Slam Specialty(UPDATE: 7-21-08)

WOOT!

Seth, I'll have to respond to all that you just stated above me a little later, lol. Busy boy I been!

You know you need a plasma cutter when you get burn marks from the sparks of a grinder... As well you know you need to wear your coveralls properly and some tight shoes! I've got hot metal going everywhere! The wind don't help either!

Alright, a little UPDATE! I just got these pics and decided to post them while I was eating dinner! I hope I get the notches in tonight! Gotta go pick up the metal tomorrow for the tanks and x-member for shocks and 4-link.

I was busy all day this morning getting some gifts for a wedding, lol. I ALSO got my HANDS on a 4x4 extended cab bed! $434 for it, but it only has 4 hours of bodywork on it! EASY! I SURE SCORED! WOOO! Hopefully will be picking it up TOMORROW!

Whats everyone do to remount the e-brake cable and hardline for the brakes?

How in the world can I get the leaf springs off without it killing me? lol!




NEED PLASMA!

The parts bin! If I can't sell this 2wd bed, its going to the scrap yard!



MORE TO COME!

I usually scrap the e-brake. Make a bracket for the brake cable, or relocate the stock one.

Don't cut out any more cross members without adding some first.

well, thats not totally true. rubber bushings have SOME deflection, and your el cheapo heim joints might too after a while. You'll never notice it in your hotrod minitruck tho. on a higher hp car you might want to preload your pinion for acceleration, but for you hexorz i'd 'set it and forget it'.(i think thats a catchphrase for some product... hmm)
and as twisted minis said he doesn't have your info for what angle to set up your pinion at. u should figure out your operating angles for your tranny to first driveshaft, 1st and 2nd driveshafts, then figure the difference between the operating angles for the 1st & 2nd shafts and that number will be your operating angle for your pinion(not what your pinion angle should be set at.) you'll have to take your 2nd driveline angle plus the pinion angle to get your operating angle.
i feel the airridetalk.com tech article is good, but if you don't already know what your talking about it can really lose you quickly. i had to read it twice. there are inconsistencies (sp?) in that article.
i'll try to explain it how it makes sense to me and hopefully between the 2 someone can have a better grasp on this.
anyway page 3 at the bottom has a paragraph and picture saying pretty much what i said.

* = degrees
ok so you've got your tranny pointing down 5* toward the rear, and your first shaft 3* down.(3* from horizontal, not 3* more from the 5* cuz that would be 8.) the difference between 5* down and 3* down is 2*. 2* is your operating angle for your first u-joint.
your 2nd shaft is 2* up toward the rear(again from horizontal) so the difference between 3* down and 2* up is 5* total. 5* is your operating angle for the 2nd u-joint.
the first operating angle(2*) minus the 2nd operating angle (5*) equals 3*
since your 2nd shaft is already at 2* up, to compensate and equal a 3* operating angle(the purpose of another 3* operating angle is to get proper ujoint phasing to reduce choppiness and create balance) you need your pinion set at one degree positive.
now if you really wanted to get crazy, and have your pinion angle correct thru all suspension travel(by constantly having cancelling operating angles and correct ujoint phasing), you'd take this into account when designing your link bars and tab mounts. and then try to factor in antisquat, instant center, roll angles and understeer and such.
honestly tho, its a god damn minitruck, and there's no sense in spending that much time on an airbag setup. there are certain definate sacrifices to be made to be low.

remember these numbers are taken off the airridetalk website, and you need to find your own numbers.

and for the ebrake, i just took the little metal tabs that bolt to the frame and tack welded them to another part of the frame so the cables wouldn't drag and i still have some sort of mechanical emergency stopping mechanism. i'd try not to just junk it. i've run into situations and know people that have run into situations where a brakeline bursts for various reasons, or gets pinched between an airbag and caliper ( ) and you shit your pants cuz your pedal goes to the floor. i'm a fan of a 'backup' plan.

I'm learning so much from this thread guys. It's awesome.

I really can't wait to see this thing when it's done.

Right? OR would it have been 4" above from on top of the rail? Lol, cause it just kinda looks really small, lol!

Here is how I got to that conclusion...

TIRE OD: 26"
Axle tube Diameter: About 3" RADIUS: 1.5"
1/2" Compensation for bottoming out on metal to metal.

So my equation went like this: TIRE RADIUS= 13" 13"+1.5"= 14.5" Required axle clearance.

My measurements were 21" and 21 1/2" frame over axle. SO I took the bigger number. Frame under cab height was 10"

So it went like this: 21 1/2"-10"= 11.5" of the frame above the axle when laid out.

SO, 14.5"-11.5"= 3" Notch size. I decided that I would add another inch for cushion and to keep it off the frame. Which if combined, would be 1.5" above axle on notch. That kind of gap is'nt huge IMO. So I'll stick with it.

Now whether or not I place this above the rail or below is the question. I just really want to make sure before I start laying beads!



So here I will respond to your previous post, Seth! I gotta catch up, lol!

You oughtta provide us a link to those bilstein shocks, cause they sound bad ass! I think that 6 inch ride height will be nice for me!

*As I read what Seth says about RH, I'm uh-huhing in agreement and approval* lol...

So, let me see if I got this right?

- Get the truck on some stands, and then jack the axle up. to determine the ride height. use the space between the notch and axle. When the axle is at the position you want, use the measurements that I have in my excel sheet and set up the 4-link at those numbers?

So, if that is so, I need to also add the height of the jacks as well to the 4-link height numbers too, lol...

Well, ya, I guess I'm gonna have a little thinking over to do to refab the e-brake... As well, the brake line too...

Set it and forget it! It was a stupid TV ad for this rotissary cooker thing that cooked anything in this amount of time and made it juicy and tasty, etc. LOL! Don't ask how I remember, but now that makes me hungrier!

HAHA! LOL! BUT! Its gonna be my DAILY dragger! I hope getting fussy with this all is'nt getting you guys aggrivated, but I like to know what the hell I'am doing...

Now, I guess I should'nt have kept my mouth shut on this one, but what I was asking and I guess I must have explained it wrong was to set it for compensation at whatever angle I have. I know what to do to find the angles and all I just did'nt know whether or not our trucks would need any preload. BUT, now that I know, its all good!

Yea, as well, I would rather reaalllly prefer an E-brake! I don't think down shifting is going to do enough!

LOL! Well I can't either! I'm working my arse off to see how far I can get, but it is'nt working! Too much other stuff comes up, dangit!

I gotta drive the dang thing eventually soon too! I hope alot of people learn something from all of this! Cause this is just craaaaazy!

P.S.!

So I never got that dinner that I was talking about, haha!

I'm not going to be taking out that last x-member out until I get the 4-link member in and probably the shock member when the notches go in!

I ALSO would like to enlighten EVERYONE that you do not need a STD CAB TANK! I found out that if you notch the rear rails on each side at 3/4" you can fit the tank between the rails! Then, just drill holes in the rails for the tank bolts and your good to go! I will be adding some 1x1n the bottom though for some support and security...

True, you will have some for of axle wrap, but I doubt if its more than .5 degree. With a rubber bushing you will get more than with poly. But poly bushings don't move much. And a rod end, even a cheap one shouldn't move at all.

yeah for sure very minimal movement.
hex - your notch is setup correctly. go ahead and weld that little nasty bitch in there. i don't think you are aggrivating anyone either, if so they'll likely not read along, just say f it.
on your brake line run it down your link bar. that's prolly the most subtle/cleanest way i can think of. softline from frame to bar, hardline on bar, softline from bar to axle, hardline on axle. fairly simple. you will need flairing tools tho...
just be sure to measure 3 times and weld/cut once. its way easier to erase a line than cut a weld.
also cut a little on the big side if you can't do exact. its easier to grind alittle off than try to add a little.
lastly, bevel your edges and get some penetration. practice your welds before you just go at it. it'd be a shame to have some bubblegum dog shit welds when you've gone so in-depth so far. you'll have one of the better executed rear sections on this site IMO.

oh, and a pet peeve of mine is when the notches aren't parallel with the ground/chassis or they are crooked or just kicked some funny way. so hex please make me happy!

Your notch size sounds right to me.

As far as jack stands, yes you need to compensate that for the ride height. Say the jack stands are 10 inches tall, and you want a 5" ride height. The tire should be 5 inches off the ground. Or you can measure to the axle from the ground. What I generally do is measure from the notch. You know you are going to have 1.5" of axle clearance when laid out, so assume for a 5" ride height the top of your axle needs to be 6.5" from the bottom of your notch.


As far as the Bilsteins, you can look at their web site.


Their site isn't all that helpful really, but you can at least see pictures. If you're interested in them, let me know. I am a dealer, and I can call them with specific applications, and they will call back within a few hours with the shock that best fits the application. They actually have a small line of shocks designed for bagged vehicles, since the air spring gets softer as the pressure is depleted, and the shock makes up for it to keep a uniform ride at most heights. They aren't necessary, but they do make a big difference in ride quality. I recently switched my truck over and was very impressed.