BMXking's Axle Swap 1st gen. Coils/Radius Arms!!!

[breel]

You got any shocks on your front end yet? Trying to figure out what size to get, and seeing what else everybody else is using.

 

[bmxking5]

I've got a set from a 6" lifted f250. They were freebies (ES3000s). I'm gonna run them for a bit, since they reach, and then measure for some adj. Ranchos.

 

[mynameisaric]

Just thought i'd post up and say congrats on the SAS even though its not completely done yet. Everyone poked fun of you for taking so long, but i'm sure it was worth the wait. everything looks goooood! and it will probably stay that way since they dont use salt in georgia. salt is evil. your truck sure is looking sexy. I still say you should come to the badlands 10th anniversary run. indiana isn't THAT far from georgia.

 

[bmxking5]

Thanks Aric. The reason I haven't really updated that often is because I don't feel it's even worth the time to, just to have more people say it's taking too long. Oh yeah, and IL isn't THAT far from VA!

Here's the new pics:
1.Steering is setup for good now. I didn't have it setup before because there was a problem with the dust boots on the TREs...there were none. So I ordered a set from work (Energy Suspension).

2.Got my brakelines all setup. Jrgaylor helped me figure out my problem, so now it's all good

4.My neighbor laid some beads on the R/A mounts (the shadow blocks out the welds on the other side)

 

[bmxking5]

More...
1.Perfect beads to box in the spacer. I finally drilled the holes, so now I just have to finish measuring where the buckets will go, drill those holes, and she's sitting on her own!

2.Shock towers. Had to notch out a pretty good chunk of the inner fender well to get these f250 shock mounts to fit.

3.My truck begging to get off of the jackstands

 

[sn0border88]

I wish I could afford a robotic welder, holy ****...

Looking good. What did those f250 mounts run you (im to lazy to sift through 30 pages to find it)

 

[bmxking5]

Lincoln Tig welder.

28 bucks shipped from Ford Parts Network. P.S. If there is anything else you wanna know prices on, it's on the first page with the huge list of parts used. Prices are right next to it.

 

[mynameisaric]

i'm learning to tig weld right now. its actually not that hard to do carbon steel. i'm not sure about aluminum or stainless since i havent done those. its just alot of control basically. your foot controls the amperage(which is sweeeeeet cuz if the weld gets too hot, then you just back off the pedal a little bit and vise versa) then you just run nice little beads. i can't wait to get better at it and have all my beads turn out like your neighbors.

 

[BeauJ]

I wish I could afford a robotic welder, holy ****...

Looking good. What did those f250 mounts run you (im to lazy to sift through 30 pages to find it)

I program OTC and EZ-GO robots at work. The OTC ones are only about $55,000 new, not too bad, hehe. Also a certified welder. I'll make the robot welder look like butt.

 

[BeauJ]

i'm learning to tig weld right now. its actually not that hard to do carbon steel. i'm not sure about aluminum or stainless since i havent done those. its just alot of control basically. your foot controls the amperage(which is sweeeeeet cuz if the weld gets too hot, then you just back off the pedal a little bit and vise versa) then you just run nice little beads. i can't wait to get better at it and have all my beads turn out like your neighbors.

The ONLY thing I've ever TIG welded with is Stainless steel. It's somewhat easier because you don't have to move fast like with MIG, and you just let it puddle up. Never done Aluminum. I've heard from serveral 30 year plus welders that Aluminum takes A LOT of practice. I prefer MIG though. I'll get bored at work and when we work weekends a few other guys try to make the best looking weld. I never win

 

[mynameisaric]

mmmmm mig. i want one. i make PURDY looking beads with mig. i just wanted to learn tig so i could do thin material and aluminum or stainless if i have to for some reason.... you know like intercooler piping or something ::dreams::

(sorry bmxking, i'll end my hi-jack now)

 

[bmxking5]

It's alright, hi-jack all you want. My neighbor tig welds everything. He builds a lot of motorcycle parts, and most of his customers have him build things in aluminum, so he's had years of practice. I wish I had half the welding skills he did. He's done jobs on the side (Ex: a custom motorcycle exhaust) that only take him a few hours, and he makes about 1200 on. :drool: One place up in OH is still begging him to move up there to work for them because they love his work so much.

I won't be going into work until about 2:30 tomorrow, so I have all morning to work on the truck.

 

[breel]

Looks good Bryan, your neighbor has laid perfect welds for you. Have to say that is one part you won't have to worry about failing. It's a shame I sell the machines and parts all day and can't weld worth a damn. I'm down to shocks and driveshafts before mine is done.

 

[bmxking5]

Haha, I remember telling you on the phone that I didn't have anything to worry about with the welds Do you have somebody doing your driveshafts already? Or you haven't measured yet? Sounds like your pretty much done with work, so measure for shocks and get those driveshafts done and drive it!

I'd been having a lot of trouble drilling 1/2" holes in all of my stuff. I used cutting oil, had sharp bits, etc, but they would just stop cutting once there was the initial 1/2" "cone". (It's hard to describe) Anyways, I went to Home Depot and got a step/uni-bit. That thing is awesome! It's the first time I've ever used one, but that thing will eat through the 1/4" steel like it's butter. So I got all my holes drilled in the spacers and frame, and now just have to measure once more where the buckets are going (height), and drill the holes in those. My neighbor is going to tig the buckets to the spacers tomorrow. He's also off on Saturday and Sunday, so he'll probably weld my bucket spacers and trac bar mount to the frame so I'll have a completely driving truck! I've got about 5 hours in the morning to work on the truck, so I'll measure for the buckets, put on my driver side shock mount, install driver side shock and notch out the inner fender well, and leave all the stuff at my neighbor's house for welding when he gets off work. Almost done!

 

[JS91X]

not too long and it'll be rollin....we better go wheelin when robbie gets his done and mine too, is your front drive shaft going to work or do you have to run a ******* joint ?

 

[jasonb]

see.. now aren't you glad that I didn't have the time to help you out.. Now you have perfect tig welds that look like a robot did them. That adds to the cool factor at least!

As far as the drilling... If you were trying to start with a 1/2" bit that's the problem. You need really slow speed and lots of pressure for that. You should start with a smaller one when using a hand drill especially and build up, basically the same thing that unibit thing does, but with different size regular bits. It works that way. You're basically trying to eat away too much material by starting with a large size bit like 1/2".

 

[mynameisaric]

i was going to say what jasonb did. when i have to drill large holes at school, the rpm's go way down on the v-mill .... not to mention they are 2hp i think, and your hand drill cant match that kind of torque... but you get the idea. large holes need slower speeds due to the surface speed factor. we have nice little charts at school called the Harrig speeds and feeds calculator. tells you the speeds and feed rates of just about every kind of metal with either high speed steel bits or carbide bits.

but hand drills dont have to flexibility of a v-mil. if you are using a cordless, try using a corded drill. and when it sticks when you barely poke through, what i've had to do is get the dril to speed and slow push in so it kind of chips away at the metal. too much pressure and the bit sticks and my drill spins around the bit and makes nice little circles on the bit.

 

[jasonb]

and the bit sticks and my drill spins around the bit AND SMASHES YOUR FINGERS OR HAND BETWEEN IT AND SOMETHING HARD OR SMACKS YOU HARD IN THE CHEST.

fixed it for ya!

 

[mynameisaric]

hahahahahahaha. oh man. yeah thanks. my cordless has lots of power and holds bits good, but it only has a 3/8 chuck. so anything over 3/8 and i have to use an old school monospeed drill that has a half inch chuck. but it is the chuck that requires you insert the key to tighten it down, and it never wants to hold a 1/2" bit. the bit sticks like bmxking is talking about and the chuck spins around it. but when my cordless sticks a bit, it holds on tight and "SMASHES MY FINGERS OR HAND BETWEEN IT AND SOMETHING HARD OR SMACKS ME HARD IN THE CHEST", or it just twists my wrist... and that hurts too. i think there is a drill press in the garage somewhere, but its buried. kinda sad to lose a drill press in a garage isnt it?

 

[bmxking5]

James - the front driveshaft fits perfectly. The 44 and the 9" both had 1310s already (same as the 35 and 8.8) and so I only needed the rear lengthened a bit. When Robbie gets back in town, I'll get to help him work on his axle every Tuesday (we have a little thing at my work where we get together and work on cars on Tuesday nights, and we just about finished stripping down our 52 Ford proj, so it'll be getting media blasted, frame powdercoated, etc) So if he's got the money for the parts, we can get his D44 all setup and ready in no time. BTW, that 86 Yota you've got has a straight axle right?

Jason - Yeah, I'm definitely glad I didn't do it over at your place. When I actually started it, I realized it's hard to do an SAS when you've leave at 7 for school, and get back at 6 from work and have very little daylight left, and no garage to work = my truck sits in the driveway for way too long. I know how it feels to be a jackstand wheeler now.

I did drill pilot holes. I started with a 7/32, then 1/4, but then after that, the next bit was the 1/2". When I went to HD to get the uni-bit, I was actually planning on getting some more bits in between the 1/4 and 1/2, but then I saw the uni-bit and figured that would be a hell of a lot easier than changing out bits the whole time (plus I saw trckmagik using one in about every pic of his SAS where they were drilling holes).