does this make my rear end look fat?

[tdavis]

Got the windshield back on, using bling-bling CNC hinges.

Also get to start on linking tomorrow morning. I may have to totally cut the rear end off to make the coil-overs fit correctly, or lean them forward.

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

Uh, no dear, not at all. (Standard answer #436)

 

[DB_1]

Awesome Tom,
are you stretching your wheelbase too? Can ya give some specs on the stuff your using

 

[Stic-o]

Badass my friend! That thing is gonna be sweet, but you'll still brake shackles in the front

 

[tdavis]

Shooting for about 100" of WB. Brand new Diamond Axle housing toyota IFS width, going to a low pinion Toyota E-locker (with 5.29/gears), 3/4"x7/8" shank heims (4 left, 4 right, 1 ea extra spare, you can adjust the link by turning it), 1.75x.250 links, all link tabs are 3/8" thick that I made.

No more rear axle wrap for me!

 

[tdavis]

Badass my friend! That thing is gonna be sweet, but you'll still brake shackles in the front

Break shackles in the front? Those stamped steel POS are gone.

 

[bmxking5]

:drool: Looking good. After you're done with that, you can start on some front coil overs, then come do mine.

 

[Jefe]

So triangulated 4-link I assume from the way you have them laid out. Those links look loooonggg, or is it just the angle of the pic? And little 3/4"x3/4" heims on all link ends. . . I'd think you'd want a couple rubber bushings somewhere to prevent bind?

EDIT: You're going with a low pinion 3rd member this time, with the new sweet housing and I'm guessing the outers and axle shafts from your current rear will be swapped over.

Looks like fun

 

[tdavis]

The links are not cut down to size yet; they are about 18" too long. As for the rubber bushings, they are not needed. Remember, the zuk is a trail vehicle, and does very little street time.

As for triangulation ; I have no desire to run a rock anchor for the bottom links, so they will be using a frame mount point, which means the bottom will merge but way way in front of the zuk.


Oh, and the coil overs are RockEquipment airshock/coil over hybrid. Instead of dealing with the cliff type tuning of an air shock, you run a slighty lighter coil and then tune it up with these shocks. All aluminum and stainless steel, with ceramic coatings on the wear surfaces.

 

[tdavis]

Oh wait, it's 7/8 shank on the heims.. Got them months ago, been waiting for tomorrow to come for a long, long time.

 

[DB_1]

I really like those Diamond housings...probably going with them when I do a front axle except the 9" version.
Those axle tubes look huge, what the dia. on them?

Speaking of axle housings...what's the status on your front axle Jefe? Sorry Tom

 

[Rick]

Cool project! Can't wait to see it in action

 

[FROADER]

Sweet Tom!! So did you already have 5.29 in the old axles, or are you going to have a 40,000:1 ratio?

I swear you're going to have to start 4 wheelin' in 4th gear now.

 

[RockRanger]

we need updates. Where is the live webcam in the garage

 

[tdavis]

I worked on the tube bender today, getting it ready for use. The bender is full hydro now, just got to do some finish welds and tidy up a few things and it's ready to bend stuff.

I got the rear end cleaned out, and started measuring. Found that it is impossible to install the coil-overs outside the frame, there isn't enough room. Inside the frame, it's too close together so they would be wasted there.

Yup, I'm cutting part of the frame off, and tubing the rear also.

I like how I scratch one itch, and it turns into a festering big sore..

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

Full hydro, that would have beem nice sooner Anyway, sounds good all the all tube n the back. Wish I had time to help as I owe you a big . Even Moab is going to be tight for me, but I might be able to help in March or so. Sorry about the Govy job, but you know how it works

 

[tdavis]

I finished enough work on the tube bender today to make it work ready, so that's basically done. I put a 1.5/.120 hunk of HREW in it, and it bent past 90 in one shot, and to 180 degrees in another shot.

After seeing poor ol' Sho struggling with the bender, and having most of my helpers around here being kids all kicked me into doing the hydro setup (and it didn't really cost that much, about $400 for the pump, ram, controller, hoses and fittings.

I did start on the bottom links today, they are about 32" long. I have to play with brackets tomorrow, I'm not 100% happy with my prep work.

 

[DB_1]

After seeing poor ol' Sho struggling with the bender, and having most of my helpers around here being kids all kicked me into doing the hydro setup (and it didn't really cost that much, about $400 for the pump, ram, controller, hoses and fittings.

You running a sweatshop over there Tom?

Is there an tubing OD/wall thickness limit you can run with the hydro setup?

 

[tdavis]

I sometimes think I should.. I open the garage door, start working on things, and lookup and there they are, gawking.

So I either chase them off, or put them to work. All depends on what I'm doing. Welding/Plasma is usually a chase off, don't want the rugrats burning the place down.

As for limit on the hydro, it's supposed to easily handle 1.75/.120 DOM, and probably strain some on the 1.75/.250 wall stuff. Of course, the bender is just a pro-tools 105HD, so I wanted the hydro to stall before it damages anything (and this setup will do that)

 

[410Fortune]

Can you C notch the frame instead of going full tube?

I can see it now, the future of the forum = live webcam threads for builds:

Here's my drivetrain conversion timelaps video