Ascinder's 1-Ton VX... Cont'd

[ZEUS]

Psst... what's going on... ?

[Ascinder]

Well, I've been working on the front axle mostly. I already had well placed concerns after reading about the Ford Kingpin knuckles being weaker than their Chevy or Dodge counterparts an cracking or failing. I had been planning on either welding on reinforcements(they have a nice kit for that now) or getting some stronger aftermarket knuckles. Well, after seeing this:



I decided I was sold on fixing the problem before it got started. I probably am not running big enough tires to damage a stock knuckle, but in the spirit of the build I went with the maximum overkill option

Behold, the Kingpin Dana 60 SOLID Knuckle:



I also got forged dana 70 style inner C's to hang the knuckles on:



Then come the keyed highsteer arms with ARP studs:



I am also thinking about some of these heavier duty kingpin bushings vs. the stock nylon bushings:


And, since I was a good little boy this year, I had a special visit from hotrod santa



who brought me a set of aluminum AN wrenches and this:



and this(except blue):



I have also been successful cutting off only one bracket so far, but I have all weekend to work on it too. Hopefully the tax return will be good this year, and/or some lucky soul finally buys my engine so I can at least complete the steering($$$) and start working up the suspension(also $$$, but more so). For the front axle I am also considering drive slugs, but I do like the idea of being able to disconnect the hubs since it cuts out the parasitic drag of the axles themselves along with the ring/pinion and front driveshaft. With slugs, they are much stronger, but you are always lugging around the front drivetrain. I am also on the fence between some CTM axles or the RCV 60 CV axles. I just really don't like the idea of going back to a CV boot no matter how well it's designed.

[ZEUS]

The Chevy 60 axle shafts neck down and are weaker than the Ford 60 apparently... my Chevy 60 is still in need of a kingpin rebuild... I trailered AWOL to the shop in Wyoming at Christmas time actually! Excited to get that thing back running!

Those parts are some BEEF yet again! Did you finger out which ram setup you are going to use? I think you should hold off on the slugs cuz they are so easy to add later if you so desire. Same goes for the axle shafts. I know you want to do everything in a manner that leaves you unable to say "I wish I would have done it this way". But... you are going to have serious bug squashing to do during the build and after when you hit pavement and after that when you hit dirt/rocks. I think perhaps some prioritizing is in order? Any time I find myself mentioning budget concerns I refocus on what I can do to further the project and break things in to phases accordingly. Simple things you know you can do later without compromising the final goal should be taken into account. Just my pesos.

P.S. - Remember you, Bart, and I talked about me moving to Reno and all of us renting a building to act as our shop where we could split costs of tools? Well... you have the TIG/plasma... in about 2 weeks my tube bender (with 1 3/4" 6" radius die) will be here... I am still deciding which notcher I want to order tho. Until I move and we get that shop... maybe we should plan on a couple of road trips this year to do some bending and welding in both our locales!

[nfpgasmask]

P.S. - Remember you, Bart, and I talked about me moving to Reno and all of us renting a building to act as our shop where we could split costs of tools? Well... you have the TIG/plasma... in about 2 weeks my tube bender (with 1 3/4" 6" radius die) will be here... I am still deciding which notcher I want to order tho. Until I move and we get that shop... maybe we should plan on a couple of road trips this year to do some bending and welding in both our locales!

If you move to Reno I am 100% down with this idea!!!! You know you want to!! We have real beer here.

Bart

[Triathlete]

[Ascinder]

Justin, I totally see where you are coming from with the "get it done, then mess with it" line of thought, but remember, I like to pre plan out way ahead, so all my research is pretty much done and I just go do it when the time comes. I remember reading about the neck down shafts before too. Are you going to just try and find some from another D60 or wait until you actually need them? As for your meeting up idea, I'm all for it. What kind of bender are you looking at getting? The one I was building uses pro tools 105 dies. I haven't had the opportunity to use my tube notcher yet I think it's made by protools too, but if you need one in the meantime, I can mail it over to you. Also, do you remember what that site was that you told me about with the LS motor mounts that were adjustable?

[nfpgasmask]

A friend of mine that I used to work with here has the bend tech bending system in his garage. He told me he will help me finish the Trooper bumper. I really need to get with him soon and make it happen. I'll talk to him about the bend tech stuff and see what kinda money he has into it. I would love to have that setup at my disposal.

Bart