ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Build Diaries, How-To, DIY => Topic started by: mverley on August 21, 2008, 04:52:04 PM
-
I've had this idea kicking around in my head for a while now...like most ideas I have started small and grew bigger until it's where it is now. I've been kept busy with finishing my shop (still not finished), replacing my wife's totalled Jeep (thanks to the 1 ton dodge that didn't see my brake lights, thanks to my trailer for saving my life), and trying to keep my business going. Last week I finally started some of the work, so I figured I'd start this build thread.
For a long time I had a Samurai...went through lots of transformations and finally ended up with a turbodiesel, dual cases, etc. etc. Liked the rig...but no space for my wife and son to ride along though. So I decided to look for something bigger. After a few hints and suggestions from people at Powerfest '06, I decided on building a Vitara. I found this little gem for $3k with a weak tranny:
-
The initial plan was to do a Toyota SAS, run 35" tires, and call it good. However, with some prodding from a couple of buddies I ended up with a set of unimog 404 axles and a crazy scheme to put them under the Vitara...after some contemplating and a little web wrenching here is the plan I came up with:
Engine: Stock 2.0L
Drivetrain: Toyota W series transmission and gear driven t-case, with a "lefty" billet housing from inchworm gear. This tranny is made possible basically with the RingR adapter from SOS and a strange combination of clutch parts from various vehicles; more details when I get all of the parts in my hands. One of the major benefits of this combo is that it is a few inches shorter than the stock vitara drivetrain...helps with those huge unimog axles.
Axles: Unimog 404 axles, narrowed 7.5", with pinion conversions and 1410 yokes, and 8 lug disc brake conversions with corvette 4 piston calipers, and full hydro steering
Suspension: 4 link front and rear with XJ coils
Tires: Looking for some now...37"-40" is the diameter I'm looking to run
Keep in mind; some of this is subject to change as I get deeper in the project. There are some obstacles I surely haven't thought of, and some costs I haven't figured in yet.
-
We'll start with the axle buildup. Before I go any further I have to thank Kabuki (from the pirate4x4 board) for lots of help with these; in exchange for the use of my bender and my axles as test beds for prototype parts, he did some of the machine work I needed. Also thanks goes out to Ben; he let me use his lathe freely as I needed it and set up some group buys that saved me some $$. I purchased this set of unimog 404 axles on ebay; bright orange ensures they won't be looked over :-\
Started by purchasing pinion conversions for a guy in Germany; they are fairly easy to find. You can see the pinion flange in the pics; they are machined to accept a 1410 yoke.
Next I cut 7.5" out of the long side of the rear axle (this centers the diff) and 7.5" out of the short side of the front axle (this offsets the diff more to the driver's side for added clearance for the engine).
Then I had the flanges I cut off machined to slip over the inner axle tube on the housing.
-
Next, the outer tube on the axle housing was cut back an additional 1"; this allows the flange to slide over the inner tube and butt up against the outer tube.
The edges of the tubes are bevelled for good weld penetrations, and after a bit of time with levels and angle finders, the flange is welded back to the housing. A couple of passes with the Mig welder on the outer housing, and a pass with the Tig welder on the inside (prevents splatter on the surface where the portal box housing slides into)
-
You can see the rear housing is now centered. The inner portal boxes are bolted on, and measurements taken for shortening the axleshaft.
-
Front axleshaft is narrowed first; basically the 7.5" is taken out of the shaft, a sleeve is machined to slip over the 2 pieces of the shaft, the shaft is aligned with a small dowel in the center, the 2 pieces are TIG welded together, then the sleeve covers the weld and is welded at both ends. Is it as strong as a custom shaft? Probably not. One advantage of the portal axles, however, is the additional 2:1 reduction at the portal boxes. This means that all of the components upstream of the boxes will only 1/2 of the forces that a conventional axle would see. Will it hold up behind my 120 angry squirrels? I think so...time will tell. If it doesn't, I'll have a new shaft made ???
-
Front housing is completed, knuckles and portal boxes are sandblasted.
-
That is some seriously cool stuff! Keep up the thread, anticipating a great rig here.
-
Man I knew I should have stoped by your place< we were just down |removethispart|@ Seal rock for a week
Ryan
-
Thanks again to Ben for letting me use the lathe this weekend; got some more work out of the way.
First project was to turn the driveshaft tubes off of my Toyota yokes. Next project was the input shaft cover for the Toyota tranny I'm using. I took about .070" off to allow the Sidekick throwout bearing to slide on it. I'll post the rest of the pics of the drivetrain when the rest of the components arrive...
-
Man I knew I should have stoped by your place< we were just down |removethispart|@ Seal rock for a week
I found a mog wheel center so you could make your own wheels
[url]http://copperheadfab.com/index.php?action=productview&productid=161[/url]
Ryan
I thought about using the stock mog parts and doing the wheel conversions, but I didn't want to stick with the drum brakes that come with 404's. Their weight is completely absurd...don't know how much they weigh for sure but each drum is about 60lbs or so (from my memory), and they severely limit airflow to the portal boxes. I figured that, if I was going to do a disc conversion anyway, I may as well change the lug pattern to 8x6.5 to open up my wheel choices. Thanks for the info though...I might run into a need for help like that during this build...
-
Next project was to shorten the rear axleshaft; similar to the front, I cut 7.5" out of the shaft, machined a 5/8"" protrusion into one shaft and a 5/8"" hole in the other shaft for alignment. Then, I machined a sleeve to fit over the joint. I chucked up the whole thing in the lathe, and tacked it into place. Then I checked it for runout and made a few adjustments, then made one pass with the MIG welder. The rest of welding will be finished up with my TIG welder.
-
Just straight up impressive. :)
-
Did you preheat the axle shaft before welding?
Amilla
-
Impressive work.
With the massive hp you are using, you might get away with the welded axles, but I fear they will break at the welds. It would have been better to cut and have them resplined, as it appears the splines are smaller than the shafts. No loss in temper then.
-
I didn't preheat it for the first pass while it was in the lathe, but did when I finished with the TIG welder. I was worried about putting too much heat into the shaft and making it brittle. It is my understanding that a properly heat treated shaft is only hardened to the depth of the splines so that all of the contact areas are hardened, but the rest of the shaft is not (to permit some twisting under shock loads). I've never done anything quite like this before, so it may or may not work...
-
Impressive work.
With the massive hp you are using, you might get away with the welded axles, but I fear they will break at the welds. It would have been better to cut and have them resplined, as it appears the splines are smaller than the shafts. No loss in temper then.
There is a company that custom makes axleshafts for these axles ($600 per shaft)...but I cannot have my existing ones resplined. It is hard to tell in the pics, but the splines actually rise above the body of the shaft by about 1/8" so there is no way to respline them. I know that my axleshafts aren't ideal...but I have found some other people running welded shafts successfully behind v8 power and 47" tires so I thought I would try it first (it is free). In fact, Exaxt 4wd www.exaxt.ca actually shortens these axles the same way I did, but without the sleeve. I don't know how many of these they have done, but was told that they have only had a very small percentage of failures. With the sleeve I added, mine should be even stronger. And, this isn't a daily driver. If I break a shaft I'll just limp it home and pay for the custom ones. But I think they'll work fine...
-
I think your half shafts should hold up just fine, assuming your welding skills are on par with your photography skills :) Your welds on the housings look very good.
I am not sure about the sleeve idea. We have never done this. Half of me says "more is better" and half of me says "more is less" because you are adding more places where stress can build up. I'll blab a little more about the shafts in general and get back to the
All of the half shafts in a set of axles are a different diameter. Rear shafts are thicker than the front and longer shafts are thicker than shorter shafts. The shaft material is torsionally very springy and the shafts twist under load and spring back. I think the engineers were trying to have equal twist factors on either side of the vehicle, and allow for more torque on the rear axle than the front.
The added sleeve may prevent the center section of the shaft from twisting. When the welded shafts fail, they twist off in the original material just outside the weld. The sleeves may carry some of the torque across the weld to the other side.
We usually use a donor shaft from the RHS to make a shaft for the LHS in the front. They are a larger diameter and it was our hope that the extra beef would compensate for the weakness introduce at the weld. We also do some stress relief and tempering around the weld area. The tempering was a bit of a guess since the rod material is different from the shaft material and we have no idea what the original tempering specs were.
We usually consider 3 factors when deciding how or if to build 404 axles for a project:
1) Vehicle weight
2) Power plant
3) Tire size and weight
I don't remember the planned tire size in this thread but given 1) and 2), we would recommend using cut and welded shafts for this project. They are economical and would not move the axles out the "bulletproof" category. Your welded shafts should hold up just fine.
-
Thanks for the insight Mac; my new front shaft is made from a shortened long side shaft because it was a bigger diameter (as you discussed) however I didn't do the work on this one (bought it from Kabuki). So, I'm not sure about how all of the welding and sleeving was done on it. However, I did do all of the work on the rear shaft. When I welded the sleeve on I didn't use much heat and welded it fairly quickly, thinking that this would prevent the heat from hardening the steel too deeply into the shaft.
My thought in using the sleeve was twofold: First I figured it would distribute the load over more area on the shaft (as you mentioned), and second I thought that it would essentially hold the welded section of the shaft together (assuming that as the weld twisted it would tend to expand). The sleeve is machined to be a very tight fit; I had to polish the shaft and heat the sleeve to press it over the welded area.
This is new territory for me; I'm not a machinist, welder, metallurigist or anything like that. I just got tired of all the broken axles in my Samurai, and decided that these 404's would solve that issue with my new rig. Hopefully my ideas work, but if they don't I'll know what not to do when I fix what broke.
-
Got the hub conversions done tonight. Basically, the stock unimog hubs were turned down in the lathe. The original unimog wheel flange was machined down for the rotor to fit over, but enough was left to cover and protect the seal on the portal box. The end of the hub was also machined to fit the ID of a wheel flange that was laser cut with a standard 8x6.5 lug pattern. Then I pressed the flange on the hub and welded both sides. At that time, I didn't have access to a lathe so I just got them as straight as I could (they were very close because the hubs were machined true). However, after assembling everything I put a dial indicator on the rotors. Both rears are about .020" out (they look perfectly straight). That's .012" out of spec according to a Haynes manual I have for chevy pickups, but I figure it will be fine for me. If the pedal pulses too much for my liking, I'll true them up later. The rotors are front rotors off of a 3/4 Ton chevy pickup and were $24 each. They fit behind the wheel flanges and center on the wheel studs, which are pressed into the new wheel flange.
In the pic with the hub, I'd like to point out the size of the wheel bearing; compare it to the size of the measuring tape sitting next to it :o
Check out the ground clearance under the axle...with the 35 that's on there now, I've got more clearance under the diff than a rig with 1-ton axles on 44" tires. I can't stop looking at that pic...digs, anybody?
-
On to the brakes...
One of the more common failures of the unimog 404 axles is the portal boxes breaking under load. There's a few reasons I've found for this...overheating, improper gear orientation (gears are helical cut and if installed on the wrong side will push the box apart), loose studs, and some other theories I'm not so sure about. So, (again thanks to Kabuki) I had a set of box braces cut out with caliper mounts integrated into them. The braces are welded to the boxes and fully encircle them, adding strength.
The calipers are 4 piston units from a 1965-1982 corvette. They are EXPENSIVE if purchased from a parts store...I was looking at $200 each at my local Napa (couldn't swallow $800 for calipers). I got lucky and found 4 rebuilt ones with new stainless sleeves from a corvette wrecking yard for $35 each. The 4 piston design provides some good solid braking over a single piston design, and it also allows the caliper to be solid mounted (without slides).
I am planning on running 16.5" or 17" wheels...but the one in the pic is a 16. The caliper fits with at least 1/4" clearance all around. It may require some grinding with wheels that have a flatter center, but I'll cross that hurdle if it comes up.
-
One of the reasons I chose these axles (besides the obvious ground clearance advantage and their heavy-duty design) is the gear ratio. The 404's have a 7.54:1 overall gear ratio (3.54:1 in the diff, 2.13:1 in the portal boxes). For those of us running high-revving import engines, you just can't get a low enough ring and pinion for Toyota axles if you're running larger than 33" tires. And, the gears get progressively weaker the deeper you go. By my calculations (assuming 40" tires) I should be running roughly 2700RPM in 5th gear at 65 (don't know if this speed will be possible yet). This is pretty close to the stock vitara gearing. The 2.0 starts to make good power just before 3000 RPM, and really pulls good at the higher RPM's. That 7.54:1 should be perfect for this engine...
-
subscribed... Looking to see more about the toy tranny swap!
-
subscribed... Looking to see more about the toy tranny swap!
That's coming soon...waiting for the rest of the parts to arrive. I'll go into good detail with that as right now nobody makes a kit to swap the toy tranny to the 2.0, but it can be done with mostly all off the shelf parts (if my plan works out) and a minimum amout of machine work. Good option for the guys running the 2.0 in their Samurais...there are TONS of options for tcase gears, doublers, etc. with Toyota stuff.
Speaking of which...I have the transfer case from my Vitara up for sale right now with the Trail Tough gearset in it...somebody buy it so I can keep working on the unimooki!
http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=22564.msg186859#msg186859
-
Got the front mostly assembled yesterday; tooks hours of cleaning before it was ready to go back together. The axles had grease in every nook and cranny, covered with a layer of sand and mud, and the previous owner had helped things by spraying a coat of orange paint over the whole mess to lock it all together. Last week, I ran into a snag during the reassembly; while pressing the crosspin back into the shortened axleshaft, it made it all the way through the eye but not quite far enough through the CV joint and then got hung up. Don't really know why; I thoroughly cleaned and lubricated it before pressing it back in. Maybe there was a burr I overlooked, maybe a piece of metal accidentally got pressed in there...I'm not really sure. At any rate, my press wouldn't move it anymore. I tried heating it, I placed the whole assembly in the freezer overnight and then heated it while it was in the press and it still wouldn't move. I mailed it to a friend with access to a 45 ton press...he couldn't get it out either. I found a local manufacturing plant with a 100 Ton press; going to see if they will try to press it out for me this week. If they can't get it, I'm going to have to buy a new axleshaft and CV joint...
Fortunately, I can reassemble everything without the shaft.
-
>:D this thing is gonna be sick.
-
I started breaking down the Vitara tonight...but then the UPS guy showed up with my air rams and solenoid so I got distracted building the air locker setup. The ram is more exposed than I would like, but they are really cheap so I'll carry a spare at first. If I end up breaking them more than once I'll build some kind of little cage to protect it. It works great; check out the video here:
LOCKER VIDEO (http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/vitara/locker.wmv)
All of the parts coming off of the vitara are going up for sale...PM me if you're interested.
-
I got most of the drivetrain pulled from the Vitara last night; it looks like it's going to be another long day with the plasma cutter and grinder 8)
I took a pic of the stock vitara tranny/transfer case along side the toyota case I'll be installing (the suzuki stuff is to the right of the toy stuff). I don't have the new bellhousing, adapter, billet case, gears, flywheel, or clutch yet for the setup but it is on its way to my house now. So, I can't really measure exact distances but I can come close. The new toy combo has the rear output about 1" forward of the zuk output, and the front is about 3" behind the zuk output. This is good!! Helps to counter the long pinions on the unimog axles. Looks like my rear driveshaft will end up being about 36" long, and the front maybe 30" or so. This will change if I decide to go with dual cases. One obvious issue is the location of the shift levers; the toy ones are about 8" forward of the stock ones. Gonna have to do some cutting welding and bending for sure...
-
think you going to get it done by POWERFEST
Ryan
-
think you going to get it done by POWERFEST
I'd really like to but unless I have no work for the next month I just don't see that happening. It isn't out of the realm of possibility though...
One of the problems is that some of the parts I have ordered are a month or so out. Kinda hard to finish the build without the parts ::)
If I do have it running, it will probably be without a lot of the details...like exocage, bumpers, air system, etc. But I suppose I could always run with the stocker group...that is, after all, where I drove the vitara last year 8)
-
I took advantage of the 75% off sale at 4 wheel parts yesterday to get my wheels, and ordered my tires and a set of the staun beadlocks. Wheels and tires will be here next week, but the Stauns are about a month out as they just started making them for 17x12" wheels and nobody has them in the US yet.
I went with 39.5x16.5x17 Pitbull Rockers. I based this decision mainly on Billavista's review on the Pirate4x4 board, but I've found dozens of other people with nothing but positive comments, and not a single complaint.
The wheels are 17x12" (recommended size for my tires) Weld Methods. What can I say...they're Weld wheels. I never thought I'd be running them on an offroad rig, but they were so cheap I couldn't pass them up.
-
How much did the whole set up run you?
Your rig is looking awesome! You have a badass set up going on.
Amilla
-
How much did the whole set up run you?
Wheels were $140 each, no shipping: $560 (75% off weld wheel sale at 4 wheel parts)
Tires were $230 each, $200 shipping: $1120 (cosmetic blems from 4x4groupbuy.com)
Staun Beadlocks were $170 each: $680 (bought from a friend with a 4x4 shop at just above cost)
total: $2360
Pretty good price for all new 39.5" tires, forged alloy 17x12" wheels, and double beadlocks. Seems like a lot of $$ if you're used to 15" wheels and 31's, but put all of this same stuff in a shopping cart at any 4x4 site and you'll end up with a price over $4000.
-
Next I cut 7.5" out of the long side of the rear axle
OK, I had to reread that twice... I almost shat myself! I think it is great to see someone try something different (mog axles) then to be willing and able to cut them up... Holy Crap Man!!. I can not wait to see it done. Please keep us posted. (pics) 8)
-
The freight truck brought a pallet of motivation today...in the form of some Pitbull Rockers 8)
-
I got my front axleshaft back from the machine shop last week...and a bill for $150. They got the pin out, but destroyed it and the CV ring (see the hairline crack in the lower pic) in the process. They had to machine a special pin and socket out of 4340 to press the pin out, and even then 100 Tons alone wasn't enough; it had to be heated until it was glowing red before it moved. At least I still get to use the axleshaft.
A new CV assembly is $300 for one side...didn't really want to pay that kind of $$ for just the CV ring and pin, so I found a used front long side shaft complete with CV for $300 shipped and picked it up. Now I have a spare for the front and the CV parts I need. I spent a minute or so with a small brake sylinder hone in the shortened shaft to smooth out the rough edges, and the new pin pressed right in. The front axle is all assembled now; next I need to figure out what I'm doing for the steering arms and ram.
-
awsome build ,love the mog axels, thanks for sharing
-
Finally got a day to work in the shop today...I've been busy the last week with lots of work. We had a few cold mornings here too...that prompted me to waste a few hours getting my motor oil burner working.
I spent most of the day with the plasma cutter and grinders taking off IFS brackets and crossmembers. Front is all done...I think. I left the strut towers because of the excellent frame bracing that they provide. I also left the coil buckets, thinking that I may be able to use them as bumpstops, and the front crossmember because I don't think it is in the way, it provides some protection and support for the radiator, and it's the only thing holding the framerails together now. Talk about a lot of grinding...went through an entire 6" grinder wheel, and most of a 4-1/2" one.
I also picked up my wheels last week as well; 17x12's are some WIDE wheels. They look great...but will look better with a little rock rash on them 8)
-
cant wait to see the finish product bud nice work
-
How is the time line looking for Powerfest? Would love to see it in person :)
Derek
-
How is the time line looking for Powerfest? Would love to see it in person :)
Derek
I really don't think I'll have it done by Powerfest. There are just too many small details that still need to be done, plus the big projects (steering and suspension design, mainly). There's a lot of time needed to take care of this stuff. Many of the parts I have ordered haven't showed up yet either...still waiting for the clutch parts to do the tranny swap, beadlocks, steering arms and cylinder, etc. Right now I'm kind of held up waiting for that stuff..don't want to go ahead with the suspension design until I have the drivetrain entirely in.
I'll keep working steadily on it though...I feel pretty confident that it will be 100% done sometime this winter.
Anybody who is interested in seeing it is welcome to come by the weekend of Powerfest though...I'll even be willing to provide a warm dry place and tools to work on a broken rig that weekend if anybody needs it 8)
-
How's the project coming? I know you have been busy trying to stay warm.
-
Still waiting for lots of parts :sleepy:
The biggest things holding me up are the steering arms for my front axle.
But yes...now I'm nice and warm burning my old motor oil.
I actually have the tranny bolted in and the clutch assembly built; no crossmember yet. I'm working on typing a writeup for the tranny conversion...I'll post that in a separate thread (it's kind of a stand-alone project) when I get it finished. I have had quite a bit of work in the last few weeks, so I haven't spent a lot of hours working on the Unimooki...
-
I'm sooo jelous, I always loved mog axles
-
Anymore progress on this?
-
Anymore progress on this?
My beadlocks should be showing up soon...I spoke with Staun last week. Hopefully I'll get to put them on this weekend. Also got some other minor odds and ends done...but work has been keeping me pretty busy. As soon as my steering arms show up I'll be able to make some more progress.
-
/subscribe.
I'm interested to see how this turns out....although I think that generation of tracker is DREADFUL!
/puke
-
I'm interested to see how this turns out....although I think that generation of tracker is DREADFUL!
This is the look I'm kind of going for:
-
yuck! :-X
-
I am a fan of the older body style (because I have one), but it looks good to me.
-
A well built rig looks Awesome, whether I would want one or not. Some ideas really fit to certain styles, while others may not.
I enjoy seeing what others have built, designed, and thought out, and what I NEED to have on my rig. (I also like knowing what not to do.)
Keep up the good work, and thanks for the photo's.
-
Personally, I think that rig is kickin! As a plus, it's got to be more accommodating inside.
-
yuck! :-X
Well, I like it. but I've never been accused of having any taste 8)
-
Taste aside...and a poor one at that....I can appreciate a well built rig regardless of looks.
So, with that in mind. Keep up the good work. I'm sure that ugly thing will dominate. I wish you wouldn't call it a "unimooki" though. Sounds cool...has a ring to it....but a real Unimog would devastate your mooki.
I still can't think of a nickname for mine.... :-\
-
a real Unimog would devastate your mooki.
???
Not quite sure what you're basing that assumption on...but here's the way I see it:
A "real" unimog is special because of its axles. That's it. As far as the 404's go, the engine is underpowered, transmission is weak, brakes don't work well, vehicle is insanely heavy, high COG, 20" wheels limit tire type and size, and a long wheelbase.
I'd like to think I'm taking the best part of a 'mog and placing it under a vehicle that is lighter, lower COG, much better P/W ratio (although less low-end torque), better gearing, better brakes, better steering, lower unsprung weight, MUCH better tires/wheels, better suspension, and shorter WB.
I'd be willing to bet that, obstacle for obstacle, my unimooki would outperform a stock unimog...although I know there are certain times where a long WB and extra weight would give the 'mog the edge. The same goes for any purpose-built rig though...it's only as good as the sum of its parts. Doesn't matter if it is a jeep, zuki, chevy, whatever. It's the parts underneath and how it is designed that is important.
-
All true...sorry for making a hasty, uneducated comment. :-[
I guess I only ever saw modded, upgraded mog's...tearing the earth asunder. Don't recall seeing a stock one. And I don't know much about them either. =/
-
you are my hero, this build looks like it's going to be amazing
-
Once it is done you need to apply for the Ultimate 4x4 run. How many Unimog axled Zuki's can there be out there? :D
-
How many Unimog axled Zuki's can there be out there? :D
I do have a pic of a blue samurai on full width 404's somewhere...but it's the only one I've ever seen. SAS Vitaras are rare enough...I had to take it a step further by using those axles 8)
My Staun beadlocks showed up in the mail finally...I'm too busy to get them installed until the weekend, but I'll post some pics of the process when I'm done.
-
haha, there seem to be some jealous eyes watching this thread.
-
Update?
-
Update?
Not too much progress in the last few weeks...but a little. I keep running into unrelated obstacles; clutch in my work truck went out so I had to waste $1k (I'm pulling almost 800 ft-lbs out of it 8) so a stock clutch won't do) and a couple of days doing that. That bill put off buying some tcase parts. The economy is indirectly slowing things down for me as well...I sold some lots to a developer a few years ago (I financed the purchase) and he recently declared bankruptcy. So quite a bit of my time and $$ has been spent dealing with that whole mess. I've also been trying to sell one of my other trucks for the last few months...with diesel prices as high as they have been I haven't had any luck with that. To top it all off...that truck was at the Auto Link lot in Gresham. Those of you that live in the PDX area might remember it from the news a couple of weeks ago, but the owner of that dealership fraudulently sold 48 cars, then signed the business over to an 85 year old grandmother, and declared bankruptcy. Yep, my truck was there. Had to spend a couple of days getting that back as the Gresham Police :police: had the keys for it. When I DID get it back, I had to tow it to the Ford dealer for repairs as it was only running on 6 cylinders. No wonder it didn't sell :laugh: It took 4 trips to and from Portland to get the whole mess straightened out. If no more crap comes up I MIGHT be able to get some work done on the unimooki... :P
-
I got my wheels and tires mounted and the beadlocks installed. I was worried that the beadlocks would be difficult, but they turned out to be the easiest part. The wheels I have don't have much drop center to them, so I was unable to put the tires on with the old soapy water jumping method. My 2 local Les Schwab's refused to even try...I talked Del's OK tire in Warrenton into doing it for me (cost me a box of donuts).
One of the Staun inner tubes split so I had to wait a week for a new one (although they sent it to me for free). Other than that little problem, those beadlocks were actually quite easy to install. They're cheap enough that I don't think I will ever run any other type of beadlock.
I decided to install the valve stem for the beadlock just inside of the wheel center (see the red circle in the first pic). This put it closer to the center of the wheel and should help the beadlock inner tube to center itself. It also protects the valve stem from rock damage. I have about 1/2" clearance from the valve stem to my brake calipers.
-
I got word that my steering arms should be done, so I'll be able to finish assembling the front axle soon...
-
Lol...box of donuts to mount tires. Shame about all the BS....but it looks like you're coming along nicely. That rear axle with the tires mounted looks BEEFY.
Keep up the good work.
-
That rear axle with the tires mounted looks BEEFY.
Indeed...
The pics don't do it justice 8)
-
WoW, Enuf said, So how's the second set you were making for me coming along? LOL, I wish.
-
awesome build, cant wait to see it done
-
Any more progress? ;D
-
Any more progress? ;D
Yep...was going to do some posting this weekend. I got all of my gears and dual case setup in the mail this week, and I have my steering arms. I'll post some updates later...
-
Some pics of my steering arms. Basically, they sandwich the portal box to the axle flange, making the boxes even stronger. The arms still need to be welded together. I'm going to need to do a little dremel work on the portal box flanges as well.
-
On to the tranny swap. The tranny in my Vitara was making some bad noises; I had to make a decision on what I really wanted under my rig. My stock tranny was rebuildable, but the parts for this are EXPENSIVE. The real disadvantage to sticking with the stock setup is that the front output is on the passenger side. I needed it to be on the driver's side. I could have used a different front axle or put custom center sections in my Unimog axles to move the diff to the passenger side, but I would still be stuck with the same stock Vitara tranny and tcase, which brings me to the other disadvantage: is the lack of aftermarket support for this setup. Doubler options are limited, aftermarket gears are really expensive, and the stock case has slip yokes instead of drive flanges.
I decided to go with a Toyota W-series transmission found behind a 22RE in a pickup. This transmission is strong (more than strong enough for my setup) and is cheap and easy to find. The options for tcase gearing, doublers, etc. are almost limitless, inexpensive, and really easy to find. It is also several inches shorter than the Vitara tranny (without dual cases, anyway). And, I had found a way to bolt it up behind my 2.0 (read next post)
-
The next step was figuring out how to bolt this tranny up to the Vitara's 2.0. Turns out it really isn't that difficult, and can be accomplished with mostly off-the-shelf parts. Some credit goes out to Rockrat (www.rock4xfabrication.com) who gave me a bunch of good information on which parts to search for. Here is the list of what I used:
Flywheel: 1.6L machined to fit the Vitara crankshaft and bolt pattern. If you have access to a lathe, you can do this yourself. If you don't, Brent at Trail Tough sells these for $150. If you don't already have a 1.6L flywheel, $150 is a pretty good deal if you figure in the cost for the machining and resurfacing.
Clutch Disc: Toyota Celica 1970-71 w/ 1.9L 8R 4 cyl. engine. This is a 7 7/8" diameter 21 spline 1-1/8" diameter input shaft disc that happens to fit the transmission input shaft, and is about the right outside diameter for the 1.6L flywheel.
Autozone p/n: FCP1185A $32
Pressure plate: stock 1.6L. I bought mine from Brent at Trail Tough for $45
Pilot bearing: 12mm ID, 21mm OD. I found a roller bearing that works (and it was cheap too...$5 each); but it is only 5mm wide so I put 2 of them in. I'm sure this will work; but if it doesn't my next choice will be to contact a bronze bushing manufacturer and have them custom make one, or buy a piece of bronze round bar and make one myself.
Part number 6801-2RS
From www.vxb.com
Throwout bearing: Stock 1.6L Suzuki
Napa p/n: ATM 0703502
Bellhousing: Stock 1.6L Suzuki
Adapter: RingR from SOS manufacturing. Rockrat used to sell these, but now Trail Tough is their exclusive distributor. This adapter runs $399. It allows you to bolt the 1.6L bellhousing up to the Toyota tranny.
Clutch linkage: If I was putting this engine/tranny combo in a Samurai or tracker/sidekick the cable would have bolted right up with no mods. However, the Vitara has a hydraulic clutch that I wanted to keep. So, I whipped up this little bit of scary engineering which works amazingly well (pics coming soon). Basically, the 1.6's bell crank design requires that the arm travel towards the back of the engine, but space requirements mean that the slave cylinder needs to "push" forward. So, I just made up a short lever that connects to the slave cylinder and the bell crank arm. I made the arm length such that the throwout bearing travels the same amount as when it was cable-actuated. Pedal feel is exactly the same as the stock Vitara was, and the clutch fully engages and disengages.
-
Now for the transfer case setup: I had 3 choices for converting to a driver's side drop.
1. The first was to use a Marlin crawler adapter to bolt a Tacoma case behind the gear driven reduction box; this would work nicely, but the adapter is expensive and the Tacoma case is more difficult to find, more expensive, and larger than the gear driven cases.
2. The second option is to use an adapter from Advance Adapters to bolt the Dana 300 case up to the Toyota reduction box. This means that I could also bolt up an Atlas or a stak which opens up some nice (but expensive) options. If I put a 4 speed atlas behind the stock toy reduction box, I could have an 8 speed transfer case; that makes for 40 forward speeds and 8 reverse speeds. Great for bragging rights, but seriously, who would really need a 20:1 transfer case? This would put my overall crawl ratio with my Unimog axles at like 600:1. There is also a "flip kit" for the Jeep Dana 300 that moves the output to the driver's side so I could just use a stock 300, but I would still need new gears for that case to make both low ranges useable (the Dana 300 and toy case low ranges are both 2:1).
3. The third option is to use a billet "lefty" case from inchworm gear. This uses all of the internal parts from a gear driven Toyota case (meaning I can use any of the optional gear sets). It is also expensive, but still cheaper than the cost of the used Tacoma case and adapter, and cheaper than the Dana 300 option (when you figure in the cost of the case, adapter, flip kit, and new 4:1 gears); plus it has the advantage of using more common and cheaper internal parts.
I picked up a complete 1987 Toyota 4Runner for free, provided I could get it out of the swamp that it was in, provide the engine to the owner on a pallet, and dispose of whatever I didn't want. This rig donated the tranny and tcase, and I bought another gear driven case locally for $75.
I bought a set of 4.70:1 23 spline gears, a twin stick shifter, and a 23 spline dual case adapter kit from Low Range Off Road www.lowrangeoffroad.com I'm waiting to find some kind of a deal on the lefty case from inchworm www.inchwormgear.com
The original 2.28:1 21 spline gears go in the front box, and the 4.70's go in the lefty case along with the twin stick kit.
I left the tcase off for now; but assembled the flywheel/clutch and bolted up the transmission. Looks like I'll need to come up with some way to move the shifter back a few inches, but otherwise it appears to be a good fit. I'll put the crossmember in as soon as I have the lefty case in my hands.
-
Awesome tech, Sewerzuk. I have a 2000 2.0 5 spd Tracker that I have intentions of turning it into the next trail rig and I know I will want to change my tranny over to the toy trans when I do so. When you can post up pix of how youdid the slave cylinder.
Eric
-
Awesome tech, Sewerzuk. I have a 2000 2.0 5 spd Tracker that I have intentions of turning it into the next trail rig and I know I will want to change my tranny over to the toy trans when I do so. When you can post up pix of how youdid the slave cylinder.
Eric
Thanks! This little setup offers a TON of options for anybody running the 1.3, 1.6, or 2.0. This setup would work behind a 1.3 or 1.6 almost completely bolt-on. Toy boxes are the ideal choice for aftermarket support and options and cheaper than just about everything else. For most people, the front output is on the correct side, too. I needed to swap mine because of the 'mogs, but most shouldn't need to.
I'll post some pics of my slave cylinder linkage when I get a chance; I thought I took some when I had everything bolted up under the rig, but can't seem to find them now.
-
that looks really good
-
Lookin Bad A$$$$!! Keep the pics coming.......
-
Finally had a few hours free to work on the mooki today; decided to get my steering arms ready. Decided that the solid 3/8" plate was really overkill for my application, so I put my ironworker to work and punched some speed holes in the arms. Doesn't look like much, but after holding the slugs in my hands I'll bet I shaved 5 lbs off of those things. I also spent an hour or so with the die grinder shaving the castings down to accept the new steering arms.
I got a few jobs (finally) and feel like I have a few $$ to spend on my projects, so I'm going to order the ram, orbital valve, and rod ends this week. Should be able to make some more progress soon...
-
Ordered all of my steering parts from Sean at Performance Off Road Systems www.performanceoff-road.com last week.
Should have everything in my hands by the end of next week...then I can get back to work 8)
I ended up ordering a 2.5"x10" double ended ram, heim joints for the steering links, a 9.7 cu in. LR orbital valve (sets my steering up at 3.4 turns lock to lock), and some misc. odds and ends (u-joints, brackets, etc.). I'll post some pics of everything as soon as I receive it.
-
Do you have a finish target date?
-
Do you have a finish target date?
Not yet...but this summer sometime. I had a few hours to work on it this weekend. Did some more prep work for the steering on the axles and disconnected the airbags. I'll be able to dive into it again in a few weeks.
-
can't wait to see that thing on the ground
-
Well, I should be able to get some work done this weekend. My Lefty case came in from Inchworm Gear tonight, so I should be able to assemble the entire powertrain now. I'll take some pics as the work progresses and post them up after it is all together. I'll take some measurements as well for those that might be thinking of using this combo 8)
I also called Sean at POS to find out when my steering parts would arrive. Still waiting on the machine shop to make my clamps for the hydraulic ram, but everything else is ready to go so I should have a couple of boxes of steering parts in the next week or so.
For now, here are a couple of pics. One is of the lefty case half, and the other is of the Trail Gear doubler adapter. The lefty case is machined from a solid piece of billet aluminum and is looks amazing.
-
Wow :o
Keep the updates coming along with pics. Awesome build. Good work. Thanks for sharing. :)
-
Well, it took a week of evenings but I got my drivetrain assembled. Toyota W56 5 speed tranny, stock toyota reduction box with 2.28:1 gears, a Trail Gear doubler kit with 23 spline coupler, a 2nd toyota reduction box with 23 spline 4.7:1 gears, and an inchworm gear lefty case with Trail Gear twin stick shifters.
The combo worked out better than I could have hoped for; looks like both of my driveshafts will be in the 30" range...plenty long enough. The angles on them will be excellent...only a few degrees at ride height. I managed to get the bottom of the tcase almost 4" above the bottom of the framerails, so ground clearance won't be any issue. The only cutout in the cab will be hidden under the driver's seat (I'll box it in after I'm finished building the crossmember). And yes, I plan on using something stronger than a hemlock 2x4.
-
I also rolled the rear axle under the rig to check for clearances around it; still might have to build a custom fuel cell or at least move the existing tank, but it looks like it might work where it is. 18" of clearance under the diff!!!
-
VERY NICE!! I really like the hemlock crossmember ;)
-
Looks really good! I love how you tucked the t-case up in there, and I love how much ground clearance you have under your case.
-
Nice looking setup. You should stain that new cross member with some water repelling stain before going on the trail though. :D
-
holy s&|removethispart|@t dude that things gonna be a monster i like it
-
it's cool ,thats going to big a monster, Have you messured the leanth of the trany and t-cases ?
-
That looks awesome but....
how are you going to weld the wood in? OR just the chain? Cheap and soft trans mounts i suppose.....
???
Ha just kidding awesome looking work so far!
Bryce
-
it's cool ,thats going to big a monster, Have you messured the leanth of the trany and t-cases ?
I pulled the tranny tonight (for the last time, I think). I needed to helicoil a few stripped out threads and loctite all of the studs. I put a measuring tape on it for those who are interested. I know it looks SUPER long, but really the doubler only adds 6.5", and the toy tranny/tcase is actually about 3" shorter than the stock vitara drivetrain. So, my rear output flange is about 3.5" further back than stock, and my front output is about 5.5" further back. It makes my rear driveshaft about 28-30" long (depending on where I decide to place the rear axle). The rear flange is about 45" from the bellhousing, and the front flange is about 34".
I still need to modify the tranny shifter, but I'll do that when I have the crossmember finished and the tranny is in its final position.
STILL waiting on my steering parts and heim joints, but the word is I'll have them in a week or so.
-
how are you going to weld the wood in?
Gorilla glue. I figure why spend the time welding crap up when I can just use scraps from work and cheap glue? Easy trail fixes too. An 8' 2x4 and a framing nailer is all I need in MY toolbox...
-
That rig is a mechanical work of art. Kudos.
-
how are you going to weld the wood in?
Gorilla glue. I figure why spend the time welding crap up when I can just use scraps from work and cheap glue? Easy trail fixes too. An 8' 2x4 and a framing nailer is all I need in MY toolbox...
Very good points I must say, nothing like a cheap and easy fix. Wood kills the vibration.
On a serious note - That trans/transfer case is massive !
Looks good
Bryce
-
it's cool ,thats going to big a monster, Have you messured the leanth of the trany and t-cases ?
I pulled the tranny tonight (for the last time, I think). I needed to helicoil a few stripped out threads and loctite all of the studs. I put a measuring tape on it for those who are interested. I know it looks SUPER long, but really the doubler only adds 6.5", and the toy tranny/tcase is actually about 3" shorter than the stock vitara drivetrain. So, my rear output flange is about 3.5" further back than stock, and my front output is about 5.5" further back. It makes my rear driveshaft about 28-30" long (depending on where I decide to place the rear axle). The rear flange is about 45" from the bellhousing, and the front flange is about 34".
I still need to modify the tranny shifter, but I'll do that when I have the crossmember finished and the tranny is in its final position.
STILL waiting on my steering parts and heim joints, but the word is I'll have them in a week or so.
thanks for measuring it, that gives me some ideas
-
Taking a lunch break so I thought I would post some pics 8)
I got the tranny back in the vitara this morning and got to work on the shifters. It was a bit of a headache making sure they could all move through all of their positions without hitting each other, or the dash, or floor, etc. But, I seem to have got it nailed down. Everything is nice and compact, but still leaves room for my hands to move from lever to lever without any interference.
-
Awesome tech, Sewerzuk. I have a 2000 2.0 5 spd Tracker that I have intentions of turning it into the next trail rig and I know I will want to change my tranny over to the toy trans when I do so. When you can post up pix of how youdid the slave cylinder.
Eric
I know it took me a couple of months to get these up, but since I finally put it all back together tonight, here are a couple of pics. I also took a video:
CLICK HERE (http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/vitara/clutch.wmv) to watch the clutch linkage in operation
-
That is a lot of shifters. :)
Have you thought about cutting down some of the shifters so they take up less space?
-
Have you thought about cutting down some of the shifters so they take up less space?
I sat down in the driver's seat and tried everything out to make sure it would work for me; I actually shortened the transmission shifter some to make it more comfortable, but the others seem to be about perfect for me. If I DO decide that I don't like them, that is something I can change later...even after the whole project is completed.
-
Looks great....how's the progress on the whole build so far?
-
Looks great....how's the progress on the whole build so far?
Slow...life keeps getting in the way ???
I got all of my steering parts today...so I have some motivation to get started on that. Unfortunately I've been so busy with work (or maybe that's fortunately...dunno) that I haven't had much free time to work in the shop. Any spare time I have gets taken up with obligations with the fire department, family, etc.
But I'll get back on this project this weekend...
-
I got back from my jiu-jitsu class tonight all tired and wiped out...but I couldn't stop thinking about my steering parts all lonely in their boxes in my shop. So I opened everything up and took a pic. No picture can do these parts justice...everything looks amazing. I'll be working on it this weekend...
-
More updates Please!
-
Well...the unimooki will be on hold for a month or two. Yesterday somebody on the hwy made an illegal u-turn, ran a stop sign, and hit my wife's jeep. She will be OK, but the jeep is completely totalled. I'm amazed she walked away from it. Long story short, she actually ran over a cadillac at 55MPH, ripping the axles out from underneath her rig. The rear one actually came completely disconnected and flew down the highway (broken springs and u-bolts). The use of the lift and my time now shifts toward building her another XJ and fighting with the insurance company over the value of custom bumpers, rock sliders, roof rack, engine mods, gears, axles, lockers, custom suspension, etc. Not gonna enjoy this...
-
ouch! sorry to hear about the loss....and the upcoming struggle. good thing the wifey is ok though!
-
Glad the wife is OK, Good luck with the insurance company, get what you can from them and don't forget about small claims court for the rest
Ryan
-
The use of the lift and my time now shifts toward building her another XJ and fighting with the insurance company over the value of custom bumpers, rock sliders, roof rack, engine mods, gears, axles, lockers, custom suspension, etc. Not gonna enjoy this...
1) I'm VERY glad to hear your wife is okay!
2) Take pics of your rig to a local 4x4 shop, and have them give an appraisal for how much it would cost them to make an XJ look like the one you already built... take it to a few 4x4 shops if you can. The more "professional opinions" you have, the easier it will be. The insurance agency will be hard pressed to come up with their own professionals that will argue against. Good luck.
(note to self: a Cadillac is no longer the gold standard for accidents)
-
So hows the jeep coming along? Is the unimookie back on the radar? I'm thinkin of trying something similar. BTW not to be a ghoul but any pix of the Jeep?
-
I have been getting little things done with the mooki; got the ram mocked up for the steering and a few other small things. Nothing notable enough to post up here though. Almost done with the wife's jep too...I'll post a pic of it as soon as it is 100% complete.
-
Cool!!! The reason I bought a Zuk was because of the upgrade and build potential.
-
good god man. Can you say vacation?
-
figured id pass this along. roundstar offroad out of leesburg fl has some killer portal shock and upper link brackets (i wood know i designed em) that use the stock mounting points. its all 1/4 and 3/16 plate setup for watever hiem u plan to use. i also have the cnc drawing if u know someone with anykind of cnc plasma or laser table i cood pass them on to u as it is my own design. i also can do custom bracketry designs if u need any.
erich
-
Amazing working going on here... Update when you can... Take Care!
-
Well, I haven't posted any pics in a while but I'll try to get some up soon. I spent a couple of days working on the 'mooki last week. I managed to finish the tranny/tcase crossmembers, do some wiring and misc. odds and ends, and got far enough to start it up and run through all 20 forward and 4 reverse speeds. It has been sitting for over a year without being started...but it took less than a second of cranking and the trusty old suzuki 2.0 fired right up. The entire drivetrain seems to work fine...no funny sounds, leaks, vibrations, etc. My clutch cantilever system works great...you would never know it is there from the driver's seat. I also ordered the rest of the parts for my steering (except for the hoses) and all of the tubing for the suspension links.
-
Also ordered all of the rod ends for my suspension links over $1k :o
Decided to go a little overkill on my links; I'm using 2"x.250 wall tubing for the lower links with 1-1/4" rod ends, and 1-3/4" x .250 wall tubing with 7/8" rod ends for the uppers. I'll post some pics when the parts show up...
-
So hows the jeep coming along? Is the unimookie back on the radar? I'm thinkin of trying something similar. BTW not to be a ghoul but any pix of the Jeep?
hijack
Jeep complete. posting some pics...
Jeep specs:
front axle swap to high pinion D30 non-disconnect. Lock-rite with 4.56 gears
rear axle swap to disc brake ford 8.8 with auburn ected electric locker and 4.56's
rusty's 4.5" lift, new front and rear springs
bushwacker cutouts
JKS quicker disconnects
33x12.5 BFG MT's
tom woods SYE kit and custom CV driveshaft
swap to NP231 tcase
homemade Rear bumper/air tank combo with viair 450C
homemade Front bumper with milemarker 9500# winch
homemade rock sliders
custom stereo with 8" JBL sub, 2 amps, 4 speaker, pioneer head unit
airaid cold air intake
optima yellow top
B&M megacooler tranny cooler and magnefine tranny filter
not shown: roof rack with 150W stainless lights, hi-lift/shovel/axe mount
The jeep is cool, but not as cool as the unimooki
/hijack
Free to focus on the mooki
-
Jeep still looks pretty good though, even if it's not a Zuk. :D Did you bend the tubing for the rock sliders yourself?
What are you using for your rod ends?
-
Jeep still looks pretty good though, even if it's not a Zuk. :D Did you bend the tubing for the rock sliders yourself?
What are you using for your rod ends?
Yep...I bent the tube for the sliders and the front bumper. I built a hydraulic bender around JD2 dies and ebay junk about 4 years ago. It has seen quite a bit of use...one entire tube buggy, a bunch of sliders and bumpers (including the one on my Samurai), stainless handrails, and a bunch of weightlifting equipment, weight sleds, and pull up bars for my local Jiu-jitsu gym.
Rod ends are QA1; 1-1/4" shank, 1" bore with high misalignment spacers for the lower links, and 7/8"x7/8" with high misalignments for the uppers.
-
couple of pics of the crossmember and hydraulic ram on the front axle
-
Got in a few more hours on the unimooki this week. Rolled the axles under the rig and did some checking on clearances; the 3 pics show the vitara at full compression, full droop, and at 60% droop with 14" travel. I don't think I'm going to be able to go any longer than 14"...top of the axle already contacts the oilpan and radiator at full compression, and the front driveshaft angle looks pretty steep at full droop.
-
I got the steering intermediate shaft made up and the orbital valve installed. Also took out the factory core support/rack and pinion mount/crossmember and made a new one.
-
Its looking awesome. cant wait to see it done, and in action. Its a monster
-
That's going to be one heck of a rig when it's all done. Nice work!
-
My rod ends FINALLY showed up on Friday...what a wait.
Got all of the link mounts built and tacked into place (nothing is braced or fully welded yet). I built a total of 4 mounting options for the upper links (2 at the frame end and 2 at the axle end). I spent quite a bit of time with the 4 link calculator tweaking mounting locations and lengths to try to get some numbers that I consider to be ideal. I ended up with a setup that I think is going to be almost perfect; good vertical sep at the axle, slight negative roll axis angle (understeer is more desirable than oversteer), good triangulation on both sets of links. I would have preferred to get the instant center a little further forward, but I think what I have will work fine...especially considering the low horsepower I am running. The antisquat I am SUPER happy with...as the suspension droops the AS gets lower...meaning that the design is inherently stable and shouldn't have any tendency to hop on hillclimbs, or look like it is trying to hump itself when I'm hung up on a rock. I did have to build a crossmember for the lower link mounts...they hang down 1.5" below the frame level...I would have liked to tuck them up a little more, but I just couldn't get good numbers that way. But, I angled the back of the brackets so they're not rock anchors, and I really don't think 1.5" is all that far to drop below frame level. I don't have the links built just yet so I can't measure driveshaft angles or plunge yet, but I'm guessing that plunge will be less than 2 inches. The u joint angle will be the limiting factor in how much droop I will be able to get.
A LOT of time went into this design...probably too much. I didn't start building anything until I felt like I had a reasonable grasp on 4 link design. Still...if anybody out there has any input, feel free to post it up.
I am going to need to move the gas tank back about an inch, and up an inch or two to keep the necessary clearance around the rear axle, but I think I can do this with no body mods.
-
Not too much progress in the last week...ordered all of my brake lines and fittings but it looks like they are a couple of weeks out. I also have some limit straps on the way, and I ordered all of the parts I need to make up my driveshafts. I will be using toyota u-joints on the transfer case side, and spicer 1410 u-joints on the axle end. I decided to go with the 1410's because they have better angle capability than the 1310 or 1350's, and they're SUPER strong, and the u-joints themselves only cost about $15. I have both toyota U-joints and CV joints right now, but I need to measure the angles they will operate at before I can decide which one I will use when I build the shafts.
I also removed the gas tank...next on the list is to finish welding the suspension brackets in for the rear axle and make up some kind of mounting system for the gas tank.
-
Man, I'm still impressed everytime I look at your progress on this rig. Awesome.
-
Got the rear axle placed; links made up and adjusted. I used the lift to cycle the suspension through its range of motion; nothing unexpected. There is sufficient clearance to everything during full bump and full droop. After I finish the welds, I'll check side to side articulation as well.
-
PICS!
-
Cool, looks like it's about ready for the fall classic!
-Eric
-
Needs bigger tires. :D
-
It has been a long build, but that is the cleanest under side of a raised Zuki I have seen (both from the front and the side). Now for the road tests.
GREAT JOB!!!!
-
Looks Baddass enough to tow your tow rig!
-
It has been a long build, but that is the cleanest under side of a raised Zuki I have seen (both from the front and the side). Now for the road tests.
GREAT JOB!!!!
It's not under its own power just yet...I still have quite a bit of work to do. But getting the suspension under it was a major step in the right direction...
-
thats crazy high it needs to loose like 10in off the hight and cut some guard to fit the rubber in
-
thats crazy high it needs to loose like 10in off the hight and cut some guard to fit the rubber in
it really isn't all that high...might look it in the pics, but I kept it as low as possible. The portal axles hit the frame at full compression, and the upper control arms actually pass beside (not underneath) the oil pan and hit the floorboard. The rear uppers hit the floorboard at full bump as well. It just doesn't get any lower than that.
-
must just be the portals that make it looks so high. great job on it though i wish we could have something like that over here.
-
That is one Badass ride!! Mobile yet??
-
sewerzuk,
Where you been lately? Haven't seen a post on this for quite some time. Free bump ;)
-
sewerzuk,
Where you been lately? Haven't seen a post on this for quite some time. Free bump ;)
I think someone is spending way to much time on a duece and a half... >:D
:)
-Eric
-
sewerzuk,
Where you been lately? Haven't seen a post on this for quite some time. Free bump ;)
I think someone is spending way to much time on a duece and a half... >:D
:)
-Eric
i think your probably gonna have to ask this question on a duce and a half forum :laugh:
-
He made the rest of us look like a bunch of hacks anyway. His work is outstanding! And fun too watch,maybe he lurking occasionally???
And a while back on craigslist (listed in his home town) I saw some of the exact parts he used on the tracker build for sale.....maybe coincidence?? But those wheels I remember well, I almost bought them.
-
He made the rest of us look like a bunch of hacks anyway. His work is outstanding! And fun too watch,maybe he lurking occasionally???
And a while back on craigslist (listed in his home town) I saw some of the exact parts he used on the tracker build for sale.....maybe coincidence?? But those wheels I remember well, I almost bought them.
Not that Your work is considered "HACK WORK".
I enjoyed his work too.
-
He made the rest of us look like a bunch of hacks anyway. His work is outstanding! And fun too watch,maybe he lurking occasionally???
And a while back on craigslist (listed in his home town) I saw some of the exact parts he used on the tracker build for sale.....maybe coincidence?? But those wheels I remember well, I almost bought them.
Not that Your work is considered "HACK WORK".
I enjoyed his work too.
yeh, you can only EAT off of jarad's engine compartment(and it will keep the food nice and warm ;) )
-
gee gorsh guys... :-[.......you will be disappointed to see it finished in person its really not that clean. (good camera)
-
gee gorsh guys... :-[.......you will be disappointed to see it finished in person its really not that clean. (good camera)
but we dont want to see it clean, we want to see it buried to the axles in mud ;)
-
Yeah, and Locjaw gets to pull cable! :laugh: