Some Nice Fab Work

[Hooper]

This is some of the stuff we still need to *tweak* after my Brother in Law got his rig back from the shop. Overall, it was not bad, but some things need to be fixed. The draglink into the tie rod causes the tie rod to flex pretty severely when the wheel is turned. Noticeable deflection. You will see in one of the pictures, a brake line has been cut off, pinched, and folded over to seal it off. A few other things like that.

How much caster does this look like? Lots, and this is after the 5.5 eye to eye extended shackles were put on to level things out.




He did put some big brakes on there. The front axle is a Ford High Pinion Reverse Cut Dana 44. Rear is a Dana 60 with 35 spline axles and disc brakes.


Looks like the driveline might hit the pan if the front axle comes far enough up.


At rest, the front yoke is pretty close. Flexing, it is sure to bind up.


See the pinched and folded brake line on the right?


Not sure what the extra loop of rear brake line is for. None of it is bolted in place.


Rear pinion angle, no CV on the top, so some pretty good vibrations


Pretty big gap on the sides of the springs. If we ever unclamp his springs to get more flex, he will have some serious fanning issues.

[Hooper]

Tie Rod end, after my BIL swapped in shorter bolts. The shop put one side coarse thread, the other fine, no cotter pins, etc. and the bolts hung down about 2 inches past the bottom nut.


And a shot of the welded pitman arm and spacer...


So, can I get an outer knuckle that will bolt up to the ford axle so I can go to high steer with this thing? My BIL is buying a dropped pitman arm to get rid of the welded one.

Also, the carb is having problems. When you hit the gas, it hesitates, then goes. I put a new accel pump cup on, and adjusted the linkage to the fastest flow, but it still does it, although it is better than it was. When I thumb the throttle, I can see both barrells getting a good squirt of fuel... but I could not get it to give up the hesitation. If I stomped it, it would die completely....

[uglyscout]

Originally posted by Hooper


And a shot of the welded pitman arm and spacer...

This and the brake line concern me the most! Who is responsible (or iresponsible I should say...) for this work?

[Ben W]

what a mess! He took this to a professional for an axle swap and SOA and this is what he got back?

[ChiScouter]

You and your BiL are temperate men, I would be parked in front of that guys garage right now,..... and it probably wouldn't end well

[Mechanos]

Originally posted by ChiScouter
You and your BiL are temperate men, I would be parked in front of that guys garage right now,..... and it probably wouldn't end well

No shit!!! what a fine example of a hack job.

[RustoleumWhite]

Yep.. as bad as you described...


I don't understand how people can do this kind of crap.


the front "inner C" looks like a standard D44... so I don't buy the builder's crap about "you can't put flat tops on a ford housing".. I think he was just to cheap to do it right.... course your B-in-law is pretty gullible....


1/2 assed work, draglink is just a bad design, I see shims EVERYWHERE (front and rear axles). Looks like he turned the front knuckles to point the front shaft at the t-case, then welded the perches on wrong. Got cheap with the rear and didn't put the right perches on the housing (looks like he used what was already there). And understand the brake lines at ALL, once again, not cheap and just re-used sh*t instead of running down to the parts store to get new line and do it right.

The welded pitman arm is scary, and just down-right ILLEGAL.

At least he got some decent axles for his price... but the rest is just scary... I don't think there are enough to justify this....

[Harvester of Sorrow]

maybe I missed it...

First question:
But Hoop, what did your BIL give for the whole she-bang?

Second question:
When do you guys think to have it actually completed?

[tsm1mt]

To everyone that keeps crying BOOTIE FAB on MY junk...

I should become a pro, if I compare my hack jobs to this one.

The inner Cs ARE a standard D44 type part. Only variation might be the axle tube size, but that has nothing to do with swapping knuckles.

Same balljoints used, too.

Didn't the heim-joint steering rave go out with the 90s?

At least he double-sheared the "Y"/T steering mount on the tie-rod..

Folded-over brake lines only belong in two places - the trash, and on your rig long enough to get it home after shredding a soft-line.

Certainly not "after you leave a professional 4x4 shop.."

[Sully]

Please tell me your Brother-in-law didn't pay for that work.

I'd have rendered his rig unsafe for free!

Serisously though... If your BIL has already successfully fought the urge to go kick the hell out of the moron who did that work, I would encourage him to be in small-claims court the very next day. (or maybe "real" court, if the cost is enough.) There is some downright scary stuff going on there, and no shop owner should be turning shit like that loose on the street.

Who's responsible when that pitman arm breaks and your BIL runs over a couple of small children?

Not only could a situation like that bankrupt your BIL or worse, but it is the type of sitation that leads to laws preventing us from modifying our vehicles in the future.

[RustoleumWhite]

Originally posted by Harvester of Sorrow
maybe I missed it...

First question:
But Hoop, what did your BIL give for the whole she-bang?

Second question:
When do you guys think to have it actually completed?

from pat's descriptions to me, and now the pictures, 95% of the work is "good", it just needs to be finished.

The steering need to be complete re-done. Z-link at the minimum, high-steer idealy. Z-link would be cheap and quick in this case. New pitman arm, and re-work the tie-rod. High-steer would be more complicated, new-knuckles, and them parts and pieces to adapt the brake stuff over, arms, tie-rod/drag link, pitman arm....

re-work the perches on the front housing (the biggest PITA) to get the caster more reasonable and the pinion angle better. Have to make sure however the shaft doesn't hit the pan. Looks like it might.

Then just go throuh the brakes. New lines for the rear, and I haven't even seen what he did to the front.

Doesn't look like it would take much, the biggest is the steering and the brake lines are cheap to fix, just have to take a bit of time.

[jdjanda]

So what was the name of the shop???

[Binder]

Was this front axle narrowed or just re worked and swap left and right? Looks to me from the picture that the front diff may be too far toward the center of the rig. You may have some clearance problems especialy if you try to squeeze a CV past that BW trans.
I agree it needs some TLC and finnish work before it can be called done.

[bchesley]

Hooper,

if you can see that the carb is squirting a pretty good shot than it sounds like it might be a timing issue. Is he running the original distributor? some manufacturers put on crappy advances that dont match the original amount of advance. I had a J**p distributor that was was advancing about 10 degrees farther than it was supposed to one time. just a thought.

brad

[Hooper]

Originally posted by bchesley
Hooper,

if you can see that the carb is squirting a pretty good shot than it sounds like it might be a timing issue. Is he running the original distributor? some manufacturers put on crappy advances that dont match the original amount of advance. I had a J**p distributor that was was advancing about 10 degrees farther than it was supposed to one time. just a thought.

brad

May very well be. I have not messed with the timing yet. I didn't know having the timing off would give that kind of hesitation. I'll throw a timing light on it and see how it looks.

[GRMhick]

My 2245 did the same thing. One of my major problems was that the accelerator pump lever was upside down, or something like that, so it wasent pushing gas into the carb when you gunned it. I threw on a new carb and it fixed the problem... but some chevy guy told me that if i dont put on a kick down cable i will be ok while the new one comes in the mail.. tranny dies 200 miles later . Been parked ever since.

Garrett

[Hooper]

Originally posted by Hick
My 2245 did the same thing. One of my major problems was that the accelerator pump lever was upside down, or something like that, so it wasent pushing gas into the carb when you gunned it. I threw on a new carb and it fixed the problem... but some chevy guy told me that if i dont put on a kick down cable i will be ok while the new one comes in the mail.. tranny dies 200 miles later . Been parked ever since.

Garrett

We will yank the carb and take it in for a rebuild this weekend.

Yep, no kickdown lever will kill your tranny fast.

[The Fleckster]

Pat, dont side step the problem. Answer the question so people do not go there. That Pitman arm is Illegal, and that shop is definatley not a quality reputable shop.

Tell the name, so no one else gets hurt with his work.
Now I would also let the shop owner know the word is out that he will be out of business if he doesnt redo that crap right, and do shit right...

Man thoes pictures just tick me off.....

RANT mode off

[Scoutillac]

Patrick, bring that gheto fabbed mutha to me and let me fix it. That work is bullshit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! gimme a call

[Lama]

Did the shop owner have a purty mullet?

[Hooper]

Shop is a loose term for the place that did this. It was not a business establishment. It was someplace a friend of my BIL recommended. Not dis similar to the type of thing many folks do, with a shop in their garage. The difference is this individual did not set this up in a safe manner. This individual is getting out of the fab business in any case. He is going into Washington State Patrol Acadamy (And he put this type of work onto the street?) shortly, so he is selling off all his shop equipment to pay for that.

[harkinoff]

sounds like a BUM deal here..... hope your Brotherinlaw learned a lesson on how important it is to able to wrench on sheit yourself with a little help from buddies and family of course

[Hooper]

Originally posted by harkinoff
sounds like a BUM deal here..... hope your Brotherinlaw learned a lesson on how important it is to able to wrench on sheit yourself with a little help from buddies and family of course

Doubt it. He prefers to farm the work out.

He *might* listen to me when I recommend shops next time though and not listen to his *buddies*....

Might not though.

[Lama]

This individual is getting out of the fab business in any case. He is going into Washington State Patrol Acadamy (And he put this type of work onto the street?) shortly, so he is selling off all his shop equipment to pay for that.

In a year or so he will be pulling over wheelers for illegal bumper height, etc. cause he is an expert on vehicle safety standards

[PLUSH Fab]

Originally posted by Lama


In a year or so he will be pulling over wheelers for illegal bumper height, etc. cause he is an expert on vehicle safety standards

That made me laugh...

MVM