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:

 

[BKennedy]

I always liked Wonder Woman and her golden cups.:

 

[wood1]

MMMMmmmMMmm...

tie me up with your magic lasoo.......

 

[Vozar]

Looking Bling!!!!!!

I need to get mine done and we can get out and do some wheeling!!!

 

[IZwack]

Thanks guys!

Finished up the front lower links so below is a teaser pic of what the front will look like (except it will be the 14" shocks instead of that 16" in the pic). Wheelbase will still be about 116" (darnit, I was hoping for a bit shorter).

Winch will sit somewhere behind the axle tube -- winch is rotated 180 degrees (facing backwards) so it spools in from the top and easier access to the lever.

 

[Stic-o]

isn't that going to be a issue with the axle flexing? ie Travel?:scratch:

 

[IZwack]

isn't that going to be a issue with the axle flexing? ie Travel?:scratch:

Neep -- plenty of clearance. This vehicle is biased to sit low, the front shocks will only have 3" max to compress. And in reality, the front shocks rarely compress together (only on descends).

 

[jwrezz]

I was wondering about that winch set up. I haven't even checked out others yet, but I had it in my head that the winch would be mounted to the frame some where and pull the axle up...this seems to make sense. I guess the winch cable will be permanently attached above the axle some where? Cool shi...stuff!

 

[IZwack]

Yeah the winch cable will be hooked to something near the center of the tube that goes in front of the engine. It will still pull the axle up but the winch cable wont permanently be attached to the chassis because the winch will see some use when the vehicle gets into trouble.

The winch will be used to prevent the shocks from extending too much (such as in the pics below) which otherwise increase the chances of flipping backwards on steep inclines.

 

[dreamr]

wow I go away for a while and you go insane - come build me one when you get done

 

[IZwack]

Couldnt work on it yesterday cauz of relatives but had a few hours today, so the front will look something like deeees:

 

[IZwack]

Something like this for the panhard and upper link mount

 

[james t]

I dont really have anything to add, i just realized ive been following this since page one and havent yet replied. Sickness!!1!

 

[IZwack]

I dont really have anything to add today either.. except for this :

 

[fischerry]

ok....iz, that is your excuse for the 6th but what about the 7th thru the 9th...

 

[IZwack]

School and work

 

[fischerry]

oh i thogut you were gonna say..."im preparing chinese food with the ds playing cat".Im just giving you a hard time,but your build is coming along real nicely and actully pretty fast for one person to pretty much do it all.How many seat do you plan to run in the rig?Just the navigator and captain Kurt?

 

[IZwack]

That cat's name is DSCAT, get that straight

Its going to be a 3 seater - driver, passenger, and some dude behind the driver.

 

[fischerry]

WOW, i think i had a blonde moment while reading that sentence's "dscat" and "some guy behind the driver"...hahahahaha i had to think about it.

That's hott...

 

[Yomie]

 

[Lefy]

wow awesome Iz
by any chance do you have any more photos of your old set up
specifically the front end bumper and front suspension... your really inspiring me to get ridiculous with my truck