Damarble's 01 Sport, coil sprung HP D30 SAS, SOA, 33s, 4.56s, lockers

Just finished the rear axle today, SOA with Aussie locker and 4.56 gears. Rear springs are shot from towing and still need to be replaced. Also I need to weld shock mounts on the axle. This will all be done after the front axle is installed. It is a HP Dana 30 with gears and a locker to be added in a few months. Front suspension will be a Y-link with XJ coils and Ballistic brackets. Steering and panhard will be stock XJ for now. Tires are 33/12.5/15 Interco Truxus M/Ts on Soft 8 wheels with stock Ford center caps.

 

[lifeguard379]

what steering box do you plan on useing?

 

[damarble]

Was going to use a Nissan box but it might be too big. If so I'll use the Toyota box.

 

[damarble]

Well after the lift my bumper mount trailer ball was stupidly high and useless for towing. A search at the junkyard today yielded me a heavy duty receiver for The sum of $9. Got the rust scrubbed off an hit it with Rustoleum and mounted it up.

I cranked the torsion bars to about the max to try to level it up somewhat. Still not even close but a little better. I don't care about the CVs since it's all getting ripped out.

Tomorrow I'll begin mocking up the front suspension.

 

[damarble]

Front links measured out and mocked up. The upper link on the passenger side will be removable for more flex off road.

 

[zainyD]

LOL, the latest in off-road technology, wooden links!

 

[94 Crawler]

wooden wooden

Ok that was bad. Good luck I love sased vehicles.

 

[damarble]

Ha ha funny. I'm using 2"x2" 1/4 wall tubing for the lowers and 1.75" ID 1/4 wall tubing for the uppers. Wood 2x2s are perfect for mocking it all up without wasting steel.

Today I welded skids on the LCA brackets and plated the diff cover. Tomorrow night the X will be put on stands and the IFS will be cut off.

 

[damarble]

Lots of cutting and grinding the last two days. The suspension and axle is out and the brackets are 80% removed. The new crossmember is almost done, just needs a little more reinforcement.

 

[94 Crawler]

Looking good. If I dont have to work this weekend I hope to see some progress on mine.

 

[damarble]

More grinding....

Maybe an hour more and then the welding starts. The passenger side is ready but the driver side still needs the torsion bar/crossmember bracket needs more clearancing to fit the link bracket. I have the next three days off so I hope to hammer the rest out by then.

 

[damarble]

Spent the morning getting a Toyota steering box and fittings to adapt it. Got some F250 shock towers too.

 

[damarble]

Ready to weld the link brackets in.

 

[damarble]

Progress not nearly what I had hoped for. Need to buy some more steel to finish my "upper" links, the "lowers" are completely done but I may have run into a problem. I have the adjustable flex joints turned nearly all the way in and the links still are a bit too long. Might have to redo them, or see if it grows on me.

 

[IZwack]

..adjustable flex joints turned nearly all the way in and the links still are a bit too long. Might have to redo them, or see if it grows on me.

Hehe the old "measure twice cut once" deal -- we all make that mistake

 

[damarble]

Turns out my links were not too long. One was, because when I aligned my frame side link brackets to the crossmember I didn't catch that the crossmember is bent (factory). So that has since been cut out and rewelded back into the correct spot.

Since the last update I have the upper coil buckets welded in, track bar bracket fabbed and welded in.

Steering box bolted up and plumbed in. I finally ended up using a 92 Explorer steering box. The frame is reinforced with 1/4" plate by the steering box and trackbar bracket and the bolts are sleeved.

I made a hybrid steering shaft with the 01 shaft, the 92 shaft, and a 94 ZJ shaft.

Steering knuckles and pitman arm have been reamed for Chevy TRE's. Knuckles were reamed for over the knuckle steering.

Bought a steering kit from Ballistic and managed to bugger it up because my friend helping can't do simple math. Waiting on new tube inserts to redo it.

 

[lifeguard379]

pics!

 

[damarble]

A few crappy pics for now. And before I hear anything about the upper link, it's temporary! Just for the mockup.

 

[redranger4.0]

Turns out my links were not too long. One was, because when I aligned my frame side link brackets to the crossmember I didn't catch that the crossmember is bent (factory). So that has since been cut out and rewelded back into the correct spot.

i did the exact same thing too.

 

[damarble]

One step forward, two steps back. Finished my tie rod and then found out you can't run the tie rod over the knuckle on a D30 with stock brackets. So back under the knuckle and back the the junkyard for another set of knuckles since I already reamed these.