TinMan

No i did not do the diff's myself. I ordered them from east cost gear supply. The rear diff is a V6 housing. Once i ran the numbers there was only going to be a $130 savings per different. It just was not worth me risking that type of investment.

Later

drew303

Why 488 and not 529s????

TinMan

4.88's because this is also going to be my daily driver. I would like to keep the fuel economy as close to 20mpg as I can. I don't care about coming off the line as fast as I can, don't pull heavy trailers, do mostly around town driving, even on the hwy I tend to keep the little 22re at around 65mph. Were I live is very flat. So I went with 4.88 in the diffs, and 4.7 in the T-case for when I do head to the western side of the state and hit the hills and rocks.

I used several different gear ratio calculators, spoke at length with several reputable diff builders. 4.88's come up at the far side of the fuel economy range for my parameters and 35" tires. If I lived and drove everyday in the western side of NC, and/or went with 37" tires I would have went with 5.29's.

Later

TinMan

picture time;

Steering box mocked up




Steering frame plates welded on


shock hoops mocked up




Shock hoops welded up


Shackle angle


Pic from the front

side


Body lifted up so I can do the top of the frame and put in new body mounts



Got the frame all scuffed up, tomorrow I will start the cleaning.

Later

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Looking good Todd. Move to Tuscaloosa. I need some more good help!

:wabbit2:

TinMan

Thanks. 18 months I may come take you up on that.

TinMan

Sorry double post

Z's Confederate Toy

Lookin good

merfal

I just found your build thread...your 4Runner is looking good.

TinMan

Thanks man. I see you have quite the project getting started there. I will follow that one fo sure. How is the pick up running?

merfal

Never better. I had a large vacuum leak that was causing the poor idle before but she runs awesome now. I am probably going to sell it though to fund the 4Runner project. The single cab just wasn't enough; I'm looking forward to having more room.

TinMan

A little more done this weekend.

The frame got painted this weekend. Gas tank is prepped with new lines, and a new(used sending unit), and the body mount washers are drilled out to 10mm so the factory bolts will work. Hopefully the guys from work will come back over tomorrow and help me lower the body back down on the new body bushings.

Just about done rolling around under this thing.

Short list of what still needs to be done.

Finish welding the front cross member. Clean and touch up paint what still needs it. Plumb the rest of the fuel/brake lines. Attach all lines and wires to the frame. Install the gas tank. Re-install all the shocks, tie rod, drag link, steering box. Etc.

Then it's on to the engine bay.

Later

TinMan

Got the front cross member done before the Super Bowl.






Got the fuel and brake lines plumbed, and the electrical for the fuel tank mounted.

Hopefully I can get some help tomorrow to drop the body back down on the frame. Then it flex it out for bump stops.

later

Z's Confederate Toy

Lookin good Tinman!

richf

Tinman I'm no professional welder but those welds look good man. What kind of welder are you using. Are you using gas or fluxcore?

Also I didn't mention it to you when we were discussing the twin stick and other parts for the t-case/tranny but I got the marlin shift lever ball seat and the shift lever socket for the transmission. I really didn't notice a big improvement of shifting with the shift lever seat but I did notice a huge improvement with the lever socket. Shifts are much firmer and easier to get into gear if you ever had any issues. Just wanted to pass that along before you put things back together.

TinMan

Thanks Man,

I have the Miller 211 DV. Really nice machine. It will run either 110 or 220. I run 220 most of the time. It has a hot start feature, and auto set. Auto set seems to be a little cold, and throws more spatter, but it is nice to just set the wire size, and then turn to the material thickness and start welding. I tend to run it at the far end of each material thickness.

I tune it manually for vertical ups. I have not been able to get a good V up bead with the auto set. Everything else is sweet. I used the auto set for the frame plates and those beads are ˟˟˟˟e. They are hot and burned in, but it just does not run as smooth with the auto set.

The gun is a little cheap in my opinion. But it has held up well. I would recommend this machine to any hobbyist. It is just very easy. I dont know how it would hold up to production work.

I use .030 solid wire and 75/25 cover gas most of the time. I keep some .023 solid for sheet metal, and .035 solid for heavy steel. I do have a 10lb roll of .030 flux core. I have used it out side several times and really like the way it burns in.

I am about out of 75/25 cover gas. I think when I get a new bottle this week I am going to try some 90/10. Everyone says it burns in good, and does not throw as much spatter.

Hope it helps.
Later

We have a 252 at work which is prob the best machine I have ever used.

TinMan

Got the body back onto the frame. Was able to lower it by myself. I used the engine crane and ratchet straps to lower the front, put the bolts in loosely and then used the floor jack and 4x4's to lower the rear. I could not find the torque specs for the body bushings. So I used the standard bolt torque out of the back of the manual. 43ftlbs. It seems to work pretty well.

Put the tie rod/drag link/steering gear box in, tires on adjusted the toe.

Buttoned up a lot of little odds and ends.

Feels good to be getting parts off the floor.

Made a punch list of all the little things to do before moving on to the engine bay. Biggest thing left is to get the bump stops measured out. Big expenses left under it are drive shafts, and a good under coating.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

What color calipers and dials?

:wabbit2:

TinMan

Red, thanks man.

richf

whats the 75/25 mixture of gas? I have only used flux core with my welder. I want to get some gas, heard it was much cleaner.