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Wheels/Tires:
Simply put things are huge and really heavy. I tried to weigh one on a bathroom scale but it broke it because it loaded the thing sideways as we rolled it on. I’m thinking around 300 lbs per wheel/tire combo. Found on eBay somewhere that each tire weighs about 265 lbs.
The sheer size of the truck with the tires on makes it difficult to work on. Here’s a picture of a tire next to my friends old Frontier when I first got the truck:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/...psdd96f9e9.jpg
Here’s my trailer spare sitting on top of one of these 14.00R20 XL’s:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6c7a14b8.jpg
This summer/fall on pirate4x4 I found a set of used steel wheels with the 404 6-lug pattern in them. The centers were made from ½ inch plate so they are just under 50 lbs a piece so also real heavy. I brought them into work and we machined the stock M715 pattern also in a pair of them so far. This way these will fit on both of my trucks since I’m definitely tired of the split rims and tubes on my green truck which cost a bunch to remount and retube.
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/...p/f7fecbf9.jpg
I picked up a set of 35’s I got for $70 on CL and mounted two of the wheels. Not only did this lower the jeep’s front end to make it easier to work on and around but they seal and hold air unlike some of the beadlocks which slowly leak.
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Body:
After putting some pretty good body damage on my green truck over the years of wheeling I know I don’t want to damage the nice straight body of this truck although that’s kinda how it works with a wheeling rig. I originally thought about pulling all the drivetrain out of this and building a buggy but I figured that would take a lot longer and I would never get around to doing that. I’m definitely keeping the cab as it. As for the bed I’m going to leave that but eventually I’ll probably build more of a trail bed or flatbed so I don’t smash up this one like my last one. As for the front end, the tires really don’t fit in the wheel wells unless its super high in the air. M715 fenders are about as big as they get so I won’t get any more room sawzauling up a set of FSJ fenders. I could go with smaller tires but who wants to do that? My tentative plan is the narrow the front clip/hood to create room for the tires. Instead of hacking up the nice front clip I found a more abused one on CL a few months ago that I’m planning on taking the knife to eventually. Front inner/outer clip, front inner/outer fenders, and an extra FSJ (not M715) hood. I’d like to do something along the lines of what this guy did on his wagoneer but hopefully it comes out a little cleaner than this:
http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=48116
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Engine:
This is how the engine bay looked when I first bought it before I rob it for the heater core and brake booster. Its apparently a mild sbc 350.
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9141ba10.jpg
During the Christmas holiday I spent a bunch of time working on it. I mounted up my old carb to the engine and sourced a starter, fuel pump, and other things from my spare parts piles and got it running for the first time since I bought it over 5 years ago for only like $30-40 in gaskets, clamps, fuel line, etc.
I got it running from just a gas can since the gas tank that it came with is from something weird. When I get a camera to use I’ll get some pictures. I drained it and test fit the fill tube to the bed and it doesn't clearly bolt in where the stock tank would. It also somewhat interferes with where the driveshaft will be and will definitely interfere with the rear 4 link. It may be best to run a bed mounted tank until I get the rear suspension squared away unless I can squeeze a stock tank in there with the design which I don’t think is possible.
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Drivetrain:
For the most part it seems like the SM465 (thanks for helping me ID that guys), NP203, and NP205 look ready to go other than adding oil. During the holidays I installed the triple stick shifter kit and cut open slots for the shifters to move in. The truck came with one good driveshaft and one old stock shaft. I made some measurements and the shaft is using 1350 series U-Joints. The truck came with one 32 spine yoke but its actually a 1330 series. I’m trying to decide if I want to keep 1350 series so I can reuse one shaft or step up to 1410 series. The 1410 yokes are about $20 more but it’s the fact I’m going to need to buy two custom driveshafts is what I’m worried about most. The rear driveshaft will definitely be purchased well before the front one for sure since I plan on building the rear suspension completely before moving to the front. I got a ballpark quote from a driveshaft shop over the phone for $385 for a 1410 driveshaft (no CV’s) apx. 36-40” long. I need to bring the existing 1350 shaft into the shop to see if they can upgrade the ends for quite a bit cheaper or I may just end up keeping it as a backup for my green truck which runs a rear 1350 shaft.
The axles are stock Unimog 404 units with drum brakes. There are disc brake conversions for sale but they cost a bundle so I’m going to run these first just to see how they are plus my wheels are made for that large 6 lug pattern and most disc brake conversions move over to the common 8x6.5 pattern. Both axles have the stock lever actuated lockers which I’ll have to build either a cable or pneumatic cylinder to actuate them which some companies already sell.
Again I’ll get some pictures of this when I get a chance. Any suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated.
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Just as I predicted, procrastination. I haven’t updated this build in over 4 months so here we go…
4 Link Design:
This winter I took two Solidworks courses at the local community college since I hadn’t used the program in years and to get some more formalized training in it for work or maybe a future job. It took lots of time under the jeep with a tape measure as well as researching dimensions of some of the components I would be purchasing in the future before I could begin designing.
I started with the frame and then did the axle. Quite a few different mounts/tab designs (still in the works) then links with heim joints, shocks, and the driveshaft.
Everything is constrained the way it would be on the Jeep so this helps determine how things will fit and if there are any binding or clearance issues. This has taken many, many hours but this is where I’m at currently. I’ve done tons of research online about designing and building 4 links and I feel like I’m pretty close to calling it good and hopefully start fabrication this fall.
My plan is to have all the tabs/mounts water jetted so really all I gotta do is mock everything up, tack, and burn… at least on paper. You’ll notice the shock brackets are kinda funky looking and so are the shocks, well that’s because I’m planning to mock up with these 14” Fox 2.0 Airshocks I have on hand and still keep the bed on the Jeep. In the future larger airshocks or coilovers will probably replace them but that depends on what I decide to do with the bed. The tabs/mounts are cheap, the shocks are anything but.
I’d appreciate any suggestions, comments, or that is dumb because… since right now its just a computer file I can fix, change, adjust anything on my couch.
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I drew up the bed also since mounts and tires get really close to it so I was able to design it to keep the bed on for the time being. I'm going be running a gas tank in the trunk for the time being since I don't have a stock tank any more and it would be right in the way.
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8ef3ec48.jpg
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/...ps59a8abec.jpg
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I also had to draw in a mock "ground" to figure out my ride height and for inputting the values into the 4 link calculator.
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7f8d3899.jpg
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/...ps534e797b.jpg
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Suspension Droop, Bump, Max Articulation. I set it up with 7 inches of up travel and 7 inches of droop with these 14" shocks I have on hand. Currently the tire gets into the fender a bit a max articulation but I may be able to make some adjustments to prevent that.
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/...pscb305fd9.jpg
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/...ps647e9e6f.jpg
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/...psa80cbe33.jpg
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I was wondering if you had made any new progress on this truck, glad to see you didn't give up on this project.
