…And Parts Is Parts

I haven’t been out to R&W in a while, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been doing nothing. Since my post about Robert’s wizardry with metal, I’ve been busy flattening my credit card, to wit:

1. Two coil springs for the front axle
2. High steer arms for the front axle – these will raise the tie rod up higher and reduce the probability that it’ll get whacked by rocks
3. Two heated, reclining, lumbar-support-enhanced seats
4. Onboard air system with extra 2.5-gallon air tank
5. Radiator and air-conditioning compressor

Amazingly enough, some of this stuff has actually shown up on my doorstep!

1. I delivered the coil springs to Robert so he could finish the front suspension and maybe – just maybe – get the JeepMonster sitting on its own six tires, instead of relying on jackstands.
2. The high steer arms arrived yesterday, but without the bolts needed to attach them to the axle. I emailed the company this morning and they said the bolts will be sent out via Priority Mail. *sigh*
3. The seats will take 5 or 6 weeks to build and ship. When I learned this, I talked with a company rep (who actually called me on a different matter, also related to the seats) and asked him to please put a note on my order not to ship them until August 17. That way I don’t have to worry about the seats showing up here in Tucson while I’m off riding around the countryside on my Honda.
4. The onboard air system arrived today via UPS. I haven’t yet opened it to check for completeness.
5. The radiator and a/c compressor arrived at Hi Speed today and their rep called me. I went there and paid for them and brought them home. This afternoon I checked the radiator and found that its automatic-transmission-fluid cooler, which I plan to use to cool my power-steering fluid, is on the passenger side. I really don’t want to run PS hoses across the engine bay to use the cooler as is, so I emailed the rep and asked if I could return it for one with the cooler built into the driver side tank. Since I sent the email at 4:30 on a Friday, I neither expected nor got a reply – yet. 🙂

Something else that arrived recently is my Premier Power Welder. This is a handy system that runs off a super-powerful alternator (190 amps) to allow me to weld things while I’m out on the trail or wherever. As with my winches, I hope not to ever need to use it, but knowing I have it will make life a little more comforting. And, of course, I’ll be able to use it to help others, too. You never know when something serious, like an axle’s steering knuckle, might break. [True story: I was leading an easy trail run back when the CJ-5 was still running, and we were all on flat ground, just bouncing along a dirt two-track at about 10 mph, when BANG! and I had no steering. My right tire was pointing VERY right and my left tire was pointing VERY left. One of the guys in the group had some welding rods, so we hooked three batteries in series and used jumper cables to complete the circuit and weld the steering knuckle back together. The weld was a mess, and I had to replace that end of the axle when I got home, BUT I GOT HOME. So you never know what you might have to do to get yourself fixed.]

One of these days, soon, I’ll have to go visit R&W to deliver these parts. Robert needs the radiator so he can build the mount for it, the fan, and the a/c condenser; he needs the rear axle u-bolts I bought; and he needs the onboard air tanks so he can build the mounting tabs for them on the frame behind the third axle. He might even be ready for the CJ-6 tub, too, but I think I’ll ask him to hold off on bodywork until I get back from my trip. He already has two 8×10 sheets of steel from which he’ll make part of the tub. And I know he’d like to have me take the CJ-5 frame and axles off his hands so he can have his tires back for other projects – but I need to get the garage done, first, while I still have some space available to move stuff around in.

But that’s another story for another time.

Contest!

Well, *advance warning* about a contest…

I was busily ordering parts today (seats, onboard air, etc.) and I started musing about how much the JeepMonster will ultimately weigh when it’s all done. Many years ago I weighed the CJ-5 and it was 3300 pounds, more or less. I’m sure the JeepMonster will be more. 🙂

And then I thought about having a contest to see who can guess the final weight. The contest won’t start until the JeepMonster is all done and I have its weight, so it’ll be a while. I’ll also have to finalize the rules and stuff by then, but here’s a rough draft:

1. The contest will run for three weeks. All entries received after the closing date will be returned.
2. Each entry will cost $5US – just in case anyone from outside the US reads this. You may enter as many times as you want to. You’ll be able to send postdated checks if you want (to keep me from cashing them ahead of time), or you can send money to my PayPal account.
3. I know the final weight will be more than 3300 pounds, so that will be the floor. There’s no point in guessing a lower number.
4. When I find out the actual weight, I’ll provide an upper limit.
5. The winner will be the person who comes closest WITHOUT GOING OVER THE ACTUAL WEIGHT. In case there are multiple winners, the person whose money got here first will be the ultimate winner. (If I can’t tell whose money got here first, I’ll split the prize.)
6. The prize will be twofold:
   1. The winner(s) will get/split all of the entry money.
   2. I will donate an amount equal to all of the entry money, up to $1000, to [a] charity(ies) selected by the winner(s), in equal amounts. (Each winner can only select one charity.)
7. I’ll announce the winner(s), charity(ies), and prize(s) within a week of the contest’s close.

So that’s my plan, and it’s something for everyone to look forward to.

Wizardry

I haven’t had a chance to visit Robert (R&W Custom Sliders & Offroad) this week, but he sent me some pictures of the progress he’s made on the front axle’s suspension. As far as I’m concerned, the man is a wizard. While it’s true that he has access to some awesome machines, he has to know how to use them to produce what he wants. I could probably learn to cut flat pieces, but his ability to work in three dimensions, and to know how all the flat pieces will go together to make a 3D assembly, are amazing.

First up, we have a photo of two coil-spring perches. While this is upside down (the curves you see at the top will fit around, and be welded to, the axle tube), you can see how a basic 3D shape can be made from flat pieces.

Next we have the truss on the front axle. This is where the top two links (of four) will attach to the axle. You can see the curve on the right side where the new truss meets the axle tube, and on the left you can see that the top plate has a little tab on the near left corner to fit the differential housing accurately.

This photo, from the back of the axle, shows how the plate had to be cut to fit around the differential housing.

The next photo shows a lot of progress after the previous one. The spring perches, which also hold the lower links (and, eventually, the shock absorbers), have been added. The bracket to hold the upper links has been placed, but isn’t yet welded to the truss. The frame ends of the links are held in place so Robert can start designing and fabricating the brackets.

Here’s a view of the axle end of the upper links. A lot of times the two upper links will be mounted to the axle independently, but sometimes (as is done here) they’re combined into one connection at the axle. I don’t know whether one way is inherently better than the other or not, but in this case it made life simpler at the axle end.

The final view for tonight is a shot from the side. All this stuff, when it’s finished, will locate the front axle under the JeepMonster. Springs and shocks, of course, provide the cushy ride <wink wink>, and a GM 350 provides the go power.

In other news, I learned that the right springs will be available from ADS on the 16th. I also finally found some acceptable U-bolts for the back axles; those have been ordered and are on their way. The clutch slave cylinder (that actually pushes the clutch lever when you push the pedal down) also arrived, so that can be bolted in to test for clearance issues.

I’m still looking for a new transmission mount. I’ve had my transmission / transfer case combination for 20 years, and the existing mount has reached its expiration date. However, that exact mount is apparently no longer made – I guess it was an early version of what they use today, but what they use today doesn’t fit. Nothing fits. There are three possibilities that might be usable; I’ll order them to see what Robert can do with them. The ones that aren’t used will be returned.

I’m also still looking for a new radiator. I think my old one was custom-made, but I don’t want to go that route again if I can help it, because even radiators in *standard* sizes are hideously expensive. But I have to make a decision soon, and order something, so that Robert can add that to the frame.

I also need to get the air tanks for the onboard air system. They aren’t a critical fitment issue, but if I get them now, Robert can add the mounting brackets to the frame before we start working on the body. It’ll be one more thing done at the (relatively) easy stage of construction.

Round, Round, Get Around, I Get Around…

Before I get into this week’s tale, I want to correct the wheelbase numbers I posted last week. I should have caught the error at the time, but I didn’t. It turns out that the “inner” wheelbase is still about 98 inches (up from 81 on the CJ-5), but the “outer” wheelbase is actually around 138 inches, instead of the 130 I told you about last week. The reason I say I should have caught it is that I know the two back axles have to be about 40 inches apart, center to center, in order to clear 35-inch tires with a reasonable amount of space between them. So the outer wheelbase on the JeepMonster will be about the same as my truck’s. The shorter overall length (16 feet for the JeepMonster versus 18′ 8″ for the truck) is due to the lack of front and rear overhangs.

So, having cleared up that little tidbit, I’ll move along to this week’s visit with Robert – and the things that I had to get done before going.

It turned out that the stock JK Wrangler coil springs I had taken to him were about the right stiffness, but they were too long and too wide. So my assignment was to find something a couple of inches shorter (16 inches instead of 18), an inch less in diameter (four inches instead of five), and with flat ends instead of the square-cut coil ends that come from the factory. And oh yeah, I could also get some shock absorbers, too – Robert’s keeping his set for his own project. He gave me the brand name, the series number, and the SKU for the shocks he was using, and since I had all that, I decided to make life easy on myself and just get more of the same.

I looked online to find them, and discovered that 4 Wheel Parts had exactly what I wanted. I decided to go to the store to get them, on the theory that doing it that way meant that at least *some* of my money would stay here in town. Naturally, the store didn’t have any – they were on backorder and wouldn’t be in for a few days. Okay.

Next I asked the man behind the curtain – er, counter – if he had any recommendations or suggestions on how to find out how stiff the JK Wrangler springs were. Coil springs are rated in “pounds per inch,” which means that for a set weight (100 pounds, 200, 400, etc) the spring will compress one inch. I needed the JK’s spring rating so I’d know how stiff the new springs would have to be.

The 4 Wheel Parts counterman suggested I go see someone named Brian at someplace called ADS. Luckily, Mapquest (mobile) was able to find ADS Racing Shocks for me and off I went. I met Brian, and he was happy to show me what they had (they build coilovers, so they have lots of different springs on hand – all of which have flat ends and a four-inch outside diameter). Unfortunately, he couldn’t help me with determining the JK’s spring rate, but he knew a man named Paul at GAT Racing (Brian called it a “roundy-round” shop – GAT builds circle-track race cars) who might be able to help.

So, off I went to GAT, again with help from Mapquest. Paul was there when I arrived, and he knew exactly what I wanted (thank goodness!), so he took my spring back to the back and invited me to come along. He clamped the spring into a small hydraulic press and pumped the press until the entire spring was just slightly compressed. Then he zeroed out the force indicator and compressed the spring one more inch. When he was done, the indicator read 126, meaning that the spring was probably a 125-pound unit. This surprised me, because JK Wranglers can weigh over 1200 pounds per corner, but okay – that’s what the spring machine said.

Back at ADS, Brian went looking for comparable springs and came up empty-handed. In a 16-inch length, he had 100-lb springs and 400-lb springs, with nothing in between. Oh yes – he had *one* (used) 200-lb spring. So I bought a pair of the 100-lb springs and the 200-lb spring. I figured that Robert would be able to use one or more of them to at least begin fitting the spring mounts, even though the springs themselves were the wrong stiffness. I told Brian what I was doing, and he was okay with my plan to exchange the 100-lb springs for a pair with the proper stiffness, once we figured out what that might be (and as long as we don’t scratch the ones I bought).

I took the three springs, and a bunch of other pieces-parts, to Robert this past Wednesday. [The shocks arrived at 4 Wheel Parts on Wednesday morning, so I was able to take them to Robert, too.] As a test, we placed the 100-lb springs between the frame and the front axle and then let the frame compress the springs. They flattened out almost exactly four inches (from 16 down to 12-ish) before they fully supported the front end. From that we concluded that the front of the frame, with the engine and all, weighs about 800 lbs, equally supported by the two springs. That number will go up, of course, as we add the winch, and the body, and the fluids, and whatever else goes on the front.

We also checked out a couple of other things and then I came home. [I took some pictures of the transmission mount in the hope that either Advance Adapters or Novak Enterprises might be able to help me with a replacement.] On my way out, I took a couple of pictures of the forlorn remains of the CJ-5:

So for my next visit, I’m supposed to have (if I can get them in time) the correct-strength coil springs, the new radiator, the right-length U-bolts for the back axles, and some information on the clutch slave cylinder I’ll be using (so Robert will know how to route other things around it).

Stay tuned.