Ms Piggy. Black and Blue!

[chuzie]

What's the source for the 1/4 guards?

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[broncosbybart]

Here you go.

http://pnwbroncos.com/?p=1

[broncosbybart]

Got some rock skis started! Plans are to make them removable from the frame so that I can still take the body on and off using the lift if I should so desire if/when it is all built and going.

The skis and the outriggers going from the frame are 2x4 3/16 wall. The skis will be bolted to the side of the frame using 1/4" steel plate and 1/2" bolts through the frame rails, which will be sleeved.

Got a good start on it all but I need to disassemble the whole thing before I install more sleeves, as some of them are close to interfering with cross members and other such nonsense.

They aren't done yet but at least are tacked and positioned where they should be. More to follow in the next few days.

[chuzie]

Is it just me or does the passenger side seem more forward than the driver? Could be the angle of the pics.

I really like those sheet rock holders. Awesome idea. Pretty essential for a one man crew.

Are you running 3.5 or 5.5 coils in front?

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[broncosbybart]

Both sides are in the same position. Must be the angle. I'm not set on the coils yet. The ones in there at the moment are 3.5" Duff's coils but I have been back and forth between those and the 4.5" WH coils I started with. Not sure which ones will end up being used yet.


Jumping around a bit, I cut the 70 grille up a little bit for the 67 turn signal mod. As well, I went for some creativity points on the rear shock mounts. Might have went a little overboard.

Then, out came the engine, trans, and transfer case. Got the front crossmember and driver side frame rail notched for harmonic balancer and starter clearance. The starter should clear without the notch, but I wanted to be sure.

While there, I welded up the engine mounts as well.

[Crawdad]

Charles, I'm looking at your track bar. Did you make that or did you buy it? If so from where?

[chuzie]

Dude. I think your just reached the summit on this project and it's all downhill from here with the reassembly and finite aesthetic details. I'm really pleased and quite impressed. Those shock mounts are awesome and will be super stable! I'm about to takeoff from CLT now so gotta run. Peace!

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[broncosbybart]

Crawdad, I got the track bar made by Andy at Iron Man 4x4 Fab. They're in western NC and are great guys. He used 1-3/4" solid tube, machined it up, and then put the bends in it.

Man, what a beautiful day! Got some more stuff done. Here are some pics and details on what I did for the rock skis.

There are 2x4 supports on each of the skis that go to the frame. I welded 1/4" plate to cap the ends of those supports. Those plates were first drilled for 1/2" bolts. The bolts go to mounting holes on the frame. There are 8 total bolts holding each ski to the frame rail. A few pieces of angle iron were welded to the frame to provide mounting locations for a few of the bolts as the frame is higher in the rear than the front. Hope all this make sense. The pics should tell the story. I will add some gussets from the 2x4 supports to the 1/4" plate in order to stiffen it all up. I'm not finished welding it all together yet.

After all that, I dropped the body back on and bolted the front clip into place and fit up the front F250 shock mounts. I removed the body and welded them all up.

Sorry- pics are all out of order...

[chuzie]

Why solid track bar and not tie rod and drag link?

I like the idea. Would have been nice to have that time I bent mine in half.

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[broncosbybart]

Fair question. It is easier to put the bends in it than heavy wall tube. That said, this thing is stout enough that if it bends during use, something else is going to break at the same time.

Guess I'll update this a bit more. I got the frame all stripped down and got everything welded up. Motor mounts, shock towers, rock ski mounts, radius arm mounts, and drop bracket for the track bar.

While doing all that stuff I ground the sloppy factory welds down and welded up any poorly welded areas. Lots of grinding and not fun stuff. At least that's all done now. Major work on the chassis is about finished!