A peak at what a certain traitor has been up to

[DutchVDub]

Well, there is a somewhat large hole in my floor now. It wasn't initially as big but I decided to reclock my D300 up higher a few degrees and figured I'd rather lose a bit of floor now than my T-case later. Once I build my cage the seats will be mounted to it so the floor really won't be need for strucural purposes anyways. You can also see I had to remove some of the stock shift tower to clear the crawlbox with how high I clocked it.

So much more room, now it doesn't hang down past the frame rails.

And the start of my traction bar crossmember

Looks a bit weird w/o a windshield or top. Definately need to get started on some cagework.

 

[DutchVDub]

continued crossmember work

And got some bling in from Rusty's

 

[DutchVDub]

Finished up the traction bar.

Crossmember all finished

I decided that for the main tube that 1.5" OD .25" wall DOM might not be strong enough, after all with the way it setup it is the tube taking all of the torque from the axle, also its very likely it'll be dragged against the rocks. Therefore to make it a weebit more ddurable I sleeved almost the entire length of it with 1.75" OD .120" wall DOM.

And all welded up, nothing fancy but it should get the job done.

Installed

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Nice work on the traction bar Dutch. :thumbup:

 

[eflores]

sexy welds rich

 

[xj-grin]

looking good rich, diggin that crossmember.

 

[DutchVDub]

Thanks guys, I'm just happy to be able to check one more thing off of the list.

Originally I was going to place the crossmember farther towards the front of the vehicle with the heim for the shackle coming off of the rear of the crossmember (instead of towards the front like now). However when I realized I could place it where it is and not have to worry about bends, angles, or any other such "complex" ideas I went with the design I have now. The only thing I'm worrried about is if the traction bar and shackle will hit the crossmember at full droop or not, also its going to be a bit more difficult to make a rear support for the D300 if I choose too. There is a lot of argument as to wether those are needed or not and I'm not 100% decided on if I am going to build one.

 

[YELLAHEEP]

There is a lot of argument as to wether those are needed or not and I'm not 100% decided on if I am going to build one.

Well...... heh heh........ if you find yourself on a gnarly obstacle and your D300 has decided to divorce the Jeep...... you'll know the answer to that arguement I suppose....... :laugh:


Not trying to be critical here, just asking..... But what made you decide to make the traction bar with the long bar as the bottom? Why not have the long bar the top, and the short triangulated support coming down from it to the lower mount position on the axle bracket? This would eliminate that contact at droop you're worried about. In other words....... like this:

If you decided to move the crossmember forward, it looks like you should be able to simply rotate the crossmember, putting the shackle behind it, and then just make mounts from the frame to hold it right? It would put it closer to the D300........

 

[DutchVDub]

The reason I went with the longer bar on bottom and the connecting link on top is because in mind the twisting force of the axle is coming forward on the bottom and pulling back on the top. I wanted that pushing force from the bottom axle mount to be transfered straight into the bar. I feel if I had the shorter link on the bottom then that force would basically be transferred into the longer bar by the shorter lower link and make it more prone to failure as it would want to bend the longer bar. Did I explain that well enough?

If I moved the crossmember farther forward then I would have to redesign it to bend up towards the fram like my belly pan. The reason i was able to go straight across like I did is because my frame mounts are mostly on the sides of the leafspring mounts that hang below the frame rails. Thats the reason I did put it where I did, I realised I could mount it straight across from leafspring mount to leafspring mount and have it at the desired vertical level without needing to put a 45* bend on each end. I also felt this would help the bushing on each end of the crossmember survive longer because the force would be inline with them and not have additional leverage against them.

 

[DutchVDub]

Here is my paintcad drawing of it. The green lines are the traction bar, the black circle is the axle, the black rectangle is the shackle for the traction bar, and the red arrrows represent the forces as I perceive them.

As I see it the forces are transfered more naturaly and linearly with the way I did it, but I could also be over thinking it.

 

[eflores]

Being a hot rodder in a previous life and hAving used a slapper bar once or twice I agree

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Yeah, I dig where you got your idea/decision from..... To me, all the linear forces should be for the most part the same though. I get that you figured having the short tube below/long tube above could cause the rotational force to want to push the short tube up into the long tube and potentially bending it where they're joined.... but it's been double sleeved..... I'd think the shackle mount on the crossmember would tear away before that bent...... after all, you did brace it with that triangle of steel filler between the tubes........ :dunno:

But we're not talking about massive horsepower either. Just trying to control axle wrap.

I was just coming from the direction of clearance for the area you mentioned your concern about them hitting. Straight bar on top would eliminate that issue...... and I don't think strength would have been all that compromised.

But what the hell do I know anyway....... I haven't 'wheeled much less fabbed anything in a friggin year....... :looney: I'm just talkin' outta my --> :moon:

Regardless, it's a pretty cool set up brutha. :thumbup:

 

[DutchVDub]

Thanks

 

[DutchVDub]

Started on my cage yesterday, and pretty much got the front half all done and tacked together.

I decided to utilize the stock b-pillar hoop after I drilled a hole into it and saw it was damn close to being .120 wall, I also wanted to keep the same basic dimensions for head room. So first came the A-pillar spreaders.

 

[DutchVDub]

Then came the top of the "windshield area, I also finally got to use all those gussets I bought from Ballistic Fab a few months ago. My only complaint with them, the damn bottle opener ones dont actually open a beer bottle. XXXXing bullshit.

Followed by the "roof"

I'm not going to lie, the tubes aren't 100% even and angled correctly. Still, considering it my first cage I think I did a pretty good job. The pipemaster I bought is probably one of the best tools I've ever purchased, it made doing those angles notches so easy and really help keep the gaps down at all the joints. The front a-pillars are just sitting on the floor for now, I'm going to cut holes into the floor and extend them down to the frame rails using inner sleeves. I'll be replacing the rear spreaders too and putting them through the floor and to the frame aswell. I'm also going to make "floor" bars to attach the seats to and add in a harness bar behind the seats. The front went by fairly quickly and it was the more complex part of the cage, I'm hoping (pending weather) that I'll be able to get it all mostly finished up in 1 or 2 more weekends.

 

[xj-grin]

nice "decorative" gussets!

 

[Kiefer316]

Lookin good rich! Should turn out great! In the pics it doesn't look too bad... as you said its your first cage... Wanna make one for me next?

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Other than the pretty snowflake gussets......... I like it. :thumbup:

 

[DutchVDub]

Lookin good rich! Should turn out great! In the pics it doesn't look too bad... as you said its your first cage... Wanna make one for me next?

If you had a wrangler I'd be all about it, everything had been going pretty smoothly on this one and its actually quite fun. I'm actually amazed at how well its going to as I'm pretty much just making it up as I go along.

I don't want to do an XJ just yet though, that calls for too much precision for my tastes. Maybe after I've done a few more.

 

[Kiefer316]

If you had a wrangler I'd be all about it, everything had been going pretty smoothly on this one and its actually quite fun. I'm actually amazed at how well its going to as I'm pretty much just making it up as I go along.

I don't want to do an XJ just yet though, that calls for too much precision for my tastes. Maybe after I've done a few more.

Sounds good! Keep it up though man. Are you going to be adding any more tube?