Project Baby Runner/Mini Crawler: R.J.'s Navajo Build

[R.J.]

dude, you know how to get it done! you have the spirit.

i was tempted to off road mine with no shocks and broken front axle :

 

[lifeguard379]

i thought you fixed the axle?

 

[R.J.]

nope car has been sitting in the garage collecting cobwebbs (seriously) since pismo........ but not anymore!!!! whoocha!

 

[Dannyboy]

did you go total chaos u-bolt mounts? Can't tell from the pic but I'm super impressed with mine.

 

[R.J.]

no total chaos mounts i saw yours and loved the idea of it and thought about making my own, but the thought of my entire back end held up by my welding was a bit scetchy. i don't know what u-bolt mounts have, superlift maybe

 

[Dannyboy]

aha, well I was fooled, something looked different in the picture but I couldn't tell from the angle.

You'd really need a press/break to make a set. For the $60 bucks I said screw it and ordered them up. They look pretty similar though. U-bolt nuts are protected and on the side of the pack.

One other ?? Did you extend the bump stop on the top with that square tubing or is that just for mock up? I'm considering adding some juicy poly bump stops to help absorb the last couple inches of bump travel in the front. Cans are cool, but are ten times the price.

 

[surfsup887]

i would love to own that shop. looks like a fun place to work : D

 

[R.J.]

aha, well I was fooled, something looked different in the picture but I couldn't tell from the angle.

You'd really need a press/break to make a set. For the $60 bucks I said screw it and ordered them up. They look pretty similar though. U-bolt nuts are protected and on the side of the pack.

One other ?? Did you extend the bump stop on the top with that square tubing or is that just for mock up? I'm considering adding some juicy poly bump stops to help absorb the last couple inches of bump travel in the front. Cans are cool, but are ten times the price.

yeah i spaced them down with a 2x2" square tubing.

pictures don't want to look so good right now, but the navajo is on its wheels for the first time in a long time.

and i can only raise the car about two inches more and still keep in the garage.

 

[lifeguard379]

you fix the lift gate? the pic of the bumper reminded me lol

 

[R.J.]

oh yeah i fixed that like a week after pismo and i faxed the idle problem i was haveing too.

well i ran out of luck today. finished up all the piddely little things to get the rear done, so now onto the front. but a problem lies in me replacing my u-joint, i need a u-joint to replace it with! all the peices have been sitting around the garage for me to fix the front axle for several months, new axle, new u-joint, but now that i'm actually going to work on it i can't find the u-joint! i've searched high and low for it, but appears to be nowhere. i assume it evolved into some creature with legs (or possibly hover ability?) and wondered off to live its own life. but it probably joined a gang and is up to no good now.

started work for full clips

 

[R.J.]

edit* found the u-joint, it was at the office

ok, so now i need some help, help with the spindle nuts. i've heard few people talk about there "techniques" to tighten them properly. iv'e heard "tighten the inner nut hand tight and then torque the outer." "tighten the inner one and then loosen it a half turn" etc. i remember brian kennedy had a good way to do it. input puhleeeeease

 

[mounty71]

Damn, James taught me how to do this...wish i could remember.

 

[lifeguard379]

hear ya go.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=147451

 

[R.J.]

 

[R.J.]

man, i missed the "models in your avatar" trend and now im late on the "this is me wearing a tie" avatar

 

[IZwack]

Ah it snapped? weld it back on!! kuhwik!

 

[mounty71]

Is that a recent picture? I thought you had your fox shox on the rear, and those don't look like deavers, and i didn't think you had the swaybar.

 

[R.J.]

hahaha. it was just to mess with you. thats a an old picture right after the navajo was lifted

 

[R.J.]

here goes....

took the nav to johnson valley a few weeks ago. did a lot of running htrough washes and high speed whoops. handled great. the rear worked the best it's ever done and the front of course could easily out run the rear. im sure the front will do even better once i get a new bump stop and adjust the dualrate springs a bit more.

but somewhere between high speeds, rock crawling and braking the steering being pulled out by a dodge 2500, i did some damage to the axle and knuckle.

cracked knuckle, broken u-joint, and the axle slip joint is stuck together. can't get it apart

sorry the pictures are so bad

cracked knuckle

slip joint stuck

and i don't know if you can see it but the engine crossmember is cracked. need to reinforce it a lil

so im thinking the cause to some of my problems may be that i forgot the put the spacer on the axle behind the knuckle, maybe i didn't trim the slip joint shaft enough, and possibly the limit straps have stretched far enough that the axle is binding

 

[lifeguard379]

so did you tow it home? that is a big crack