nice man! cant wait to see it rolling around!

 

Suppose I should probably clarify... just the 9" rolling around this weekend. the 44 will be built after the 9" is done. Then it's moving on to getting the bender operational which is more money going out the window.

 

Major setback today. Some of the parts are the incorrect size for the 9". We are thinking the ARB Locker kit is wrong as everything else appears to fit correctly.

But I've got to give Bronco Graveyard a call tomorrow and see if I can't get some of this figured out.

 

tube bender will be awesome though man. let me know if you ever need help with that stuff, cause i'd like to maybe make some **** some day too. and it'd be nice to get to know how to use it well.

hopefully you get yer 9" stuff worked out

 

Ok. Bit of an update. I think I have everything sorted out, however, I think it's going to cost me some money to fix. First lack of experience mistake in the process.

So basically it appears that in order to run 35 Spline axles in a 9", you need a 3rd member that houses 3.25" OD carrier bearings, and from what I can tell Ford never made a 3.25" OD Carrier Bearing case in a stock vehicle (still not 100% sure about that). Which means more then likely I have to buy a custom nodular case to run the setup I have.

I'm still going to get a hold of Bronco Graveyard tomorrow as it says the 35 Spline ARB works with a 78-86 Bronco on their website. So we'll see what can be done. Anyone with knowledge about 9" feel free to chime in.

 

Ok. So should be the last just text update for awhile since I think I finally got everything figured out.

After much searching, it appears that you obviously can't fit a 3.25" bearing into a 3.089" hole.

So the parts that are now being shipped here:

• Strange 3rd Member Case bored for 3.25" bearings
• Carrier Bearings for ARB 35 Spline Locker
• Spanner Tool for Strange and Large Bore Cases
• 7 Degree Radius Arm Bushings (not anything to do with the 9" but I picked them up)

So hopefully.... after all that arrives, I can get the damn 9" rolling around. After that, the 44, then bender gets made operational. Not going to be doing anything the next 2 weeks, but the weekend of the 18th should be a work filled weekend.

My goals currently for that weekend:

• 9" Completely assembled with Disc Brake Kit as well
• Gear Installation on the Detroit for the 44
• Radius Arms sandblasted and ready to be extended
• Create a Rolling Work Table
• Create Rolling Bender Stand

And as you can tell... I'm in the mood for bulleted lists today. Haha...

 

Quick question...

Why did you decide to go with a Detroit in the front and an ARB in the Rear.

Seems backwards.

 

A couple reasons.

My thinking on it was with the hubs in the front and in 2wd, you wouldn't be tied to the wheels with those unlocked and the diff not spinning meaning you shouldn't feel the locker at all. And the rear is going to be going all the time no matter what. Not sure if that train of thought is correct or not. I think I saw a couple rigs setup like that so I figured it wasn't completely out there. But I could be completely off base... let me know if you think I am.

2nd reason was I didn't really know how long I was going to stick with the 44. I wanted a locker, but I didn't want to go ARB since its another $300 bones, and I didn't want to just weld it, mainly because I don't trust my welding skills enough. I suppose I could have just gone with a lunchbox... but I think I needed a new carrier anyway with the 5.13 gears. Been awhile since I looked through all that information.

 

Looks like alot of work ahead of you Matt.

What disc brake kit did you go with on the 9" any links?

 

Usualy you will see selectibles in the front becuase it makes it easier to steer in 4wd. Especialy with the tires aired down on the rocks it becomes a bear to steer my ARB when its locked but it steers with one finger unlocked.

I know lots of guys who run detroits front and rear without issues tho so im sure you will be fine. That is just backwards of the way I would do it.

I was just curious what pointed you in that direction.

 

Even with your ram assist its difficult to steer?

 

BCBroncos.com. Couple guys over on Full-size Bronco recommended them.

They have a kit for right around $550 with everything, brackets, calipers, brake lines, rotors, and e-brake. And it's completely bolt on.

One of the better deals I've seen for a kit and their replacement rotors are the cheapest I've seen (BroncoGraveyard wanted like $90 a rotor that was custom drilled where as BC is only $40 per rotor).

 

Now that i did the West texas offroad mod to my pump it is ALOT better but it still noticibly tougher.

When I had the stock ford pump (and stock gm for that matter) i could hardly turn the wheels with the front locked.

I love my ARB and would recommend it to anyone.

 

Well its definitely something I'll probably have to look into once I get everything setup. I mean I haven't even begun to think about steering so we'll see how it goes once I get the axles in place.

Like I've said before I'm learning a lot of this stuff as I go (picking up what I can over the net before hand obviously), but IMO a lot of stuff like this you just have to dig into to really understand it. We'll see how it handles once I get everything setup.

 

So... none of that got done. Haha... but it wasn't a bad weekend so much. So I couldn't get a hold of the guy that is helping with the differential on Friday or Saturday so I ended up just sitting around playing GTA4 all weekend. That is until today. So my dad gives me a call around 10am this morning saying that he finally got a hold of the guy and found out why he wasn't available. His son decided to show up Friday night and surprise him with a cement floor for the barn that I'm building my truck in (his son does cement work for a living). Needless to say they were working on that all weekend. But that's a good thing because it means I don't have to work in the dirt when I'm taking my truck apart. I call that a huge bonus that I'm more then willing to wait a week for.

So that list is getting rolled back a weekend. Already have the everything setup for next weekend. I did get a chance to verify that everything I had to order last week will fit in the new setup. Only thing I didn't check was the Pinion Support, but the people over at Strange Engineering already guaranteed me that their case would work with a standard Pinion Support (and I wouldn't have to spend another $80 bones on a Daytona Support).

So, yet another setback in the process, but I'm more then happy to have this one happen since it will be way better working on a solid smooth cement floor over a unlevel dirt barn floor. If anyone really cares, I'll have pictures of the new floor next weekend as well pics of the stuff I get done.

 

sure we care. several of us have been watching the thread.

having cement will be nice!

 

I'm beginning to wish I had just stayed interested in computers instead of trucks.

So we ran into another problem today. We started out assembly the diff with the newly purchased Bearings and 3rd Member Housing this morning and things were going great. Got the carrier bearings pressed on, got the Pinion bearings pressed on as well as the Pinion Support in place, then got the Ring onto the Carrier, then went to put everything together.

So apparently the ARB carrier is way fatter then most carriers as we are hitting the case in a spot we shouldn't. I'd said there would be pictures so here you go.

I was thinking about grinding the **** down to make it fit as I'm pretty sure I could, but it's a brand new case, so I'm going to talk to the guys over at Strangeengineering Monday and see what they have to say.

Needless to say, I'm getting a little pissed off at this whole differential thing. Seems like this 35 Spline ARB need a custom everything, and BroncoGraveyard didn't really say any of that on their website. If I had known it was the damn difficult I would have just gone with a 35 Spline Detroit in the 9" as well.

Here's the pictures. I'll hopefully have more updates later this week as I should be able to get thing completely assembled at my place now since anything that needed to use the press is completed (Carrier and Pinion Bearings).

As you can see, the carrier doesn't want to sit down into the housing.



The problem. It's hitting the piece that holds the Pilot Bearing for the Pinion.



Random shot of the Pinion completely assembled.

 

Nice build, and hopefully you'll get past these little bumps in the road.

 

Finally a bit of good news. Talked to the guys over at StrangeEngineering today and they told me just go ahead and grind the case down to fit the ARB. They knew it was a problem and said that they've had to do it a couple times and the cases still hold up fine. So no new parts! WOO!

Ground the case mostly down to where it needs to be tonight, will probably finish up tomorrow. I did smoke the Pilot bearing try to get that out of the case, so I'll have to pick that up new but it happens, so I'll have to go pick up a new for $10.

 

Another small update. I haven't been just sitting on my duff! This weeknd I was out of town on business, but last weekend I spent a majority of my time making up two welding tables for my dad and myself as it's just nice to have a good table to work on. So here's a couple pictures of the tables.

Just 2 pieces of 14 gauge steel with 3/4" angle around the edges and 1/2" angle as supports underneath. The pipe I'm not really sure, I think it was 2" but we just found it laying around so I used it up. FREEBIE! Haha...

My first real project that created anything useful with my welding. I tried to get a couple shots of my welds but they turned out kind of crappy. I'll post them anyway. Welder was a Millermatic 250 with Flux Core wire (not sure on size) if anyone is interested. Personally, I like straight MIG wire over Flux, but it's what was in the machine.







OH! Also as promised here's some pics of the shed the truck is getting built in. Like I said a couple updates ago, the floor got completely redone and in stellar shape.

So here's what the shed looked like before:



And now (for reference where the toolbox is in this picture is where the Ranger was in the above picture, just looking the opposite direction):



The Chevy Nova the guy owns. It's not pristine or anything, but he built it to be a Runner. Think he's a got a Chevy 350 in it. Not super powerful, but it goes pretty well. Haven't gotten to drive it... yet.



The 65 Chevelle the guy found last year. We were talking and he said he's always wanted so when he found this one he had to jump on it. Got it for mostly free from a friend of his dad's or something but he never had the room to do anything with it. It doesn't have an engine, but the body is pretty solid other then some dents and dings. I'm hoping that I can help restore it as payback for him letting me use his shed and tools. He's already get a Chevy 350 Block ready to go in it, but he's busy still getting moved into this place (he's only been moved in for a couple months).



Finally, where the Ranger sits now.



As you can see in the last picture, the back wall of the shed isn't solid at the moment so winter work could get a bit chilly. He's not sure what he's going to do fix it, but he said something will done by winter.

Anyway, just figured I'd let you guys know I'm not dead and the project is still going forward as slow as it may seem. I'm hoping I can finally get the rear end put together this weekend, but I'm not holding my breath anymore.

 

lookn good Matt. That floor looks nice

 

A lot of room! keep us updated!

 

That "shop" is taking on some shape.. with cement its not much of a barn anymore :-)

Maybe give him a hand and buy a bunch of 2x4/ply and toss up a quick wall.. wouldn't be too hard to do that; good way to pay him back, and to help keep your britches warm in the winter coming up here :-)



Sure wish I had a place like that on property out here, have been toying with buying a canopy to put over my truck to do work in teh rain.. but I would really like to have a solid wall or two :-)

 

Only had time to drive home today this weekend (had to help the cousin move on Saturday which took like 6 hours). So only got 1 project done... but damn I'm getting excited about this one.

So I posted a photo of my bender awhile back, but I'm finally going to get it operational. Bought a Model 4 Bender from Trick Tools about a year ago now, just never had the motivation to get it going (as I had no need to get it going when I bought it).

Anyway, the axles are on hold until I get some help so I figured I'd start tackling projects I can do myself while I'm waiting for some people to get some free time to help. Anyway, here's where the day started.

List of parts: JD Model 4 Bender, 2 Stationary Casters, 1 Swivel Caster, 10' piece of 3x3 Square Tube (14 Gauge), 10' piece of 2" Round Pipe (.120 thick, got it for free), 12" x 12" x 1/2" Steel Plate, 1 Hydraulic Power Unit, and finally 1 Hydraulic Piston (not pictured).



Didn't really get any intermediate pictures since I was in a bit of a hurry. Here's the stand when it's complete.



Test mounting the bender.









So that's about it. All that's left is to mount the power unit on the front leg, and get some connections to the bender cylinder. So this week's goal is to find a place that can help me with connectors and hoses.

THINGS I LEARNED:

1) This thing needs a wheelie bar. Haha.... during the test fitting stage I found it that the weight is shifted a bit too far back and watched it tip over. For the most part its stable once things are mounted, and it should be better once the power unit is mounted to the front, but it's a bit top heavy at the moment. And I don't want to take any chances so I'll just put something on there to keep it from flopping backwards on me.

2) Welding on 14 guage steel isn't fun. Once I got the Voltage cranked down everything worked fine, but I burned a couple holes into the first few tries. However, when the voltage is turned down that low it's much harder to fill gaps in. If you look really closing you can see the top is not really welded on the bottom T. I couldn't figure out a good way to get that gap filled because for some reason 1 edge was about an 1/8" higher then the other.

3) Drilling 3/4" holes in 1/2" plate steel is a giant pain in the ***, even with a kick *** drill press that can be slowed to 240 RPM. It took fricking forever to drill those damn things out mainly because 1 of two reasons. Either I screwed up and should have just used the 3/4" bit right away, or the chuck on the drill press might be going bad because after drilling the 3/8" hole, I moved up to a 9/16" bit and the damn thing kept getting caught and stopping if I put too much pressure on it. It got even worse once I got that done and switched to the 3/4" bit. Oh well, I'm going to do some more experimenting with holes to see what the best way to drill them out is in thick steel like that. I'm actually thinking a titanium stepper bit might be the best way to go if it can stay sharp (mainly because if you dull it on 1 hole your out a $45 bit). Took me roughly 2 hours to just drill the 3 holes for the mounting.

That's about it. Soon I should be able to start bending up my cage / sliders / bumpers / whatever the hell else I wanna build.

 

looks good man!

didnt get time to read it all but plan on it a bit later!