Project Downward Spiral

[foxwar71]

travis, you can come with me. well do a surprise visit to Bills, look at his jeep for a couple of hours, maybe watch him do some work, drink his beer, then go to joesph's

 

[foxwar71]

oh yeah, this update it worthless without pics!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[5spd_xj]

travis, you can come with me. well do a surprise visit to Bills, look at his jeep for a couple of hours, maybe watch him do some work, drink his beer, then go to joesph's

arty:

 

[RCman]

oh yeah, this update it worthless without pics!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok... here you go.

Brown Dog Mounts in the box (don't have any installed pictures, so you'll have to trust me :laugh3: ):

Panhard mocked up. It is just about 28" long which is as long as I could get it with the spring clearance on the pass side:

Panhard looking from pass to driver's side (yes, I know I need longer bolts):

 

[5spd_xj]

sexay

see you tomorrow! (well, today. whatever)

 

[Justpunchit]

Looking really good Bill :thumbup:It's hard to see in the pictures but at full bump you going to have any clearance issues with your oil pan and your panhard?

 

[insanity]

Sweet build!

 

[Phil]

Do you have any room to extend the panhard towards the driver's side?

 

[RCman]

Looking really good Bill :thumbup:It's hard to see in the pictures but at full bump you going to have any clearance issues with your oil pan and your panhard?

Thanks. I'll try to remember to snap a picture but on full bump the panhard is just about level and I have something like 3/8" clearance.

Sweet build!

Thank you.

Do you have any room to extend the panhard towards the driver's side?

Assuming you mean the unirail side? No. Unfortunately due to the addition stretch if I were to extend the mount any further out I'd be into the coil spring. As it stands the back of the mount is flush with the outside vertical surface of the rail. This will allow me to box in the two tabs and have about 1/4" of clearance all the way around the rod end.
Anyway, I'm headed back down right now to cycle everything. I'll see how much the axle moves side to side. I don't think it'll be any awful lot and it's not like I'll have to worry about bump steer. I'll post back with the results later.

 

[RCman]

... I'll see how much the axle moves side to side. I don't think it'll be any awful lot and it's not like I'll have to worry about bump steer. I'll post back with the results later.

Waiting for a few welds to cool I figured I'd run up quick and post my findings. From full bump to full droop the axle moves a total of 13/16" side to side. Meaning from ride height to one or the other the axle moves 13/32" side to side. I don't think this is a huge amount over the total 12" of travel. Also, once bump stopped and limited correctly the travel will only be ~11" so it'll be even less.
Everything clears, but I do get awfully close to the exhaust with the pinion yoke.

 

[insanity]

The pinion yoke will clearance its self on the exhaust if need be.

 

[RCman]

The pinion yoke will clearance its self on the exhaust if need be.

Haha... I don't think so.

I'm just coming up now... almost 1:30am. Its going to be a long day at work tomorrow. I was just on a roll and lost track of time,
Anyway, I got a bunch of stuff done. The new LCA mounts are complete as well as the lower shock mounts. The front stiffeners are on and fully welded just need a little work with the flap wheel to smooth 'em out like I've done with the others. I also figured out the upper limit strap mounts and got a good start on those. Nothing to complicated, just going to run a crush sleeve in the rail with a plate on each side and run a through bolt.

 

[RCman]

Couple quick pictures of the old progress while I've got the camera connected.

Oil Pan to Panhard to Steering Mount clearance. The rule is butted up against the bottom of the pan. As you can see, not much room for error. This is at full bump.

Stiffener welded to the front unirail. Passenger side looks just the same. It will get smoothed out.

Another new part arrived today.

Aside from that I got some figuring done tonight after snowblowing the drive.
It looks like I'm going to have to move the battery out of the engine bay once I cut that corner out for tire clearance. The plan is to mount it in a sealed box (still looking for a good one) behind the passenger seat. I've got some 2AWG welding cable that should just do the trick for that.

 

[kastein]

Got a crimper for terminals on that welding cable? You can borrow mine if you don't, it's only a harbor fright one but it worked great on the terminals I did for a ground cable a few nights ago. 2/0 die works great on 2AWG.

Also - I would not put the battery in a sealed container, car batteries are wet cell lead acids so you'll have to worry about hydrogen outgassing if you put it in the passenger compartment or sealed container. Either that, or get an AGM or gel cell type battery and do whatever you want for mounting/sealing.

 

[RCman]

Got a crimper for terminals on that welding cable? You can borrow mine if you don't, it's only a harbor fright one but it worked great on the terminals I did for a ground cable a few nights ago. 2/0 die works great on 2AWG.

I hadn't thought about ends yet. I was probably going to solder them on as I don't trust crimps. Otherwise I think I have a crimper large enough, thanks though!

Also - I would not put the battery in a sealed container, car batteries are wet cell lead acids so you'll have to worry about hydrogen outgassing if you put it in the passenger compartment or sealed container. Either that, or get an AGM or gel cell type battery and do whatever you want for mounting/sealing.

The "sealed" containers are vented with a tube to the outside. So I should be fine with whatever battery I chose to run. I've still got to purchase that too.
Something along the lines of these but hopefully cheaper:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-G1231/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TAY-48100/

 

[kastein]

I hadn't thought about ends yet. I was probably going to solder them on as I don't trust crimps. Otherwise I think I have a crimper large enough, thanks though!
The "sealed" containers are vented with a tube to the outside. So I should be fine with whatever battery I chose to run. I've still got to purchase that too.
Something along the lines of these but hopefully cheaper:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-G1231/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TAY-48100/

On the anti-crimp mentality - understandable, I used to think the same way back when all I had was a pliers-type crimper. I've got a lever type crimper for small wires and an 8 ton hydraulic crimper for large stuff now though, and I'd trust crimps made with these with my life. If you think soldering's better though, go for it, I agree soldered connections are great it's just a real pain to get full solder penetration on a stranded wire that large.

Battery housing - ah, you're way ahead of me then

 

[Dundy]

Bill, check out www.delcity.com. They have some quality stuff that you can use to make your terminals.

I looked and they have

-heavy duty copper terminal lugs : part # 907425
-solder slugs for the lugs: part # 900915

Thay have a video to show you how to make a perfect terminal end. Basically you drop the slug into the lug, heat the lug until the slug starts to melt, then while heating insert the battery cable and as soon as the slug is melted you just let it cool.

I plan on buying some for my winch cables so if you want some let me know and we can make one order to save money.

p.s. I am pretty sure that this is my longest post ever.

 

[RCman]

On the anti-crimp mentality - understandable, I used to think the same way back when all I had was a pliers-type crimper. I've got a lever type crimper for small wires and an 8 ton hydraulic crimper for large stuff now though, and I'd trust crimps made with these with my life. If you think soldering's better though, go for it, I agree soldered connections are great it's just a real pain to get full solder penetration on a stranded wire that large.

Battery housing - ah, you're way ahead of me then

Wow, mine's just a lever/pier type, not a hydraulic one.
I need to find a less expensive battery containment option.

Bill, check out www.delcity.com. They have some quality stuff that you can use to make your terminals.

I looked and they have

-heavy duty copper terminal lugs : part # 907425
-solder slugs for the lugs: part # 900915

Thay have a video to show you how to make a perfect terminal end. Basically you drop the slug into the lug, heat the lug until the slug starts to melt, then while heating insert the battery cable and as soon as the slug is melted you just let it cool.

I plan on buying some for my winch cables so if you want some let me know and we can make one order to save money.

p.s. I am pretty sure that this is my longest post ever.

I've ordered some stuff from DelCity before, they are great. It's www.delcity.net

I hadn't seen those solder slugs though. Watching the video it seems like they are stupid simple to use. I'll definitely be picking up a bunch. Along with some Side Terminal Power Connections, Copper Battery Terminals, Loom Clamps, Power Distribution Block or a Mega Fuse Holder with 250A fuse. The last two are unless I can find some better way to connect everything under the hood, I like the buss bars but not the price!), and a few other things. My biggest concern is the winch power feed. The plan is to run one 2AWG for the winch with some sort of connection that will handle up the the 460A Warn's site says the winch has the capability to draw. Then another separate 2AWG cable for everything else with that power block or fuse holder.

Edit: Looking around I found this Blue Sea 600A PowerBar that seems to be going cheap.

 

[insanity]

Instead of the slugs why not just cut a strip of solder melt it into the terminal. When I have to solder thick wire I put the flame to the terminal and use a sweat solder method on the wire part. Then heat shrink the bare parts. I will try the slug next time.

 

[kastein]

Wow, mine's just a lever/pier type, not a hydraulic one.
I need to find a less expensive battery containment option.

I've ordered some stuff from DelCity before, they are great. It's www.delcity.net

I hadn't seen those solder slugs though. Watching the video it seems like they are stupid simple to use. I'll definitely be picking up a bunch. Along with some Side Terminal Power Connections, Copper Battery Terminals, Loom Clamps, Power Distribution Block or a Mega Fuse Holder with 250A fuse. The last two are unless I can find some better way to connect everything under the hood, I like the buss bars but not the price!), and a few other things. My biggest concern is the winch power feed. The plan is to run one 2AWG for the winch with some sort of connection that will handle up the the 460A Warn's site says the winch has the capability to draw. Then another separate 2AWG cable for everything else with that power block or fuse holder.

Edit: Looking around I found this Blue Sea 600A PowerBar that seems to be going cheap.

This post is hazardous to my wallet.

Also, go for some glue-lined heat shrink tubing if you can find it in the right size, the stuff is amazing. You shrink it down over something and the hot melt glue on the inside melts, squeezes into all the crevices in the crimp terminal, and produces a 100% waterproof seal straight from the wire insulation to the crimp terminal housing. I've used crimp terminals with it preinstalled and they are one of the most awesome auto wiring products ever.

As for the crimper - yeah, it's kinda overkill for most stuff. Got it for Christmas (though it's a fairly inexpensive tool compared to most power tools) and have been absolutely itching to find a use for it since then. I love the fact that it actually applies 8 tons of force, that's nearly 3 times stronger than my hydro jack... though it only moves the die 1/2" or so.