Mn Mountaineer V8 SAS

[Kage.]

Bray is a pretty good dude to hang around with, and even though I wound up going with leafs on the front of my ranger, his build kicked me over to the RBV platform from the Jeep world.

I went back and started at your photos a bit more while comparing the setup I have on my truck frame (same as the Gen 1 ex's). It looks like the torsion bar frame winds up hanging down lower that the TTB frame, which is where my confusion was happening. I might be able to go with a high steer setup on my drag link, but I can see how the tie rod could cause some issues, which would then wind up causing issues with the track bar If i had to guess.

Couple more questions for ya.

Did you wind up swapping the C bushings, or did you just leave it at the 6° caster?

Got a link to those front bump stops?

Did you wind up using the 3.5 or 5.5" springs?

For your front sway bar, you might want to look into using a torsion bar from a yota and build your own ends. I believe that they are long enough to use with our frames, but I don't have one in front of me to check right now.

Little info for you Junk Yard Sway Bar on Pirate Cheaper than a anti-rock setup if you can find a bar easily up there.

 

[johnny499]

Bray is a pretty good dude to hang around with, and even though I wound up going with leafs on the front of my ranger, his build kicked me over to the RBV platform from the Jeep world.

I went back and started at your photos a bit more while comparing the setup I have on my truck frame (same as the Gen 1 ex's). It looks like the torsion bar frame winds up hanging down lower that the TTB frame, which is where my confusion was happening. I might be able to go with a high steer setup on my drag link, but I can see how the tie rod could cause some issues, which would then wind up causing issues with the track bar If i had to guess.

Couple more questions for ya.

Did you wind up swapping the C bushings, or did you just leave it at the 6° caster?

Got a link to those front bump stops?

Did you wind up using the 3.5 or 5.5" springs?

For your front sway bar, you might want to look into using a torsion bar from a yota and build your own ends. I believe that they are long enough to use with our frames, but I don't have one in front of me to check right now.

Little info for you Junk Yard Sway Bar on Pirate Cheaper than a anti-rock setup if you can find a bar easily up there.

I think you've hit the nail on the head about the frame differences between the gen 1 and 2. For now i have left the c bushings alone and it seems to handle just fine. I will check the caster again once i have ironed out all of the rest of the suspension front and rear which will include adjusting the camber, it's not bad but looks stupid with the big tires. I used the 3.5" coils up front. The bumps are universal units from energy suspension that were on the hook at AZ. I will look into the torsion bar option, thanks for the link. I was actually kicking around trying to use one from the mountaineer but hadn't checked the length, it's in the scrap pile at my dad's. I did measure a sway bar from a bronco 2 and it may work as well.

 

[johnny499]

Well now I've gone and done it. I ordered Bend Tech Pro along with a JD2 model 32 bender and 2" 180 degree die set. Can anyone guess what I'm going to use it to build?

 

[Kage.]

.... Can anyone guess what I'm going to use it to build?

A fancy set of lawn chairs?

 

[BKennedy]

Racing lawn mower??

 

[johnny499]

Those are both very creative answers. If either one of those required 2" tubing i might have to consider seeing a physician or dietician. I had not considered either, guess I'm just a little boring....
The answer i was thinking of is some nice bumpers and sliders custom built for this rig. I would also like to build a new bumper for the front of my dually. Oh and a roof rack, with smaller tubing of course. And the list keeps growing. I see a trip to the steel yard in my future. I plan to convert the bender to hydraulic operation right away.

 

[johnny499]

I am a couple of item's closer to making the bumpers. Harbor Freight had a 1 day only 25% off coupon yesterday which i took advantage of. I picked up a 9000lb winch for super cheap and the air over hydraulic ram that i need to modify the new bender that is on the way. Now i just need to wait for the brown santa to get the rest of my stuff. Feeling slightly impatient. O.K. very impatient...

 

[Mike's brother]

Amazing work. Amazing thread.

I'm sticking with IFS for now (mainly because I can't even imagine the fab skills you have), but I can't wait to see the bumper/slider/rack build. Be prepared to be imitated mightily.

Just great stuff!

:exp:

 

[johnny499]

Amazing work. Amazing thread.

I'm sticking with IFS for now (mainly because I can't even imagine the fab skills you have), but I can't wait to see the bumper/slider/rack build. Be prepared to be imitated mightily.

Just great stuff!

:exp:

Thanks!
The rig just keeps getting better. I have a few concepts in my head for the bumpers and sliders but we'll see what i really wind up with. I am excited to get the bend tech software and play with it to see how creative i can get.
I was going to go up north and try the Spider Lake trail system which is about 20 miles from my friends place. They have less snow up there than i have down here in the cities. But things fell through so no joy on that one.

 

[johnny499]

I made these simple square tube spacers for the rear bump stops.

I was able to spin them on while holding the nut with a wrench through the end of the tube and then used a gear wrench to to tighten them the rest of the way.

I had to taper the ends of the spacer on the drivers side because the frame is shaped differently.

This weekend i got time to get them installed.

I also swapped out some of the deteriorated shock bushings including the temporary bushing i made when i put these in to start with.

Here is the debris from the original bushing.

Here is the cheap 9000 lb. winch i picked up.

I had to hook it up and make sure it worked/ play with the new.

My bender software is supposed to show up today. WooHooo!

 

[johnny499]

Well the die set showed up and the bender is on back order but should ship soon. The software showed up and i started to play with it but I need to work with it more when i get some time. Life keeps getting in the way, just been driving it. It goes down the road really well considering the size of the tires. It has a tire hop at about 72 mph. that is annoying but not unbearable or dangerous. The brakes are great, the t-bird calipers really work well, still need to pull the ABS bulb from the cluster. I had a friend drive it this weekend while i was working on her vehicle and her only comment's were the ABS light was on and her kids thought it was cool.

 

[Kage.]

I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on the bending software once you start playing with things. I've got a bender, but I wind up 'eyeballing' everything I build with it and I wonder if the software would make that much of a difference in my end product. I'm no stranger to CAD, but I have often wondered if I'm hindering myself by not getting the bending software.

.... I had a friend drive it this weekend while i was working on her vehicle and her only comment's were the ABS light was on and her kids thought it was cool.

Awesome!

 

[johnny499]

Yah I've always just used my eye and tape measure for all of my bending projects in the past. I am hoping the software makes it easier for the complex stuff like multi tube bumpers. In theory it should speed things up as well. I won't know till i give it a try. I will definitely share my thought's on it good or bad.
I just got shipping confirmation on the bender so i am excited for it to show up. Then i can get back to some fabrication.
Another update on the mountaineer. It is just about ready for it's first oil change since the conversion which means it has about 3000 miles on it with no problems or failures. It also pulled down 14.5 mpg on last weekends trip, pretty darn happy with it.

 

[johnny499]

The bender showed up yesterday. Now i need to make a mount to put it in the engine stand and make the mount for the air over hydraulic cylinder. Then i can get serious about making some bumpers.

 

[ZWilson07]

The bender showed up yesterday. Now i need to make a mount to put it in the engine stand and make the mount for the air over hydraulic cylinder. Then i can get serious about making some bumpers.

Can't wait to see it man.

 

[johnny499]

I just realized i have had the bender for over a month and have not had time to get it setup and working. I did manage to find a piece of tubing to make the hydraulic cylinder mount out of. I also picked up a 34" led light bar for the front bumper. I mounted it to the factory bumper last night and need to get it wired next. I also picked up 3 more 20' pieces of 2" tube to eventually make the bumpers and sliders out of.
I have just been driving it. This winter has been so lame i have not needed 4wd on the road yet. I used it with the last big snow we had just to see what it was going to be like with the locker in the front. It has under steer really bad but a little burp of the throttle and it swings the back end around to point it in the direction you want to go and it's all good.
This weekend i asked the girl friends eight year old son if he wanted to go on a trail ride in my mountaineer and he got this puzzled look on his face. He then asked what's the mountaineer and i explained it was the truck i drove up, his response was "oh you mean your monster truck". You've gotta love kids perceptions. So the three of us went out for a little trip in the snow through the woods. This was the first trail i have had it on and it did awesome. I decided to turn around about a half mile in because i don't have the winch on it yet or anything to pull it out with. There are a few spot's that i know it could slide sideways off the trail and into the trees, it is just a wide ATV trail most of the way. After we got back from the trail we played in the pasture for a while getting a feel for it on different angles and surfaces including hill climbs and a creek crossing.
So far the only issue i have had is that when it hit's twenty below the pitman arm shaft seal leaks on the steering gear, it is fine at zero and above. I don't know if it was an old seal set or if i nicked it with the splines when i assembled it. I found that seal set separately for about $8 so when it warms up i will replace it again.

 

[ZWilson07]

About time, you've been slacking

 

[johnny499]

About time, you've been slacking

Yes i have!!
My focus has been else where, a hint of that was in the last post.

 

[ZWilson07]

Yes i have!!
My focus has been else where, a hint of that was in the last post.

BUMPER BUILD, BUMPER BUILD, BUMPER BUILD

 

[johnny499]

BUMPER BUILD, BUMPER BUILD, BUMPER BUILD

Yes i will be getting to bumpers eventually as time permits. Here is the material for them which i finally put up on the rack last night so i could work on the front axle.

Last week i got around to doing the oil change. So happy i can change the oil on both of my trucks without a jack and a five gallon pail slides right under also.

I have been putting off installing the camber shims for way too long and made it a priority last night. Both sides had about three degrees of camber and i think allowable is supposed to be one and a half. I didn't put them back in originally because i didn't know what was going to change when i narrowed it. I also found aftermarket dust shields to put on it.

Here you can see how much thicker the shim is at the bottom.

All back together and on to the other side.

The drivers side now shows it is at zero and the passengers side says it's about .2 degrees off, much better. I did a toe in alignment afterwards, it measured 3/8" toe in after i put the shims in so it was good that i didn't just let it go. The tires seem to make less noise now that they sit flat on the ground. I need to recenter the wheel again but i may wait until after i double check the centering of the axle now that the springs have had a chance to settle.