Jdofmemi Posted February 4 Author Share Posted February 4 A few random shots of the recent progress. Still a long ways to go. Rear axle splines...... Tube welded to center. Like the 3.8 really has enough torque to spin the tube Braces welded in the rear towers. 1 Link to comment
AJK Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 The welds look amazing. I like the towers as well. Would you say your 70% done? Link to comment
AJK Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Jerry was size fuel cell did you put in and who makes it? I am tossing around the idea of a fuel cell over the under tank. Link to comment
Jdofmemi Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 2 hours ago, AJK said: Jerry was size fuel cell did you put in and who makes it? I am tossing around the idea of a fuel cell over the under tank. It's a GenRight, 20 gallon. On a 4 door, I would stick with the tank underneath. It's a PITA inside, but I'm stretched too far for a rear mounted tank. Link to comment
Jdofmemi Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 5 hours ago, Weebz said: Slow and steady. Slow, for sure. Steady, well, not as steady as I hoped, but it is finally getting somewhere. It has turned into more work than we expected. Next weekend we hope to get both axles back in, then we can start working on the details like brake lines and such. Link to comment
BHaner Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 So I hate to be "that guy"... But are you sure you want to bolt that truss on? We all know how that went last time... There is so much more strength with a full truss welded to the tubes. Do you have room for that now? 1 Link to comment
Jdofmemi Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 11 hours ago, BHaner said: So I hate to be "that guy"... But are you sure you want to bolt that truss on? We all know how that went last time... There is so much more strength with a full truss welded to the tubes. Do you have room for that now? When it broke, several things were at work. First was my mistake for not rechecking the torque on the bolts. I suspect that they had loosened a bit. I upgraded to ARP bolts, and check them regularly. Also, adding the 2 new bolts 90 degrees from the original will lock it in even better. Last, instead of the standoff tubes, we are getting a machined solid piece to weld to the truss for the bolts. I would trust this every bit as much as a welded truss. They are also prone to failure as well. I seem to remember welding Mikes back together in Arizona, and I have seen others fail as well. I won't swear it will never break again, but I believe it won't be an issue. By the way, for reference, the rear truss on the Currie 70, GenRight spec, is bolted on in the same manner, and it survives KOH with no issues. 1 Link to comment
BHaner Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 A solid machined piece will be much stronger. Mikes was a shit show. It was hardly welded on there. A common issue with welded on trusses. But when done correctly it should be stronger. Don't the 70's have much larger bolts as well? I know my 80 has like 1/2 or 9/16 bolt holes. I think yours were 5/16 or 3/8's. I remember being slightly shocked that they weren't larger when I found them on the trail. lol Anyways... Was just a thought. I am sure you have it under control. Link to comment
Jdofmemi Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 2 hours ago, BHaner said: A solid machined piece will be much stronger. Mikes was a shit show. It was hardly welded on there. A common issue with welded on trusses. But when done correctly it should be stronger. Don't the 70's have much larger bolts as well? I know my 80 has like 1/2 or 9/16 bolt holes. I think yours were 5/16 or 3/8's. I remember being slightly shocked that they weren't larger when I found them on the trail. lol Anyways... Was just a thought. I am sure you have it under control. I always appreciate your input. You are correct on the larger bolts. With all the changes, it will be a whole new beast. Hopefully we get the front end and steering wrapped up this weekend 1 1 Link to comment
Nice Little Jeep Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 On 2/5/2024 at 8:00 AM, BHaner said: So I hate to be "that guy"... But are you sure you want to bolt that truss on? We all know how that went last time... There is so much more strength with a full truss welded to the tubes. Do you have room for that now? It’s OK to be that guy, I’m that guy as well, we are going to fix that truss . We’re not going to do the full truss but we’re going to increase the strength. More to come. Link to comment
Jdofmemi Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 Well ...... Another day, but we didn't make as much progress as we hoped. The more we do, the more we find that needs to be done. More #evodeletekit The hideous rear shock mount is gone! What a mess they made, butchering the structure of the tub. It's going to take a lot to get some strength back into this. The new floor going in Jason measuring to build the hi steer arm Screen view of the design Trying to locate the track bar. This would be much better with the rolled back Currie axle It's a tight fit! The drag link and new tie rod are not in place, the clearance issue is the track bar, sector shaft nut, and pitman arm. We found we needed to modify the axle side, to maximize what we can get, and keep the ride height from growing even higher. It's looking like it will have to be at least 2 inches higher, and should end up not rubbing on everything like it used to. Mocking up where the bumps need to go. Where the day ended up. 1 1 Link to comment
Weebz Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Damn. Never ending goose chase cleaning up the mess. At least you have a plan and it looks like it’s coming together great. Have you considered going full hydro so you can just double triangulate the front and remove the interference problems. 1 Link to comment
Jdofmemi Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 14 minutes ago, Weebz said: Damn. Never ending goose chase cleaning up the mess. At least you have a plan and it looks like it’s coming together great. Have you considered going full hydro so you can just double triangulate the front and remove the interference problems. I have thought about it some. Not this time around, and certainly not with this axle. I can definitely see some advantages in going full hydro, and I have talked to a few people who have it. On a related note, I discovered the reason for my lack of steering angle. Because EVO did not use the upper steering arm for the drag link, instead attaching it to where the tie rod goes it loose a good bit of angle. The arms for the tie rod are on an 8" radius, while the drag link needs a 6" radius to make the knuckle turn to the stops. This is being corrected with the arm the machines id building. Then the ram will go on the axle, to push on the tie rod like it should. The new tie rod is larger, and will have 7/8" heims instead of 5/8“. 2 Link to comment
BaddestCross Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Damn. At this point, you might have been better off swapping the body onto a new frame and been done with it. Lol Link to comment
Jdofmemi Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 53 minutes ago, BaddestCross said: Damn. At this point, you might have been better off swapping the body onto a new frame and been done with it. Lol Well, the body is a big part of the problems. Also, after this round, most of the inherited issues will be fixed. Link to comment
Savage90 Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Sorry to hear all these new problems coming up. I can Only imagine how frustrating it is!! but I know It’s going to be so bad ass and done right when it’s finished. Link to comment
Jdofmemi Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 1 hour ago, Savage90 said: Sorry to hear all these new problems coming up. I can Only imagine how frustrating it is!! but I know It’s going to be so bad ass and done right when it’s finished. Thanks! I'm really looking forward to the completion of this phase. Finished? No, that won't happen, at least not for a long time. Many plans, for after I wheel it this way for a while. 1 Link to comment
AJK Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Whole lotta good going on here. I like the diamond plate for the back. Is it me or is your jeep smiling in the last picture with the tie rod? Link to comment
Jdofmemi Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 7 hours ago, AJK said: Whole lotta good going on here. I like the diamond plate for the back. Is it me or is your jeep smiling in the last picture with the tie rod? Oh, he's definitely smiling at the knowledge that all this new work is going to make him even better than ever. Dennis is the diamond plate king, from way back in the show truck days 1 1 Link to comment
Dave Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 I had the same thought about going full hydro given all the issues you're having. You've got a lot more patience & perseverance than I do! 1 Link to comment
Jdofmemi Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 When you can't find the part you need, you have to have one built from scratch. Here is the mock up of the high steer arm. It needs a couple of small adjustments, then when it's dialed in, the real one will be made with 1". We have to knock the bushings out of the arm that had it choked down to 5/8". We are going with the full 3/4" heims now. 1 Link to comment
Jdofmemi Posted February 17 Author Share Posted February 17 More progress: The new look at full bump 2" higher than before, which should keep the tires from hitting literally everything underneath the front of the Jeep! Planning on 2" longer extensions on the rods to keep the full 12" of travel I can't droop more than 2" lower at this time, due to the limit of the driveshaft. Later, when I solve that, the bump height will work to change to 14" coilovers. The track bar bracket It's a tight fit, but doe Hit anything, unlike the old EVO setup that hit everything. You can see the mark on the diff cover from the contact, but you can't see how bad the pitman arm and shaft were being smashed by the track bar. Link to comment
Savage90 Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 looks like its coming along! this all looks very similar to what i was dealing with a few months ago! very very tight clearances with all the steering components thats for sure! are you taking the clearances into consideration when you go with a bigger front axle in the future? Link to comment
Nice Little Jeep Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 On 2/16/2024 at 7:58 PM, Jdofmemi said: More progress: The new look at full bump 2" higher than before, which should keep the tires from hitting literally everything underneath the front of the Jeep! Planning on 2" longer extensions on the rods to keep the full 12" of travel I can't droop more than 2" lower at this time, due to the limit of the driveshaft. Later, when I solve that, the bump height will work to change to 14" coilovers. The track bar bracket It's a tight fit, but doe Hit anything, unlike the old EVO setup that hit everything. You can see the mark on the diff cover from the contact, but you can't see how bad the pitman arm and shaft were being smashed by the track bar. All that changes with the new axle, the frame mount stays the same. all the axle mounts will be different and the axle will be wider and correct with a Currie designed axle. The major problem we are having is that we are installing a Currie designed system on a Dyna trac axle. (on top of the axle is 2” shorter.) Link to comment
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