Truck Build - DD, Tow Rig and play!

[not enoughsmoke]

Originally Posted by SWALLDOG

ok so here is the hole i put in my bumper. i've been thinkin about this for a while and i dont know how much it will help or if it will make that big of a difference performance wise but i thought why not. its not done yet but here is what i'm doin. my 2nd battery was behind the passenger head light and then the air box behind that. so i moved the battery back where the air box is and put the air filter behind the headlight. put a hole under the filter in the wheel well and in the bumper and put a tube between them. right now the air filter is just open right above the hole but i'm thinkin about building a box for it and then hooking it to the tube so it only gets air from the bumper but i dont know if thats a good idea. :shaking:

i am planning on doing this too what size hole did u cut 5" or 6" i am thinkin 6"

[dodge bomber]

holy s*&^t this truck is a dream i could probly spend all day looking at your truck. im making headers for my cummins to but when i mentioned it i was laughed at so im doing it now and i seen you did yours. did you knotice a big difference? and whats that plate bilted to the side of the motor under the header? do i need to do that also? i havent looked much into it because my beater is beat and that would be my transportation while im working on my truck

[Peterson]

any update on this?

[cumminsproud]

man great job so far one hell of a tow rig for sure. keep the updates comin.

[SWALLDOG]

Thanks for all the comments. i have a lot i need to update on this. I've had the Dana 80 in the front now for about 2 months. just working out a few of the bugs when i have time. over all i am really happy with it. i also have the airsprings and longer control arms installed to. i just uploaded a ton of pics so i will get the updates coming.

[SWALLDOG]

ok so here are the hubs after i got them all machined. the one other thing i did machine after i took this pic is machined a little shoulder on the back, right on the outside where the seal goes, so i could press a tone ring on there for my abs. i just need to machine the tone ring and make a mount for the sensor.

[SWALLDOG]

so here are what the inner C's look like. the first pic is the first one that i made with a Dedenbear dana 60 inner C sitting on top of it. the first C that i made i welded it all to a piece of tube and then i was going to press that on to the axle. well i never really liked that idea, so when i came down to it i changed my jig so i could bolt the jig to the axle and weld the C's together right on the axle tube. it worked out a lot better that way. the last pic is with both C's welded together on the axle.

[SWALLDOG]

these are pics of the knuckles. the main mounting flange is 1/2". most of the brackets are 1/4" with weld washers, and some 3/8" brackets. the mounting brackets for the brake caliper brackets are 5/8" with a 1/4" weld washer. that way when they were all welded up and machined down the thickness was the same as the stock brackets 3/4".

[SWALLDOG]

i build the link mounts and the air spring mounts in the same bracket. kinda like the stock one but a lot taller and much stronger.

[SWALLDOG]

this is the knuckle with some of the braces welded in and with the start of the arms for the tie rod. i just had them tacked on at first so i could check clearances. i was also checking to make sure that the caliper mounting bracket would fit before i made the mounts for that. i wanted to make sure it cleared the knuckles and the inner C's at full turn. i also wanted to check the tie rod clearance at full turn.

[SWALLDOG]

i bolted the wheels up to make sure that everything clears. i had loads of room. i am planing on changing the back spacing of my wheels so they dont stick out so far. i want to take them back about 2.5" - 3" so i turned the wheels around just to see how they would clear if they had about twice as much back spacing was i wanted to move them. the knuckles stuff pretty well in those 22.5" wheels :thumbsup:

[SWALLDOG]

this is the track bar bracket on the passenger side. its not done yet, i still need to make a bracket for the outside so it is a double shear. on the inside edge of the bracket a machined a slot so you can get a wrench in there and hold the nut or bolt head, depending on which way the bolt is. its hard to get a socket on it from the back side when all the control arms are bolted on and stuff. the last pic is just a pic from the back will almost all the brackets welded on. getting close to install time. :rofl:

[SWALLDOG]

why i was building a new front end, putting air springs on it i also wanted to build longer control arms. so i build fab lower control arms that were about twice as long as the after market control arms that i have. i made these lower control arm mounts that i could just weld on the frame.

[SWALLDOG]

these are the lower control arms that i built. i use a weld on joint on the one end and a 1 1/2" threaded shank joint on the other end. i made my own pinch bolt joints for the threaded end instead of using a jam nut. i have never had really good luck with jam nuts, it seems like on my buggy i am always tightening them before a trip. i like the idea of a pinch bolt so i thought i would try it out, plus you have that many more threads in the link, not taken up by the jam nut.

[SWALLDOG]

so the air springs i am running are a firestone spring. they are just about the same diameter as my stock coils. i mounted them in the stock coil buckets which seamed to work out pretty well. i just had to make an adapter to bolt them in. kelderman does this same thing on some of there kits but i have never liked there adapters. they use pieces of strap and it kinda looks weak. i made mine out of a full piece of tube. i wanted to make them as short as possible but still have enough room for the air lines and stuff. they ended up working out pretty slick.

[SWALLDOG]

i got some new brake lines made by evco. they are braided SS with plastic shields over them. the stock ones were in pretty bad shape and i am using calipers and rotors off an '05 style dodge truck. the banjo bolt was a different size.

[Lostnwalmart]

Amazing fab work! Looks great man

[Hurley]

love the fab, lots of overkill... ever consider building a front-end loader for that thing hahaha

[YOUNG GUNS15]

I got to see it in person! the front axle wasnt built then but still a cool ride.

When are ya gettin the p pump on there? and are you going to weekend on the edge or industrial dyno?

[cumminsproud]

awesome