Well, it's only been 6 weeks, I just went back and reviewed
The car's nowhere near running, but this is still a nice milestone.
I installed the manual steering by using the bushings from both racks
Now I get to figure out how to hook the shaft up :? If I don't like the steering effort with a big ol' wheel, maybe I'll add PS later.
Got these stuck in, that should be all of the welding/fab up front. I still have to drop the mounts for the midshaft/VC, and finish tying in the rear trailing arm mounts and compensator arms
Now I need to measure for some wheels and tires. 0 offset may not be enough!
Note that this is just the 4" body lift without any spring lift in front. As I add the drivetrain, I'll need the 2"ish of spacer to keep it level. As I looked at this I wondered:
Has anyone ever tried coilover adjuster sleeves at the top of the spring?
I'm going to try it. With the top way down like that it's accessible, at least
the coilover sleeve at the top of the spring, that might just work. the top of the spring is already cut flat to fit in the top hat, so it should fit flush against the perch. most coilover sleeve setups come with springs that are the same diameter top and bottom, and the spring sets nicely into the stock tophat, so i imagine the stock spring would be the same diameter at the top, and should match the coilover perch diameter.
The only issue I can see is that the sleeves usually mount onto the shock body via set screws or just rubber o-rings, but at the top there will be no shock body on which to mount the sleeve. Prob have to weld the sleeve to the top hat.
You mentioned that 0 offset may not give you enough clearance... are you worried that the wheel / tire will interfere with the spindle / upper control arm? At first glance, it looked like it was already way close, but then i realized there really isn't that much clearance there in the first place.
Good to see this on the ground!!!! I am really anticipating the moment when we get to see the first test drive video, and the first time you take it off road (and hopefully take it over some sweet jumps!)
^^^^ all coilover sleves I have come across are aluminum, steel and aluminum don't weld together that well
Bambam make some adapters some shocks like this lol.I'll be more then happy to help with machine work I'll Pm you
I was thinking the same thing about the aluminum..... I like the idea of flipping the stock damper upside down.... that might not be too hard to fabricate. just be careful cutting and welding on a pressurized damper.
and I agree with proonthesnow. an exoskeleton would be awesome. heavy, but awesome.
I'm just talking about putting a regular cheapo coilover sleeve at the top of the (stock) spring. The spring will hold it up there. Those set screws and o-rings and such are just for centering, so they can make them 'one-size-fits-all'.
If you swap out the seats - and either side's of yours have good covers I want the covers, or just one! I need to recover my driver's seat. Its driving me nuts!
And yeah, an exo skeleton would be heavy, but would add soooo much to the badassedness that this thing is. Or some rock sliders... Needs a Jerry Can rack somewhere too
But excellent work. I can't wait to see some video of this in action!!!
Hey bam. It's looking like this is actually going to work, which is scary lol!
My question/issue is this...are you actually gaining any more suspension travel at all? From my readings it "looks" like a body lift similar to what one does on a truck.....which does not increase suspension travel. Have you thought about increased travel for better off road performance? Or is it in fact going to already have increased travel an I just totally missed it?
Of course it's going to work! People driving behind me may be able to read my tire sidewalls, but it'll roll...
It is just a lift, no added travel. The purpose of a body lift is to gain clearance for bigger tires, which will in turn provide more ground clearance. There may be some increased use of the existing range just because of starting from a further extension, but that would be purely incidental.
I'm not trying to build a rally car, just having fun. The point of this thing is just to use what I have to build something wacky.(Same as the camper)
If you swap out the seats - and either side's of yours have good covers I want the covers, or just one! I need to recover my driver's seat. Its driving me nuts!
And yeah, an exo skeleton would be heavy, but would add soooo much to the badassedness that this thing is. Or some rock sliders... Needs a Jerry Can rack somewhere too
But excellent work. I can't wait to see some video of this in action!!!
These seats are brown.
It will have rock sliders incorporated as part of the guards for the rear suspension. If you look back a few pages you can see some vulnerable low-hanging sheetmetal.
Exo would look cool, but it would be writing rockcrawler checks that this little ass can't cash! There are a lot of things I'd like to incorporate, but each weighs a little something, and it's still a d16 :shock:
If you swap out the seats - and either side's of yours have good covers I want the covers, or just one! I need to recover my driver's seat. Its driving me nuts!
And yeah, an exo skeleton would be heavy, but would add soooo much to the badassedness that this thing is. Or some rock sliders... Needs a Jerry Can rack somewhere too
But excellent work. I can't wait to see some video of this in action!!!
These seats are brown.
It will have rock sliders incorporated as part of the guards for the rear suspension. If you look back a few pages you can see some vulnerable low-hanging sheetmetal.
Exo would look cool, but it would be writing rockcrawler checks that this little ass can't cash! There are a lot of things I'd like to incorporate, but each weighs a little something, and it's still a d16 :shock:
Don't bother trying to make it carry all that extra stuff. Just run a SAG Wagon!
I don't need no Spares Air and Gear. I'm gonna haul my TW200 sideways on a hitch carrier. If I get stuck I'll just ride for help 8) .
So now it goes where ya point it!
I'd been thinking I would use this extra pinion and the clamp off of one of these universals to make an extension shaft
I was overthinking it...I think Decided to section 2 steering columns and use tubing to splice. While looking around the shop for a suitable piece of tube, I happened upon the Harbor Freight press. Its jack handle is perfect.
Drew an index line to keep the joints phased like stock
I'm not sure how much that matters, but I find that things on these cars are seldom laid out randomly. Interestingly, the joints are phased 1/8 turn apart (45 degrees)
Mocked it up to get a rough length
and stuck it together
It's not welded or pinned yet, but the tube is a snug enough fit for testing. I had to beat it together :P
Now I just need to figure out how to seal this up
I think either a shifter boot, or some combination of CV boot and tubing to seal up the gap.
I guess I didn't take into consideration its still going to be a single cam, even SC'd its still got to turn bigger tires and what not...
I guess My thought was more or less it would look badass with an exoskeleton, but functionally, its cons would outweigh the pros.
I was thinking like an old rubber shift boot from the junkyard would work perfectly to solve your hole problem there. I have no doubts you'll figure something out, I mean look at this thing! Its awesome!
I'm just talking about putting a regular cheapo coilover sleeve at the top of the (stock) spring. The spring will hold it up there. Those set screws and o-rings and such are just for centering, so they can make them 'one-size-fits-all'.
I would think that the sleeve would slide around, not having a shock body in the center to keep itself aligned. true the tension of the spring will hold it up to the top hat, but what's to keep it from sliding around in the hat? (then your spring gets misaligned and you could end up bending the shaft on the damper) From my experience with coilover sleeves, the outer diameter of the sleeve is significantly smaller than the inner diameter of the top hat. Perhaps you could make a half inch thick spacer to fit between the sleeve and the top hat....? Kinda like how you used an extra bushing to sleeve the steering rack mount. That could be a simple solution, and it might work.
BTW Great job on the steering setup. That's one area where the simplest solution seemed to be the best.
Thanks, but I think you're forgetting that there is an upper sleeve on the strut itself, just slightly larger than the shock body. Y'know that thing people always leave off and throw away?
Thanks, but I think you're forgetting that there is an upper sleeve on the strut itself, just slightly larger than the shock body. Y'know that thing people always leave off and throw away?
ah!!! so you could attach to that thing and use it as a centering device. nice.
Funny I usually try to cut some of the rubber off the bottom and reuse those dust covers when I lower a car, and i didn't even think about it. good thinking!
Comments
Simply Amazing!
Bam, you have out done yourself with this build..
The car's nowhere near running, but this is still a nice milestone.
I installed the manual steering by using the bushings from both racks
Now I get to figure out how to hook the shaft up :? If I don't like the steering effort with a big ol' wheel, maybe I'll add PS later.
Got these stuck in, that should be all of the welding/fab up front. I still have to drop the mounts for the midshaft/VC, and finish tying in the rear trailing arm mounts and compensator arms
Now I need to measure for some wheels and tires. 0 offset may not be enough!
Note that this is just the 4" body lift without any spring lift in front. As I add the drivetrain, I'll need the 2"ish of spacer to keep it level. As I looked at this I wondered:
Has anyone ever tried coilover adjuster sleeves at the top of the spring?
I'm going to try it. With the top way down like that it's accessible, at least
The only issue I can see is that the sleeves usually mount onto the shock body via set screws or just rubber o-rings, but at the top there will be no shock body on which to mount the sleeve. Prob have to weld the sleeve to the top hat.
You mentioned that 0 offset may not give you enough clearance... are you worried that the wheel / tire will interfere with the spindle / upper control arm? At first glance, it looked like it was already way close, but then i realized there really isn't that much clearance there in the first place.
Good to see this on the ground!!!! I am really anticipating the moment when we get to see the first test drive video, and the first time you take it off road (and hopefully take it over some sweet jumps!)
Bambam make some adapters some shocks like this lol.I'll be more then happy to help with machine work I'll Pm you
Awesome progress!
I love it! Well done!
and I agree with proonthesnow. an exoskeleton would be awesome. heavy, but awesome.
And yeah, an exo skeleton would be heavy, but would add soooo much to the badassedness that this thing is. Or some rock sliders... Needs a Jerry Can rack somewhere too
But excellent work. I can't wait to see some video of this in action!!!
My question/issue is this...are you actually gaining any more suspension travel at all? From my readings it "looks" like a body lift similar to what one does on a truck.....which does not increase suspension travel. Have you thought about increased travel for better off road performance? Or is it in fact going to already have increased travel an I just totally missed it?
It is just a lift, no added travel. The purpose of a body lift is to gain clearance for bigger tires, which will in turn provide more ground clearance. There may be some increased use of the existing range just because of starting from a further extension, but that would be purely incidental.
I'm not trying to build a rally car, just having fun. The point of this thing is just to use what I have to build something wacky.(Same as the camper)
Wait, did I just say there was a point??
These seats are brown.
It will have rock sliders incorporated as part of the guards for the rear suspension. If you look back a few pages you can see some vulnerable low-hanging sheetmetal.
Exo would look cool, but it would be writing rockcrawler checks that this little ass can't cash! There are a lot of things I'd like to incorporate, but each weighs a little something, and it's still a d16 :shock:
So now it goes where ya point it!
I'd been thinking I would use this extra pinion and the clamp off of one of these universals to make an extension shaft
I was overthinking it...I think
Drew an index line to keep the joints phased like stock
I'm not sure how much that matters, but I find that things on these cars are seldom laid out randomly. Interestingly, the joints are phased 1/8 turn apart (45 degrees)
Mocked it up to get a rough length
and stuck it together
It's not welded or pinned yet, but the tube is a snug enough fit for testing. I had to beat it together :P
Now I just need to figure out how to seal this up
I think either a shifter boot, or some combination of CV boot and tubing to seal up the gap.
I guess My thought was more or less it would look badass with an exoskeleton, but functionally, its cons would outweigh the pros.
I was thinking like an old rubber shift boot from the junkyard would work perfectly to solve your hole problem there. I have no doubts you'll figure something out, I mean look at this thing! Its awesome!
BTW Great job on the steering setup. That's one area where the simplest solution seemed to be the best.
Funny I usually try to cut some of the rubber off the bottom and reuse those dust covers when I lower a car, and i didn't even think about it. good thinking!