That is some serious art! I have a structural question. I have my theories on why to tie into the top of the framerail, but is the best reason to fight flex from steering? I am just wondering how truly important it is, because you see some that are barely attached. They just weld the tube to the bottom of the frame.

I bring it up because when people are copying other's designs, they should know a little more about the "why," not just the "how"

 

Yes the ties into the upper frame are to combat flex and the frame rails pointing in at each other over time.

With the way I boxed the frame all the way out towards these I probably didn't need to do it - but I am overkill like that ya know...

 

I am starting to see that.......hehe....

I like it, I gotta get my shop built so that I can have a warm sheltered place to play this winter.

 

Ok - after taking a bit off to make my new welding table, help grandma, brother's b-day, etc. I got back to work on this.

<style>.wysiwyg { PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: #f5f5ff; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 5px 10px 10px; FONT: 10pt verdana,geneva,lucida,'lucida grande',arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: #000; PADDING-TOP: 0px } .wysiwyg A:link { COLOR: #22229c } .wysiwyg_alink { COLOR: #22229c } .wysiwyg A:visited { COLOR: #22229c } .wysiwyg_avisited { COLOR: #22229c } .wysiwyg A:hover { COLOR: #f40 } .wysiwyg A:active { COLOR: #f40 } .wysiwyg_ahover { COLOR: #f40 } P { MARGIN: 0px } .inlineimg { VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle }</style> I added a little "beef" to the front spring hanger/hitch attachment. It's 1/4" plate and should make the attachment slightly stronger. I still wish I had it in double shear - but oh well - not really feasible with this.


All welded up - now I just gotta drill the holes and paint tonight!






Now I just gotta get my buddy to cut the end plates so I can weld them on and get Muttly back on it's wheels!!!!

 

Purdy welds ! Your work looks great and I was missing your updates there for awhile.

 

Thanks!

Since my build on the spring hanger is pretty much done and you like seeing the updates. Check out my crew build thread. Lots of updates there!
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...9&goto=newpost

 

Yikes !!!!
30 pages and Ive never even seen that thread before. I gotta lotta reading to do. Thanks

 

OK Steve you're killing me here, it looks like you got three threads going on?! The two on this site, and the one on the Cummins Forum. Do they all have the same info, or do you have a favorite/master thread? I've been checking all three of them, so I don't miss anything. . .

Oh, I'm still dying to see the Green Monster, one of these days I'll have to twist Ed's arm to take me to your shop. . .

 

yes 3 threads going.

The one in the motor swap forum here and the one in the cummins forum are basically the same. The only variation comes from posts made by others that sway the conversation one way or another.

This thread wasn't started by me, but since I was building this right at the time the thread was started I joined in and apparently took over. Which reminds me - any progress 71hightoy?

As for heading down to the shop - come on down whenever. I spend a lot of time there!



Back to the pics. I didn't get much done last night... On the crew that is. I spent much of the night working on the supercab getting it cleaned up and the fenders off it. I need to get it ready to head out to vegas next week so I can get the custom front fender molds going.

Since that ate up much of my night all I got done on the crew was drilling the holes in the newly added 1/4" plates. It took way too long. Partially because I was lying on my back on the floor and drilling upwards. And partially because it was late (about midnight) and I was over tired and not thinking.

In fact I was "not thinking" so much I did this


Kind of a bummer as it was my favorite/most used of the step drill bits...

It stopped me part way through the 1st side


I switched bits and got it finished up. I forgot to take pics though - so more tonight...

 

Did a little more work again last night. Again I was messing with the supercab (putting lift coils in) so I didn't have a ton of time for the crew. I wanted to get this thing kinda wrapped though so I could put the crew back on it's wheels. I still need my buddy to cut the end plates for me - but I gotta roll it around this weekend - so it will be good like this for now.

Only got "finished" pics of last night as I was kinda hauling but to get it done before it got too late and I forgot to stop and take pics before paint.

The "just cuz I added it at the last minute" gussets

 

It's knowing that cool fabrication jobs jobs like this are possible that made me broken hearted when my materials engineering professor told the class "welding is the worst thing you can do to a metal".

Since our frames are not tempered I don't think there is anything to worry about.

This is some seriously good work and I've enjoyed following along. Looking forward to your next project!

 

Wonder if that's going to be strong enough? I'm going to pray every night before I go to bed that I never end up in a collision with your truck.

Great job. Can't wait to see more of it. Also...Where's the posts/pictures of your Supercab?

 

You think that ones bad - you should REALLY look out for the other stuff. Roll cage connects to the engine cage and all the way out through the front bumper. Zero give. Good and bad at the same time

So I needed to roll the crew out this weekend so I could get to some parts and re-organize the shop. Therefore I put this thing together... Still waiting on my buddy to cut those plates so I can finish it - but close enough for now!

 

<style>.wysiwyg { PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: #f5f5ff; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 5px 10px 10px; FONT: 10pt verdana,geneva,lucida,'lucida grande',arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: #000; PADDING-TOP: 0px } .wysiwyg A:link { COLOR: #22229c } .wysiwyg_alink { COLOR: #22229c } .wysiwyg A:visited { COLOR: #22229c } .wysiwyg_avisited { COLOR: #22229c } .wysiwyg A:hover { COLOR: #f40 } .wysiwyg A:active { COLOR: #f40 } .wysiwyg_ahover { COLOR: #f40 } P { MARGIN: 0px } .inlineimg { VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle } </style>I had another decent night last night and made some progress again. Like last week - most of the time was spent on the supercab as I am still getting it up to par for going to vegas. Last night I got the autofab beams and radius arms ready to go on. Hopefully I'll get those bolted up tonight.
Here's a pic of the new and old welding tables in use with the beams on them. Old table is nice for getting these heavy beasts onto as it is lower...


after that was done it was too dark to work on the supercab which is parked out in front of the shop, so I went back to the crew.

I got the pass. side frame support thing for the front leaf hanger done. I meant to take more pics as I went but I kept forgetting. So, you guys just get 1 half way through pic and then a "finished product with wet paint" pic




Now if I could just get my buddy to cut these final parts I could weld them on and be DONE!!!!

 

Progress. Ok so what i did was cut a piece of 2"x4" 1/4" wall box to length. Slid in 1"x1 3/8" solid steel in to cap it off. I drilled two 5/8" holes in each 4" side of the tube to plug weld and then welded the face also. Took factory 78/9 hangers and cut off one side. Im welding them to the tube. These are not fully welded. Im goin to weld them both as seen then get the insides sand blasted to weld. Ill be adding more to it later.