Mn Mountaineer V8 SAS

[johnny499]

I have duratracs on my one ton and they have been great. The more i think about it the more i am considering an all terrain instead of a mud tire, being that this is also my daily driver and will be going on road trips as well. I think i have gotten farther away from making a decision on tires now.

 

[johnny499]

I ordered an assortment of grade 8 hardware for the build and to restock.

Yesterday i made 3 mounting bosses for the steering gear out of 1" rod bored to 7/16" on the lathe.

I also removed the range box from an NP203 i had laying around for years to use on a possible future doubler.

 

[moonman85]

Your prodject is coming along nice! Im hoping to get mine done this spring. Where do you wheel at? Im 10 minutes from the local ohv park which is nice.

 

[johnny499]

Your prodject is coming along nice! Im hoping to get mine done this spring. Where do you wheel at? Im 10 minutes from the local ohv park which is nice.

Thanks!
I haven't done any of the parks yet, i have a few friends with lots of land and logging areas that can be a fun challenge. I want to do the iron range a few times next year unless i really get hooked then it will be more. I may try the park to the west(I forget the name), they are both a good drive from the cities! I also have a family vacation planned for Missouri next spring and may try to hit SMORR.
What are you doing to yours?

 

[moonman85]

I was going to put a eb44 under it but after doing some numbers I decided to do a d30. So now I'm starting to look for parts for that. And debating on selling my 44 stuff. The 30 I got from a guy in Brooklyn park. My goal is to be able to do the Mesabi mountain trail down the road from me.

 

[Greg_DonWindsor]

This build is ballin outta control!! I wish I had half of these tools at my disposal. And half the know-how! Well done I'll be watching progress!

 

[johnny499]

I was going to put a eb44 under it but after doing some numbers I decided to do a d30. So now I'm starting to look for parts for that. And debating on selling my 44 stuff. The 30 I got from a guy in Brooklyn park. My goal is to be able to do the Mesabi mountain trail down the road from me.

Very nice! I hadn't even thought about doing a d30 until i had already committed to the d44. I read that Mesabi Mountain trail was rated pretty difficult but would like to try it someday also.

 

[johnny499]

This build is ballin outta control!! I wish I had half of these tools at my disposal. And half the know-how! Well done I'll be watching progress!

Thanks!!
I have been collecting tools for years and my dad has been doing so on a grander scale for much longer. It is very helpful to have the right tools for the job when taking on these big projects. My know how comes from working with my dad and uncle over the years and then figuring things out on my own projects.

 

[johnny499]

Pulled down some steel yesterday to start making new u-bolt spring plates out of. I used the iron worker to cut the plates to length to start with. It cut the 4" wide 3/16" plate like nothing, it took about a second and a half to cut it. I am in love with how fast it works. It is not as accurate as a saw but the speed is unreal.

Here i marked out the five holes to be punched again with the iron worker.

It punches holes just as fast as it cuts but swapping the dies takes more time.

I decided to do these a little differently, I am doubling two plates together with the lower one having folded ends for additional strength.They will be fully welded, I tacked them together to get exact alignment when punching the second plate.

Then i drilled the new rear rotors for 5*5.5 bolt pattern.

I am taking next week off work to get this thing rocked out.

 

[johnny499]

The build is on!!!!
I got a late start on it today after some house work and rebuilding the starter in my one ton.

I started with jacking up both ends and putting it on good stands.

Then i got to it.

Two and a half hours later the axle and springs were out and on the floor. I only broke the two lower shock bolts, everything else came off without a hitch.

It looks so empty.

Here is the pile of parts that won't be going back in the truck.

I put the axle up on stands to start tearing it down.

I am glad i never tried to use the parking brake, both side were in the same shape.

Pulled the axles and drained the fluid from the diff.

Then i got the front spring brackets removed in preperation to move them forward for use with the chevy springs.

Here i have the old and new springs side by side to figure out how far forward i need to move the mounts.

 

[johnny499]

There's no turning back now!!
Sunday morning i cleaned up the axle tube and center housing to be welded.

Then i welded the tubes to the center housing with the same high nickle alloy rod that i used on the front axle.

After that i fired up the plasma cutter and removed the spring perches and brackets for the traction bars.

Cleaned it up with a flap disc and pulled the gear set out.

While the housing was cooling down i did several hours worth of yard work. Then i went out to my dads, borrowed his good brake line flaring tool and pressed the new bearing and shim onto the pinion gear.

 

[johnny499]

Today i started with removing what was left of the parking brakes.

I found that both of the actuator levers were rusted solid. I had to heat them up to get them apart and wire wheeled them to get rid of the rust.

After i removed the parking brakes i used the piece of tubing for the drag link to knock the axle bearings and seals out. It worked great.

Then i cleaned the inside of the housing and installed the new bearings and seals.

It took a while but i got the new gears set up and the truetrac installed.

I had no idea how large the axle flange would be until i pulled it apart. I marked one of them with the new bolt pattern and drilled one hole to see how close it was going to be. As you can see it is very close to the outer edge. If i were to tap the hole for the stud it would have just a sliver of material left and i am not comfortable with that. I made notes of all the dimensions of both axle shafts and will be ordering new ones with larger flanges and drilled to the right bolt pattern as well as being stronger.

So for now i will be running the stock wheels on the rear. I put the new parking brake shoes on, slid the axles back in and sealed it back up.

The next step is to get the new springs installed. I laid the springs on top of each other and determined that the front mounts need to be 6 1/4" forward.

I also enlarged the centering holes in the perches to 5/8" to work with the new bolts.

 

[johnny499]

Today was very productive. I started with getting the front spring brackets mounted to the frame.

Then i put the springs in and hung the axle.

Double checked that the axle was centered in the opening.

I centered the axle from side to side which consisted of moving it about 1/8" to one side, i thought it was pretty close for being eye balled in place. Then i installed the drive shaft and used angle finders to set the pinion angle at ride height before i welded the new spring perches in place.

After that i put the rotors and calipers on, mounted the brake hoses and plumbed the brake lines.

I also reinstalled the passengers side parking brake cable to make sure the new brake lines would clear it.

I bled the rear brakes, took it off the stands and took it for a quick drive. Boy is it peppy with the small tires and 4.56 gears. While it was outside i cleaned the floor again and then pulled it back in. I put the front up on stands so i can tear the front apart tomorrow.

 

[Greg_DonWindsor]

Amazing. Your handiwork and attention to detail is top notch. Hats off!

 

[johnny499]

Amazing. Your handiwork and attention to detail is top notch. Hats off!

Thanks!!!
I decided that with this project i was going to get as much info as i could about how the pieces i wanted to use would work together on this build before i started and hopefully have as few delays as possible. So far the only unknown that bit me was the diameter of the axle flanges for the bolt pattern change. I ordered custom shafts yesterday from Dutchman as a bonus they are a stronger alloy so i should not have any failures with them. I also ordered a Solid diff. cover for it, so the only parts of the rear axle i will be reusing are the calipers and housing itself.
O.K. on with yesterdays progress.
I spent about two hours removing the front suspension and bumper.

Then I went at it with the plasma cutter.

Here is the pile of parts I removed from the front end.

I cut all of the IFS brackets off and it is ready for a few hours of grinding.

In order to get the new steering gear to fit i needed an oil filter relocation kit. Here are the engine side pieces including the old and new filter adapters on the left.

The new adapter is tightened with a 1/2" allen wrench which i don't own. No problem i took a 5/16" bolt, washer and nut put them in a socket and wallah instant allen wrench.

Once that was installed i was able to get what was left of the cross member on the inside of the frame rail. I didn't get any pictures of that because i was distracted by my shirts catching fire from the plasma cutter. I'm fine but let's just say there was some hasty Hulk style removal of the shirts, there's buttons all over the garage and it took a while to find both gloves and goggles.

 

[johnny499]

Today i spent a bunch of time wrestling with the 7" grinder cleaning up what was left behind by the plasma cutter.

I drilled the frame for the upper steering gear mounting boss.

Clearances were looking good.

Then i set the front axle under the truck and discovered a problem, the steering gear needs to go farther forward to clear the tie rod.

My solution was to cut about an inch and a half off of the lower radiator hose and reroute the battery cables.

With that stuff moved I committed to the new location and tacked the bosses in place after locating the holes for them.

With the gear located I set it to center and welded the bronco 2 rag joint end to the mountaineer shaft.

Here it is installed with less than 1/8" of run out and clears everything.

Here is the front axle at what should be ride height. I need to decide if i want to put the drag link end above or below the pitman arm. It looks like i should be able to have between four and five inches of suspension compression.

 

[DrivenKeys]

i was distracted by my shirts catching fire from the plasma cutter. I'm fine but let's just say there was some hasty Hulk style removal of the shirts, there's buttons all over the garage and it took a while to find both gloves and goggles.

It's not a real project until you catch on fire...

 

[johnny499]

Well i believe it's day seven. I started with setting the wheel base two inches longer and aligning the front axle accordingly.

Here you can see the tie rod in relation to the pitman arm. This clearance will be a determining factor in whether i maintain the two inch forward position of the axle.

With that set i started on the cross member. The area of the frame where i need to put the cross member is tapered roughly five degrees.

With that determined i cut the 2"x4" 1/4" wall tubing to length.

I used the iron worker to make the end plates out of 4" wide 1/4" plate.

Then i beveled the edges on them to get good weld penetration.

Held them in place with a few corner magnets, tacked them together.

And burned them in.

Sorry for the bad picture, here i have the cross member in place and a pair of plates tacked to it that bolt to the bottom flange of the frame.

Then i made these filets to go between them and the tube out of 3/16" plate.

After that i welded them in along with some inner plates to complete boxing the ends.

Then i put the cross member back in to figure out the mounting points for the radius arms.

I will need to remove the factory cross member for drive shaft and radius arm clearance. I have come up with a way to use the left over piece of 2"x4" tubing to support the new polyurethane rear transmission mount. The new cross member is a little lower than the transfer case which will help protect it.

 

[moonman85]

Great progress!! Looking good!!

 

[johnny499]

Great progress!! Looking good!!

Thanks! Slow but steady progress.

Saturday i started with adding the transmission mount to the cross member with what was left of the 2"x4" tube. I started with my front to rear center line for the new mount.

Then i aligned it side to side using the marks i made while the cross member was in the truck.

Squared it up and welded it.

I hate that my nicest welds will never be seen.

Then i used my tracings from the radius arms to figure out where their mounts needed to go and at what angle. It turned out to be about 9 degrees.

I used masking tape to highlight my cutting lines.

I was able to use the portaband saw to cut the the sides, i have found it makes much more precise cuts than the cut off wheel.

However i had to use the cut off wheel for the other cuts.

After using the square to estimate the length difference between the two flanges i made a couple of templates.

Here you can see the overall difference, i believe it was roughly 9/16" in length.

I used the iron worker to rough these out, it went very fast and worked better than i expected.

I lined them up on there common surfaces and clamped them together.