GM 5.3/4L60E/Klune/Stak 300

[Capt. Nemo]

I like your style...

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

I got the new seal cap on a lathe and turned it enough to get it to sit tight to the JB rear housing.

Now the seal cap is too thick! I need to thin it down some but will wait until I get the STAK caliper bracket I ordered from BC Broncos for $40 and see how things look.

I also picked up a new seal for the rear output. The High Angle Driveline rear flange is 2.12" in diameter compared to the JB rear yoke which is 1.87" in diameter. The JB seal cap has a 3" hole in it so I decided to match this on my seal cap and use a SKF 21164 seal which I believe is what Stak uses in their 2 and 3 speed cases. I went to Carquest and had to pay damn near $15for one of their seals, but they had it in stock. Carquest part number 472015. It is a double lip seal as well.

Jeff

 

[whitneyj]

And you sir are why I feel guilty ever posting in advfab. . . .

 

[Root Moose]

And you sir are why I feel guilty ever posting in advfab. . . .

LOL

Ain't that the truth.

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

I did some more work on the upper link last night and I have it in, but it isn't pretty! I pretty much gave up on attaching the upper link to a frame mounted crossmember type thing going over the tranny hump and went the path of least resistance which was to weld a link mount to the tranny crossmember. I plan to weld a 2x2 frame to the existing crossmember extending back to a second crossmember just behind the t-case, so that should strengthen it considerably to resist the twisting force of the upper link mount. As for the link mount on the crossmember, I cut a piece of 3x6x3/16 box tube into a tower and will weld it to the 2x4 crossmember.

The first step was to create the mounts on either end and cut the tube to length.

The next step was to increase the size of the hole in the floor:

During trial fitting I had to cut and bend the floor to extend straight up from the uniframe edges to create the clearance I needed. I then slipped the upper link and mount into position and took some pictures:

Upper link bracket tack welded to axle truss piece at full compression:

Side shot at full compression:

Trying to sight down the arms towards the crossmember:

Crossmember end of upper link mount from the front.

Crossmember end of upper link mount from the rear:

Crossmember end of upper link from below:

Jeff

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

Axle end links from behind:

I've got about 7 3/4" separation at the axle and 5.5" at the crossmember. The links are around 40" long. The geometry looks pretty good to me and I think everything will clear when cycling the suspension (going to work on that tomorrow.) However, the upper link now protrudes into the drivers foot well pretty substantially at full stuff! In order to rebuild the floor to go over the link, I'll need to make a raised section 4.5" high at the front of the foot well and 5" at the rear by the seat. This whole section will need to be somewhere around 5" wide at the top too.

The throttle foot is going to have to sit on this hump, there's just no way around it! I've sat in this rig and a couple others trying to determine what it's going to be like and can't realy determine. On the good news front, I need to install a drive by wire throttle pedal assembly in this rig anyway, so I can place it whereever will work well.

Here's a stock MJ floor just for reference:

Jeff

 

[MoparManiac]

:worship:

 

[beakie]

I was wondering what your thought son the pedal setup were going to be that whole post... seems like you have some thoughts on it.

after all this work (fantastic work at that) either mounting each pedal over 2" or adjusting the pedal links with a bend in them to shift the actual pedal over a bit shouldn't be too difficult.

by the way, this is awe inspiring, and makes my piddly projects seem like childs play... how bout making an exact copy once your done?

 

[WI88XJ]

... how bout making an exact copy once your done?

Hey Beakie, just do what I do...wait 'til Jeff gets bored with it and just buy it from him! :laugh3:

I got his '98 a couple of years ago and I'm still having a blast with it. Toughest built rig I ever owned. Better than anything I've put together in my lifetime.

:cheers:

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

Well, I finally got the Stak 4x4 caliper mount. It is different than I thought, but I'll probably use it. However, that seal cap I spent time machining is NOT going to work. I'll have to make a new one. The caliper mount needs to bolt to an outer portion of a seal cap. So, the seal cap needs to have a much larger diameter.

The center "hole" for the caliper mount is 4 5/8".

The mounting ears for the caliper are 6" apart.

I had thought about purchasing the Stak 4x4 seal cap that is designed for the caliper mount to bolt to, but I don't think it will interface with the JB Conversions tail housing well. I've been told the Stak seal cap uses 3/8" bolts and an "0" ring where the JB seal cap uses 5/16" bolts and a raised lip with silicone. Perhaps the Stak part has the same bolt circle diameter as the JB part, but I doubt it. I think I'm just going to try to make my own seal cap in a larger diameter. Jeff

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

Since I had to pound the floor for a little clearance around the Stak case, I decided to raise the seat a bit to clear the floor. I had planned to build cross pieces into the cage to mount the seat, but instead I wimped out and simply welded 3/4 pieces of steel strap to the stock seat brackets. I'm fairly short, so this isn't going to put my head into the ceiling. I'm figuring the raised seat will also help the new accellerator pedal position feel a touch better. We'll see.

I also did a little finish work on the frame end upper link mount. I added a little rounded top to it and crafted a notch to help with clearance between it and the driveshafts CV joint.

Jeff

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

I designed the suspension by what would fit mainly, but I took a full set of measurements recently and punched it into the 3link calculator from Pirate.

I really don't know exactly what all the numbers mean, but I compared them to vetteboy's XJ numbers and after I ran the calculator a second time using his numbers I think mine are very close to his. He is happy with his setup, so hopefully I'll be happy with mine. You guys see any problems with these numbers?

I dialled in a track bar and mount on either end last night. The bar just clears the oil pan and differential top at full compression. I'm thinking I'll do a bump stop right on top of the axle end track bar mount. I would like to use one of those fancy hydraulic bump things, but may put in something a little harsher and cheaper to start. I'll mount the stop to the side of the frame rail.

The pitman arm just clears the track bar mount.

The steering arm clears the axle end of the track bar mount at full turn.

However, now the steering is going to be a problem! I set the caster to somewhere around 6 degrees at ride height, but at full stuff it is tipped back a bit more and now the drag link will NOT fit on top of the hight steer arm with the high misalignment spacers. It hits the front corner of the oil pan when straight ahead. If I try to put it below the high steer arm, the drag link hits the top of the diff! It really wants to sit directly in line with the steering arm! I'm investigating my options but am considering cutting the end of the arm off and welding on steel top and bottom to make a double shear mount with the joint set directly in line with the main arm steel. Thoughts? Jeff

 

[XJ_ranger]

Thoughts? Jeff

Where do your coils or coilovers or airshocks mount? not ANY room between the knuckle and the trackbar bracket on the axle...

Ballistic Fab makes a d60 high steer arm like you're talking about...
http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Double-Shear-D60-High-steer-arms_p_1551.html

Randy Slausen made some high steer arms like you're talking about -
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8567193&postcount=13

full hydro?

move the steering box forward?

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

I've done a little more thinking and came up with what I think is going to be a slick setup for the passengers side knuckle. I've been concerned about the stock Ford King Pin steering knuckle strength and had figured that at some point I would plate them. Well, a company has now came out with a kit of pre-cut pieces to weld on. It is kind of expensive, but I'm tired of cutting and grinding my own shit and hope this kit will fit and work well. Here is a link to the Pirate thread about their kit: http://www2.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=774943 $150 shipped for enough pre cut pieces to plate both knuckles. Then, after they are plated, I am going to weld on a custom 1" spacer on the passengers side. It will be clamped in place by the normal four studs and then welded all the way around the upper part of the knuckle tying it into the plating. This spacer will also have the extra two holes drilled and tapped for two additional studs! Placing the rod end UNDER the raised arm places it in a pretty good spot for clearance and matching the track bar. I hope to also tie the bottom of the rod end to the stock steering knuckle with some plating.

Here's a mock up of the tie rod at full stuff. The track bar is in as well, so you can see how parrallel they are. I cut my nice double shear Astro Van pitman arm apart as well and installed a spacer in it. I'll finalize that once I get all steering links in and tested.

Here's the axle sitting 3" below normal ride height.

Here's the mocked up steering at ride height from the front:

And from the end. Notice how the steering arms are forward of the end of the pitman arm.

Finally, here is a shot of where the coilover is going to have to mount.

I think I'm going to have to mount it taller than I had wanted to clear the track bar bolt and the raised high steer arm, but I think I can make it fit.

Oh, for the drivers side knuckle, I may try to fit one of these from Great Lake Off Road over the plating:

Here's a link to a pirate thread about this product:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=748768&highlight=knuckle+gusset&page=6

Jeff

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

Back to the transfer case parking brake project, I have the final adapter ring ready. I had to pick up a larger piece of aluminum, find a new place to get it on a lathe (because the powers that be don't want me in the H.S. shop anymore) and get it done.

I bought a neat tool from Enco to counter bore the 5/16" mounting holes and sink the socket head cap screws!

Here's a shot from the back showing the releif for the ridge on the JB housing:

I wanted the caliper to be situated on the bottom of the t-case, so I marked the stock seal cap while the t-case was sitting in the rig and then aligned it on the new seal cap using an old seal and drilled the mounting holes using the old seal cap as a guide.

I aligned the caliper mount on the new seal housing and drilled through it's holes as well. I had to cut the flat on the new seal cap to clear the caliper.

Here's the whole thing together:

Here is the setup with the rotor, caliper, caliper mount, seal cap flipped off the JB housing so one can see the bottom:

Jeff

 

[ehall]

you have got some real skill bud

 

[Sponge Bob]

how are you going to mount the cable housing to keep it in place?

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

I think I can build a bracket that bolts to the stak t-case over by the back of the front output. Jeff

 

[asp]

how are you going to mount the cable housing to keep it in place?

all this awesome, very clean fab and you're worried about how to mount the cable to the housing?

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

Today's update is a bunch of pictures of beefing up a set of Ford Dana 60 steering knuckles. I'll be honest in that there was quite a bit of work in getting these things plated. It would have been much easier to just purchase a set of Ried knuckles. Anyway, I started with a TMR kit.

I pre bent most of the pieces by hand on my little press.

I then tacked them into position, used a big rosebud tip on an oxcy acetylene torch and beat them into a tight fit using a ball peen hammer and tacked them into final positions with my little 120V welder.

I found I needed to trim a few of the pieces for the brake caliper to fit better without a lot of grinding.

Here's the brake caliper with a little grinding held in place.

I then took both knuckles to a place with a big mig that runs flux core and gas shielding and heated the knuckle with the rosebug again before welding the parts solidly. Directly after welding I put them in sand filled buckets to insulate them and keep them from cooling quickly.

Jeff