I am very impressed with the turn around on the diesel. Your a awesome builder.

I second the motion

Thanks for the props fellas  .  Glad the tach worked out for ya Fred

Yayee...Progress.  After many full days of fab'ing over the last few weeks, finally got some progress made -

Complete redesign/remodel of the core support.  Radiator moved foreward 4 inches, and extra girth for the intercooler.  New main supports, cross brace, and relocated skeleton for the fenders and hood - basically carved out the whole core support, tossed it across the shop, and redesigned the whole thing to stay together.  This was fun...



TIG'd 4 mounts on the rad, then 4 tabs on the intercooler



And got the cradle made for mounting the doubler/tranny.  The doubler adaptor is the mounting point for the trans/t-case now, verse just mounting up the tranny before.  I did this because the doubler is heavier than the tranny and will act as a better load-share for the weight. 
 
The cradle is the cross member for the tranny/doubler, and is also the first thing the belly will hit if the truck comes off a big enough rock the wrong way. 









Needed to mount the doubler so it could shake same as the engine on start-up and shut-down, which on a Cummins is a lot.  Did not want to use poly anything - wayyy to 'tight' - not enough 'give'.  And made a mounting bracket, and used 6BT motor mounts



This bracket sits on top/within the cradle/skid cage for the belly of the truck.  It's not 100% finished but it gives the general idea. 

If I had mounted the tranny alone, and not mounted the doubler, and I came down on the doubler (most likely the 205), the impact would surely break the back half of the tranny clean off.  So at least the truck has some protection against big impacts.  Might bend up the cradle, but at least the frame will carry the brunt of the hit and not the driveline.
The doubler mounts up to the cradle via the big 6BT motor mounts - aught to give the driveline an equal amount of give and shake.  Also boxed the frame at the cradle mounts.



The exhaust is next, then I think that'll wrap up the majority of the big fab items.  Then, the small stuff.  Again, Yayee...

- Sam

VERY NICELY DONE!!!!  Looks fantastic!!!

Andrew

Nice! 

Thanks for the props fellas.  Again, reading your 'approvals' gives me hope that I may not be as 'mad' as I think 


Good eye Ted (It is Ted right??)  Yup - the CV aims up then heads down and it clears just right - you're right tho - can't tell by the pics.

Oh yeah - remember, it's not 100% finished - I'm just showing the basic frame work

Nope  ...but then again most of the work going into this rig is so that things go easy afterwards 


Yup - we're thinking a plate to cap off the bottom side of the main hoop would lend for less stuff grabbing onto the tubing on the way 'out' of whatever hole I'm in.

Looking forward to meeting you at Moab


Thanks Ken.  It'll shake a bunch, and I wanted it to have plenty of 'give' so it could shake without stressing the doubler adaptor. 

Good eye - I shaved about 1/4" off the edge and that should do it.

I've got your parts ready to go - it'll be Christmas at Moab! 

- Sam

Hey Sam...Anything new?

Andrew

lookin good man 

Sam,

Did your old meats go to Trevor or something? I may be looking for some good 35" tires before Moab. Let me know if you still have them and want to unload them... Nitto Grapplers weren't they?

It doesn't look like you left enough room for movement.  I would have used a mount from from an 80's or 90's truck, they have the extra tabs to hold things together in case of failure.

cradle reinforced -



exhaust painted, ready to install -



downpipe finished -





Along with our Intakes we're producing finished DP's like these now.

- M2

SWEET!!! 

X2  That cradle qualifies for extreme overkill

 

He he, why not an "up pipe"?

he's right could use more   

Don't skin it with 1/4 use 3/16 and save some weight

Go Sam Go!!!!!!
You can do it!!!
 

WOW! Looks great!!! Any chance that you can get enough compression in the rear to crush the exhaust? When are you planning to fire it up?

Andrew

No, I routed my exhaust exactly that way and under full compression on the RTI ramp, I still had clearance, even with the factory blocks.

I'll put it like my exhaust man did.  You'd really have to dukes of hazzard that Ramcharger to crush that pipe.

yeah I'm thinking that even with this much weight I think I'll be okay on the compression.  But really...I don't have much of an option - there is no other way to route the 4" plumbing other than under the frame.

We're getting close now - what do y'all think about synthetic fluids?

I can go either way - mineral, or synthetic.  I like synthetics because of their advanced lubrication and heat reduction benefits, but I also know synthetics tend to leak/weep more than mineral oils.  I've always been a Mobil 1 fan, and I'm planning to use Mobil 1 LS 75W-140 for the diffs and doubler, Valvoline ATF+4 synthetic in the tranny, and Mobil 1 5W-40 diesel for the engine.  I've been told that with M-1 I won't need the LSD additive in the diffs but I'm putting it in anyway.

Thoughts?


We're sure gonna try  - If we use the digital camera we'll capture it all.  Then I just have to figure out how to upload it to U-Tube...

- S

Thanks James - I was hoping you'd chime in on this one (+1 to ya).  You sold me on the Valvoline Blue (didn't know it existed) - I've been a fan of them too.  Nice thing too is my local Checker has it all in stock .
- S

Not a prob bro!   We use the Valvoline Blue in every service on every generator.  I've serviced generators with over 5000 hours with old cases of Blue sitting on the skid next to them.  All original engine, and all original bearings.  The stuff is awesome!

Awesome job Sam.
Is that a Nut & washer missing on the body mount in the last pic?

Cool! Sorry I missed you today. Glad you have electrical figured out. Where are you headin' to on the 17th?

Andrew

Actually  T-0 is the Good Times Car Show - local gig.  My Mopar car club, along with two other clubs, sponsors this show - we're expecting over 420 cars/trucks/bikes.  It's pretty huge, and it is my prime motivation to get the rig rolling - okay that and Moab  .  Barring major show stoppers the RC aught to be rolling by maybe next weekend.  If so, and if the driveline checks out, we'll be at the show.  If we make the show that gives us just about a month to get as many miles on it as possible and get as many finishing touches done before beating on it in Moab.  We're planning to take it out to a nearby 4-wheel trail sometime in Sept to shake it down.  Any local bubbas wanna go with   ?

- S