Hey all. Long time lurker, and apparently this is my fourth post, so I'll try and keep it simple. Been wanting to tweak my pickup a bit, so I decided during my summer college classes that I'd save up and pick up Nates (Blazeland) DIY weld up long travel kit. I'm in school for welding/metal fab, and I need projects for my second year, so I'm spoiling my truck and doing most of my projects for it. To come after the long travel install, 63' Chevys, MAYBE a small bed cage for the shocks, tube bumpers front/rear, and sliders. Aussie locker. And when the $$ is right, 3.4 swap. Don't get me wrong, the 3.0 is bullet proof, it's just a colossal turd when you actually want it to do anything... Anywho, haven't been too good with keeping up with pics, so here's what I got.
First pic is the first step of extending the lowers, cutting 'Em in half! Second is the upper extensions, I ARC welded those 'cause the cup on the mig gun won't let you get into those corners. Third, well, they're all welded up and have the first coat 'o primer. More to come...

 

Awesome to see someone finishing a DIY. The welds on the UCA extension brackets look clean and beefy with deep penetration! Good to see you figured out to skip welding next to the bolt holes to maintain clearance for the washers and nuts. Study the UCA E.B. a little bit more and I think you'll see there are some areas inside that you can hit with additional beads. But since your past that and primed and painted never mind....its probably overkill.

If you need another project consider the DIY Idler Arm Brace. BTW, what did your instructor have to say about the project? Did you get an "A" ?

 

I saw that little hang up I could run into luckily before I started. I was thinking about running a small TIG bead past the bolt holes, but I knew I had plenty of reinforcement with the SMAW welds I did. Running 7018 1/8" rod at about 110 amps. Plenty o penetration. Instructor thought it was a hella better project than a fire pit that everyone else seems to be doin! Did some works stripping the upper control arms today... Post pics in a few.

 

It could be a hang up but the remedy is simple. A grinder with a fresh 4-1/2 wheel (or 5" or bigger wheel) will reach and you can flatten the bead flush. For a while I was welding it all the way across and performing the extra step!

I agree, a much better project than a fire pit! I had an instructor at Wyotech considering this as a class project but not many students have this specific vehicle so it didn't make a usable product. He also felt it was too advanced for an entry level class. I've been told by some professional welders this is a fairly difficult laborious project. Compliments to you for completing it!

 

Ok. The upper control arm bushings are a little more difficult than the lowers. to get that spanning brace off you need to pull the small end metal sleeve out and then it slides right on thru. But without "Toyota special tool xxxxx" for undisclosed amount of $$$, and on top of that, I'd probably use it once.... I had to improvise. Used an air hammer with a chisel end to go back and forth on the lip of the sleeve. work it in insanely small steps at diff. o'clock positions to wiggle the thing out. Once out, put a torch INIRECTLY on the inside of the control arm with the bushing still in it to melt out the remaining bushing/ inner sleeve!

 

All day I get guys in my class coming over and harassing me. It's not the "What is that?" or "Whatcha workin on?" anymore, but they come over and stare over my shoulder while I work, or say " Lookin good! What part is that?". Then I'm stuck explaining everything 6 times over. If this stuff wasn't privvy info, Nate, I'd just slap Em with the instructions and tell them to have a good read!

 

You can remove the cross shaft without pressing out the steel shell. If you do a poly conversion you leave the steel shells in place. Get a C-clamp and remove the pad on the all thread side. Then put to rounded nub onto the cross shaft end, torsion bar side, where it was centered in the lathe. Then put the other end of the C-clamp on the inside of the control arm. Now tighten the C-clamp and push the cross shaft through. The front bushing will push through the eye of the steel shell but the rear bushing will remain intact. You will then need to heat up the rear shell till it stats to smolder and pop. Then you can pull out the blob of rubber. You need to recover the inner steel sleeves for re-use.

 

Well, poo. That sounds much easier than my method... Next time!

 

I apologize for not including in the UCA Extension Bracket weld up procedure in the DIY weld up manual. I'll have to add that for the next guy.

The bushing rebuild / poly conversion really isn't a Blazeland specific process. But, no one has a comprehensive step by step explanation that I know of. The instructions that come with the Poly Bushings are a joke. I remember in 2002 ordering poly bushings from Downey and being absolutely pissed off by trying to do it per the MFG instructions. I remember calling Downey and finding out how it really needs to be done. Burning out the bushings-what a stinky gooey mess. The scrapping and cutting, then using a wire wheel to recover the inner steel sleeves, what a pain in the bleep. If I ever do end up doing it the DIY way again I will be sure to take pictures and document the process.

As of now I am interested in seeing how you figure it out on your own. Maybe you'll find a better way than I know of. If not call me and I'd be glad to help.

 

Not much new in the way of total progress, just got a couple coats of black on the arms. Have to wait for school refunds to get a good portion of the hard parts, ie ball joints, bushings, axles, shocks, fenders, brake lines, and whatever incidentals....

 

So got my 1 3/4" DOM tubing for my bumper build. Good God, that stuff must infused with platinum! $130 for a (1) 20' stick! Building rock sliders out of leftover 1 1/2" DOM for $20 a stick in our yard. Score! Aywho, here's my layout of my main bumper tube just before I started screwing stuff up...

 

I'd like to post my frustration, but also apologize for the lack of any real updates for anybody following this thread. I've been back to college for over a month now, and STILL haven't received any financial aid. So I've just got finished control arms sitting in my garage, and no way to do anything with them! $$ is getting so tight right now, I'm going to have to take the motorcycle in the next week cause it's the only thing with gas in it right now. That also means I can't work on sliders or bumper. Well, I guess I could practice my tig welding, seeing as thats how everything is going to be welded up...

 

So tell me if this has ever happened to you... You get under your rig to grease your driveline, specifically the transfer case to front diff drive shaft, and when you pump grease into it, you notice your whole drive train push back. I noticed that something was moving out of the corner of my eye, and the next pump, the whole transmission was pushing away from the engine. Apparently, I had some loose bellhousing bolts.

 

Whoa!!!!!!!!! That's freaking crazy dude. These lil engines don't have but 4 bell housing bolts and 4 bracket bolts. It's amazing that you didn't bust a ear off the motor or bust the bell housing.

 

Well, luckily it was only 2 bolts, the 14mm at the 6oclock position was backed off about 3 complete turns, and the 17mm at the 4oclock on pass side was about 1 complete turn loose. Good thing I do my own PM, cause I bet jiffy lube wouldn't have caught that! We had a good rain storm a few weeks ago and one of the schools parking lots had a 30' wide puddle about 3 feet deep in the middle. couldn't help myself, so that's why I was greasing my undercarriage.

 

Ok. Got some work done today on the front bumper! finished the gussets for the base support and tacked up the main bar. Tomorrow, should be close to completed, other than actually finishing...

 

Aaa and a front view...

 

Nice project!

 

Cool. Nice work

 

It's like every time I'm on a roll, 4 people are in line for the tig welder... So got some more stuff on the bumper, and the outer braces bent and coped, just have to wait tuil tomorrow to finish everything up, minus skid plate.