Dan's 90 FSB build

Kage. · Oct 19, 2017

DMANbluesfreak said:
Document the shit out of the VSS mod for the 205 tailhousing, please :grinpimp:

Ditto to that, I'm wondering if there is smaller packaging option. I'd like to throw an E brake on my T-case, but my VSS setup kind of makes that difficult.

For reference: The Mighty Merc â€“ Moving the VSS and Tone Ring Math – Midwest Nomads

arse_sidewards · Oct 19, 2017

Kage. said:
Ditto to that, I'm wondering if there is smaller packaging option. I'd like to throw an E brake on my T-case, but my VSS setup kind of makes that difficult.

For reference: The Mighty Merc â€“ Moving the VSS and Tone Ring Math – Midwest Nomads

Plenty of 4x4.25 front rotor options. IIRC Mercury Topaz was smallest diameter at 9.xx". It wouldn't be hard to stick a tone ring/sprocket that bolts to the transfer case side of the flange.

I would personally have the rotor on the t-case side of the flange and offset toward the t-case. This would let you run the caliper in a plane closer to the output bearing retainer face (less force on the bolts, less flexing, less leaking) . You could run the tone ring inside the hat of the rotor and build a caliper bracket that provides a hole for it to mount and shields the tone ring from anything larger than a grain of sand.

I did a lot of thinking about parking brakes before a rear end with discs came along at a good price.

sterlingfire · Oct 19, 2017

DMANbluesfreak said:
Document the shit out of the VSS mod for the 205 tailhousing, please :grinpimp:

I'm just going to send my tail housing, and output shaft to ORD and pay them $195 to do it for me:smokin:it's worth the cost to get it installed in the right position imo, as soon as i sell this 203 i bought thinking i was going to do a 203/205 doubler:shaking:without considering the better options out there.
I added it all up last night, and to get the eco, go to 1410 front and rear outputs, get a 1410 front shaft kit, front Dane 60 1410 yoke, vss mod, triple stick from jb fab (i may just build my own though), and fully rebuild the 205, I'll have a little less than 2k into it. That will include having the front and rear shafts cut, welded, tubed and balanced as well. To go to a 4 speed atlas is going to be in the 4500 range. Since that has to include the drive shaft upgrades as well. Can't wait to get going on this. This will be as good as going straight axle imo:grinpimp:

Josh40601 · Oct 19, 2017

dan, are you running a front sway bar on your truck to account for the freedom of the 3 link up front?

sterlingfire · Oct 19, 2017

Josh40601 said:
dan, are you running a front sway bar on your truck to account for the freedom of the 3 link up front?

I can tell you that I'm not. There's no real freedom of the three link. The Panhard keeps the axle from any lateral movement, and the upper and lower links keep it from moving fore and aft. I have considered a sway bar, and actually have a stock bar modified to fit my axle, but with no real need, i haven't put it on. The ride is great, and it flexes quite well when compared to leaf sprung rigs in stock form. I have pretty good spring rates for ride and control. Although with a winch and new bumper up front, I'll likely see a difference in handling characteristics, so the sway bar may be installed at that point.

sterlingfire · Oct 19, 2017

Kage. said:
Ditto to that, I'm wondering if there is smaller packaging option. I'd like to throw an E brake on my T-case, but my VSS setup kind of makes that difficult.

For reference: The Mighty Merc â€“ Moving the VSS and Tone Ring Math – Midwest Nomads

VSS Modification for NP205 - Fullsize 4x4 Parts

This is the setup I'm going to be using, but it doesn't go to a ford ecm, only for LS applications. You may want to call them and find out if they can do it for ford applications.

Kage. · Oct 19, 2017

sterlingfire said:
VSS Modification for NP205 - Fullsize 4x4 Parts

This is the setup I'm going to be using, but it doesn't go to a ford ecm, only for LS applications. You may want to call them and find out if they can do it for ford applications.

That's actually pretty slick! And I bet I can home brew that. Thanks!

sterlingfire · Oct 19, 2017

Kage. said:
That's actually pretty slick! And I bet I can home brew that. Thanks!

No problem. The more i think about it, i think i can home brew it as well. The tone ring is the same as np241,which I'm tearing apart to build the eco, it just needs a little machined off, then get an o ringed plug, and drill/tap the housing. The vss would work from the 241 as well. I have everything i need, just have to pay for a bit of machining and viola, I'm good.

Dan90FSB · Oct 19, 2017

Manual Trans and a stupid computer here... Whats a VSS :flipoff2:

On the subject of t-case mounted parking brake, anyone have a set up they like? I bought the kit from High Angle Driveline and spent stupid amounts of time dicking with it and it never worked.

Josh40601 said:
dan, are you running a front sway bar on your truck to account for the freedom of the 3 link up front?

No sway bar. Spring rate and shocks matter more than the suspension in this regard I think. That said, mine are soft, so its a little floaty at speed but manageable.

Josh40601 · Oct 20, 2017

Dan90FSB said:
On the subject of t-case mounted parking brake, anyone have a set up they like? I bought the kit from High Angle Driveline and spent stupid amounts of time dicking with it and it never worked.

Did you reach out to Jess? He's pretty good about standing behind his products and ones he sells. If you still have the majority of the pieces, might be worth giving him a call and seeing if he can point you in the right direction

Dan90FSB said:
No sway bar. Spring rate and shocks matter more than the suspension in this regard I think. That said, mine are soft, so its a little floaty at speed but manageable.

good to know. Thanks for the info

mccustomize · Oct 20, 2017

Nice writeup! I am looking forward to hearing more about UA, I didn't make the final cut this year but that's fine since I would have probably made some shortcuts to get there anyway. I'm ready for 2018.

Looks like the prep you did beforehand made all the difference!

DMANbluesfreak · Oct 20, 2017

Kage. said:
That's actually pretty slick! And I bet I can home brew that. Thanks!

'

After seeing your build, I have no doubt in my mind you could do that.

sterlingfire said:
No problem. The more i think about it, i think i can home brew it as well. The tone ring is the same as np241,which I'm tearing apart to build the eco, it just needs a little machined off, then get an o ringed plug, and drill/tap the housing. The vss would work from the 241 as well. I have everything i need, just have to pay for a bit of machining and viola, I'm good.

This is more what I was looking for when I asked for you to document. $195 isn't bad considering what ORD gives you, but I'm in the same boat as you already having the tone ring, VSS sensor/pigtail, and easily getting an O-ring plug. Just need the dimension for the VSS machine port from the center of the output shaft and it's easy peasy to figure out. I have a spare 241 I could probably use to try and figure this out... hmmm.

sterlingfire · Oct 20, 2017

DMANbluesfreak said:
'

After seeing your build, I have no doubt in my mind you could do that.

This is more what I was looking for when I asked for you to document. $195 isn't bad considering what ORD gives you, but I'm in the same boat as you already having the tone ring, VSS sensor/pigtail, and easily getting an O-ring plug. Just need the dimension for the VSS machine port from the center of the output shaft and it's easy peasy to figure out. I have a spare 241 I could probably use to try and figure this out... hmmm.

I know you do, rip it apart and get me some dimensions. I might have some access to a Bridgeport and a lathe. So machining may be less than cheap in my case. The worst that can happen is i have to buy a tone ring that is rumored to be only 20 to 30 from the dealer. I've studied ord pictures and looks like figuring out where to mill the housing is easy as well.

sterlingfire · Oct 24, 2017

Dan90FSB said:
Take em up to at least 65 for me will yah :grinpimp:

I trailer too, but for some reason even after buying my trailer I've street driven a lot... 1300 miles for UA, 100 miles on a Rubicon trip recently, 500 miles back in February for a snow run... Maybe I missed the right way to do this trailer thing :homer:

I bet I'll normalize to like... 1,000 miles a year max. Seems the tires would go for at least 8-10k on the street? So that should be fine, right!?

I took them up to 25 psi in the front 22 psi out back and got my pos driving about 70 mph this weekend. They drove pretty good imo. My wheels have some leftover mud in them from r+v, so they vibrated a little bit, but nothing too bad. Not even close to being as bad as my pitbulls. I also have a set of centramatics that are designed for h1 beadlocks. I'm going to put them on with these wheels and tires, and I'll bet that little vibration goes away. Anyway, my overall road driving impression is that if they didn't wear super fast, I'd drive them across the country, and even though they wear quick, the offroad capability far surpasses that aspect, and I'll trailer as much as possible, or get another set for road driving....

Dan90FSB · Oct 25, 2017

sterlingfire said:
I took them up to 25 psi in the front 22 psi out back and got my pos driving about 70 mph this weekend. They drove pretty good imo. My wheels have some leftover mud in them from r+v, so they vibrated a little bit, but nothing too bad. Not even close to being as bad as my pitbulls. I also have a set of centramatics that are designed for h1 beadlocks. I'm going to put them on with these wheels and tires, and I'll bet that little vibration goes away. Anyway, my overall road driving impression is that if they didn't wear super fast, I'd drive them across the country, and even though they wear quick, the offroad capability far surpasses that aspect, and I'll trailer as much as possible, or get another set for road driving....

Good input, thanks. How's the road noise?

Dan90FSB · Oct 25, 2017

Day 5 Sunday June 25th

Day Four of Ultimate Adventure 2017

We wake up at the hotel in Payson, AZ to another alarm clock. With 20 rigs, a camera crew and 40+ dudes to wrangle, our days tend to start early. We were told by the hotel clerk the night before that the complimentary breakfast was fantastic. I was skeptical but vaguely optimistic, so I was a little disappointed that the highlight was what I think was scrambled eggs coated in what I’m sure was Velveeta. Whatever, the price was right, and it did the job.

At the drivers meeting, Trent tells us we’re heading to a nearby nation park that has a huge natural arch – the largest Travestine arch in North America it turns out. It’s early and already hot but the ~ 4K foot elevation helps a bit. We pile in the rigs and head a few miles up the highway to the park. The scenery there is nice, the elevation makes things a little greener, especially in June since we aren’t that far from the rainy season.

We quickly take over the parking lot, and inevitably feet hang out from under vehicles. Returning reader Wayne in the 70’s green Chevy discovers the seal has come out of the back of his t-case where the yoke is. He and Pewe would spend most of the rest of the day chasing a seal at local parts stores, and after coming up dry, pounding the old seal straight with a hammer, and reinstalling, where it served him well with minimal leakage the rest of the trip.

Dave Chappelles rig seen here, I think the muffler bearing was loose.

After checking out the view from the top, most of us hiked down to the bottom, which really gives a better sense of how big it is.

The water was also very cold and refreshing since it was already well over 90. There were many shirts and hats dunked to give some short term cooling.

If you look close in the middle of this picture there’s 4-5 people standing which give a good sense of scale

After about an hour in the park, Trent tells us we’re going rock crawling, or in his words, I believe it was “sure nuff rock crawling”.

Cars to the left, wheelers to the right please!

Dan90FSB · Oct 25, 2017

The terrain is typical of the area: dried up river bed with various sized rocks, making for lots of options for different lines.

Someone put this big rock in the middle of the trail! So I did the only logical thing, and drove around it. Path of least resistance, er something. Right? Kidding! 3 link FTW

This big rock was one of the first pretty technical spots that gave a few of us a little trouble.

Dan90FSB · Oct 25, 2017

The 42’s and Coopers driving prowess helped the DPP Ram navigate the big rocks. This thing really is huge in person, Cooper did an impressive job of keeping the body of the rocks.

I high centered and dinged up my skid plate a bit, that’s what it’s there for I guess!

We moved on down the trail and some darker looking clouds started to roll in. Frankly I don’t think any of us would’ve complained about a little rain with the 100+ degree heat. The Dana JK was climbing this gnarly ledge and clipped the rear driveshaft, which behind LS Corvette power, promptly pretzeled itself.

I’ve heard of 2 piece driveshafts but I don’t think this is the same thing…

Fred using power tools under said Jeep (insert Tim the Tool Man Taylor grunting). Said broken driveshaft can be seen in the top left.

There was an easy exit on the trail nearby, so the Dana crew made it off the trail in front wheel drive, and went in search of a driveshaft. I suspect they struggled, given the rarity of JK's.

Dan90FSB · Oct 25, 2017

Meanwhile up the trail the group had reached the hardest obstacle, a steep, off camber rock face climb. With a narrow ledge, and a nice drop off to the passenger side. Most passengers opted to remove themselves from the vehicle. To take pictures. Yeah, take pictures…

Success rate was roughly 50-50, many people in the group came up on the winch, including myself, and the DPP rig as seen here

Sam decided his toob buggy might be better off on another line. Despite a hell of a showing he was denied. A little more tire diameter and it woulda popped right up.

The group hung out for a while and watched everyone try their turn at the rock face climb. The clouds overhead kept getting darker which were a welcomed break from the beating hot sun. They culminated in about 14 drops of rain so really the clouds turned out to be an amazing thing!

Chris in the H3 had a great line going and then lost a hub. With the winch helping, he then lost a tire bead. When it rains it pours. All were easy fixes, a little air in the tire and a borrowed slug and he was trail ready again in a few minutes.

Somewhere during the day I massaged my front driveshaft on a rock a little. They may be heavy but quarter inch wall shafts are where its at!

As is typical by this point, it was late in the day and we still had some ground to cover before getting to camp. We did some highway mileage, and again in keeping with the new norm, turned onto the dirt and drove probably 20 miles of dirt roads, arriving at camp at the top of a bluff looking down at Payson below. By the time we hit camp it was probably 11 PM. Dinner was cooked, beverages consumed, and ZZZ’s were had.

sterlingfire · Oct 25, 2017

Dan90FSB said:
Good input, thanks. How's the road noise?

Not near as bad as you'd think. Quiet compared to my pitbulls for sure. Less noise than most swampers I've heard running down the road next to me, but never really been in a truck on the highway with those. The one big downside (maybe) is that the recommended top speed for these tires (bias) is 65 mph.

Dan's 90 FSB build

Kage.

arse_sidewards

sterlingfire

Josh40601

sterlingfire

sterlingfire

Kage.

sterlingfire

Dan90FSB

Josh40601

mccustomize

DMANbluesfreak

sterlingfire

sterlingfire

Dan90FSB

Dan90FSB

Dan90FSB

Dan90FSB

Dan90FSB

sterlingfire

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