So I did a little work/welding last night before the rain started again. When saving my pics this morning I noticed Nov 25th was the last time I had worked on the truck:CRY:

Nothing great - but here it is... Just more modification of that cross member.

This is where we left off


This is what I did last night





We got MORE rain last night and today, so now I'm debating on whether or not I want to finish welding this thing over here - or just get the shop wired and get it over there and finish it inside.

After the rain got going I did more at the shop. Gotta love the storage. I'm trying to get as much as I can above the office in hopes of having at least a little free floor space left to work...

 

so i think i missed what that little chanal is for, not the crossmemeber but the 2 inch deal....

 

1.5" - and it is to clear the bottom of the A/C pump

 

sorry 1.5 inch my bad.......

but that works, does 1.5 leave room for the engine to move at all?

 

It does - hopefully it is enough, but it is only tight front to back - not side to side like the engine wants to move/rotate.

 

ok - it's been quite a while again. Too much rain and too much going on here though.

I did have a little time to do some work on the 23rd at night and then early in the morning on the 24th though. It was still wet and nasty so I couldn't work much on test fitting the cross member for motor clearance again, but I did get some work done on the brackets for mounting the '06 rear seat.

I'll finish the other side of this tonight and then get to putting the motor in and out again tomorrow. Maybe, just maybe a buddy will be nice enough to help me tow the crew to the shop tomorrow...

Brackets I made to weld to the stock C channel for the rear seat mounts


Stock mount with my brackets in place


Brackets out of the truck and before and after sand blasting



Mocked up


Welded and painted (paint is temporary - will be powdercoated


Oh yeah - before anyone mentions it - there is no need for a gusset on my brackets as they do not bear any of the load of the seat. The seat itself rests on the factory C channel, so no load is on the brackets themselves. The brackets just make it so the seat can be bolted to these "rails".

 

looks good...as long as they are strong enough to keep the seat down if you ever get into trouble......i agree that you dont need the suport to keep the seat up but what about keeping it from going up?

 

with the way the seat is angled it looks as if in any collision the force acting on the seat would try and "roll" the brackets forward. Meaning it would be a torsinal or twisting load on the brackets. With the thickness and size/shape of the brackets all should be ok. Add to this the fact that the seatbelts bolt to the floor of the truck, NOT the seat (like many new seats) and that is just a couple more anchor points to keep the thing from coming forward/out.

 

good enough for me!

 

Chase,
Have you decided on a trans? I was thinkin' about the NP435 to GV then transfer case. Keep the manual and get 8 forward gears. The adapter from GV for an auto tran to manual is about $700 bucks, but this is less than acquiring a NV4500 and accessories. Get to keep your old clutch setup, etc. Plus, stronger set up than the NV4500, I hear the 5th gear can develop problems, but I've no experience with that just what I've heard. Somethin' else to think about.

 

Trans has already been decided on and is in fact a NV4500 - with a gear vendors possibly (I have it - but not sure if it will go in the crew or ranger).

5th gear on the NV4500 can be (has been on mine) fixed, so it's not a big deal.

I could never get a straight answer on how to run the NP435 behind the cummins so I gave up. I heard there was a bellhousing to run the NP - but no one could ever give me a straight answer as to which....

 

Damn - it's been so long since i posted I was on the 2nd page

Well - I FINALLY got my schedule and the weather to work together just a little, so I'm breathing just a tiny bit of life back into this thread...
Unfortunately I didn't get as much done as I could have, but oh well. Saturday was semi wasted as I was waiting for a buddy to help my move some of my heavy shop stuff all day. He had a customer car in his shop that ended up taking all day so he never came over. I SHOULD have used this time to start messing with the crew motor ant trans, but I kept thinking he would show up any minute (didn't know about the customer car taking that long til night time) so I never started. I did however get more stuff moved out of the garage and some stuff moved around the shop while waiting for him.

When a sunny Sunday morning came around I figured I better jump on the opportunity and get my butt to work.

I got the motor and tranny back in the truck to do a "final check" on clearances for that lowered cross member. I am glad I did because I now KNOW it will work, and I also saw some tight clearances I didn't notice before.
I got the x-member tacked in, and that is where it will stay for a bit.

With the motor and tranny in the truck it will make it easier to move than 3 separate "pieces" so I will take this thing over to the shop as is and then finish the work on it there.

So no more updates until the move is completed

The good news is I am poised and ready to launch full in to the "heavy" part of the move (welding tables, machinery, shipping container, etc.). I just have to rely on a couple buddies for part of this as I don't have a tow rig right now or a trailer.

So that's it for a little while again (hopefully not long), but I promise this is a "to be continued..."

a few boring pics to hold you over

 

back from the dead bump - and yes I am STILL moving

Another fun day of "moving"...

Nothing like taking 4+ hours to move a shipping container 20 ft. I guess I don't have much choice when I have 2-4" of clearance on either side and no way to move the thing besides some 2" dia. tubing and a little leverage

Container's recent resting place (it stored all my project parts)


Jacking the thing up to fit the 2x12's under it


Moving things "egyptian style"


4+ hours later and I still have to turn it 90* or so to get it in the driveway where it can be picked up.



The crew has to move before I can do that though, so it will be going to the shop VERY soon!!!!
I will then have about a week of "organization" and some wiring at the shop and the crew will be back on track!

 

oh man i hope you had some help with that one... i was wondering how you were going to get that thing out.

 

A buddy did show up and help - which is why it only took 4 hours - haha. It probably would have taken me 6 or so doing it by myself!