4Crawlin Build Thread

[bartonmd]

have you tried putting any weight on that setup? From the pics it looks like if you put some weight on there that the front diff will hit the oilpan.

Looks to me like the weighe of the front of the vehicle is already on the axle... He also said in his post above that there would have to be bump stops to keep the axle from going up too far and hitting the oil pan.

Mike

[HARDTRAILZ]

have you tried putting any weight on that setup? From the pics it looks like if you put some weight on there that the front diff will hit the oilpan.

Bumpstops....

[navigator]

I saw the note about the bumpstops he just won't have much travel before it bumps.
With a straight axle if you limit the up travel on one side doesn't it directly affect down travel on the other side?
I guess with 42's you don't need much travel then again you might just need more lift

[bartonmd]

I saw the note about the bumpstops he just won't have much travel before it bumps.
With a straight axle if you limit the up travel on one side doesn't it directly affect down travel on the other side?
I guess with 42's you don't need much travel then again you might just need more lift

Depends on where the bump stops are... If they are right above the springs, it doesn't do much at all to the down travel on the other side...

Mike

[Trail X]

Gonna be a bit tight for the drag link isn't it?

Are you not planning to change the oil pan around at all and try to work around it?

[bartonmd]

If travel is only going ~3" up from resting height, like it looks, the drag link should be OK sitting under the front crossmember of the subframe, there... The steering box may have to be a bit low, though...

Mike

[dirty anton]

in thinking this sas in my head and discussing with someone having done swaps before ,those with a 3 in body lift could raise the motor up 3 inches? this was briefly
brought up a while ago by fish.it would gain a few more inches possibly needed.

[chevycrew]

Ok, Ill try to address everything.

Springs are stock 73-87 chevy 52" rear springs.

Full weight is on the front springs.

My last crawler had the bumpstops at 2" above the springs, no issues at all with travel. You really dont want to flex the spring into a negative arch anyway.

When one side hits the bumpstop, the other side can droop further, with the axle pivoting around the bumpstop it is contacting. Most coilover, or leaf sprung crawlers are set with very little up-travel, and lots of droop. Works well for stability and center of gravity.

Yes, draglink will be very tight, Im also running high steer, with hydro assist. Steering gearbox make, and placement is still undecided.

Body lift will allow engine to be raised, but you need to raise the trans, and radiator to match. If your going to that trouble, why not put more suspension under it?



Here is a major problem for those also considering this swap. A Dana 44 will require MUCH more lift. While my Dana 60 has the diff offset to the drivers side a good amount, a Dana 44 diff will sit underneath the oil pan, my closest point is the drain plug to the top of the axle tube. The 60 diff clears to the drivers side of the oil pan.

[fishsticks]

Here is a major problem for those also considering this swap. A Dana 44 will require MUCH more lift. While my Dana 60 has the diff offset to the drivers side a good amount, a Dana 44 diff will sit underneath the oil pan, my closest point is the drain plug to the top of the axle tube. The 60 diff clears to the drivers side of the oil pan.

I was afraid you'd say that... all the 60's around here are gold plated if you know what I mean.

[chevycrew]

Messing around with mockup again.... Looks like it still needs to go up about 5" to bolt on the tire.

Its also going to be a wide b*tch!





Picture quality sucks, just using my phone. Im to lazy to get out the good camera

[dirty anton]

good to know about the oil pan no being as critical an issue with the proper axle.....
thoughts on a ford 9 inch?
holy crap that is wide!

[chevycrew]

Here is a major problem for those also considering this swap. A Dana 44 will require MUCH more lift. While my Dana 60 has the diff offset to the drivers side a good amount, a Dana 44 diff will sit underneath the oil pan, my closest point is the drain plug to the top of the axle tube. The 60 diff clears to the drivers side of the oil pan.

I was afraid you'd say that... all the 60's around here are gold plated if you know what I mean.

Im using a ford kingpin dana 60 from a 86-91 f-350. I bought a truck, parted it out, sold the rest for scrap, made money and got a free 60... This style of 60 does have issues though. Do to the diff more to the drivers side, any tire over 35" on a wheel with 4" or more backspace will rub on the leaf springs. Its also difficult to clear 15" wheels. Im going a little crazy on wheels, mine have 3.5" of backspace, plus im running 2" wheel spacers...

So 42x15x15 Swampers on 15x10 wheels with effectively 1.5" of backspace on a 69" wide axle.
(those handy can figure out my overall width pretty easy...)

If Im just buying 60s (I do a bunch) I buy for maximum of 500, sell minimum of 750.

[chevycrew]

good to know about the oil pan no being as critical an issue with the proper axle.....
thoughts on a ford 9 inch?
holy crap that is wide!

9" can be built tough, but strengthen the housing, upgraded third, and shafts...

I ran a 31 spline 9" in my toyota with a 210hp V8, axles snapped like twigs. (I was hard on the clutch)

Its a great axle, Im just not a personal fan.

[dirty anton]

thanx for all the insight.... that's gonna be a monster when done!

[chevycrew]

Got the weight of the truck sitting on the front 42s, rear is still on jackstands.

Overall height roughly, 85"
Ground to top of front fender opening, 50"
Ground to bottom of frame under drivers door, 24"
Tire width outside the fender, 10"

Im going to be setting the bumpstops 2" off of the springs, using a fairly hard poly bumpstop.

I have a couple reasons to bumpstop it. Springs are within about an inch of being flat. When turned to full lock, tire is only 4" below the tube part of the core support behind the headlight. Im sure it will rub on that. Still need to trim the fender behind the tire too.

Steering, yay... I took out the shaft between the column and the rack, chopped it up, and ended up with a much shorter shaft. Now it should be easier to get good angles on the shaft to the new steering gearbox. Gearbox choice is up in the air, but its looking like a toyota IFS box will do the trick. Drag link will actually sneak between the oil pan, and the front crossmember. I have arms to do full high steer, but the tie-rod is tight to the bottom of the leafs while mounted on top of the stock TRE holes in the knuckle, so, it is going to stay there. That also allows easier mounting of the hydro ram.


I think thats it for the days work.

[chevycrew]

Made more progress..

Rear spring pocket, this was the old lower control arm pocket.

Rear springs hung.

And clearance at ride height with tires at full lock.

[chevycrew]

And, this should get some looks!

Truck is coming together very quickly:

[Gordinho80]

You're gonna have to air down to get it out of the garage! I love this build!

[janesy86]

Awesome progress! Coming together very nicely so far!

[HARDTRAILZ]

Well done. Should definitely turn some heads and crawl some rocks.