to get a longer handle and tits or gtfo

Trucks in the way for the longer handle, this one just fits by.

GF got mad because she didn't think the pictures did her ass justice so maybe next time i'll have some better pictures.

[br0nc0xrapt0r]

Looks like its all coming together pretty nice really diggin the winch setup

[FbOmRxD]

More work on the doubler, my friend Mike B is doing most of the work which i can't thank him enough for. Initially i was just going to cut the case leaving all the stock shifting gear in place, but to do that i had to kick the drive-train off the the passenger side and kick the drive-shaft off to the driver side to get everything to clear correctly. Doing it the following way allows me to center my drivetrain again:

the approximate cut line required to keep bolts at each corner.





pay attention to the height of the shift fork on the idler shaft, this is the required travel, and it touches the case at the bottom, so i have minimal room to add a boss down there, only as much as i can safely shave off the shift fork, maybe 3/8"

low range


high range


bottom mark is how high up the fork will travel, top mark is the back case plate. span is where i will weld the bushing and set up detent positions.



if pinning the fork to the idler rail doesnt work for some reason, plan B is to capture the idler rail between front and rear case halves like normal, and shift it by a push/pull rod to that open hole, which is where it was designed to have shifting force applied anyway. plan B requires more case clearance, which wont work out as good as plan A.

the 3rd rail will come out right between the dana 20 rails, but lower. should make for a really clean and easy triple stick





here is the faceplate for the 20, the grind marks will clean up.. i left .020" extra depth on the step in the pocket to surface out welding warpage. the extra room is for your trans mount and triplestick arrangement.

[FbOmRxD]

And more cage work...





Stoaked on how this notch came out

[FbOmRxD]

Wow getting no love here....but anywise pictures

Did the cowl bar, its about as close to the truck/wipers/etc as i could get it, it looks a little bit far away but its tucked in pretty close, i think its just the angle that makes it look funny





More notching



Front end stuff





Hood doesn't open all the way but then I had a stroke of genius on how to get the hood to open all the way. I'm going to mount the hood to these:



That way i can pop the hood up a little bit, slide it out and then open it the rest of the way so it clears the bar, hopefully it works out as well as i does in my head.

[85stanky]

lookin good! this things came a long way. how much longer will those sx's last do you think?

[FbOmRxD]

Originally Posted by 85stanky

lookin good! this things came a long way. how much longer will those sx's last do you think?

Thanks. And no idea I got them for 100 bucks, and grooved the shit out of them. I'm setting it up for 42's so whenever I find a good deal on craigslist or they start making them again I'll pick up a set.

[FbOmRxD]

Yesterdays work...finished front end tube work



Added a cross bar between the two sides for bracing and to support the hoood



Cut the bottom off the bed and welded in the rear suspension fully, need to finish the bed soon so i can paint it



Moved on to shock mounting. at ride height i have 6" of shaft showing which should give me around 5 or so inches of uptravel



The mounts, I plan to tie these into the frame and do an over the engine bar for support as well



had to remove my sweet engine shock to get them to fit, to bad :laugh:



Lower mounts



done

[FbOmRxD]

More...

So here's why you'll probably never see an off the shelf 1354 to at least a J-shift dana 20 doubler...



Initially i had kicked the whole drivetrain off to the passenger side, and then planned on using a 2 piece driveshaft for the front with it kicked out to the driver side to clear the case. But the decision was made to just cut the case to fit and build a new shifter for it....









it comming slowly but surely, big thanks to Mike B again.

Cycled the suspension last night and moved the shock placement back a little bit at the frame, but it should be good to go now. Also started to cut the fenders to fit around the tube...





Knocking out the big stuff which is good, got a big wheeling weekend in November that i'd love to make so need to start busting ass more.

[86 slo-vo]

its looking good

[koomz]

very nicely done so far man ...the final outcome will be awesome im sure!

[asp87]

Looks purdy. I didn't realize you were going through such trouble getting your doubler closed up and mounted together. Are you going to make a secondary mount for it to help support the extra torque?

What's the list of things to do until it's driving again?

[FbOmRxD]

Originally Posted by asp87

Looks purdy. I didn't realize you were going through such trouble getting your doubler closed up and mounted together. Are you going to make a secondary mount for it to help support the extra torque?

What's the list of things to do until it's driving again?

Yea if i kept everything skew it would be "simpler" but then everything would be skew.

The flat plate adapter pictured above will be used to support the 2nd T-case

List? Not a ton of shit, don't like making lists haha

More stuff done, wheel well moved...before



During


step drill makes an excellent spot weld remover


After, need to be finish welding but came out pretty good. Want to get the bed finished up so i can bondo it and repaint it when i pull the cage to finish welding



Shock mount to frame support, will add an over the engine mount as well


Windshield bars and roof halo shit done




and case blocked of with 3/8" Al, should be finished up soon then i can finish up the drivetrain.

[little89f1]

Everything looks incredible dude, friend is inline to get the same exact truck for nothing, might be using alot of your ideas to make a toy up. Keep it up!

[Stranger ranger]

More...

So here's why you'll probably never see an off the shelf 1354 to at least a J-shift dana 20 doubler...

Design/builds are always a good time..

cage work looks awesom man, i also like how you cut out the entire wheel well instead of just making it larger. kudos

[homelessduck]

The bed looks slick.

[FbOmRxD]

Went on vacation to CA 2 weeks ago and didn't get a whole lot done during this past week, been busy at work.

Anywho swung by a friends house who's parting out a ranger and got a whole bunch of spare parts glass/lights/etc and a set of headders. Don't know if my manifolds will place nice and come off but they will be nice if they do.

Anywho got a some work done yesterday on it....

over the engine mount thing, also put some tube flanges on it later in the day so its fully removable...


Clears hood fine...


Started adding some gussets as well...




More bracing to boatsides to get it ready for plate. Still undecided if i want to go plate + plastic or just plate and be done with it...


Also ran brake lines, fuel lines, made an upper radiator mount, moved the battery to the cab, finished welding and grinding down the bed, and starting wring some of the shit back up. Got my nitrogen regulator in, got some more oil, need to pick up a tank next week, but the shocks should be ready to tune soon.

Did a ton of welding on everything, tried to get everything I could get to done, i'll need to pull the cage off soon to finish up. Want to put in a few more gussets first however.

Front brake lines, bumpstops, and a few other things are in the mail.

Need to put new glow plugs in the SD so that will eat some time next week but if my friend can get the doubler done i MIGHT have a chance to get to this big wheeling even that started all this madness when i broke everything last year.

[FbOmRxD]

Not that anybody seems to care but more....

Flange on:


upper radiator mount


Finding a place for they hydro ram was tricky, really tight:




This location should work, sucks it hangs down but i'm going to bend up a skid for it with the idea that i can mount a double ended ram to it later.



Another Cross brace, probably pulling the cage off tonight to fully weld it up. Got my nitrogen tank set up going so anxious to get it on its own weight again


Gas tank mount, frame sits over the tank and so it holds it reallllly tight


Poser flex shots

[FbOmRxD]

More doubler stuff...

orking on the back cover to the crawl box. will cut the shape out last because its so much easier to clamp a square plate in the bridgeport.





machined the shaft down from 1.5" to 1.375" in order to mount a std sized bearing and keep the spud shaft from walking around and rounding out.



bearing is from a honda transmission




this is the approximate span from plate to plate.

[4x4_4go]

Lookin Good man. Bad Ass Ranger.