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Mog-9 Build Thread.... !!! PICS !!! - @MightAsWellK5

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Discussion starter · #341 ·
Here's a video clip from my time in the shop last night.

I'm still fine-tuning some of the final bracketry for the front axle, and this video shows just how tight the packaging of steering, PHB and tie rod can get! :)


Front Mog-9 Axle... Steering design and test - YouTube



-G
 
Discussion starter · #343 ·
Chkn said:
That is really tight. Are you going to run with that or rework it more?
Click to expand...
If it clears once, it will clear every time. :smokin:

For suspension links (where the overall length could change slightly and affect alignment or relationship of items) I'd probably look for extra margin. But in this case the limiting factor is the steering stops, and the PHB is welded to the axle so there's really no chance that anything is going to work it's way out of alignment.

Ultimately, I need to rework that uppermost horizontal steering arm plate one more time (for other reasons) so things will end up slightly different than what you see in the video. But the packaging is still going to be awfully tight.... there's a LOT to make fit in a very small amount of space. The portals make everything harder to do....


-G
 
Discussion starter · #344 ·
Here's a quick photo dump of stuff I've been working on lately.....

Mostly front axle / steering related. Just trying to get all the smaller "scabbed-together" parts replaced with final assemblies. Real Branik links have been ordered for both the front and rear suspensions, so it won't be much longer until this truck can actually bear it's own weight and get off the jackstands for good!!!


Template for PS steering arm...




Rendered in steel....




Installed.....




Slightly different angle....



Ran a thick-walled sleeve all the way through to strengthen arm....



Welding up stock Mog arm to redrill as a double-shear brace on PS knuckle... the bolt now runs all the way down from the very top of the steering arm, through the DOM slug, and out the bottom through a freshly-drilled hole in the stock Mog steering arm. Locks everything together nicely!!!



New DS idler steering arm design. Trying to get the steering geometry perfect....



Hard left turn....against the factory steering stops on the knuckles....




Still a long way to go on this build, it seems like I build every part 3 times before I'm satisfied with it.





-G
 
Discussion starter · #346 ·
2014.07.21 - UPDATE

The rain and humidity have finally subsided, and the weather has been sunny and just about perfect for the last few days. I was hoping to have some new UPS boxes to open up and show you, but it was not meant to be.... however, inbound packages from EMF (Evolution Machine), Branik and ORD should be arriving today and tomorrow and things are about to get a LOT more finished-looking on this build.

In the meantime, there is ALWAYS something that can be done while I'm waiting for parts so I spent some time yesterday getting to business.

As mentioned in earlier posts, it made sense to me to try to incorporate the PHB and idler bracketry into a large single bolt-on plate for the DS framerail.... for a couple of reasons. First, it makes it simpler when the time comes to break this whole project down for paint/powdercoat to get things down to their simplest form, without having a bunch of large welded brackets hanging off one side of the frame. It also helps to insure that if I decide to make some "tweaks" to the design later on, I have the option to build a slightly different bracket and swap it over without having to take a cut-off wheel to my beautiful painted parts.... Ultimately, building the entire bracket as a mini-monolith, should give it more strength as well since I can tie both items together with large unified braces.

So.... here's the basic idea:

Image


The side plate was easy. Just trace up the profile of the framerail onto some cardboard and then cut it out of 1/4" steel. The harder part was coming up with the top cap that I also want to have. Since it needs to follow a curvy shape, I needed to use one of my old tricks and make a few carefully positioned slices in the plate so that it would bend in the right spots.....

Image


With a few clamps and a few tweaks and mallet blows, I had the upper plate following the frame profile perfectly!

About this time, I also realized that this plate was going to overlap one of the 3 steering box mounting bolts, so I needed to spend some time figuring out the through-hole location precisely so that I could drill a 7/8" hole for the "through the frame" DOM bolt slug. Obviously, this plate is going to have a number of bolts that run through the frame so I'm going to be welding those DOM sleeves in several other spots as well.

For the time being, getting the hole in this mini-monolith was enough to keep progress moving forward.


Image


After marking the hole location on both the inner and outer framerails the holes were drilled out to 7/8" for the two steering box bolts (the 3rd lower steering box bolt actually ends up completely underneath the frame... about 2" away from any metal down there, so it will require a custom bracket later on). If you remember, the steering box has an odd set of mounting feet that don't actually sit flat against the frame. A standoff is required to clear the steeringbox body so the DOM sleeves were left 3/4" long on the inside to allow the box to mount properly.

Image



Image



Ultimately, there is just enough room on the inside of the framrail to sneak another 1/4" plate under that steering box for some additional bracing and strength.... given the steering forces involved, it seems like cheap insurance and it's not worth risking a torn steering box mount just to save the weight of maybe 1 pound of steel plate.

Final shot of the evening, Idler back close to it's correct position again, ready for a set of "nice" pivot bracketry:

Image




-G
 
Discussion starter · #347 ·
Finished up the front suspension work and was finally able to cut off the casters that have been holding up the front end for the last 21+ months!!!!!



My version of the "Bucket Challenge" that is all the rage on social media these days....



Now that it was finally on it's own 4 wheels for the first time in almost 6 years, I decided to roll it out of the garage and onto the driveway for a few "beauty shots"....













....here's what it's all about when you build with Portal axles...... CLEARANCE!!!!!!






-G
 
#349 ·
Greg72 said:
Image


-G
Click to expand...
I don't understand why you did the cuts to bend the top plate. I assume your going to run a bead at each slice. It would look better and be stronger to just bend it with a torch. (Or Even cold bend it)

Anyways, the project looks great.
 
Discussion starter · #350 · (Edited)
The simple answer is that I don't own a torch... and didn't expect that trying to bend it in a bench vise or with my HF press would give me a tight fit-up to the framerail underneath....

Ultimately, those slices got welded back up once the part received all of it's final welding....



.... a few additional minutes with a flapwheel and some Roloc discs got rid of those welds and made it look just like a formed part anyway. :)

-G
 
Discussion starter · #352 ·
bcos said:
What a great build and attention to detail. Great work!

Keep us posted!
Bill
Click to expand...

Thanks....

The last 60 days have been insanely cold here. Not the most fun environment for making progress.... But the weather is starting to turn, should be in the 30s this weekend!

Stay tuned..... :grinpimp:


-G
 
Discussion starter · #356 ·
nwflyoda said:
That is massive!!

I can't find it in your thread, but what is your belly height now? Was it 27"?
Click to expand...
Depends how I set the ORIs pressure-wise.

I am going for 6" of bump travel up front (14" struts) and 7" bump travel in the rear (16" struts). That puts me at 26.5" belly height.

The suspension is set up pretty nicely in terms of anti-squat and roll steer. I can raise or lower the suspension by a couple of inches and the numbers still look really good. So for street driving, I could drop it down to around 24.5" belly height, and give up a couple inches of bump travel but have a lower CG and better handling overall.

-G
 
#357 ·
Just read this entire thread. Thoroughly impressed. I am now hooked on the idea of portals. Very clean work.

You definitely shouldve been an engineer. We could use more "real-life" people, like yourself, in the field. Not just bookworms behind a copy of solidworks.
 
Discussion starter · #358 ·
WhyJayPA said:
Just read this entire thread. Thoroughly impressed. I am now hooked on the idea of portals. Very clean work.

You definitely shouldve been an engineer. We could use more "real-life" people, like yourself, in the field. Not just bookworms behind a copy of solidworks.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

For many years now I have wished that I had more formal schooling in Mechanical Engineering... there are SO many times when it would have helped. Fortunately for me, I do have several very intelligent MEs following my thread (both here and on CK5.com) who have been great about helping me along with materials questions or formulas when I get stuck along the way.

I think that a great challenge for every "keyboard or textbook engineer" out there is to try to actually build the stuff you design on your computer. Things will often seen "easy" in SolidWorks (or even in a 4-Link Calculator!) :smokin: ... but they get a whole lot more interesting when put into the larger context of the vehicle where they actually need to fit.

I have thrown away so many "great looking" paper designs because they just didn't fit on the truck.... either they hit the sheetmetal, the oilpan, or the frame when things started cycling up and down... There is a certain pragmatism that is required to get a design to work properly. Some of it requires thoughtful compromise, some is just a lot of revisions and re-testing.

The hardest part is knowing that 90% of the learning that goes into a build like this ends up in the scrap pile (or wastebasket). Only that last 10% (the stuff that works, or has been refined to work) is visible as part of the end-result.


-G
 
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