BENDER stays in hibernation with me

[K85 Octane]

Well the truck works really well now, except a trac bar would be nice for wheel hop. I'm running 56" rears with 6" shackle. The shackle angle is good now, anything shorter would drastically flatten that angle to the rear. I have some small shims (not sure on angle) left over from how I got the truck, I might see if those work out. I would be rotating the pinion up higher (which is always good) a couple degrees at most.

 

[K85 Octane]

And I agree wholeheartedly about the factory Tcase setup. All the new stuff is flat, how did it take so long to figure out that's best? lol

The new Jeeps are a perfect example, flat with full skid plates.

 

[andyblack]

Heck yeah. Keep in mind that most of these trucks came with no cupholders or tow hooks either. What were they thinking?

 

[496truck]

Well done sir. You pretty much nailed any questions I had. Thanks for the additional pics and info. I really need to do x-over next but may look into this t-case business as a nice project for next winter. I don't need it completely up above the frame rail (bottom) but 4-6" of extra clearance with a real x-member and skid under it would still be a huge improvement.

 

[K85 Octane]

 

[Babaganoosh]

looking good, crazy how the soft top changes the look!. You ready to part with that door electronics?

 

[K85 Octane]

yes dammit, I'm so ready to get rid of these other doors. I wont be pulling them apart till middle of June. I've got no time. Boss and coworkers are mad I'm taking Sunday off to take the truck out, but I've been cranking out progress for some time now. F'em

 

[Babaganoosh]

lol just let me know, my truck is not leaving the driveway, why put the windows down.

 

[K85 Octane]

And here is proof I made it up the rock garden climb (not sure what it's called, but it's the uphill climb) I didn't puss out, take and outside track, start halfway or finish early. I did the whole thing. I'm blown away today, all smiles. I also wanted to try that concrete/rock stair climb behind me. I've done it before, before I lifted it. This time, I did it in 2wd Had to give it a "Moab bump" a few times, but I succeeded in climbing it in 2wd. That was pretty cool. I'll have some videos sooner or later, they are in .MOV currently, and it doesn't play well with my editing programs.

 

[K85 Octane]

Working on my rear sway bar. It's not exactly a quick disconnect kinda thing, more like "constantly trying to get it driving a little better between road trips" kinda thing. Actually, I'm headed to Pismo Dunes July 4th and I think the sway bar will make the 3.5 hr drive nicer and keep the truck more stable at the dunes. Just like the BigBear trip I missed this weekend. I would have run this till I got to the campsite, taken it off, and replace it when I'm headed home. There is a lot of windy mountain road between home and campsite

It's a Hellwig sway bar. I'm not sure how they measure stuff but it comes up short dammit. The bar itself isn't wide enough to match up with the frame brackets. Also, it wants to sit more towards the driver side. Ugg, fixing the engineered sh1t again.

The bracket above is what they send. Well..... because it's not wide enough and because it sits more to the driver side...... I had to extend the passenger side some to get my endlink angles right. So using some 1/4" flatbar I had lying around, welded it to the frame mount and threw a gusset on the side for good measure. Meh, it'll work

 

[K85 Octane]

Next thing I realized....was someone went and moved the rear axle back 1.5". I forgot about doing that.

Since the axle mounts kinda sit on the front half of the axle, spacing them forward seemed like the easy way to solve this problem. (maybe a little confusing. The swaybar doesn't mount to the axle on top or bottom, but more on the front side of it) This moves the bar forward, lining up my endlinks underneath the frame brackets. Everything should be straight up and down once it's all done.

Factory on the right. I'm waiting for some longer U bolts, as most of you know, Sunday isn't the best day to be looking for "pieces". Once I get them, I'll have to drill out the holes a little bigger in the clamps, line it up, weld the spacer to the clamps in a couple places, and get it ON!!

 

[K85 Octane]

and done

tell your friends

 

[82355]

Is there enough room left there for a traction bar?

Martin

 

[K85 Octane]

The mount for the trackbar would probably need to be on the back side of the axle. There isn't much room next to the bar but plenty above the bar on the passenger side.

 

[Gunnar1971]

Quietly waiting to see Pismo pics..... Damn, I hate working weekends.

 

[K85 Octane]

Working on getting more but for now, this will have to do. (I didn't have my 2nd Amendment flag )

 

[K85 Octane]

I wish the rear shocks more rebound dammit, sucker liked to buck a little. Other than that, the truck did very well in the dunes for not being setup for them. I carved a couple bowls, side hill'd one or two, and climbed pretty much what I wanted. She did well, temps stayed in check. The day before I left, I found a 9 blade cooling fan off a 90s big block truck. I think it helped over the old 5 blade.

Got lots of funny looks during the 4 hour drive up and more than 6.5 drive back (traffic). Got a couple shouts and several waves from people, which was awesome. With that sway bar, she drives much nicer. Still likes to rock side to side, but not nearly as much, which also helped out at the dunes.

 

[cliles]

Tcase Clock and Skid Plate

If you wouldnt mind helping me out in a similar process.

How far did you clock your tcase? What ring did you use?

Have you had any front ujoint issues yet?

Looks like you could have left it down a couple of more inches and still have it flush or slightly above the tube crossmember. It would still be more susceptible to a direct rock attack, but that potentially could be solved with a small plate. See attached crude mock up. Move support over (red), and insert plate (red/white) Thoughts? Am I just looking at it wrong?


I was thinking about doing the same thing but in two pieces such that I did not have to pull the tranny support to drop the tcase. The front going further over the tranny pan and stopping at the support, the second starting at the support, and ending where yours does. Does that make sense or is there something I am missing that I will find once I get into it?

What are the lower tabs for?

 

[K85 Octane]

The T case is only about 1/4" above the bottom of the crossmember. I've been keeping an eye on it as the factory trans mount wears and sinks down some. I'll need to shim it up shortly but once it settles, should be fine for a while.

I went one piece for two reasons. Easy and strong. I don't foresee removing any of the drivetrain, or at least not often enough to warrant a split crossmember. The one I did is super strong and spans as much of the frame as possible (without going up and around the front shaft or rear shaft, or dealing with the bends in the frame)

I still need to put the skid plate on but I only have 3/16 or 1/4" aluminum. I'm thinking I should have gone thicker. I had also planned to carry the skid to the front of the trans pan, I have just enough to reach the front bolts. It was all a compromise. Hurry up and get it running and make sure the drivetrain is serviceable without having to remove anything. Only the skid will need to be taken off.

 

[K85 Octane]

Also, here is a little video from my passenger. I'd have to say, I love when I get her all excited. It was a very good weekend.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qtyucs0thvn3fls/NO NO.3gp