sinnaevd Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 :needpics: What all has been done up to now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 Next time turn the heat way up... and use a sawing/poking motion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted July 21, 2006 Author Share Posted July 21, 2006 Nah, it took them off and burned them out too, but it burned the stud portion of the bolt into the surrounding metal... Thus, making the bolts and surrounding metal one peice. If I'd been half smart I'd have used the 7018 and it wouldn't have been a problem. But I had 6011 lying right there... And it was on 225amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted July 21, 2006 Author Share Posted July 21, 2006 What all has been done up to now? Because I'm sitting here and it's too hot, I'll explain. Very little. I've not had the time I'd like to have recently, so progress is really slow. That and the machine shop (where I buy steel) is only open during the hours that I work. As of now, I've got pretty much nothing. Other than a lot of ideas and a bunch of scrap steel (well, it's scrap now). On the brighter side, the part of the unibody where the rear hangers for the front springs will go is pretty much ready for welding. But that's because I had cleaned it up when I was running long arms. Oh, and the stupid XJ is consuming time. Obviously I should have bought a honda or a moped for a DD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinnaevd Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 moped's kick so much @$$....seriusly. i'm aroused jus thinking about one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted July 22, 2006 Author Share Posted July 22, 2006 But how the heck would I haul steel in the moped? Which I bought $116 worth of today. And I moved my radiator foreward 1 whole inch. Gotta love progress. Oh, question. I can acquire a gearset for my DD, it is however slightly 'used'. Ie, it's been sitting out of the vehicle for a long time. Light surface rust. Is it salvageable? Or should I not waste my time? I can get cheap setup, so that's not a concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 Take a wire bruch and knock the surface rust off, as long as it isnt deep pitting I wouldn't worry about it... I am running a set in my front axle that sat out for about 1.5 yrs, and it had some pitting... No issues to date Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted July 23, 2006 Author Share Posted July 23, 2006 I did something, yayyyyyyy... Front prepped, well, first prep. Image Not Found Image Not Found You can see how I got fed up and just started cutting crap out of the way. I know I didn't cut that off straight. Don't worry, it's be covered. Oh, and you can see my beautiful radiator that is now 1" foreward over stock... You might not be able to make it out, but the bolts that held the steering box in place had started to get pulled through the unibody! Oops. Here I'm starting to check alignment of everything and rough out my plate. Remember, those bolts are for a alignment, not structure! And no, the crossmember won't be a single peice of flat bar. Image Not Found Got swiss cheese? Image Not Found My drill press is really wishing it had been sold to a carpenter by now. Oh, and that's only half of those... Oh, that hole that's really close to the edge, it's for a steering box bolt. I'll deal with it. Starting to mock up the drop out crossmember that holds the winch. Image Not Found The peice of angle was going to be the crossmember before. The square tube will be cut open for leaf hangers. They're just sitting there because I realized I put a rosette where they will be covering it. :nuts: Man, this pic makes me look fat. Image Not Found Anyways, do you need this? It was wedged between the steering box and the stock crossmember, I take it to minimalize play/deflection. I can probably cut it down and wedge it back in, but it won't be easy. That and I may never be able to get the steering box out again after that. Winch crossmember getting done. The camera didn't like the light. Image Not Found Now, I have to ask, the cutout for the cable to pass through should be what size relative to the fairlead? Should it be the same as the maximum distances for the rollers (I mean, basically the rectangle that holds the rollers)? Or, should it be about half that? Or somehtign around there? I don't want to make the hole in my front peice any larger than necessary... Two more days off, then it's back to my jobby, let's see what I can get done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettM Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 ditch that wedge, but I hope you're sure the steering box is on there strong now. Hydro-assist would be a good idea also, both to reduce the steering forces on the box, and to help the steering turn the knuckles rather than push the body around on top of the leafs. for the winch fairlead hole, make it just a hair wider than the fairlead opening, but it needs to be a bit taller in the direction the cable will roll onto the spool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted July 23, 2006 Author Share Posted July 23, 2006 Hydro assist is somewhere down the road. My local tractor supply has everything I need. However, I'm going to exo it first because I have a nasty habit of almost rolling the stupid thing. I'll make that damn fairlead work tomorrow. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted July 24, 2006 Author Share Posted July 24, 2006 Did some work, then the angle grinder went up in smoke... I got the fairlead cut out and mounted, then I threw it on there to see how it looked. I also put the header panel back on to make sure it actually fit, and to see if my 'bumper' (the peice of angle) was going to fit. It's all good, other than some bloody wiring that I'll have to relocate. Image Not Found Then I 'cleaned up' my leaf springs and shackles. Actually, all I did was remove the bolts and old hangers (they were torched off for ease). Image Not Found I've never delt with anything that was that seized before. The one bolt took about 15 minutes with the impact to get it to move! Oh, and that angle grinder is the one that burned up. Good unit, but not ment for absurd duty... I'll get a new one tomorrow (a better one, but still a makita). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeepmj_tj Posted July 24, 2006 Share Posted July 24, 2006 what front leafs are you going to use. who says leafs can't flex... :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted July 24, 2006 Author Share Posted July 24, 2006 Those are waggy front. However, I think they aren't stock waggy... The packs have Denver Spring stickers on them. If they don't work, I'll try something else. I need to figue out how best to SOA the waggy axle though. Searching IFSJA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeepmj_tj Posted July 24, 2006 Share Posted July 24, 2006 It depends on your spring width. how i mount my leafs, my spring width ended up being narrower than the stock waggy width. So when i mounted my new spring perch it had to sit closer so the diff. Thus required lots of grinding but it work out good in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted July 24, 2006 Author Share Posted July 24, 2006 Mine will be the same width as the stock waggy. I guess I'll just grind a new perch on the top, and maybe weld some 1/4 or 1/2 plate to it to make sure it's level and so there's a good centring hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeepmj_tj Posted July 24, 2006 Share Posted July 24, 2006 i gound the cast down to a smooth round profile. and welded a new spring perch on it. you may also have to redill a new hole in the webbing for the ubolt on the back side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 I don't use u-bolts... So I shouldn't have to do that. If everything fits, that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feerocknok Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I don't use u-bolts... So I shouldn't have to do that. If everything fits, that is. Are you using an elimitator? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 If you want to call it that. You just weld a peice of plate to the perch and run normal bolts through instead... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feerocknok Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 If you want to call it that. You just weld a peice of plate to the perch and run normal bolts through instead... Yeah, that's what I meant. People like to get fancy on names though. What grade of bolt were you thinking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORCA Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Milwaukee Angle Grinders own: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 If you want to call it that. You just weld a peice of plate to the perch and run normal bolts through instead... Yeah, that's what I meant. People like to get fancy on names though. What grade of bolt were you thinking? I've got 5/8 Grade 8. And grade 8 nuts/washers. I could go thicker, but trust me, a lot of other things will break first. The only thing harder would be a metric 12.9. Those aren't cheap! Oh yeah, I bought a DeWalt 5". It was cheap (on sale) plus my employee discount (at cost) = good buy. So far it seems like a nice unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 Okay, little update. Firstly I welded a tab to the front crossmember as a hook holder. I might add some gussets so it could actually be (completely safely) used as a recovery point. But I might not bother. Image Not Found Knowing me, it'd be a good idea though. Then I began tacking up the rest of the front crossmember. Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found I got 'er all done. Then I went to pop it off the frame, and realized that I'd messed up. After some cussing I got it off, but accidently dropped it and broke the tack welds on two of the peices. So, I final welded half of it, and I'll throw it back up there tomorrow hopefully and get the rest of it final welded. On a happier note, I remembered to wear sunscreen while welding this time. Looks like I won't be losing any skin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oizarod115 Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 damn, glad to see this writeup progressing ive been waiting for the actual fron leaf spring part of the project to come along. (those are damn nice welds.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 If I was you.. I would buy a welding half shirt... it also protects you from slag and sparks :brows: Looks really good... what grade and thickness steel are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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