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:

 

[Kirby N.]

On the heaters- I have been looking at external exhaust (vented) style Natural Gas Heaters like this one for my 2 car:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200307959_200307959

It would save me a couple hundered to go with a 220V heater like the one mentioned above:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/...00329299?cm_sp=Xsells-_-Manual-_-Product Page


What does it really cost to run one of those 220 heaters in a 2 car when it is 0-20 degrees for four hours? Anyone have an idea from experience? I like the 220 one because it is portable and when I move it can go with me. Not to mention it is cheaper and easy to install.

Sorry to hijack

That Iz fabs sick!

 

[jwrezz]

I think the cost of the units would negate each other pretty quickly. Gas is cheap (for now) and I'd bet your electric bill would soar if you had that thing running for 4 hours even for one day. I remeber when I was given an old 'fridge. Brought it home, plugged it in and let it cool off before using it. That one month's electric bill was $60 higher than normal. Once it had been running and just maintained coolness, it was fine, but you'd be surprised the amount of electricity that is used.

Now, if you have wind and/or solar for your own personal electricity, go for it!

Back to you Iz...

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

How much does it cost to run:

Avg Residential Electric Rate: 15.71 cents/KwH here in NJ:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html

4000w = 4kw
4kw X 0.1571 = $0.63/hr

So you're talking $2.52 for a 4 hour continuous run. MD and PA are cheaper than NJ. Go figure.

100 pages of BS, here we come.

And Kirby, that gas heater produces 45,000 BTU. The 4kw Electrics only produce about 13,000 BTU.

 

[tdavis]

How much does it cost to run:

Avg Residential Electric Rate: 15.71 cents/KwH here in NJ:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html

4000w = 4kw
4kw X 0.1571 = $0.63/hr

So you're talking $2.52 for a 4 hour continuous run. MD and PA are cheaper than NJ. Go figure.

100 pages of BS, here we come.

And Kirby, that gas heater produces 45,000 BTU. The 4kw Electrics only produce about 13,000 BTU.

My god, I wish electricity was that cheap here. I'm paying way over 35c per kilowatt/hour.

 

[section525]

My god, I wish electricity was that cheap here. I'm paying way over 35c per kilowatt/hour.

I pay $0.11877 Kwh before my discount!

You probably don't want to hear it but my bill was $56 for both houses. : :

 

[Kriegen]

I pay $0.11877 Kwh before my discount!

You probably don't want to hear it but my bill was $56 for both houses. : :

You're right, didn't want to hear it :roll:

Wow, that must be nice

 

[tdavis]

I pay $0.11877 Kwh before my discount!

You probably don't want to hear it but my bill was $56 for both houses. : :

pffft.

upto 166.6 kwh - $0.11531
101-130% (49.98 kwh) - $0.13109
131-200% (116.62 kwh) - $0.26078
201-300% - $0.38066

that was BEFORE Jan 1. After Jan 1

upto 137.2 kwh - $0.11877
101-130% (41.16) - $0.13502
131-200% (96.04)- $0.27572
201-300% - $0.40577

It averages out to $0.22 per kwh

 

[IZwack]

Well looks like I'll probably have to wait till next winter until I can afford one of those 220v heaters - just dropped a pretty penny on a 1.5" tube die for the bender.

Also got a Saab (teyrbo) 14" radiator fan from a local junk yard:

 

[colindo94]

I hear you got a little snow over there?

 

[IZwack]

Yep, a few pics in this thread:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269375

 

[IZwack]

Mounted the radiator - lean angle is not yet set though, I'm waiting to see how the other tubes around it will play out (mainly the passenger's horizontal harness tube) and then I can build the tiny links that will set its lean angle.

Radiator fan bracket from aluminum:

 

[jwrezz]

Wow, I just installed my new BlackMagic180 electric fan today too. We're right on track w/ each other. 'Cept that mine's almost completely stock compared to your beast!

 

[Super_Swamper_98]

That thing is crazy!

 

[colindo94]

seems like an interesting place/position for the radiator? Looks real good though. Can we get a close up of the aluminum fan bracket?

 

[cybergasm]

Still thinking he is trying to shake and bake the passenger :

 

[Burns]

How will you run the lines to the rad itself? Hard line into a rubber line?

 

[IZwack]

How will you run the lines to the rad itself? Hard line into a rubber line?

Segments of 1.5" aluminum tubing - thats what the 1.5" die was for (but the tubes need to be annealed before bending). Connecting the tube segments are silicone hose sections.

Can we get a close up of the aluminum fan bracket?

Sure, i'll snap some pics in a few days.

 

[jwrezz]

How will you run the lines to the rad itself? Hard line into a rubber line?

Didn't the Xtreme4x4 guys use exhaust pipe for hard lines and then rubber just at the rad?

 

[BKennedy]

Didn't the Xtreme4x4 guys use exhaust pipe for hard lines and then rubber just at the rad?

I think they did, but it was stainless steal pipe, which is very expensive.
You know, this thread averages about six pages of BS for every time Iz does something to his rig.:

 

[IZwack]

Can we get a close up of the aluminum fan bracket?

Woot sorry for such a delay:

So I've been working on the aluminum radiator tubes that go from the engine to the rad (obviously). Its not done yet but here are some pics.

The section that goes under the crank (since the water pump's intake is on the wrong side):

Buttom shot:

From there, the lower tube meets up with the upper tube (mounting tabs/brackets not finished):

I ran out of tube so the two straight sections that goes under the passenger's seat have yet to exist. But from there we have the rear section that meets up with the radiator:

From the last two images, I still need to get one 90 degree elbow and one 45 degree elbow to tie the tubes into the radiator's ports.

In order to make the "beads" on the tubes, I made this evil device that eats people for breakfast:

And this is what a bead look like: