I see the pics ok.

 

The pics seem to be working for me too! Anybody else having trouble?

Chris

 

i dunno! they work on my home computer, but earlier when i looked at work, they didn't

 

Well, at least you got to see them, right? My buddy didn't finish the crossmember today, because he forgot one of the dimensions, so it looks like tomorrow is the day to finish it up and weld it in. Stay tuned!

Chris

 

Moved over here since we have a "Fab Shop" now.

 

The only bad thing about being over here is nobody ever reads stuff over hear, or at least not yet. Too much division, I think, but whatever.

Chris

 

Most of the people who care about these kinds of things check this board. Yeah, you won't get the mall cruisers checking out your bumper, but so what?

 

Mall Cruisers? HA!

I still cannot see in my mind's eye which crossmember you are ditching and improving. Perhaps the next batch of pics will help.

 

I never check this board

 

Fair enough on the reading part. AS far as which crossmember, it's the only one rear of the axle and not the one that panhard bar is connected too. Those pics show where it usually is, and I'll hopefully have pics of it installed tomorrow evening to show what I'm talking about. I grinded down the end caps/supports, primed the tubing and the c-channel frame supports tonight. The purpose of having a new crossmember is to raise the height so I can tuck my custom gas tank up as high as possible. I've left 1-1.5" of clearance between the top of the crossmember to the body so any frame flexing will not hit the body. I have a cardboard built tank, and it's going to fit so perfectly where the spare tire used to be. I'll send a pic of it here in a few minutes.

Chris

 

Here's some pics of the tank:







Chris

 

that looks like how I'm planning on doing my tank

 

Flyg,

It's the cross member that the spare hoist is attached to, I think.

 

Yepper! Sorry, that would have been the easy way to describe it! Thanks for clarifying for me! One nice thing about the design and dimensions of my design is that it takes roughly 48" of material to make, not including the side pieces.

Chris

 

Just a quick update! The crossmember has been welded in place, and I'll have pictures loaded later tonight. Stay tuned!

Chris

 

are you putting any internal baffles?

 

Should I?

Chris

 

Well, yesterday I starting prepping the c-channel frame supports, removed the stock hitch assembly, drilled the holes that will mount to the frame, positioned the rear cross tube, and it looks like the only hangup we're having is determining how to get the nuts in place for the two forward most bolts. Everything went smoothly until then, but I think we finally figured it all out. I haven't been able to take any pictures yet, because I've been doing it all at night.

Chris

 

Hey guys,

Here's some pics of the c-channel, where the rear cross tube is going to be mounted, and how I did it:

Here's how we welded the crossmember together:


You'll notice that I primed the tube, except for the ends for welding, because it would be hard to cover the top of the tube once installed. There's 1-1.5" of clearance above the new crossmember:


Here's another shot of the supports that hold up the crossmember:


Here's a shot of the passenger side installed and primed:


Here's another shot of the passenger side from further back to show exactly where it's mounted on the frame rails. You'll notice that it's considerably further back than the stock crossmember. This is due to the new gas tank design being supported by the new crossmember:


Here's a shot from the rear. You'll notice how it tucks up in there real well:


Here's a similar shot of the driver's side:


Here's a shot from the rear with the cross tube mounted. You'll notice there is approximately 3/4" between the top of it and the rear door. It will rest on the top of the c-channel, and then the c-channel will be cut at an angle, bent up to seal it up, etc:


Here's a shot of the driver's side gap:


And a shot of the passenger side gap:


These shots didn't come out well at all, but this is a shot of the c-channel on the driver's side to show that it's all one piece of 3/16" thick c-channel:


This is a shot of the passenger side inside frame rail with the c-channel installed:


I don't think this came out at all, but this is supposed to be a closer shot of the notch needed to clear the new crossmember:


This is supposed to show the clearance between the top of the c-channel and the weld that holds the body mount:


That's it for now. It's amazing how tight up against the rear of the vehicle this thing it. In fact if you take a 4x8' sheet of plywood to check the rear departure angle, it hits the bottom end of the frame before it hits the rear bumper tube. So, needless to say, this is one high clearance bumper, that's for sure.

Stay tuned for the hitch tube notching and mounting, the shackle hanger installs, etc!

Chris

 

well, with your design you may not need to. your tank is wider than it is long, so you probably wont feel the effects of moving fluid when you start and stop as much. on sidehills though, a sudden change in motion could easily throw all of that gas to one side of the tank very quickly. its low enough it probably wont cause a roll, but to be safe i would divide the tank into 5 sections.

_____________
| | x |....| 'x' marks your fuel pump
|____|___|___|
| |.......| <---this is the tapered rear part of your tank
|______|_____|

(the .... do not mean anything)
picture this as a top view of your tank. at the bottom of your baffles you only need a 1/2" hole to let the gas flow through.