I've been continuing to make progress with the project. The first phase of the project has been to purchases all the parts. I met up with Chris today to pick up a few more things. I got a set of Atlas springs with a 2" lift and the axle pushed forward two inches, upper and lower shock mounts, and some extremely nice stainless steel break lines. I'm also making some mechanical progress. Being very new to this type of project I was extremely stoked when I successfully stripped my Dana 60 axle. Now I get to clean it up! Here's a couple pictures of my newest toys.
Starting a Ujointclothing 4x4 conversion
- Thread starter Clark
- Start date
alaskantinbender
Adventurer
Great thread, keep those pictures commin.....:jumping:
Regards,
Jim
Regards,
Jim
I was all set to start the front brackets about 4 days ago. At the last moment I decided to replace the heater hoses along with the other hoses when I replaced the water pump (they get hear on Monday). I took the front bumper off and tried fitting the brackets on. It looks like it would be worlds easier with the radiator removed so I'm holding off to do it in one big shot. I'm thinking I'll start on the 19th since I have a 3 day weekend.
Have you picked up your kit yet?
Have you picked up your kit yet?
There sure is a lot of odds and ends that need to be picked up before the front axle can go in. I just got the tires (the old ebay takeoff special). They're 265/70/17s. Its a little smaller that I wanted, but I can upgrade after I get things on the van. Chris had mentioned that he changed the angle of his oil filter to get it out the the way of the driveshaft. This motivated me to put in an amsoil dual bipass which will sort of accomplish the same thing.
I finally got around to installing the front brackets on my van. I really happy with how it went together. I took my time installing them, but it still ended up taking a FULL day. Now that they are on they seem very strong! I did a few things differently than Chris' directions, and I'm happy with how it went. Since I was doing the waterpump and low pressure oil pump, I decided to completely remove the radiator. This opened up a lot of room to work. I predrilled 3 out of the 4 holes to the 1/2" size. This way I knew that at least 3 holes were very straight. On these holes I was able to drill from opposite sides of the frame in order to make the holes through the frame. Once I was through I used the 1/2" bit to clean them up. The forth whole I drilled the way Chris recommended. Next I cleaned and painted everything. The one thing that took more time that I expected was shaping the anticrush frame inserts. I plan on using my old bumper for now so I had to trim the bumper to make room for the bumper. It will work for now.
I starting to feel like I'm reach some level of comfort with this project :wings: I've been able to cut down my steady barrage of emails to Chris and things are actually getting completed! Here's my most recent progress update. I finally got the axle completely stripped, cleaned up, and painted. I'm happy with how it turned out, but it is a little rougher that a pro would get it. I used some Jasco metel prep on it and it left things less than perfect in appearance, but between loads of wire brushing and the jasco it's perfectly rust free. I modified the steering damper/track bar assembly since I plan on keeping the stock steering for now, but there is no way to make use of the track bar. I also picked up some brand new Dana/Spicer 4.10 ring and pinions and bearing kit for the front and rear (got a real good deal on them), and some greaseable upper and lower Moog ball joints from Powerstrokeshop.com (what a great company). Still have to pick up the Spicer greaseable ujoints. Its getting time to start thinking about the trip to Chris's gear guy. I'm planning on installing the axle over spring break!
jammyauto
Adventurer
Hey Chris, What do you have to offer to move the oil filter? I heard that Quigly offers a nice kit to relocate the filter but I tried to buy one from them and they would not sell me one since my van is not a quigly. Go figure. Don't really want to go the amsoil route as that is really the only alternative that SMB offers. Just want to move the stock filter.