Another SAS

[Kenzie]

Well the front end was ready to drop out of my truck , so I decided to replace everything , with a solid axle . I've had the parts for a couple of years now so I figured it was a good time to put them to use . I'm trying to keep this project as cheap and easy as possible . I got a couple of good days at it and since then my time has been very limited . I do have some pics and will take more until it's done , hopefully before the end of this week end (except for steering , that's somewhat of an unknown yet) .

What's left of the donor frame and a chunk of the IFS .


Some old IFS parts.


My old skid plate for the IFS if anyone is interested or any other IFS parts for that matter . I've got all new adjusting hardware for the torions bars too .


Brackets knocked off the frame and front hangers on, gonna strengthen them up a little . Notice my wet tranny line , they don't like zip cuts .


Holes in the frame for the shackle mounts .


Everything hooked up temporarily , suspension hanging a bit .


Just using stock shackles for now , I don't want it any taller than it has to be .


Then I tried the new tires on the front , mainly just to see how they looked under there ;D


The front still doesn't have wieght on it and I have 3" blocks to go in the rear and then see what the rear tires will look like .

[Charles]

Looking good man, keep us posted. What size are the boggers??

[Kenzie]

15/38.5-15

[Kenzie]

So the rims I was using had some issues , which I realized after I mounted 2 of the tires . I found another set and cleaned them up , added some valve stem protection , painted 'em and got all the tires mounted .



Then when I went to put the blocks in the rear I found a broken centerbolt, then a broken ply so I thought I'd add one while I was at it . Now I have to make the other side match , and the blocks I have are worn and don't sit flat on the rear end . Just as well though cuz the rear is still down a little so I'll make my new ones a bit taller .



Hopefully I can start getting some time at it again soon , between vacation and the million other things a person has to do , and then when I do get some time it's pissing rain which sucks cuz I know the trails would be awesome right now .

[Kenzie]

I got a start on some blocks last night , they started out as a chunk of 3x4" tubing . I need 2.25" wide so I took 3/4" from the center and put it back together and then cut the length I needed for the blocks .





Then I sliced a wedge down the middle of the sides to put a bit of taper into it for my pinion .



Now I've got to put a peg into one for the rear end and cap the ends off . I was thinking about adding a little weld to the corners to square it up some , if I find the time this evening the rear should be back together .

[Kenzie]

and the finshed product

[Rue]

Man,love the looks of the tires!!!Wish that the boggers were better in the rocks,Then I could get a set ;D


Nice job on the blocks.Are you going to put some kind of traction bar in the rear?


Rue

[Kenzie]

yea i'm thinking about it , i was actually gonna ask for some opinions on a traction or torque bar . geometry can mess with my head sometimes and maybe i'm being concerned over nothing , but i don't want to put anything on there that is gonna to fight the suspension as it is working , only absorb the torque when it goes for traction . most stock rods i see are only short , alot of custumized rigs i see got long rods . I'm thinking a long one running above my driveshaft on the same angle to the crossmember above the back of my transfercase . any ideas or opinions ?

[Kenzie]

so i decided to make up a traction bar ... being it was raining again , gonna try it like I said above




I'm getting most of the day tomorrow to work on it so hopefully the rain will stay off , if not I'm goin to start on an ark !!!

[Kenzie]

so i'm having doubts about my plan for my traction bar , i only want to do the work once instead of trial and error , my plan may work but is it gonna work right or stress everything that's attached when the suspensionis just working up and down with no power on it ? any thoughts ?

I've got to put some seals in the front axle , brakes , shocks and figure out what i'm doing for my steering and my traction bar . I'll get some pics today in the daylight of how it's sitting , it was too dark for pics last night by the time i finished up .

[Rue]

You need to do something like this for your traction bar.You can make it the lenght that you need,and with the shackle on the end it would't bind up your suspension.


www.4x4review.com/products/suspension/traction-bar.asp


Rue

[Kenzie]

Thanx Rue , that's the one I've been looking , the shackle solves everything . Hopefully I can get back to the traction bar issue in a day or two. I'm working on putting the solid axle steering box on my frame now , it's going to be temporary but it'll get me moving ;D

The truck sitting on its wheels now...



Knocked the IFS steering box bracket off the top of the frame , going to make a new bracket for the solid axle box to bolt to using the holes for the IFS box that go through the frame now .

[rallyroach]

Nice stance on the rig

I would reccomend against using the old-style steering. It is absolutley awful, even if you use that old trac bar like the factory trucks. When you accelerate, the truck will jump to one side, when you brake, the truck will dive to the other. Hi-steer, or something similar, is definitely the way to go. I understand not everyone has the $$ to spend on this (currently $328 + about $30 freight from trail-gear.ca), but I have used it on 2 idfferent trucks now, and it rocks. If this truck is not going to be street-legal, I'd spend the time and weld up something similar to this:

board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=37942.300

Starts on this page then carries on. Definitely different, and I wouldn't put it on the street, but better than push-pull.

[Kenzie]

Thanx , I'm getting eager to try it out . I didn't realize how fuzzy that pic of the truck is , I'll try get a better one shortly . I was already wondering about cutting the arms off and flipping them over to make up my own high steer , but I didn't think I'd be able to get the weld to stick and right now I only have the two of them so I don't want to wreck them . Has anyone heard of this , tried this or have any opinions on this . That reinforced setup looks good but I would like to get my link on top of the springs if I could , keep it out of harm's way and I think I'd have more room for a cylinder .

[Rue]

If you are going to run it on the road,think that I would just buy a steering kit for it.It would be alot stronger.You have a big heavy tire now and there are alot of forces on you steering.

Here's a link to that steering that ralleyroach was talking about.

www.trail-gear.ca/default.cfm?fa=products&prodcategoryid=17


Rue