I finally dove into my rear axle. its been sitting there for 3 weeks starring at me, so ive had enough. Going to get it fully rebuilt, with everything except the gears. then it will be one of the last parts to go in the truck, that ill do over a weekend mid april-may.

Old guts out, gears are coming out and the carrier is getting the lock right before it goes back in place.


the housing is being stripped (at the cost of coating my shop in dust) and painted before it goes back in. new brakes, most likely new hardware and new e-brake cables.


Im going to spend tomorrow finishing the job, I hope to have a coat of paint on it next week.

 

Just a tip, don't use the ebrake cables from autozone. I have broken 3 of them. They are ****.

 

id go ford, since im now selling cars for them. gonna finish it up today i hope.

 

Spent a good 4 hours on this thing, and im sure glad i did!

 

nate at this point what was on your truck to add hight?

 

3`spindles, 2`blocks and 2`shackles and 33x10.50x15 tires

 

After playing around with rear shock designs, I feel good about the latest decision. With no knowlege of deavers, how the sit or the lengths im looking at when i run the spring, i was at a loss to find travel numbers and shock lengths. everybody said go for a 16" smooth body through the bed to a bed cage. While this sounds great and all, i enjoy a sealed bed, am ordering flat top bedsides for the reason of keeping my tonneau cover, and keeping it dry when i have things that dont fit in the cab. A few weeks ago i was playing with the idea of going for a link setup, and what you'd call a mini link with nothing more then small shock hoops.

So how do I keep the bed space, keep it sealed, strong, and run a shock that can keep up with a F31 leaf capable of 16" travel? the same way i was going to link the truck!

The main bar would run from each bedside through and into the bed. the mounts would be just like the picture below, BUT everything will be between the bed and bedside. The shock will then run down and mount to the leaf spring plate. limit straps will be in place near the shocks also.



it kind of came to me like a slap in the face. no idea why i didnt think of it earlier, but when done right means i keep my bed-tent, all bed space, a water tight area and best of all, get the shocks i want. Fell free to let me know what you think of this.

My optima battery will also be going to the right side of my bed mounted off this cage againts the bed wall. Plates that bolt to the frame will be the outer supports so it may be removed in one piece to access the tank or anything under neath. It SHOULD also act as a frame reinforcement.

 

like this one but with a crossbarr through the bed?

Lets see bedcages that retain most of bed, haul mx bikes... - Page 2

 

YES. Been looking for this thread, thanks.

 

yep pretty much! But no cutting of the bed other then a couple holes, and the cross bar all the way at the front of the bed.

 

How far forward will it be? from wheel well to back of cab? thats like what 14-16 inches.

whenever im searching for a thread on DR i use google.

just type in "site:dezertrangers.com" followed by the topic you want to look for and it gives you better results than using the on site search

 

the tubes will be up against the front of the box. ill build sock brackets off that. once i have the deavers here ill cycle it and take measurements.

 

Axle is just about ready to be coated, just need to order the spring perches. Shafts are cleaned up, and i started on cleaning and painting the brakes.

 

Im sure lots will be happy that i buzzed the outer bumper brackets off finally.

 

This is a picture of my old truck. This setup netted 20" of travel using the Giant 64 kit and 16" shocks.

 

With the warm weather, I cleaned up the mess winter had made.






and proceeded to get my ATC into a tight spot..

 

did you run into any issues moving the hangers forward on the 64 swap? heard you run into a body mount on the ext cabs.

 

nope no issues with it. i think that issue is with reg cabs. You just make the front holes line up with the read. you'll need 12 bolts to keep everything together. also you need to make a e-brake bracket.

 

still no ebrake on my truck so nbd there. just wanted to make sure if i tore into this this weekend i would run into problems.

 

thanks nate!

 

haha no worries man, you should have no problem. loosen the gas tank strap to help get the bolts in, be careful when drilling new holes that you dont put a hole in the tank.

 

yesss 64 swap!!! lol

 

not alot to update. I settled on a gear swap kit, and im freezing my butt off waiting for spring and parts... BAH!



ive added my atc to the list of to do projects. needs a top end refresh.

 

It looks cold! I am enjoying low 80's (F) here in in Tucson this week.

 

whats that white stuff? lol Hit 90 degrees F yesterday

Hows the light bar holding up? The glass in one of my lights broke(HFT lights) and im thinking of going with ~20" LED double row