Long Travel BS Thread

I have almost no brake dust whatsoever with my red pads. Definitely need some heat in the rotors to bite hard, but way better than stock even cold.

 

Need some advice.

I had the cage bolted down and welded all the accessible joints without issue, removed caged a few times and did some work. Knowing I couldn't get to crazy with the welding with the cage off the truck I did the opposite of that. I welded this portion in the middle on the backside and it caused the whole thing to pull into the middle, now the 2 ends have to be pulled apart to bolt down. About an inch, which with the bed off is easy to do but I can't imagine trying to get it to fit with the bed back on.

I'm thinking of cutting these 2 supports out and then bolting down and replacing them.

Was also thinking of installing a temporary bar across the part that's open to be able to weld off the truck

 

Couple blocks of wood and a bottle jack.

 

I used a ratcheting cargo bar. Worked great

 

Red pads are what came with the kit
After running Hawk HP+ pads on previous cars I don’t think I can ever be surprised by or complain about brake dust again

 

Do you recommend just using a bottle jack and some wood and bend that shit back? Because I will definitely do that

 

Yes 10000%

 

You will like the red pads.

My advice is to bleed everything like normal, and then do the suggested break in (which is different than every other brake bed in for some reason). After a week or two rebleed the system again. They come with the little bleed tool which is kind of a pain to use but for whatever reason you never get all the air out until a little use. They will feel like you got all the air out the first time, but once you re-bleed you should get a few air bubbles and your pedal will be a little nicer (Firmer).

 

It’s absolutely not uncommon to need some hydraulic persuasion after welding. Even after a part was done in a fixture. However, pressure needs to be applied where the problem originated to be truly corrected and not mess up something in the process.

 

What's the thought on tension?

If I can't find the origin joint that's causing the warp, and just pull the cage until the bolts line up, leaving most of the cage under tension, can this cause issues?

 

I mean some strut tower braces utilize spherical rodends with opposite threads to add preload to the chassis, so maybe it’s prolly fine?

 

No matter how you slice it, tension is stress. It can eventually lead to failures. This is why for anything 4130 to be worth a damn it needs to be “stress relieved” or the chances of cracking are very high.

DOM isn’t going to give too many shits about some tension. But it COULD begin cracking over time.

So yes, it can be a problem depending on circumstances.

 

The amount I over bent this thing to try and get it to line up again I am confident it can hold some shocks lol

 

yeah i just finished welding up a 5 x 6 foot box and everything was great till i cut the angle holding the open end in place, damn thing moved in 3/4" had to jack it open about 3" to get it back to position. pretty normal for something thats open like that to move, take a very specific welding procedure to get things to not move and even than its still a game of chance.

 

What CV boots do you guys run? My cv boots tore 10 miles into my first drive and it was all highway use. My truck has very good CV angles so I don't really know why.

 

I would be focusing more on the why. Because at 10 miles, a good boot is going to last 20.

 

Find a cool lookin way to add another tube, or d-ring or two for tiedowns or somethin like that on the now obtuse side. Then hope it straightens out when you weld it. Might take an extra pass or two or adding a couple extra of whatever it is you weld on.
Second option would be to cut almost - but not all the way - through from the obtuse side, tighten up the gap you created by cutting and weld around it.
Third option would be to cut out that section and add in a new piece. If you go this route, buy a foot of whatever tubing fits perfectly inside the tube your using so you can add a little sleeve with rosette welds behind the joints where you cut and rewelded

 

After further investigation I don't think the thing strand of sheet metal connecting my cab to my rad support will last. What do you guys think of this setup?

 

Tubular core supports are the only way to go. Strong as hell, light, numerous options for mounting and the list goes on and on.

 

Do you have any pics of what you recommend?