Scout II BUILD with Rockwells, Cummins 12V, and 46" Claws

[Blak Falken]

This kind of screws the order up but I just found a couple of more pics of the plates I used to box the knuckles in and the gussets, so here they are:

You'll notice the silver looking paint inside of the knuckle, this is Weld Through Primer...it's a Zinc enriched weld resistant primer that I usually apply to the inner surfaces of components that are welded together such as this. The primer does not flash off with the heat of welding and provides a protective barrier, potentially stopping the formation of a corrosion cell. I used this primer primarily when I plated the frame...I would rather prevent the issue if possible beforehand, I am not to fond of rust and corrosion.

[Blak Falken]

Here's how the front caliper mounts and integrated boot guards came out after final welding and a couple coats of black, ready to install:

[Blak Falken]

Should stop on a dime, even with the big meats. You'll notice that I kept the steering end of the knuckles facing to the rear of the axle with the calipers mounted up front. My reasoning behind this...I wanted to keep my hydraulic ram mounted behind the axle out of harms way, I also didn't want to mess with the Ackerman Steering Geometry since steering Rockwells were designed to function this way.

Calipers, and rotors installed:

[Blak Falken]

A couple of more, just a little bit dusty:

[Antagonist]

I'm not going to lie, I like the hell out of the way you're running your brakes. I think all said and done I won't be far from what you have.

[not2hye]

I was looking at solid works and its holy crap expensive, any other software you could reccomend to get results like your putting out for personal projects?

The Fab is sick on this build!

[LibertySand]

OK....After looking at your setup, i'm considering Rockwells now!

[JeepEater79]

Wow, what a build! Great job! Hell with 14 bolt/D60... going ROCKWELLS!!!

[budget76]

Blak,

First off, AWESOME build. I love seeing the solidworks models turn into reality, it adds alot to the build thread. Damn impressive work

Second, any chance you're sitting on an existing SW model of a racing seat? I need one for a quick mockup for my Senior Design class, but haven't had any luck finding one. It's just for a rough idea of layout so what it looks like isn't all that important, but all I've found so far is an old cadillac-looking car seat. It'll look a little out of place on a sailboat
Thanks

[Blak Falken]

Thanks for the kind words guys!

To answer some questions:

Originally Posted by not2hye

I was looking at solid works and its holy crap expensive, any other software you could reccomend to get results like your putting out for personal projects?

The Fab is sick on this build!

For solid modeling ProE, Catia, SolidEdge, and Solidworks are some of the top software packages and they are all going to be pretty pricey, depending on how you order/configure a CAD program pricing can change substantially.

I would recommend Solidworks it is more or less becoming the industry standard, I don't know of a cheaper comparable option.

I would recommend that you visit the Solidworks website, write them and explain your situation they should get you a Student Version or the equivalent in the mail or give you an access key to download it. The downside is that they expire, I think the license is 150 days or something like that. You also don't have the ability to generate DWG, DXF, STEP, etc. files for manufacturing, and you don't have CFD, FEA, and other capabilities but it will get you started.

Originally Posted by budget76

Blak,

First off, AWESOME build. I love seeing the solidworks models turn into reality, it adds alot to the build thread. Damn impressive work

Second, any chance you're sitting on an existing SW model of a racing seat? I need one for a quick mockup for my Senior Design class, but haven't had any luck finding one. It's just for a rough idea of layout so what it looks like isn't all that important, but all I've found so far is an old cadillac-looking car seat. It'll look a little out of place on a sailboat
Thanks

Sorry, I have never modeled a racing seat for any of my projects. You might check 3DContentCentral if you haven't already, sometimes you can find generic SLDPRT files there.

[Blak Falken]

Originally Posted by Antagonist

I'm not going to lie, I like the hell out of the way you're running your brakes. I think all said and done I won't be far from what you have.

Originally Posted by LibertySand

OK....After looking at your setup, i'm considering Rockwells now!

Originally Posted by JeepEater79

Wow, what a build! Great job! Hell with 14 bolt/D60... going ROCKWELLS!!!

In response to these statements:

There are some very nice disk brake conversion parts/kits on the market for Rockwells. Alot of companies are also making boot guards because they are very vulnerable when wheeling, but I have yet to see a boot guard/disk brake mount...seemed like a no-brainer to me. I also wanted to keep with the custom spider web and Iron Cross theme which was another reason I wanted to make my own. I was pleased with how they came out, the fit was perfect.

I'll try to get some more tech up on these Rockwells, I did a few other things a little different than the norm.

[keeptahoewhite]

[Blak Falken]

Ok, it has been a little while, time for an update.

Next on the list was getting the front of the Scout done, this meant: suspension/spring hangers, steering on the Rockwell, motor mounts, etc.

For the steering I considered making some high steer arms and running a hydro-assist setup, but with the big meats, lockers, and and heavy rig I ultimately decided that a full hydro setup would be the way to go. I got a full Rockwell hydro kit from PSC and started designing a mounting system around it.

I designed the mount to position the ram behind the axle out of harms way while also allowing the knuckles to be kept in the rear facing position in which they were designed to operate, thus not changing the Ackerman steering geometry of the Rockwell. I also designed the mount to allow the ram to be mounted as closely as possible to the centerline of the axle providing a steering geometry in which the tie rods remain parallel to the ram when it it is fully extended and at its weakest state, thus eliminating transverse loading and greatly reducing the risk of bending the ram or having a seal related failure.

It took some work getting the tie-rod geometries I wanted out of the mount, here is a Solidworks animation of the resulting design:

2.5 Ton Rockwell PSC DE Hydro Ram Mount.avi - YouTube

[Blak Falken]

Here is a picture of the double ended hydro ram mount and a few other parts after being laser cut. I had the mount cut from 0.375" steel, it's heavy but should be indestructible when bashed on the rocks.

[Blak Falken]

After being formed and welded up:

[Blak Falken]

After a little time with the grinder, mitering the edges:

[Blak Falken]

Doing some mock-up and fit-up, checking the geometry, grinding a little here and there:

[Blak Falken]

After the mount was tacked up where I wanted it Tony burned it in.

Next due to the width of the front leaf spring mounts I had to rotate the gear chunk 180 degrees to be a center drop instead of a drivers drop.

There are two studs on the right and left sides of the gear chunk bolt pattern that are perpendicular to the axle tubes, these four holes remain unchanged when rotating the chunk. The other eight holes in the bolt pattern had to be redrillled when rotating the chunk.

I marked the new hole locations by installing transfer buttons in the axle housing in the threaded stud holes and then I sat it down on the gear chunk. Note: it's not to fun wrestling a Rockwell axle housing onto the gear by yourself. You will want to leave the two sets of studs on the left and right sides of the chunk in the housing for alignment purposes.

Here are the transfer buttons in the axle housing:

[Blak Falken]

Here is the axle housing sitting on the gear chunk with the transfer buttons installed, and the new marked hole locations after removing the axle housing:

[Blak Falken]

After drilling the new bolt pattern (if you don't strip the chunk down to the housing, definitely cover up the gears or you will get metal shavings in them):

[Blak Falken]

After welding up the old holes and sanding them down:

[Blak Falken]

Installing the gear chunk into the axle housing after drilling the new bolt pattern, welding up the old holes and sanding them down (I decided to use the cherry picker this time):

[zachwrench]

very nice going full hydro

[Fordsux74]

Originally Posted by zachwrench

very nice going full hydro

Uh, he's running 46's, of course it'll be full hydro.

[Blak Falken]

When rebuilding the front axle I had to replace an inner and outer wheel bearing and the two bearing races. Luckily I was able to get Timken replacement parts at a local auto parts supply store.

I also resealed both axles using kits from Boyce Equipment.

On the front axle I put in inner axle seals from Custom Off-Road Equipment instead of the OEM style inner seals, these new seals are a much better design, I would highly recommend them.

Here are some pics from the front axle re-assembly: