[sharkkid]

beautiful brake lines, but man with the rocks we wheel, those would be pinched shut first day out.

Thanks, and now im second guessing this brake line routing and how quickly they may get smashed shut. I'm using the top spring plate as the pad for my bump stop which is why I wanted to avoid routing the brake lines up and over that area. I could add a tab to the top plate as a means of securing the line to the front or back of that plate. This would create a path for the lines to be run on the top centerline of the axle. would need to add a 90 degree fitting from the steel braided line to the hard line as I would like to keep that mounting tab in the same relative location.

might be over thinking it but its a hell of a lot easier to redo it on the bench then on the truck or on the trail.

 

[]4RunnerKid[]

looks good, bud. not sure how you strap this turd down on the trailer, but that may be something else to consider with your brake line routing

 

[sharkkid]

Way over budget and way behind schedule (the original plan was to have the rear done by Scooter's wedding) but the rear end rebuild is complete and ready to go into its new home. What started as a maintenance focused rebuild snowballed pretty quickly. There isn't a whole lot that isn't new outside of the housing, pinion carrier, hubs and axles. this was my first real go at an overhaul of this scale and leveraged the shit out of the billa vista 14 bolt bible (BillaVista.com-14-Bolt Bible Tech Article by BillaVista), especially helpful with setting up the gears.
had plenty of hiccups along the way but overall im pretty stoked with how everything came out.

build list includes:
Barnes 13 bolt diff cover
Barnes 14 bolt truss
Barnes pinion guard
Ruff Stuff u bolt eliminator kit
Ruff Stuff disc brake brackets
new calipers, rotors and pads (auto-zone special)
new 5.38 thick cut gear set
new carrier (thick cut gears are not compatible with a 4.56 carrier)
new mini spool
all new bearings, races and seals
Before:

After:

 

[sharkkid]

Started to get the 60 put together so I can mock up the 4wu kit that has finally arrived. I was only able to get one side put together cause the lower king pin rebuild kit was missing the dust seal and wasn't able to find one locally. Trying to document and as much of the rebuild as possible. unlike the 14 bolt bible on pirate, there isn't really a single source for start to finish on rebuilding a 60. I'll say Im going to compile all this into one big post but we all know the reality of that happening.
In talking with some other people who have ran the kit, the plan is to run 16" 2.5 coil overs with 2" 2.0 air bumps. the mounts for the air bumps restrict my options a bit for the style of can I can run. Will need to run a single bolt style can or got with a King 2.0 that has a threaded stud. Its sounds like packaging everything is a bit of chore, especially when running the shock towers that came with the kit. If its too much shit to stuff up front I may opt to build my own hoops and tube work for the front but that will be a problem for a later date.

 

[azdirt3.0]

looking good. Glad to see the build still progressing!

 

[sharkkid]

looking good. Glad to see the build still progressing!

progress is crawling along here.

back in hover craft mode with the the 10 bolt removed. Next step will be to chop off all the existing brackets, tabs, hoops and mounts and clean up the entirety of the frame rails from the body mounts forward. The plan is to pull the motor and trans to make this effort easier, while hopefully tracking down a rebuilt transmission to replace this one with.

 

[sharkkid]

continuing to inch along with this thing. The 60 is pretty much assembled and ready for link brackets to be mocked up. I ran into some fitment issues with the disc brake brackets that came with the kit from Lugnut 4x4. Started the passenger side and couldn't get the caliper to fit between the arms of the caliper mount, nothing a little grinding couldn't fix. Once over that hurdle, the angle of bends in the bracket wasn't letting the caliper sit correctly left to right on the rotor. A little massaging in the press brake and it seemed to do the trick. Wasn't thrilled that I had to do any of this but moved on to the driver side. test fit the caliper, slid in fine but the bolt holes were about 1/4"- 3/8" out of alignment. At this point I reached out to Shawn from Lugnut and had 2 new brackets in the mail this morning. Do despite the frustration of not being able to get too much accomplished I was happy that Shawn took care of it no questions asked.

Used this as an opportunity to get some TIG practice in via the addition of some non-tear dropped weld washers. turns out, TIG welding is still pretty tough when do it about once a year. Looking forward to getting some more hood time with some of the components of this front end. Onto the passenger side link mount. the design intent is to locate the passenger side bracket using the bolt holes for the leaf spring perch. using those to locate the bracket there was about a 1/4" gap at the axle tube. I continued to reposition the bracket until I got a pretty tight fit to the axle tubes well still using the front bolt hole has my locating feature. In chatting with Brian from 4WU and showing him some photos of what I had mocked up, there wasn't going to be any ramifications future down the line with the new position I had the bracket it. Remade the "spacer" that resides under the bracket on the flat of the spring perch to account for the new fitment and placed the panhard bar mount in its home to confirm that everything was still happy. panhard mount actually sits in a better location now than so that was a plus. once it is tac'd into place the bolt is removed and the truss lands on top of that hole location.

 

[sharkkid]

New brake brackets from Lugnut4x4 came in, installed without issue. Making some progress on mocking up the axle side brackets. Passenger side lower link mount and panhard bar mount are in tacked in place, along with the truss. outside of a little material removal primarily around bent components, everything is fitting together well. Need to take some measurements and get the driver side link mount tacked in place.

Packaging the steering is going to be fun. Looking through some other builds that have used 4WU's Dana 60 kit, they seem to all use Artec's double sheer high steer arms. Using an arm with the knuckle bolt for double shear helps free up a fair amount of space. At a minimum, I will need to get a longer driver side high steer arm, which I can order from ballistic to match the length of my passenger arm.
With a longer driver side arm, I can assemble my steering to match this stacked style, but on the high steer arm opposed to the knuckle. Could try to create a modular double shear bracket, similar to what ballistic is offering, using the 5th knuckle bolt hole I am not currently using with the OEM style knuckle and/or the other tie rod/ drag link hole in the high steer arm. Once that is sorted out I can focus on packaging the hydro assist ram in there.

 

[sharkkid]

all of the axle side brackets are in place except for the upper link mount. that will get set once the axle is under the truck. ordered a new long driver arm from Ballistic. Once that arrives I will cut the tie rod down to length and mock up the hydro assist ram and intending to stick with the single shear steering. began tearing the front end apart to clean up the frame rails. Going to end up pulling the AC components to free up some space and combing through the bulk of the existing accessory wiring to tidy things up in that department as well. Will need to start thinking about what new tube work will need to be done up front for shock mounts, bumper and winch.

 

[sharkkid]

new long driver high steer arm arrived. got it installed, tie rod cut to length and hydro assist mocked up.

 

[sharkkid]

Making some headway on the front end of this thing. Brought Russ out of retirement to help me pull the motor out of this thing. The frame was littered with remnants of the old ifs brackets from the original solid axle swap. Couple that with a cracked passenger side motor mount and small crack developing below the core support on the driver side, pulling the motor to clean the frame rails was the only way I was going to be happy and confident with the end result of linking this thing.

Got the motor pulled followed by the trans and t cases, everything was pretty well cover in oil from a few power steering mishaps as well as a constant leak from the motor. Separated the trans from the t cases to slide the new to me transmission in. The counter shaft bearings in my current trans were going/gone and I scored a replacement for cheap. did a pretty thorough cleaning and once over of the cases, installed a new push and turn shifter base on the front case to make things a little more serviceable as well as a new seat and socket for the transmission. got the new trans mated to the old cases and the new t case crossmember.

Between Pat, Russ and myself we spent about 8 hours grinding away on the frame rails. removed all the existing motor mounts and ifs mounts, shock hoops, stock t case and fabricated mount that was a install for the dual cases. we debated cutting the frame at the body mounts and building all new but given the rarity of long, consecutive days in the garage, cleaning the stock frame and leaving the auxiliary electrical components in place (fuse box, battery, ignitor coil, resistors, smog equipment) was a better decision. The frame rails are as clean as they could be and ready to be plated. While everything is out I degreased and cleaned the entirety of the engine bay.

With the motor out, it seemed like a good time to install a new clutch and flywheel. Russ spent a good hour degreasing the motor in an attempt to locate the oil leak. initially we thought rear main seal had given out filthy the transmission was but after cleaning everything up and pull the valve cover we found water seeping in. the half moons on either end had not been properly sealed whenever the motor was initially installed and were pushing oil out the anytime it was running.

 

[sharkkid]

Rather than deal with trimming away the existing spring hanger and cleaning up what was there from the previous bumper, decided it would be best to just lop the front 16" of the stock frame off. This also gets the frame about 2" higher than stock and should net me some more favorable up travel numbers. I am planning to push the front axle forward a few more inches than what was there before which should get the 39's out of the way of the firewall. Next up is to finish welding and plating the frame rails and get the motor set back in place to start mocking up motor mounts.

 

[sharkkid]

continuing to crawl along...
Got the axle back from Rear End Specialities last week. ARB and 5.38's are set up and installed. Installed the shafts and hydro assist ram to verify clearances for steering. Need to tack the truss back in place but otherwise the axle is ready to get mocked up under the truck.

Fit up the frame plates for the outside and bottom of the frame rails. These plates came from 4WU but needed a bit of love to make them fit and tie in with the new section of frame. got the motor and transmission back in position and ready for mounts to be fabricated. Once I have a landing spot for the frame side motor mounts, I will mock up some additional fish plates for the top and inside frame rails where the 2x3 frame mates to the existing frame.

 

[sharkkid]

Motor and transmission are back in. I don't love the mounts that came with the FROR T case crossmember. There is a fairly large span between the motor mounts and the T crossmember so once the links are in I may try to come up with another crossmember that can tie into the front side of the skid. that being said, I'm not the first person to run this crossmember so it will probably work just fine. Pretty happy with how the motor mounts came out and should be plenty strong enough for that powerful 22re...

 

[sharkkid]

got the axle under the truck with the 39's to begin figuring out where its going to live. currently set with a 120" wheelbase (previously 118") and about 5 1/2" of available up travel. Should be a fun time packaging everything in there.

 

[sharkkid]

Not that I have a ton of variables available for adjustment, this is how things are looking. Having pretty limited experience with linked vehicles, happy to hear any feedback on items I should tweak.

 

[sharkkid]

Frame side panhard bar mount is tac'd in with an EMT panhard hard for the time being. making some progress on setting bump stop locations, driver side is integrated with the panhard mount. Pushed that assembly back as far as possible in an attempt to make some more room for the steering box and pitman arm. Drag link is going to be a chore to stuff in there and will probably need to clearance the frame to make it fit (I know I should just go full hydro). Need to get the passenger side bump mocked up and start cycling and checking clearances. Upper link mount has a cozy home between the frame rail and the oil pan. A little concerned that it may hit either of those when articulating so going to need to spend some time figuring those clearances out.

 

[sharkkid]

Bumps are set. Drag link is just laying in there, at full bump it "fits". It will come down a bit on the driver side once it is actually set in place as its currently sitting on top of the pitman arm. End of the day I will likely need to notch the frame to make room. need to spend some time getting the steering box in it's new home and see where all the components will actually land. I have both a flat and drop pitman arm so I have some different options.

The towers I purchased with the 4WU kit are not going to work. Since I pushed the axle forward from the intended location with this kit they are pretty much in the way of everything, steering, bumps, panhard mount, you name it, it interferes with it. I order some 1.5" hoops from RuffStuff which should be a much cleaner solution. So if anyone wants some unwelded cobra towers from 4WU let me know.

 

[sharkkid]

Full hydro components should arrive from PSC tomorrow. If someone is looking for a 8" stroke PSC hydro assist ram and a tapped toyota IFS steering box let me know. Passenger side shock hoop is mocked up. Need to clearance the fender well some more but overall I'm pretty happy with the "adjustable" shock hoop. Made things pretty easy to get set up in a happy place. Will build an engine crossover brace to support the top of the mounts and provide me with a location to mount the resi's on. Picking up the cab over camper this weekend so i will likely be throughly distracted for a bit.

 

[sharkkid]

Shock hoops are tacked in place and coilovers are mocked up. I am pretty happy with first pass at cycling everything. All clear on the firewall side but needs a fair amount of trimming on the core support below the headlights and need to double check steering angle and see what it is. it seems to have significantly more degrees of steering than i would have expected out of non clearance shafts. I am hoping to get 40-42* out of it. Also, very happy to be going the full hydro route. Zero percent chance a drag link would have cleared the frame without significant notching. Single ended ram mount on the axle side should end up being nicely incorporated to the driver side lower link mount. hoping to get that built this weekend. Building the engine crossover brace tonight to add some strength to the upper shock mounts