are you trying to get a rake to your stance or bring it totally level? Wouldn't putting a spacer on the main pivot help with the toe link issue? It's interesting that the front and rear are that different.
It's pretty level unladen, just want a little extra for towing or hauling my Teedub. That, and I may put the 2" spacers back on the front and try some 30x9.50 mudders...
I'm not a believer in spacing that main pivot, it alters the geometry of the whole swing. Besides that, i find that the extra lift pressure on the RTA causes the pivot bushing to "plunge" to the outside and rest against the wall of the pocket it rides in. ( that could be a small part of why i had to add more spacer in rear...?)
But here's my take on why the front and rear require different spacers to achieve the same lift: it's a matter of ratio, because of where the strut attaches to the lower member.
In front the strut is nearer to the center of a shorter arm, giving roughly a 2" lift per 1" of spacer. In the rear the relation is more direct, because the strut acts on a longer arm very near the free end.
Make sense? Sorry, I'm no engineer, I may not explain very well.
i need a bumper, scoop and paint job BAD, im torn between 1/8 steel or 1/4 aluminum for the bumper ;-)
so the axles are pretty bad, specially under boost in 1st. im thinking ill spacer the engine mounts and actually drop the engine 3/4 to 1 inch and maybe spacer the subframe too. it really depends on what needs to happen, i mean hell i might as well spacer all that shit but definitly not going to the lengths bam-bam did. at this point for the time being its at least drivable, im out of money so its down to fabrication of parts and ive got 3 projects brainstormed.
alright i need some input from you guys, specially bam-bam. i lifted the front alot so heres my plan:
spacer the front subframe 1"
spacer the front crossmember 1"
spacer the trans and engine mounts 1"
spacer the UCA mounts 1"
spacer the carrier bearings 1"
spacer the rear subframe 1"
spacer the rear struts 3.5"
spacer the upper rear diff mounts 1"
alot of this can be accomplished by simpling cutting out pieces of 1" plate and getting longer bolts. i know this wont bring the front axle angle to factory BUT it will bring the engine down a whole inch which im sure will help quite alot. as for the rear suspension, i think i could get away with leaving the camber and toe link mounts where they are and getting adjustable ones because all it will do is drop the LCA. any thoughts? the only thing im dreading with this endeavor is the steering shaft to the rack might need to be extended.
if this were a 2wd id totally just rotate the engine back to drop the front diff haha
alrighty, spent alot of time on the lathe this week........
first off scored some schedule 120ish 2" pipe from the scrap bin, cut it into appx. 3.5" lengths since the band saw is a little caddywompus
then ran them down to 3.5" +/- .010
next i cut some 1.75" discs out of 1/4" scrap
used the pilot hole from the hole saw to perfectly center the discs on the pipe and then tacked them in place
5 down 9 more to go
next is a 31/64th hole to snuggly accomodate an m12x1.25 bolt
so in the mean time while im building and welding up the spacers i did a trial run on how im going to get my m12x1.25x230mm bolts
ill use a 8.5" long 9/16 bolt or all-thread depending on the price, and m12 bolt has an overall diameter of .4625" i turned this down to .4715" to make sure i got deep threads. i put the bolt in the drill chuck attachment for the shuttle and an m12x1.25 in the lathe chuck. using the shuttle to push the bolt i was able to find a suitable gear reduction on the chuck and spin the hand wheel on the back to cut the threads. it worked exceptionally well, this is a strong bolt.......like absurdly hard, it took quite a bit to cut the head off the bolt with the metal chop saw. its just busy work now that i figured out my method.
after the subframes are all spaced im going to reinforce everything with 1.5" tubing.
this is quite an undertaking so its gonna take awhile, the only things im not sure on yet are extending the steering post and the UCA mounts.
got my honeymoon coming up so i wont have any time to work on it for awhile :-(
BINGO! instead of turning the threads off a 9/16, i found a 1/2-13 x 10"
ill only have to turn about .003" off
and cue montage:
<
video
and BAM
this was a grade 5 bolt, again a trial run, ill have to order 16 grade 8, 1/2-13x10" offline, the overall length after cutting the threads off is 8 3/8", thats within 3mm of what i need........i guess sometimes shit just works out :-)
im also toying with the idea of cutting the threads with the lathe instead of a die, this is a 1948 LeBlonde lathe so it CLEARLY does not have metric pitchs, BUT 1.25 pitch equates to 20.32TPI so maybe i can fudge it by .32 TPI? ill try that before i make up my mind
You think i could get away with building a drop bracket and actually rotating the bolts 90 degrees for the uca mount? In hindsight maybe I should've just bit the bullet and gone for 6". As far as ordering bolts go....... This whole "shipping" thing is getting out of hand, I found a place that will actually ship to Alaska and they want 51$ to ship 5lbs of fasteners! It's horseshit! Especially when someone in Seattle will ship to Miami for free but want an arm and a leg to ship to Anchorage, sometimes I kinda wish I lived in the lower 48. End rant.
Rotating those pivots is an interesting idea. I don't see why not. But...you'll still have to notch the 'frame rail' part of the apron.
Why not 6"?? I only settled on 4 because that was the thickness of my donor floorpan mostly.
I never gave you an opinion on your query the other day re: longer UCAs and toe links. I don't think that's the way. Need to move ALL of the points down the same amount, I think.
Ok, I guess I could just build drop brackets for those mounts, I think I'm pretty limited to 4" by the bolts, I could go 6" but that would require getting grade 8 threaded rod which is $$$. I used sch120 pipe because its what I had on hand but if I were to get 2" round stock all I'd need to do is drill the hole. I'd almost consider building selling a few lift kits but I just don't know, liability and such
I thought about it and I'm gonna stick with the 4" lift, if I were to go 6" it would include frame rails, 2 solid axles, and 350cubic inches of sweet 'Mercian freedom
Comments
are you trying to get a rake to your stance or bring it totally level? Wouldn't putting a spacer on the main pivot help with the toe link issue? It's interesting that the front and rear are that different.
But here's my take on why the front and rear require different spacers to achieve the same lift: it's a matter of ratio, because of where the strut attaches to the lower member.
In front the strut is nearer to the center of a shorter arm, giving roughly a 2" lift per 1" of spacer. In the rear the relation is more direct, because the strut acts on a longer arm very near the free end.
Make sense? Sorry, I'm no engineer, I may not explain very well.
undetected and unsuspected
spent a good 20 min with a carbide cutter taking the weld out of the inner bore so the shock tower will fit. then finished it with a flapper disc
and then drilled holes for the studs, heres the issue, theres no room for a nut so looks like im going to have weld the bottom
thats it for today, now that i have the bolt spacing correct, ill use the drill press tomorrow to drill the rest and then on to bead blasting
i used the drill press to drill the rest of the holes and made some finishing touches to get it to fit in the pocket in the unibody
bead blasted and painted
ill let that kick till tomorrow and then lord willing we'll be in business
did work today
fit check
found a little surprise on the drivers side
Before:
After:
rockin it AK STYLE
i need a bumper, scoop and paint job BAD, im torn between 1/8 steel or 1/4 aluminum for the bumper ;-)
so the axles are pretty bad, specially under boost in 1st. im thinking ill spacer the engine mounts and actually drop the engine 3/4 to 1 inch and maybe spacer the subframe too. it really depends on what needs to happen, i mean hell i might as well spacer all that shit but definitly not going to the lengths bam-bam did. at this point for the time being its at least drivable, im out of money so its down to fabrication of parts and ive got 3 projects brainstormed.
spacer the front subframe 1"
spacer the front crossmember 1"
spacer the trans and engine mounts 1"
spacer the UCA mounts 1"
spacer the carrier bearings 1"
spacer the rear subframe 1"
spacer the rear struts 3.5"
spacer the upper rear diff mounts 1"
alot of this can be accomplished by simpling cutting out pieces of 1" plate and getting longer bolts. i know this wont bring the front axle angle to factory BUT it will bring the engine down a whole inch which im sure will help quite alot. as for the rear suspension, i think i could get away with leaving the camber and toe link mounts where they are and getting adjustable ones because all it will do is drop the LCA. any thoughts? the only thing im dreading with this endeavor is the steering shaft to the rack might need to be extended.
if this were a 2wd id totally just rotate the engine back to drop the front diff haha
first off scored some schedule 120ish 2" pipe from the scrap bin, cut it into appx. 3.5" lengths since the band saw is a little caddywompus
then ran them down to 3.5" +/- .010
next i cut some 1.75" discs out of 1/4" scrap
used the pilot hole from the hole saw to perfectly center the discs on the pipe and then tacked them in place
5 down 9 more to go
next is a 31/64th hole to snuggly accomodate an m12x1.25 bolt
so in the mean time while im building and welding up the spacers i did a trial run on how im going to get my m12x1.25x230mm bolts
ill use a 8.5" long 9/16 bolt or all-thread depending on the price, and m12 bolt has an overall diameter of .4625" i turned this down to .4715" to make sure i got deep threads. i put the bolt in the drill chuck attachment for the shuttle and an m12x1.25 in the lathe chuck. using the shuttle to push the bolt i was able to find a suitable gear reduction on the chuck and spin the hand wheel on the back to cut the threads. it worked exceptionally well, this is a strong bolt.......like absurdly hard, it took quite a bit to cut the head off the bolt with the metal chop saw. its just busy work now that i figured out my method.
after the subframes are all spaced im going to reinforce everything with 1.5" tubing.
this is quite an undertaking so its gonna take awhile, the only things im not sure on yet are extending the steering post and the UCA mounts.
got my honeymoon coming up so i wont have any time to work on it for awhile :-(
ill only have to turn about .003" off
and cue montage:
video
and BAM
this was a grade 5 bolt, again a trial run, ill have to order 16 grade 8, 1/2-13x10" offline, the overall length after cutting the threads off is 8 3/8", thats within 3mm of what i need........i guess sometimes shit just works out :-)
im also toying with the idea of cutting the threads with the lathe instead of a die, this is a 1948 LeBlonde lathe so it CLEARLY does not have metric pitchs, BUT 1.25 pitch equates to 20.32TPI so maybe i can fudge it by .32 TPI? ill try that before i make up my mind
I'm kind of confused by the bolt in the traction bar, you're going to drop it by that much?
Why not 6"?? I only settled on 4 because that was the thickness of my donor floorpan mostly.
I never gave you an opinion on your query the other day re: longer UCAs and toe links. I don't think that's the way. Need to move ALL of the points down the same amount, I think.