Red Rocket

[bmikes]

Thought I got this picture above when I mentioned the frame rails.. oops

 

[XJROMEO]

Wooo weeee looks mighty clean buddy!

 

[bmikes]

Holy chit! Who's this stanger!?! Thanks pal

 

[Bronzewyrm]

Holy chit! Who's this stanger!?! Thanks pal

not sure Cough Cough Sellout Cough

 

[bmikes]

Haha ^

So... need some help guys. Like you seen I Clocked my tcase. And I put it all back together today and I have very limited up travel on the drivers side before my front driveline contacts the upper link. I get about 10.5" of up travel before I touch. And I still have a good 8" to go probably.

Now, the upper link in the picture is the one I made, so I switched it to the Clayton link that is .5" smaller, so I'll have .25" more clearance. Also, I was planning on getting a new driveline made once I Clocked the tcase. I called six states and they said they could make one out of 1.5" tubing, which would shave .25" off the current setup. So between those two things I'll gain a half of inch of clearance but I don't think that'll be enough to let my suspension articulate fully.

Besides getting a new tcase adapter and re drilling for not so much of an angle, do you guys have any other suggestions?

That's the clearance at ride height

That's when the drivers tire is up about 10.5"

Probably a quarter to an eighth clearance.

On another note, I adjusted my shift linkage and it works great, even at tgr new angle.
All the way forward (2wd I think)

All the way back (4lo I believe)

 

[Demonoid369]

It's too early to think but is your suspension 4 or 3 link? Might want to try doing a 3 link with the upper being on the passenger side, you can route a exhaust system around and be plenty cleared but its kinda hard to do that with a drive shaft and uca lol

 

[Bronzewyrm]

the only way I see it working w/o messing with a bunch of stuff is to loose some of the clock. OR move the axle side upper mount Up to give it more clearance on the DS itself. hasta I know, I know. Geometry can be fun!

if you look at this pic, it seems like the front output shaft on the t-case is actually has a higher mounting point that the upper link it self(body side) id bet if you ran them at least parallel to each other, the problem would go away.

Bronze.

 

[bmikes]

I can't go any higher with the mount on the axle cause I already hit on the body at full stuff :/ unless I bump stop like wayyyyy down on my travel

 

[Bronzewyrm]

Maby you could cut this bracket free of the truss and re-weld it further to the outside. if you leave the DS in you might be able to run the upper link parallel to it. if the 3rd link and front D/S are parallel there will be no way for them to make contact as the suspension cycles

 

[bmikes]

You sir are a smart feller, anyone ever tell you that? I'm gonna go take a look into that

 

[blondejoncherokee]

also, whats wrong with putting the upper on the pass side?many of us do that ... if you use a d30 then make sure you build a really beefy mount and truss it and gusset it.

 

[Kittrell]

also, whats wrong with putting the upper on the pass side?many of us do that ... if you use a d30 then make sure you build a really beefy mount and truss it and gusset it.

He could but that Clayton crossmember is welded in. It would take a lot of effort to rework a new UCA mount to the other side. Bronzewyrm's suggestion would be far simpler.

 

[Jbh97009]

Yeah I'd cut the exposed cast part of the factory uca mount off flush with the truss, and move your upper link over to the driver side an inch or two and call it a day!

 

[SPECFab]

The cast coming through is an important part of the clayton design if you remove it then the bridge has to be braced some other way

 

[NW-ZJ-SCOTT]

I think if he cut the cast just above the weld, and put the bracket front and center of the hole it would line up perfect with just enough clearance for the Johnny joint, plus it would hide the odd hole..

 

[Jbh97009]

No it doesn't. If you read Clayton's instructions they tell you to cut it off. Its still 'keyed' in the hole in the truss, but there is zero reason to leave it sticking up.

Your not cutting it all off, just what is exposed above the truss. I literally just talked to someone at clayton about this last week

 

[bmikes]

I agree with the majority, i cut the cast part of the axle off flush with the truss, and moved my link mount over. I also decided to raise the link mount up a little compared to how high it was originally. I used 3/8"x1" flat bar to just raise the mount. I cut it flat and welded it all together using a bolt and nut as a spreader to made sure it didn't warp in. It's not completely parallel to the driveline but it's definitely clear now. Even past where I intend to bumpstop.

Cut it flush

3/8" plate

Full compression on driver side, about 3/4 full droop on passenger side.

Side view

I didn't get any pictures of the mount itself but each seam/joint is welded inside and out, and the corners of the 3/8" plate are triple pass welded on the outside. Then the mount is triple pass welded to the truss.

 

[bmikes]

So up next like I mentioned before was that dang exhaust. I bought a slim catalytic converter from Flowmaster with a built on heat shield, and some odd and end adapters stuff from autozone. the closest point of the Glass pack is about 3/4 of an inch to the factory heat shield, but the majority is about an inch and a quarter away. The cat is pretty uniformly about an inch away from the body. I might add some addition heat shield later on if need be. I also intend on putting a turn down after the glasspack. The cat hangs down about 3/4" below the frame rail, but everything else Is tucked up above the bottom of the frame rail! I'm a happy camper!
Here's a before picture

And now

New cat

Shot of the Glass pack

Where it comes over my cross member

I didn't snap any pictures of it, but I was able to cut the stock hanger off the old tubing and reuse it, so my exhaust utilizes the hanger by the transmission mount, and then that strap in the back is temporary til I get the turn down on and then I'll figure something out
Yee yee!!

Next up for this week is a transfer case skid. Got some ideas cooking up in my head for that

I'm gonna drop off my front driveline at six states tomorrow morning, and when I get it back does anyone want to show me how to dial in my pinion angle? It'd be much appreciated!

 

[Jbh97009]

Looks great Brandon! You do nice work!

 

[Bronzewyrm]

I started a trend, The 5.2 exhaust mod. How's it sound/run?

Bronze.