Nashville TJ's Build - Continued

[NashvilleTJ]

After finishing up the other side, it was all downhill from there. Slid the axle under the rig for the last time and torqued down the control arms, installed and set the coils, installed the sway bar and limit straps, connected the brake line, breather hose, air connection, and filled the punkin' with 90 weight.

And finally da bling...

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Over the next day or two I'll tackle the front. Should be a piece of cake compared to the rear.

One final piece I still have to source are some longer parking brake cables. The parking brake cables come in from the rear on the Chevy 1 ton setup, and mine are about a foot too short as expected.

On the '60 I ran the calipers reversed (positioned on the front) to allow clearance for the coilovers, and I ran Blaine Johnson's kit to reverse the parking brake cable - which worked very well. On these tons the calipers are already on the front, but there is no easy way to reverse the parking brake cable because the giant caliper is in the way.

Another puzzle to solve. But that's for another day.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

And as I’m sitting here posting, I received an email from Red Rock - Easter Jeep Safari is cancelled again this year.

 

[sunnysideup_lj]

Turned out perfect!! Fun build to watch. Makes me want to keep my eyes open for some junk yard axles to build for the future.
Bummed about EJS! Saw the email too, I was hoping to see your rig there. Still planning on making the trip to Moab?

 

[Fouledplugs]

Another puzzle to solve. But that's for another day.

Would something along the lines of this help?
https://undercoverfab.com/misc-brackets-/162-jeep-tj-parking-brake-bracket-kit.html

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Would something along the lines of this help?
https://undercoverfab.com/misc-brackets-/162-jeep-tj-parking-brake-bracket-kit.html

No. I’ve got the brakes themselves resolved - that‘s the entire reason I wound up starting over with a later model 14 bolt - I just need to find the right length cable. Worst case is I could always fab up an extended cable junction bracket to replace the current one. That would work fine as well. In fact, sitting here thinking about it that would be a fun little fab project - and keep the use of the factory cables.

The main reason I wanted a good e-brake solution is that I have them set up to use as cutting brakes - redneck style.

This is the brackets to which I’m referring. You can see how I split it to operate each brake independently.

 

[Chris]

Looks damn good so far, that's for sure!

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Does this 14 Bolt make my ass look big?

 

[Wildman]

Looks DAMN good.

 

[B00mb00m]

A mod that I did to the '60 many years ago was to add a tab for strapping it to the trailer. It made it much easier to strap it down, and eliminated the need to crawl under the rig to look a strap around the axle. The position of the tab allowed me to attached the strap by just reaching under.

Here it is on the '60:

View attachment 222581

I cut the tabs out of 3/8" plate, and milled a 1" whole in the center.

View attachment 222582

I then extended the hole to the inside edge with the death wheel. A little flap disk to ease the edges, and instant tabs:

View attachment 222583

Tacked in place on the 14 Bolt:

View attachment 222584

I'd like to do that but seeing how easily you straightened the tube with an axial weld bed on one side makes me a bit worried adding a tie down like this could tweak a housing?

 

[NashvilleTJ]

I'd like to do that but seeing how easily you straightened the tube with an axial weld bed on one side makes me a bit worried adding a tie down like this could tweak a housing?

I thought about that. It did take a hell of a lot of weld to make it move, so hopefully that didn't move it too much. I should have pulled it all apart and checked, but....

Damn, now I won't be able to sleep at night...

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Looks DAMN good.

Thanks Brother.

 

[B00mb00m]

I thought about that. It did take a hell of a lot of weld to make it move, so hopefully that didn't move it too much. I should have pulled it all apart and checked, but....

Damn, now I won't be able to sleep at night...

Sorry about that . Looks damn good.

 

[Irun]

View attachment 223421

Must....look....away!!

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Knowing all I had to do today was swap the front hubs, I woke up this morning thinking I'd be driving the rig by around 2. Sunshine and Rainbows.

Here is the before shot:

And after disassembling the locking hub and pulling the rotor. You can see the custom bracket that Dynatrac uses to allow installing 1/2 ton brakes on what is a 1 ton knuckle. You can see the stock 1 ton caliper mounts just behind it.

That bracket gets removes for what I have in mind.

And then it was just a matter of installing the hub. Sunshine and Rainbows.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

But now it's cloudy. The rotor would not seat correctly. The bearing were about 7/8" to close.

Here is the new Ford F-350 rotor beside the original Dynatrac rotor. They look pretty close.

But at this viewing angle, you can see the problem.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

So I called they person from whom I purchased the hubs, thinking they might be wrong. He double checks, and they are definitely for a 97 F-350.

They I called Dynatrac and spoke to my buddy Steve, who originally told me all I needed was a hub, caliper and rotor assembly from the Ford.

After explaining what I was seeing, he said he meant to convey that they calpers from the F-350 work with their knuckle, but the hub and the rotor are custom machined to run on their spindle.

(*%^$#@#!

After saying he was sorry for the miscommunication, he went away to work up a quote for the hub and rotors that I need. Still waiting for that.

Anyway, with nothing better to do, I pressed out the studs from the now useless hub assembly. Look's like the rig will be sittin' on jack stands for a while longer.

...and I did another one of these. Somehow, it's therapeutic...

 

[Wildman]

Total bummer I was really HOPING it was gunna turn out to be something simple.

I wonder at what point is it not custom Dynatrac? What I am trying to ask is could you change the spindles and then be able to use the hubs that you have? What else can be different? I wonder if the Dana 60 bible on Pirate would have all the spec's on that stuff so you could measure them? Cause I hate to see what Dynatrac is gunna want for their parts.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

I spoke with Dynatrac yesterday and ordered the front hub / rotor assembly that I need for the ProRock. They apparently run a custom spindle, a custom hub, and a milled rotor. Nearly a grand with shipping.

ProRock 60

#partsyoucantgetanywhereelse

Or more likely, off the shelf parts that they just won't tell you what they are.

Anyway, they have the hubs, but need to mill the rotors. Prolly a week or two before I see them. I really wish they were more clear about that when I first spoke to them a month ago and they told me the Ford pieces would work. But, it is what it is...

I can return the rotors, but the hubs I bought from a dude on e-bay for $400, so I'm stuck with them. But, it is still what it is...

So to kill time while I'm waiting, I tackled the brakes. My original master cylinder was a half ton unit with a 1 1/8" bore piston. The total surface area on the 1 ton brakes is much greater than my old setup, and both the 97 F-350 (my font calipers) and the Chevy 2500 HD (my rear calipers) run a 1 5/16" bore MC.

I spoke to Vanco (I run their hydroboost setup) and they suggested I move up to their larger MC which is the 1 5/16".

The unit came with a nice bench bleeding kit - so that was first on the list:

I did not want to have to wait until getting the golden Dynatrac hub/rotor assembly to bleed the brakes, so I fiddled a little and got the new calipers and pads installed using the old rotors. This will allow me to bleed the brakes.

The new calipers really dwarf the old rotors.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Then it was just a matter of swapping out the master cylinder. It's pretty tight over there, so I had to pull the compressor and the power steering overflow to get the old unit out:

I have some fancy tube work which is needed to clear the compressor. The front and rear reservoirs are swapped on the new unit compared to the original, so I had to redo all the fancy plumbing. No big deal, and I got to use my hydro flare tool once again. Here is the end result:

All buttoned up once again:

And finally today I also found a solution to the e-brake cable situation. Willwood makes a nice, heavy duty universal e-brake cable set which can be cut to length. That will be my easiest solution, and only about $100. Should be here late next week.