Slodgetto's Green Dragon 4x4 Conversion Build

well a large vertical band saw would be pretty awesome, or a torch/plasma cutter.

The grinder would be my choice if you don't have access to those tools though.

 

Yeah, a vertical band saw would be sweet! I'll give the grinder a go then.... Maybe I can just switch between the circular saw and grinder every couple inches to let them cool off.

 

Throw it in the bed and come down here, our machine shop has a vertical band saw

Might go through a few blades though

 

lol This seems to be working ok... Off to the store to get more ginder wheels though. hahaha just past the halfway point...

 

Dremel. I suggest the 1" cutter.

 

lol I was about to suggest a hack saw but that sounds better.

 

Started welding last night... Just some teaser pics:

 

Looks good. You are an inspiration to us all

 

So how much does that sucker weigh?

 

Thanks, Jeremy.

lol I haven't weighed it.... I'll have to figure it out when it's all finished up

 

Skid is looking good. Nice work.

 

Hey thanks, man! You were definately my inspiration. I never would have thought to used the whiskey bends....

 

Ordered the Trail Gear Front bumper. Humongoginarmomassive stinger here I come! Should be here in a week or so... lol

Heres the picture that sold me on their bumper with the stinger. This and my headache rack will give me a bit more piece of mind in case of rollover at Moab.


Also, started regearing my rear diff with Nitro 5.29s and solid collar. Got all the old stuff a pressed out and new bearings/races pressed in with only destroying 2 old bearings and 1 oil retainer... I think I've got a good strong pinion preload at 19 in/lbs (slightly over spec) after about 6 tries.... Next step is to get the right backlash/carrier bearing preload set and then run some contact patterns to make sure my pinion depth is ok. With my luck, It'll probably take like 10 tries before I get a good pattern.

Here's the old stuff just before I ran some measurements and took it apart. Carrier and pinion total preload was only at 3in/lb rolling torque!!! :O Backlash was ok at an avg. 9 thou and the contact pattern didn't look bad at all...

 

looks like the tree is helping that rolled truck in the pic more than the rack is

 

maybe, but I was mostly looking at how well the bumper held up! here's the story:

 

I know it won't even come close to the protection a cage would offer, but it's a little piece of mind for me..... at least that's why I chose thise one over the one with no stinger.

 

I've been working on re-gearing my rear diff for the past few days and I think I've finally gotten a pattern that I can accept. Any opinions? Backlash is perfect at an avg. of .006". The pinion was way to shallow on my first attempt, so I added .010" worth of shims and got this. At first I thought it is a tad deep, but I'd rather er on the side of too deep than too shallow. Also apears to be favoring the toe a bit on the drive side wich ZUK said is desirable for larger tires, so that is a plus. Thanks for any input!

I think it's finally time to slap her in.

 

I actually got them used from a member on here. He said he got them from a kit from a company called "Outlaw". Neither of us could find the kit online though, so it remains a bit of a mystery.

I'll actually be selling them when I put on my chebee leaf springs here in a month or two.... You interested? haha

 

That is pretty close to what my pattern looked like front and rear. Pop em in and have fun. You do the front yet?

 

I did! haha Took it for test run as well, and everything looks/feels/sounds good!

And no.... haven't done the front yet. that's next though...