Something w/ rabbits. 72.5 pages of BS

So seeing as spring is just around the corner, I thought I'd start a thread on the future undertaking of swapping in the Dana 60.

The axle is from a 1986 "Fawwd" F-threee "fitty", sporting some kingpins and a whole lot of rust. I took this axle apart a few months ago (except stupid me didnt remove the pinion nut before breakdown ) and had it hot tanked. I wanted it sandblasted, but the machine shop owner smirked and said "naaah yo, that junx is too big for my blasting cabinet" .. okay except he didn't really say that cauz he's old and a really cool guy. ANyways *twirls blonde hair*, this is my plaannn:

- WMS-WMS this axle is just a bit over 69" wide so I'm going to cut the passenger's side down a few inches to match 'ye ol General Motors 14-bolt axle. So this is going to require custom axle shafts and I think I'm going to go Chromos and 35-spline outers off the bat from the most awesome guys at Complete Off Road.

- Drive flange or lockouts? They are about the same in price and its a dedicated trail rig so I'm leaning towards the drive flanges. Right now, the cheapest flanges I found are the Teraflexes at $180 for a pair. If anyone knows of a better deal, please let me know !!

- High-steer arms and a double-ended hydroponics goodness ("cylinder").

- Opposite-ended panhard bar! The idea is to mount the chassis end of the panhard on the passenger's side frame rail and the axle end on the driver's side. Doing so should allow a more simple and cleaner design since the axle-mount can be mounted on top of or near the differential housing, instead of a tower on the passenger's side (like in my current D44 setup). I also plan to boost the panhard as far up as possible to increase the roll center of the front suspension. Yeah the concept is a little strange but I'm hoping it'll work and won't have any issues (no drag-link to factor into the design). But if anyone knows of any problem running this config, please chime in!

*EDIT*
- Detoit Locker for the carrier. I'm please with how the Detroit in the 14-bolt has performed so I figured I'd run the same in the front. Of course 5.13s to match the 14-bolt.


So here's the little guy, he's been in this position for the past few months just collecting dust:

 

[Tbars4]

...Just a thought but, could you use a first gen frame...:scratch:

 

[IZwack]

Yeah I could but rectangular tubing is just easier to work with (and stronger) at this point. And it shouldnt take too long to make a frame, its just a rectangular thingamajig after all. Of course I say that now but it'll take me 2 weeks

 

[IZwack]

My secret Santa sent me this little guy for the doubler

 

[costman13]

i hope you have been workin hard on this thing, the weather here in germantown has been great!

 

[costman13]

whered you get the center shaft? and what case is it for?

 

[sn0border88]

whered you get the center shaft? and what case is it for?

x2

 

[IZwack]

Ah I forgot the Ostman brothers were in town!

As for the center shaft, its for a 1350/1354 transfer case -- you know, the usual Explorer/Ranger transfer case. I got it from another user who did not need it anymore because he instead went with an already built doubler. But you can get any center shaft resplined to your specs -- shops like Moser will do it for you. More info at RRORC: http://www.rrorc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21585. Actually if you're going to respline, read those few pages on RRORC because if you respline too far up, the center shaft becomes very weak cauz its hollow there -- where as if you respline further down, its solid and much stronger.

 

[sn0border88]

So that is the output shaft cut and resplined instead of mating the two together and welding?

What kind of adapter plate are you using and what does it measure. What does that shaft measure (also separate length of the splines would rawk/0

 

[IZwack]

Yup, its the output shaft cut and resplined.

I have no measurements yet on the length of the doubler/adapter plate but the shaft's lenght is about 8" and its built to the specs of the main doubler mentioned in the RRORC link above. The splines are 1.5" long and this is the correct length (according to the RRORC thread). But to get the adapter's lenght, you just stack the doubler case on top of the normal case (with the shaft in between) and measure the gap -- that'll give you the length of the adapter plate (plus a small fraction because you dont want the doubler's shaft to jam in all the way).

If you want exact measurements, let me know and I'll go get my caliper.

As for the transfer case I'm going to use, I was going to use my backup manual 1354 but I'd rather not slice that up so I think I'm going to pull a manual 1350 from a junk yard Bronco since the 1350s are a lot more common than the 1354s.

 

[sn0border88]

Yup, its the output shaft cut and resplined.

I have no measurements yet on the length of the doubler/adapter plate but the shaft's lenght is about 8" and its built to the specs of the main doubler mentioned in the RRORC link above. The splines are 1.5" long and this is the correct length (according to the RRORC thread). But to get the adapter's lenght, you just stack the doubler case on top of the normal case (with the shaft in between) and measure the gap -- that'll give you the length of the adapter plate (plus a small fraction because you dont want the doubler's shaft to jam in all the way).

If you want exact measurements, let me know and I'll go get my caliper.

As for the transfer case I'm going to use, I was going to use my backup manual 1354 but I'd rather not slice that up so I think I'm going to pull a manual 1350 from a junk yard Bronco since the 1350s are a lot more common than the 1354s.

I believe the front case has to be a 1350, rear can be either?

 

[IZwack]

Yes yes, you are right -- I looked back at the RRORC site and the front has to be a 1350. Thanks for clearing that up before I sliced the 1354!

 

[94 Crawler]

As always IZ you have a lot of $#!% going on all at once. I complemint you on your ability to get seamingly impossible tasks done in a short amount of time. Also youre attention to detail is outstanding. Good luck.

 

[IZwack]

As always IZ you have a lot of $#!% going on all at once. I complemint you on your ability to get seamingly impossible tasks done in a short amount of time. Also youre attention to detail is outstanding. Good luck.

I appreciate you're kind words! Hopefully, once its done, it wont just spontaneously fall apart on the trail

To-do list for this week in order to finish the new chassis by the end of next weekend (besides going to the All Ford Nats):
- remove gas tank
- remove body lift
- support body
- lower original chassis (release air shock pressure and plasma gouge rear springs?)
- slice up original chassis

 

[94 Crawler]

Just gusset everything you should be good. And again good luck. I should get up and get cracking on mine but its the details that take so long that slow me down.

 

[IZwack]

The plasma cutter made quick work of the rock sliders:

Then the gas tank was disconnected from the chassis:

I forgot to empty the gas tank before I started working on the vehicle and its 3/4 full -- pretty damn heavy.

 

[IZwack]

Transfered the old gasoline to the Civic via the tank's internal pump and a car battery -- D-D-Danger Will Robinson:

Then removed the pump/sending unit assembly:

Since I dont think I'm going to use the old gauges, I took resistance measurements of the original sending unit -- looks to be maybe a 20-160 ohm unit (160=full):

Now for the million dollar question:
does anyone know which sensor this is:

This is what that sensor looks like removed:

 

[Turdle]

Fuel tank pressure sensor for the evap purge,

 

[IZwack]

Ouu okay thanks!

 

[colindo94]

Are you planning on putting that fuel pump in a fuel cell?

 

[IZwack]

Are you planning on putting that fuel pump in a fuel cell?

Probably cauz I don't want to deal with fuel delivery incompatibilities (mostly just pressure and flow rate).