iimafa Posted April 18, 2023 Author Share Posted April 18, 2023 Had some time last night to mess with the box mounts, got this tacked together and sitting where it need to be. I’m planning to screw it to the wood floor and bolt to the back tube piece so hopefully it’ll be stout enough, not sure if the little bit of space where they can move around will matter much. I might have to add some type of wedge type thing to keep them in the same spot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted May 1, 2023 Author Share Posted May 1, 2023 Got some work done on the rig this weekend, had my buddy cut me some shock mounts out and got them together and mounted, these are Monroe MA834 air max shocks, they say they’re good for 1200 lbs at 150PSI. It raised it about 1.25” at 90PSI but I’m still worried it won’t be enough, 32 gallons of fuel, a full cooler and 3 batteries….. I need alot more for when I have something behind it so I might need some larger bags, but the mounts are pretty stout so I think I they should hold up pretty good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted May 1, 2023 Author Share Posted May 1, 2023 I also got some work done on the rear boom control box and a panel made to close in the area where I’m going to mount the winch control relays and the control box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted May 8, 2023 Author Share Posted May 8, 2023 Small progress on the rig this weekend, worked on the rear winch controls a little bit, made a mount for the control box and a plate to mount the motor drive relays. I’m going to make a permanently fixed control cable about 10 foot long so I should never be able to lose the box and I should be able to take it around the truck. I might toss a magnet on it also so I can stick it to the bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted May 8, 2023 Author Share Posted May 8, 2023 I also made a mounting bracket for my harbor freight floor jack, I normally always carry it with me when I go wheeling so I figured it would be nice to have a permanent spot for it. I made it out of a bunch of scrap I had sitting around. Turned out pretty good I think and fits perfect under the ram and between the cooler and tool box. I also finished up the tool box bracket, it bolts to the rear tube and screws to the wooden floor. I think it would work well and keep everything together. I wasn’t planning to work on these small things because I have so many other things that are a higher priority but I honestly like doing these small projects and finishing them. It makes it seem like something is getting done. Next I’m going to make a mounting bracket for my cooler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted May 15, 2023 Author Share Posted May 15, 2023 I didn’t get to much done on the unit this weekend, tried getting some things cleaned up and moved around, but I did get most of the wiring done for the rear winch controls. The secrete sauce is two switching relays I ordered off of Amazon (hopefully they hold up) which are connected to my control pendant with a 10 foot cable, it’s a pretty simple setup, but I tried to make it as organized and low cost as possible. All of the wire was junk I had laying around so I doubled up the power and ground cables to make sure they have enough juice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted June 8, 2023 Author Share Posted June 8, 2023 Progress on the towmanche has been slow, i started messing with my hornet car and used the boom to yank the motor out which I thought was pretty cool a little work I did do was mounting the online air oiler that’s used oil the compressor I also noticed that I didn’t add any pictures of how I wired the boom control box so here it is but the next step is steering, track bar then the brake system. All of it is still waiting on the funds. Boating season is here and it’s taking a lot to keep it going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted June 11, 2023 Author Share Posted June 11, 2023 Still no real progress, waiting on funds for the project, but I realized I never posted a picture of the sticker that my buddies kickass girlfriend made for it. Pretty sweet. I also have been using it a little around the garage which is pretty nice, I’m planning to make a tow bar for the back and was wondering if I could somehow make a tire carrier into it, haven’t figured it out yet but I’ll keep messing with the idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted June 26, 2023 Author Share Posted June 26, 2023 Had some good progress with the rig this weekend, I decided to yank out the stock Comanche leafs and put in some Chevy 63s from a 2018 Chevy 1500 I snagged awhile ago. the center to shackle is the same 31” length, but the frame to center is 5 inches longer on the Chevy leaf so I chopped the frame mounts off and drew some new ones that will get them cut out in the next week or two. I then got the leafs set under the rig to get an idea of where it has to go. I then snagged a killer deal on some 39.5x16.5x17” pit bull rockers, 3 good tires, 1 is trashed so I still need to find another one, but I tossed them on the stock ford 17” wheels I had and got to see how it’ll look with it. I tossed the tires on the front to check how they fit and realized it gets pretty close to the front bumper when turning. So I went and chopped some of the tube and grill to start making a tube fender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 them's some big rubber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted July 8, 2023 Author Share Posted July 8, 2023 On 6/28/2023 at 12:33 PM, Pete M said: them's some big rubber Not to terrible right!!! I didn’t know that they don’t make them anymore though, they seem like pretty decent tires though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted July 10, 2023 Author Share Posted July 10, 2023 I made a little progress on the rig this weekend. I got the rear leaf spring frame mounts cut out and tossed on, I thought I had the axle centered, but with the weight in it the axle was pushed about an inch off center in the wheel well, I’m going to flex test it and see if it fits. If it does I’ll keep it how it is, otherwise I can just move it to the forward most hole I also found a magnet so I tossed it onto the rear boom control pendant which is pretty sweet, it can now stick onto any of the body panels so it should be pretty convenient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ke3ves Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 Great looking built really like the tow truck aspect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted August 8, 2023 Author Share Posted August 8, 2023 Made a little more progress on the rig, I finished the cutting and welding on my half doors, thinking I still need to toss a cup holder in them and I gotta get hinges for them still but a lot of the hard work is done on them. next thing I did was mess around with the rear leafs to try and see if it was going to bind at all, I couldn’t get it to flex to much with the floor jack before it got sketchy, but it looked like it’ll be fine. I then was given a high lift by my brother, so went ahead and slapped that on it, made a mount that’s pretty easy to get to and it should be under the body panel to keep it out of the weather pretty good. It’s secured with a single nut on the one side so should be pretty easy to grab when needed. still waiting on the funds to order the steering and track bar stuff, so no real progress on that front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted August 21, 2023 Author Share Posted August 21, 2023 No progress on the tow truck this weekend, but I put the rear skin on and looked at it, so here’s a better picture of the high lift mounted under the body Here’s the list I made of whats left, I’ll update it as I go but I think I have most of it on there and here’s a picture of my shop helper, she makes sure nothing is living in or around the shop. If anything tries to hangout rent free she’s runs it off or worse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted September 25, 2023 Author Share Posted September 25, 2023 Made some progress on the rig in the last week. It started with finally getting the last two snatch Blocks I needed for the boom, tossed them on and they work pretty good. next I finally got the steering and track bar components. 7/8 heim steering kit from ruff stuff specialties. Seems like Some pretty solid stuff. pretty big day when I received it all, been waiting to buy all of it for awhile. I fit the steering and track bar together with PVC first and realized the knuckle has to be very….. tall. Taller than I wanted but that’s what it needs to be. BUT the drag link and track bar are identical lengths and angles so bump steer should be zero. I made the wildly tall knuckle out of 3/16 plate and tried to add as much structure as I could. I fully welded it all inside and out. I preheated the knuckle before welding and it seems to have worked pretty well. Here’s a picture of how I added the track bar bracket to the axle side. Hopefully it holds, it’s all out of 1/4” and 3/16” I also tried to make some shock mounts out of 1/2” grad 8 bolts welded to the truss. Hopefully they hold, if not then I’ll make some heavier ones in the future. But I think they’ll work for awhile. I tossed it all together and chopped the DOM for the steering, I didn’t fully weld it yet, just tacked together. I then tossed some paint on them to match the rear axle. Next I’ll order ball joints, wheel bearings, brakes and lines to try and finish the front fully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Mark Posted September 25, 2023 Share Posted September 25, 2023 I suggest some coil overs in the front, those shackles spell danger !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted September 26, 2023 Author Share Posted September 26, 2023 22 hours ago, Big_Mark said: I suggest some coil overs in the front, those shackles spell danger !!! I’m with you that it’s a Slightly odd setup with the leaf springs in the front, but I don’t think dangerous is the word. They should work for what I need Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted October 5, 2023 Author Share Posted October 5, 2023 Tossed the front end together because I had to move the shop around a little, so have to take it apart again to do ball joints and brakes, then driveshafts and she’s ready to roll until I can afford a hydraulic ram for hydro assist, I can almost taste the woods!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted October 16, 2023 Author Share Posted October 16, 2023 Little bit of progress on the rig, rolled it outside for the first time in awhile to get some work done on the garage, looks even better in the dark…. after that I pushed it back in and made a track bar brace mount, I made it out of 2x2x1/4” angle, it definitely stiffened up the frame side mount a lot, I did the same thing on my Cherokee a few years ago and it made a world of difference, the angle is positioned in a way that the track bar should not hit when the front end cycles up, it’ll be close but should clear. last thing I did was order all of the front end parts I needed, ball joints, brake rotors, calipers, brake lines, master cylinder and u-joints for the drive shafts, it should be here Tuesday so might have this rig finished up be next week, still need to get another tires but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted October 23, 2023 Author Share Posted October 23, 2023 It was a weekend filled with brakes, the good kind…. I got the front end completely done and ready to go, new calipers, rotors, u joints, brake lines, and an alignment. I tossed a vacuum booster from a 98 cherokee, a proportional valve from a zj and a 98 dodge van master cylinder on it, it fit pretty well but the rim on the vacuum booster seems slightly to long, I’m going to leave it for now but plan to pull it off and shorten the rod if i have any issues. I got two hydraulic valves from Amazon to use as line locks, they were pretty difficult to mount but I made a thing out of 2 inch square tubing and some bolts, it doesn’t look the best but it’s pretty solid and should work fine. I went with two, one for the front and one to the rear, I’ve never seen anyone actually do this but I’ve always thought it would be neat to do. I couldn’t think of any major reason why I shouldn’t do it (I could definitely be missing something) it made sense to me to have both of them so I went for it. The lines were definitely a bit of a pain in the @$$ though. I got it all hooked up and used the vacuum pump to bleed them, it worked fantastic. No problem except for three leaky fittings, then after a few minutes one of the line locks started to leak. I’ll pull it all apart this week and tighten it up. When I went to put the wheels on I found out that they didn’t fit, I’m going to be borrowing some from my buddy this week to get it pulled out of the garage for a few days. next step is to get the rear driveshaft together, a bother tire and now some wheels and change the oil and she’s ready to start driving!! It’s so close to being done, a long project feels as if it’s coming close to the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted October 30, 2023 Author Share Posted October 30, 2023 I borrowed some wheels and tires from my buddy, they’re Pittbull rockers 41.5x13.5 on 17 inch method beadlocks, it looks pretty damn good. The rear axle isn’t centered on in the wheel well so I need to slide it forward about an inch. but I got them on, bled the brakes again and took it for a spin with just the front drive shaft in. Very excited. I went ahead and used it around the house a little. i was pretty nervous to pick up the front of the Cherokee but once I started getting some pressure on it, I felt like it was going to handle it fine which it did. The rear end sagged ALOT so I think I’m going to add some more leads to the rear packs, I hooked a regulator to the rear air shocks but it for some reason won’t go past 40PSI, I'm hoping if I just take it apart and clean it that will help. I just ordered a flange for the rear axle that will make it into a 1350, so I’ll have 1310-1350 u joints for the front and rear driveshafts. This will make it much easier to carry spares, so I’ll only have 3 different ujoint on the whole rig. Not ideal but better than 4. the 4:10 in the axles are way to high, when it’s in high gear it’s almost impossible to start on flat ground. I’m thinking ARBs and 5:38 are in my future. Hydro assist and a steering box brace first thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ke3ves Posted November 5, 2023 Share Posted November 5, 2023 Looks really good man keep it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted November 9, 2023 Author Share Posted November 9, 2023 Some more progress got made on the rig, the rear axle was slightly pushed and the leafs needed some more beef so I pushed them forward an inch and tossed two more leads into the pack. I’m worried this may make it to still but we’ll see how it goes. this got the tires centered in the wheel well pretty good, so I called it a day and moved onto the rear driveshaft. I made it out of a stock cherokee front shaft and had to shorten it about 2 inches, it was easy work and should hold up fine for awhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iimafa Posted November 9, 2023 Author Share Posted November 9, 2023 Loaded it up and headed to make a small test run at my brothers, first time I flexed it out or took it up a hill in a long time. Did well. Need lockers and gears but funds will be the driving factor on those. Most likely the next thing to come will be a hydraulic ram for hydro assist steering and weld the front and rear diff so I can start wheeling. can't wait to get it into the woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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