March 21, 201016 yr Author Nice!!!...you should take a pic of the front camber, John. No front tires on it yet... I really hope it is minimal this time
March 22, 201016 yr Author Wheels on! now for the linkages oh yeah, i fixed the crooked brush guard too Edited March 22, 201016 yr by Markus56
March 22, 201016 yr Author Not bad...have you rolled it yet to settle out the camber? not yet, so there is hope!
March 22, 201016 yr Did you remake the blocks out of something thicker or are you going to run the thin square tube? GD
March 22, 201016 yr Did you remake the blocks out of something thicker or are you going to run the thin square tube? GD OMG, someones not heeding the all knowing! he has plenty of wheeling experience Rick......and wheels with several guys with WAY more experience than he does.......so, i am sure these things were considered.and if they do break, ahh damn......its a wheeler.he understands that....go back to the old gen forum, where people want to listen to you:)oh, and you might want to install a shraeder valve on your neck so you don't over inflate............i had to..........cheers, brian
March 22, 201016 yr Did you remake the blocks out of something thicker or are you going to run the thin square tube? GD My lift has 1/8" wall 2"x4" blocks. I beat it until the steering linkage gave up. Yes, the steering linkage. No bent or broken blocks. If linked properly, you just don't need 1/4" material. Would it be stronger? Sure. Can either lift be bent just the same in some catastrophic ****-up. Yup. I'd wager he'll be just fine with the material he used.
March 23, 201016 yr Does anyone have the size of the bolts you need? And i have started gathering materials for the strut tower blocks i just used the stock subaru bolts to fasten the blocks to the car, than used 3/8 16 grade 5 bolts to fasten the suspention to the blocks
March 24, 201016 yr I've seen it happen - just wanted to save him some grief. Perhaps you boys just aren't hard enough on your machines . I suppose if you just bounce around in puddles then it will be a-ok . I hear you on breakage - if I don't break something I'm not doing it right. Thinner can work - but it's got to be reinforced. It's a lot less fab work to just use 1/4" wall. You can't just cut 2" lengths of the thin stuff and drills some holes. By themselves they won't take the punishiment. GD Edited March 24, 201016 yr by GeneralDisorder
March 24, 201016 yr Author 1/8" is all i have to work with. when i get some money again, i was going to get some thicker stuff and re-do the lift at school on one of our rotary lifts.
March 24, 201016 yr 1/8" is all i have to work with. when i get some money again, i was going to get some thicker stuff and re-do the lift at school on one of our rotary lifts. There are things you can do - if you are using bolts that go all the way through the blocks you could sleeve the bolts. Get some tubing that the bolts will fit inside of and then drill the holes in the blocks to the OD of the tubing. Then you can cut lengths of the tubing and weld them to the inside of the blocks. I'm not as much of a fan of this as it still uses expensive, long, metric bolts that tend to flex with the block and can tear the capture nuts out of the relatively thin body sheet metal they are welded to. But that's how most of the early lifts were designed and it worked well as long as you get under it and tighten all your lift block bolts after every off-road run. A lot of the PK lifts were built this way and members are still running them. We do still hear of the occasional capture nut being ripped loose though (mostly after folks fail to re-tighten stuff). You could also box-in one open side of the block, or half of each open side. That would allow enough room to slip a socket in and tighten the bolts but would increase the strength of the blocks by a lot. I can't find the pictures that we took of the failed blocks on my friends wagon - it was quite a few years ago. The problem area is the engine cross-member. It was an EA81 wagon with 28" tires and a 4" lift. The lift was built jointly by Mudrat and a friend of his - the story goes that John told him to use 1/4" wall tube, but he wanted to save money and bought the 3/16" wall instead. He sold the car to my friend who beat it hard. When we swapped the lift over to a new wagon (old one was a lost cause after a dunking in the ocean), we found the lift blocks to be very unhappy about the stress they had been put under. We had to replace them. GD
March 24, 201016 yr Perhaps you boys just aren't hard enough on your machines . I suppose if you just bounce around in puddles then it will be a-ok . GD I'll let the NWWO threads speak for themselves on if these guys wheel hard enough. Come up to Walker sometime, and check out how we bounce around in puddles. Linking the blocks should really be done anyways. It's another 10 minutes of work that spreads the stress out immensely. I have no doubt that you've seen thin blocks fold. Heck, I've seen 1/4" blocks fold, but, it doesn't mean the person that originally set it up had any clue what they were doing. I'd rather have an intelligent design and execution than just throwing a bunch of thick steel at it and hoping it will be strong.
March 24, 201016 yr Exactly - my point is simply that they need to be reinforced somehow. There's a couple ways to accomplish it, but 1/8" wall 2x4x2 blocks will not cut it on their own. GD
March 25, 201016 yr Author so i made a lot of progress today. i got the steering linked together and the motor back in. tomorrow should be the last day of work and then it is time for me to re-do some of my crappy electrical work
March 25, 201016 yr Author Hey GD, how much did those blocks on the EA81 bend? And how hard was it wheeled?
March 25, 201016 yr so i made a lot of progress today. i got the steering linked together and the motor back in. tomorrow should be the last day of work and then it is time for me to re-do some of my crappy electrical work what parts are those for that steering? looks like all boltup no weldin
March 25, 201016 yr Hey GD, how much did those blocks on the EA81 bend? And how hard was it wheeled? They were crushed down about 1/2" or so - but they were 3/16" and an EA81 is lighter than your's. 1/8" is *really* thin. I can easily bend 1/8" mild steel with a small hammer and a vise. I don't think they will hold up to much - though at least they won't loosen since you didn't through-bolt them. If it were me - I wouldn't wheel it hard at all with those. As long as you don't drop the front end real hard it will be alright for a while. The biggest problem with EA front suspension off-road is the lack of dampening - you hit something hard enough or get enough air under the front and you'll bend the struts where they enter the knuckle. An additional shock in front of the strut helps a ton. But in your case your engine cross-member blocks will crush even before the struts bend. GD
March 25, 201016 yr John, if you have some parts to trade I can hook you up with a length of 1/4" thick-wall 2x4" tubing, if you are interested pm me -Bill
March 25, 201016 yr Author John when will you be ready to go wheelin at walker? according to GD, not until i replace those blocks. and in that last picture, i am sitting on the floor. i haven't put in the new RX seats yet. And it's raining so now i cant weld the tranny links today. Edited March 25, 201016 yr by Markus56
March 25, 201016 yr Author what parts are those for that steering? looks like all boltup no weldin it is. i modified the steering linkage from my old non power steering crossmeber to bolt onto the linkage on the new crossmember with power steering. took me about 10 minutes to cut it and install. no welding involved, all bolt together
March 25, 201016 yr GD is just trying to help out guys. If you dont like what hes saying then take it in stride.
March 25, 201016 yr according to GD, not until i replace those blocks. dont let that stop ya lets try it out
March 25, 201016 yr Yohn, Get some 2 x 2 square tubing and link them together. They will be plenty strong if they are linked. You will have to grind some of that silly paint off, but, oh well. Any light welder will link do it just fine. A little measuring, and that sawzall will have all the pieces done in no time. Linking those blocks together increases their capabilities big time.
March 26, 201016 yr GD is just trying to help out guys. If you dont like what hes saying then take it in stride. ....and if you don't like reading it , piss off.defend someone you actually know, and or have met.i have met him, and i think he is ridiculous. there are people that stand around and talk about how something should be done properly, and polenty of ************ out there that is good enough to work. also, a jack of all is a master of none.and some should just keep there mouth shut.me included sometimes.go get your post count somewhere else. Edited March 26, 201016 yr by monstaru cause i'm a dick
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now