Front end work

[OldRedB2_84]

im curious as to which one is better, i would like to build some nice beams.

 

[Brandon@BTF-fab]

Hey guys: This is Brandon, Travis actually has to work while he's at work anyhoo, just to clear some things up a little bit: the term "cut & turn" is a bit of a misnomer, as all thet really happens is the lower balljoint tab gets moved to correct the camber for the amount of lift desired.

as far as cv angles, and axles are concerned, i'm not sure one way is better than another because either way (cut & bent in the middle of the beam, or changed at the balljoint area) the axle is exiting the transfer case at "x" height, and the spindles are at "y" height no matter which way you "bend" the beams.

The angles from the diff to the spindle will be more extreme w/ one, but the angle from transfer case to diff will be more extreme w/ the other way,

cut at balljoint area, and cut & bent mid-beam, respectively.

I do know that Travis learned this way of doing things while he worked at Solo motorsports, and this seems to be the way that the desert 4x4 guys do their beams.
I'm not the beam guy between us, I've only done a few sets, so I'll see if he can chime in later on & correct me if I'm wrong & clear some more things up for you guys.

-Brandon-

 

[OldRedB2_84]

ok, cool.
im really wanting to build a set myself, i have access to about any tool i can think of, i just need some pointers, if you would be willing to share your knowledge of course.

 

[Brandon@BTF-fab]

This is Travis on my brothers account.Well this is the way I was taught to build them.Its the same concept,just gone about a different way.Most desert shops build them this way,I have personally never seen them done the other way.There is no binding of the axles as somebody mentioned.Call them what you will, they work just the same though.I guess there are two ways to skin a cat.

 

[mounty71]

Thanks for the explanations brandon and travis. I didn't want it to sound like i was being skeptical of the work done, just wanted to clear up the confusion. Well either way, its looking good, and i know i cant wait till the whole project is done.

 

[R.J.]

where's 410Fortune at? he has the beams turned in the middle, wonder what his pros and cons are

i like the ball joint style better. i mean if thats the way autofab, camburg, solo, mcneil, etc. does it and they hold up and work well, then its good enough for me and it creats more clearance in the middle and under the diff.

 

[cybergasm]

Might wanna send 410Fortune a pm and have him chime in about his beams

 

[railman]

well, not to hi-jack your thread RJ, but i got a question for Brandon and Travis....

other than just moving the lower ball joint out, have you considered replacing the top ball joint tab and the bottom one so that TTB 44 knuckles could be bolted up?

i would really like the better bearings and locking hubs of the 44's as well as the larger brakes ( just need the correct hole for the ball joint to bolt to) not looking to be a hard core rock crawler or desert runner just a daily driver and occasional trail rig running 35-37" tires

l8r, John

 

[R.J.]

a lot of shops can put the d44 knuckles on the d35 beams, a lot of machining has to be done though so most of them say to just swap the whole d44 beams in

 

[Brandon@BTF-fab]

well, not to hi-jack your thread RJ, but i got a question for Brandon and Travis....

other than just moving the lower ball joint out, have you considered replacing the top ball joint tab and the bottom one so that TTB 44 knuckles could be bolted up?

i would really like the better bearings and locking hubs of the 44's as well as the larger brakes ( just need the correct hole for the ball joint to bolt to) not looking to be a hard core rock crawler or desert runner just a daily driver and occasional trail rig running 35-37" tires

l8r, John

I think the problem there would be the axleshafts, if i'm not mistaken, the d-44 beams/axles only came on fullsize trucks, so you'd at least have to shorten the axles to work right under a ranger/expo platform...also, I think some of the splines are different size/count from d35 to d44 (you'll have to excuse me, because I'm really a 2wd guy, and like a-arms better anyways, so some of my info may be off)
-Brandon-

 

[railman]

well, by what i understand is that the d35 and d44 use the same u-joint at the knuckle, so that shouldn't be a problem

and the "machining" needed is the hole for the ball-joint and tie-rod ends....but i could be wrong

why i asked

l8r, John

 

[R.J.]

more work to do

well at the Glamis trip over the weekend, i bent up the coil buckets a bit. so now i need to build some new coil buckeets in this process.

 

[R.J.]

well somewhere between doing this

and this about fifty times

i wound up with this

so im thinking about my options. i could make my own coil buckets, or i could buy this guys buckets for $250 http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=56003&highlight=coil+bucket or i could always get rid of coil buckets and coil springs all together and go the big blingin route

 

[mounty71]

Big bling! Big bling!

 

[Tbars4]

...when did you throw on the f150 coil seats??? ...i'm not even sure my hoops would have held up to that abuse...:scratch:

 

[carlover]

Coilovers..

 

[R.J.]

f-150 seats went in right before the last truckhaven. coilovers are the big bling, but come on, thats a lot of money!!!!!!!!!!!!

i would be up on this, but its a good 5 hour drive away

http://www.race-dezert.com/cgi-bin/trader/atl.cgi?ct=2&md=second&id=10485

 

[IZwack]

Do you have a welder RJ? Cauz it seems like thats the next thing you need to focus on. You need to stop wasting your $$ at these shops that are doing a sub-par job and fab your own stuff. Even if you have to save up for a few months, a 110v Hobart 125 (Flux-Core) will save you money in the long run.

 

[Tbars4]

...is it up by pismo???...

 

[mounty71]

OOO, i've seen that explorer before, that front would look good on my truck too