Project "Stinky Squirrel"

[rue]

Well stayed after work and finished welding the trusses on the other housing. Have two housing ready for link mounts and tabs now. Took a sand roll to the balls and shined them up so that the knuckle seals would have a good surface to seal on.

Ended up having to straighten the housing before I could weld the truss on.
I probably shouldn't show how I straighten the housing, someone might try it and hurt themselves., but I will LOL.Im not goin to be responsible for you being a DUMBASS and hurting yourself, so use your head!!!!
I use a couple chains, port a power and the torch. Fasten the chain to each end of the housing makin sure it can't slip, leave enought slack so that you can stand the port a power up between the chain and the housing.

Be careful with this "rat trip",if the port a power is not in line with the chain , it'll pop out when u start puttin load on the housing. You don't need to jack the shit out housing, just put a good strain on it. Next you heat the housing on the side that you want to pull it towards.

Just want to heat a small strip across the axle tube, about 1/2 wide. Once you get it red hot, you need to take the heat away and cool it as fast as you can with so water. When you cool it, it'll make the metal that was heated shrink. It depends on how much load, and how much heat you use for you to get the results that ur lookin for. You may need to do it a couple times. Don't take the load off until the housing is cooled off. Here's a pic of the area that I heated

End result, a straight housing


Ended up gettin 4 2.0x16"Fox air shocks in on the deal. Two of the shocks had some damage. One had the body dented and the other had some damage to the shaft. So, I cut them off and now I have two 12" air shocks. Debating on shortin the other two to 14"s. Also had to pick up a couple lower eyelets for the shocks. The previous owner must not of had them mounted improperly and they must of binded up on the mounts or chassis.


Picked up a new pump and orbital from Trail Gear. The pump bodies are now aluminum. The last pump I bought from them had a cast steel body. Must be the new thing. I order a orbital a little on the large size, hoping to get 2 turns lock to lock



Well that's as far along as I am now. Still tryin to decide on a chassis design.


Rue

[rue]

Aug 19, 2013 19:40:23 GMT -4 The Garagemahal said:

Or go narrower rims ?

The rims that I picked up are only 8" wide, hoping that will help. I'm probably goin to try runnin without bead locks first, then if I need them I can always stick them on afterwards.

[The Garagemahal]

I was thinking 7 in wide rims would work pretty good

[bighair]

nice work Rue, I ran 7"wide wheels for a long time and never slipped a bead and always ran 6 - 8 psi.. however never had the torque of a diesel.. I love the direction your going, I've been wanting to go TDI for a while also, but I'd need to make adapters to mate it to my AX-15 and don't have the time nor the $$.. looking forward to seeing how you make out with this.

[Creepy]

Axles looks great, very clean.

So...Longs or Dirty30's? Rear steer is gonna be hard on 'em.

Making your own 5th stud knuckles again? The cylinder/knuckles I bought off you was nicely set-up, didn't have to change a thing. No cracking or anything going on.

Double acting cylinder, or just a single acting in the back? How are you going to power the rear cylinder, with an steer control valve with no 5th port?

[rue]

I'm goin with the dirty30s this time around. They are a little cheaper and easier to get than the longs, plus Trail-gear has a better warranty. Yeah,rear steer is hard on a birfs, but by makin the buggy a light weigh I think they'll survive. I didn't have any problems with the longs I had in the other rear steer buggy, and this one is goin to be lighter and run less tire. If the birfs survive a season I'd be more than happy,to by just the birfs,is not that much money.

Yes I will be adding the 5th stud to the knuckles and I'll be upgrading the hub studs to 3/8". That 8 mm stuff doesn't last long.

Just be runnin single ended rams, simpler and cheaper to package.as for the steering for the back, you can get away without the 5th port. You just need to plumb the rear steer control valve into the pressure line before the orbital valve. The ony down fall to doin it this way is that I'm only goin to beabke to steer one end at a time. I don't think it'll be that big of a deal. If I don't like it I'll just add another pump, and have two systems.

[geezer]

Rue ,I got a couple of the two way power packs that I used for my rear steer.Run power to them and then just a self centering toggle switch to steer.They are around 20" long and maybe 8' wide.You can also adjust the speed that they work at.

[rue]

Aug 21, 2013 20:59:46 GMT -4 geezer said:

Rue ,I got a couple of the two way power packs that I used for my rear steer.Run power to them and then just a self centering toggle switch to steer.They are around 20" long and maybe 8' wide.You can also adjust the speed that they work at.

Interesting. I'll have to think about that. I'm probably goin to try it the way I have it planned right at the moment. I talked to the guys at PSC and this is the way they setup there rear steer systems.

[ronin]

Aug 21, 2013 19:26:04 GMT -4 rue said:

I'm goin with the dirty30s this time around. They are a little cheaper and easier to get than the longs, plus Trail-gear has a better warranty. Yeah,rear steer is hard on a birfs, but by makin the buggy a light weigh I think they'll survive. I didn't have any problems with the longs I had in the other rear steer buggy, and this one is goin to be lighter and run less tire. If the birfs survive a season I'd be more than happy,to by just the birfs,is not that much money.

Yes I will be adding the 5th stud to the knuckles and I'll be upgrading the hub studs to 3/8". That 8 mm stuff doesn't last long.

Just be runnin single ended rams, simpler and cheaper to package.as for the steering for the back, you can get away without the 5th port. You just need to plumb the rear steer control valve into the pressure line before the orbital valve. The ony down fall to doin it this way is that I'm only goin to beabke to steer one end at a time. I don't think it'll be that big of a deal. If I don't like it I'll just add another pump, and have two systems.

on sale now rue

www.trail-gear.ca/summer-blowouts/dirty-30s-30-spline-birfield-axle-kit/

[rue]

That's a good deal, but I already have two sets of dirty30s sittin on the shelf.

[imstuck]

congrats on the little one.

[The Garagemahal]

You did great job on the axle housings. Did you weld them with the mig or the tig ?
If you did them with the mig , welding them too fast would make the housing bow ?

[rue]

I welded them with the mig, and yes welding them too fast will bow the housings. I had to straight in these housing before I could weld the trusses on. I haven't seen a straight toy housing yet that I've put the alignment bar in!! They bow if you get any where near them with a welder. LOL. When I welded these housing I chained them down to the bench and put a bit of a crown in them before weldin the trusses on. They turned out pretty good, they are a lot straighter now then when I started.

[rue]

Well think I'm ready for tubing. Been scratching on paper and have a fairly good idea where I'm heading. Think I'm goin to go with 1.5"x.125" this time around. Was lookin at the W.E.rock rules and that's the minimum they require, so it should be strong enough for an under powered trail buggy. Plus I save 1/2lb per ft from the 1.660"x.120 wall that I've used on pass buggies.

I,m goin to use the 1.5"x.125" on the main parts of the chassis and the areas that will see rock rash. Will be goin with 1.5"x.095" , 1.5"x.065" and 1.25"x.095" for the filler tubes, and braces.

Here's my hen scatchin. Shooting for 105" to 107" WB, 18" belly with a 5'.5" roof height.

Building this one different than the last couple that I've built. This is goin to be similar to the chassis that I sold Steve. Hoping by going this way, I can mount the seats lower in the chassis, and still have lots of head room.

Tubing has been ordered, so I'm goin to try and get the main part of the chassis bent up why I'm waiting for materials for the house.


Rue

[rue]

Well crawl is over, and it's not as fun to watch as it is being part of it. So I started bending tube. Have the mid hoop bent, and welded together. Had to make it out of two hoops and splice them together.


Have the main belly hoops bent also. These will run side to side, runnin down from the main hoop on a angle and the belly will be 34" long. Hard to explain, but you'll should be able to see what the main part of the chassis will look like after this weekend. Plan on have the main outline of the chassis done this week.


I'm hoping to have a roller of a buggy before the kitchen gets here for the house. Then the buggy will be put on the side lines for a while.