The couch is the devil. I have pissed away soo much time due to that infernal couch.

 

Weather man was right. Rained out. I found out about 12 so I took a nap then went out and messed around a bit. I hung 1500lbs on the front spaced it out to 60 inches. The 2 inch square didn't like it so I'll beef it up and see what happens

 

Wow! That's 1.5 diesel engines hanging on that. Those bars look pretty stressed. Start bouncing and it would probably break or bend real good

 

More beef

 

Is that square stock? I'm no engineer, but I do believe tube is stronger than solid bar. Not to say 1/4" wall is stronger than solid, but I think 1/2" wall would be stronger. Not sure if they make 2x2x1/2 though.

 

Actually I ran this by some engineers at work. It'll be a solid base with the tube on top. The top tube will be the new adjustable point. It was a b#@$�� to get it in the two receiers at once and evenly

 

It's funny because he got crayon all over his face when he was doodling on some paper...they hire them so young here

 

Solid is %150 stronger than .25 wall of the same material. He gave an equation of (D4-d4). I'll rock it till it breaks. Time will tell

 

Whew, that should keep the front end planted!

We had an OSTPA pull here last weekend and I sat for a while and watched them go. Left before the trucks ran, though. I got impatient during the rain delay... They ran 2.6 and 3.0 til about 10:00 that night, but I needed to get home to the wife and kids.

 

Here's some pictures of some stuff I have been messing with. I got the ram mounts made and welded on. The steering bars blasted and painted. Drilled and welded the fittings on the steering gear box. It took over 2 hours to get the power steering pump/vaccumm pump out of the engine compartment. It took 10 minutes to unbolt them but with these stupid engine mounts you can't slide them back far enough to get the gear out of the engine. I haven' been happy with these mounts since I started making power and it' about time to change them for a stronger style. I cut the reservoir on the pump to maybe make it easier to get it back in its hole. I cut the top of and capped it then welded a nipple on it for a remote reservoir. Then installed the modified pressure valve. Tomorrow if I can stay up long enough I'll try to get the pump in then box so I can get hoses made. Oh and I'm going to get a better cooler for the hydraulics.

 

Got the power steering back in in like 2 minutes. Way easier withut the top and hoses on it. Steering bars are loosely bolted in and the ram was bolted in to measure for hoses. Hoses done, so now I need to figure out the reservoir and cooler then a quick alignment. The Chevy tie rod conversion I did last summer with all moog ends....The rubber boots rotted off. Maybe 300 miles on them. So I changed the rubber for Energy suspension poly boots. Here' a shot of it

 

That drag link looks close to the spring. How close is it? Looking good. I have the same steering setup in my shed waiting for me to cut and fit it to my jeep (purchased the kit from Ruff Stuff).

 

It does touch, but only where it makes contact. Hehe!! But seriously it just barely touches at full lock. Did you get those tie rod adapters, they make life easier.

 

No, I'm a glutton for punishment. I bought a reamer. Plan to drill the knuckles and pitman arm out, then ream them. Should be able to ream the knuckles on the jeep. Will have to pull the pitman arm off and do it on the bench. That project got back burnered though, need to build a garage first. Hope to have one built by fall. Then I can start cranking on the fab projects again.

 

I can't seem to get anything done quickly anymore. Work ,kids and wife, you know.how it goes. Anyway I finished the steering this morning. Holds right at 2 qts. With the hubs locked and case in 4 high on the street it's 1 finger to turn lock to lock. Still has return to center and has the "road" feel.