I am once again re-building my truck. I had a pretty good combo last year that performed quite well. It did however have its weaknesses and areas that needed improvement. Instead of just fixing the few things I decided to start from ground zero again and use my 79 F-250 frame and power train as a platform instead of the weak ranger frame. I will be moving to 42" TSL's on H1's, Dana 60 Front w/ 5:13 and detroit locker, Dana 80 rear w/ 5:13 and detroit, 460 CI BBF, built C6 manual, and np205.
I am hoping to have this done by April/May 2010.
These are some pics of the start of the project which meant a complete dis-assembly of the truck and scrapping out the unneeded parts.
Gonna look sharp Brandon, if you have the mat'l I would consider some scrub bars to run along the cab for when we go to Drummond in Aug.:thumb::sonicjay:
After measuring and mocking up the front 3 link and steering I had some major clearance issues with the stock front cross member in the frame. I also was stuck as to how I would box in the front of the frame to add strength to allow me to attach my engine roll cage and shock hoops.
Here is the answer:
The tube is 4x5" 3/16"wall and the plates are 1/4. This will give me plenty of clearance for the front diff and also be a good platform for building tube work off of.
There is plenty of room for the winch, in fact if I had more time yesterday I would have posted photos of the winch and the mount that I built for it. Check back later today and I will have them up. I won't really have a "bumper", the tires will be the first thing anything will hit and I will have some tube out front to protect things like the radiator and fans.
Hydraulic steering ram mounted: Ready to be plumbed in.
Transfer case mount/skid plate mount. The transmission will have one very similar as well as one in front of the transmission to allow for a full skid plate to protect fragile oil pans.
The pictures are a little deceiving, the factory leaf mount is only about 2 degrees down in the front right now. Also, the pinion angle has not been set yet, it is only as good a guess as I could get by eyeballing it with a driveshaft that is 12" too short. I am certain that the pinion needs to be rolled down quite a bit yet. I will know for sure when I get the front shaft built in a week or two.
When I got home this morning I checked the caster angle via the stock leaf spring pad, and you guys were right 10* negative. I am not really worried about it right now since the pinion angle isn't set yet. I will get the front drive shaft together when I get home tomorrow morning and see what I end up with after the pinion angle gets dialed in.
Just out of curiosity: I know that any negative caster isn't ideal, but assuming that I can't get back to the positive side of things. What would be an "acceptable" amount of negative caster. Keep in mind that this truck will most likely never see the pavement. (due to size and Hyd. steering.)
"stock" is around 5 degrees positive......on any/all of my trucks that I have run high pinions I have always had good luck with caster, by setting the pinion close to dead horizontal. Pinion angle on a front high pinion isn't as much a concern as on a lo pinion or a rear axle pinion setting. Unless of course your gonna be stupid BDMT tall with it.
Definitely not BDMT tall, it will have about 4-6" of suspension lift from the factory f250 ride height. I have as little "lift" as possible while still clearing all links, and axle, and steering components.
How did you route your panhard bar? The mounts for the panhard on my truck are the biggest reason that I can't get the truck lower to the ground. I want it to be as flat as ride height as possible, but the frame side bracket get really close to the diff housing and 3 link brackets.
Does anyone running Hydraulic steering have any input on panhard bar set-up?? Everything I have found in searching says flat at RH for slwoer moving vehicles.
I see you are making some progress on your rig too I need to have this thing done by the 2nd weekend in July, so time is ticking away. I am extremely happy to get my shocks, now I need to get the truck together as much as possible and roll it across a set of scales to get numbers to help choose spring rates.
Finally it moves.....Just not under its own power YET!!!
Mocked up the front shock mounts and got them tacked well enough to support the truck, so i decided it was a good time to push it out and clean up the barn a little. I still have work to do on the shock mounts front and rear but that will be happening later this week.
looks sweet! glad to see all your hard work is paying off. but, the tires look a little small for it. :teehee:
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