hey cory, do you have any pictures of the bottom end before putting the oil pan back on? or anyone for that matter, please send me a link so as not to infiltrate cory's thread, thanks.

 

Do you mean "my" cost or "your" cost? I know Kelderman is probably one of the most expensive; and one of the cheapest I found was $3000.

Your cost, I don't want to ask otherwise I'll be trying to talk the wife into leaving for RRE earlier so that you can build me one! Maybe on my new rig it'd be easier with the coil spring front end. And that was all your fault! I was discussing with the wife that I was wanting your "old" long block for a spare, I musta scared her.

 

What in particular in the bottom end would you like a pic of? I don't have the oilpan on yet, I'm still waiting on my cam so I can't put the heads, front cover, or oilpan on yet. These are the only pics I took of the bottom end right now. As of now all of the rods and pistons are on the crank all torqued down. If I need to take them back out to take a pic of something just let me know and I will.



Lol I can't get much of "my" price on this stuff.
$993 for the cost of all joints and bushing, and tubing inserts from Ballistic fab
$360 for the Slam specialty SS8 bags

I have all the other metal for my tubes and 2 4x8 sheets of steel that I will cut my brackets out of.
+ whatever I spend if I decide to upgrade to remote adj shocks or not.

It will have much better joints that what Kelderman has, plus they are rebuildable. As well as a much softer ride.

It will also be designed for proper travel, ride quality, COG and anti squat, which by kelderman pics mine is going to be alot better ride and function in that aspect.

If you sit down and do all of the math and geometry calculations specific to your vehicle and its weight and design the sytem accordingly, you can make your truck ride and handle like a passenger car and still have the same weight carrying capacity.
Kelderman and others don't do that, they sell pretty much the same kit for a reg cab short bed vs a crew dually, and both require different specs to achieve the best ride.

If you go ahead and order the stuff you need and if you get there say about 3 days early. I'll have you rolling on air ride if you'd like.

I can also stir the pot some more if you'd like


Ps.- What does the kelderman setup usually run?

 

Cory,

this is the thread that will tie you back to Bit Breakers questions on the bottom end, you are the perfect cure for it too i bet.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...the-block.html

Reps to ya Cory.

 

I read the link that Tom posted. The only way to gauge the oil in the cab would be a sensor that would register when the oil level got down to a certain point. Also everything in the way like the frame/suspension etc. doesn't allow much room to see a sight glass.
Here's what I came up with-

If you would like, I have an extra dipstick tube. I can fit it it for you to come out at the passenger side fenderwell if you would like, and if the would allow you the accessability that you need. All you have to do is pull the old dipstick tube out of the flange, insert the new one and tighten one bolt. I'll even put new o-rings on the tube as well. If you would like me to do that just let me know, and pm me your address and i'll send it out in the next few days along with the other stuff I need to drop off at UPS.

That's really about the only way to accurately measure how much oil is in the pan. If I need to I can custom make you a tube that can reach about anywhere on the passenger side as well as a dipstick for it aswell.
Thanks Tom, much appreciated.

 

Would love to hear more about this. I recently found out about the kelderman setup and was liking it. This is an improvement on that you say? Is this something one could do themselves with common parts/supplies? I have access to machine shop/welding shop with tons of metal working tools so I can fabricate stuff if need be. What info can you give? Whats it gonna cost me? If you tell me, would you then have to kill me?

 

thanks for the offer cory. i really like the idea of placing a sensor like i linked in my thread in the oil pan and having a gauge inside the cab with the other gauges. it is not that i don't want a simple or inexpensive solution, i guess there is the cool factor of working through the problems and designs to get it perfect then sharing it with everyone.

so, for the bottom end, how much and where is the most clearance from the bottom of the pan to a moving part? the sensor would mount upside down and i guess just connect it backwards to detect full to low levels. it seems simple, just drill the hole, mount the sensor, wire it along with mounting the gauge and you have a quick look at your oil level. when the engine is off, do you think all of the oil sits in the pan? just thinking about what is needed to calibrate the sensor. thank you for all of the help.

edit how much of the dipstick sticks out from the bottom of the block, and where does it come through? i was thinking that as long as i stayed between the journals and in a cavity, i could place the sensor staying out of harms way, but in does not look like there is any space for it. any ideas? thanks again.

 

Have you ever seen those vonage commercials where they take their previous phone bill, wad it up, and throw it in that 20ft pile of papers?

That is what my pile looks like after figuring everything up.

To be honest, I'm not even sure I could explain it and make it make sense to someone else. But I could probably tell you what would work on certain parts of it for your truck. However mine will be a one off setup specifically designed for my truck and its specs. Not to mention, unless you want your truck lifted a minimum of 8'' you wouldn't be able to make it like mine will be. Mine will have a standard ride height of a 10'' lift.

I can tell you that the angle of your 4 link bars, the length of each, the angle of separation, angle from level, spacing, bag capacity, air pressure, frequency of the bag vs height and psi all factor into how it will ride, handle, squat, roll and articulate.

If you design one incorrectly in certain areas, if you were driving down the road and stomped the throttle, it will cause the back end to actually rise 4-5 inches. You can also design it to roll so easy without a sway bar that you could dang near tip the truck by jumping on one side, but also design one that wouldn't even need a sway bar period.

There are also compromises that have to be made with the dimensions in areas where you only have a certain amount of room on the truck and you have to get it as close to the specs you come up with on paper.

It's not just as simply as putting on 4 bars and links on each in at whatever lengths and angles seem to turn out good when you fit it up. I'll help if I can but i'm not sure how much of a help I can be other than to give you some material to read lol.

 

Ok I just got back from the garage, I've read over your thread and looked at the sensors that you linked in your thread.
First there are a few things that need to be addressed-

1-The dipstick mounts to a flange on the oil pan itself, the center of that flange is 2 1/2 inches bellow the block and 7 7/8'' forward from the center of the oil pan bolt hole that is the on the back of the block. It is about 9 3/8'' from the center of the flange, measured down at an angle and inward(same direction the dipstick is pointing) towards the only available point to the bottom of the pan. Remember there is the plate on the inside of the pan that keeps the oil from sloshing so much. Also the dipstick does not go through the block at all.

2-If you decide to mount a sensor in the oil pan, you cannot simply drill a hole in the pan and stick a sensor in, the pan is way too thin and wouldn't hold. The only way you could do that other than on that flange would be to drill a hole and custom make a flange to fit the sensor. In order to do that the motor must be removed to pull the oilpan. There is too much stuff in the way like the pickup tube and foot, and the slosh plate in the way to make one that screws into the drain plug hole.

3-When the crank and all of the rods are in the block, there is no where that you can go through the block itself and reach down into the oilpan. The main bearing caps, crank counter weights and rods take up all the available room.

4- unless you put it in the factory dip stick location you would only be able to reach down 4-5 inches or so below the mounting surface of the pan.

5-when the motor is off, not all of the oil is in the pan, it take maybe 5 min for most of the oil to drain back into the pan, however it may only amount to around 1/2 qt of oil. The rest of the oil will be in the 2 oil rails in the head, the filter, hpop and resevoir, and the oil cooler. However that amount of oil never makes a difference unless you hpop drains its oil after sitting for awhile or unless you completely take the motor apart. So if your motor is running and you shut it off, look at the oil level gauge, it should be accurate to within 1/2 qt.

Now with that being said, if you are wanting an in cab gauge and would like to use those sensors from Gill, here is what I would recommend-

Fluid Level Sensor | Gill Sensors

Those sensors are made to your specification. Have them make a sensor that has the same dimensions as the dipstick tube itself, where it fits down into the flange on the oilpan, and uses the same factory orings. This way it will be free of all moving parts. It will use the same factory orings that are on the dipstick. Those orings will be enough alone to hold the sensor in place, trust me you will know if you ever try to remove one.

As far as calibrating the sensor, say you want the low mark on the gauge to read when you engine is 3 qts low from the full mark. Wherever the oil level is in the pan at 3 qts low, will be the measurment for the length of the senors from the top of the oil level to the flange. And if you want your full reading on the gauge to mean "full" on the dipstick, then measure the distance in height between the oil level when it is 3 qts low and full. That measurement will be the spec for how far the sensors "physical" range is.

So say its based on a 5 volt reference.
say that difference between 3 qts low and full is 1''
say for your "low" reading on the gauge is measured as 1v from sensor
say for your "full" reading on the gauge is measured as 4v from sensor

Then when the gaugle is bottomed out a 0" it will read low with 1v
2qts low would read 2v and 1/3 of the way full on the gauge
1qt low would read 3v and 2/3 of the way full on the gauge
0qts low would read 4v and on the "full" mark on the gauge

They will have to have information like that to design the sensor's "range" specs

If that makes any sense, I might just be rambling lol idk i have been up for 21hrs.

 

Man I wish I had your energy and knowlege!!! Tried to send some reps.

 

I can't wait to see the fuel system.

Did you get the fittings???

Thanks for all the info and answers you been giving with this build.

Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks man. I'm just sharing what I know and my experiences. But most of the time I just ramble on and don't make any sense.

Yea man I sure did, thanks again bro those are sweet!
I also just scored a fuel pump off a 6.0l with 50k mi for $80 so I'm good to go other than making my lines.

 

Is FRANKINSTROKE done yet????

Whats the hold up?????

What you been doing Slacker????

 

LOL, I've been thinking the same thing, haven't heard any progress for a while.

By now, he has the motor in, 50K miles on it, blew it up, and building another one even heavier!!

 

talked to mr. Norris last night and work has been nuts for him