Fully polished TuRD

Welding a spacer would be the easiest, but can definitely see the complications of having to tow it to a friends house or a shop.
Could look into renting a portable 220v welder from a rental place(gas/lp powered)?

If your not opposed to the IFS box, what about running a late fj60 or fj80 box? Both are forward swing, might have better mounting hole spacing to clear the alt. and/or motor mount.

 

That's going to be part of my test fitting as well tonight, since the fj80 and 60 box are roughly the same size and shape of an IFS. I have an IFS box on loan from a friend for mockup. Another idea i have been contemplating while i should be working is cutting one of my left over square tubes from my frame build in half and welding that on the outside of the frame as a spacer and plating the shit out of it. I could also weld a nut on the back for the steering box bolts and that may solve my motor mount problem, hmmmmmmm..... In my head that solves the problem of just welding a thick ass plate to the outside of the frame rail.

 

Another idea is three 1" thick steel bushings to space the box away from the frame. The bushing concept works best with the thick plate that we talked about and tapped instead of tubed.

Technically, I'm presently using the bushing idea on my 3 mount box right now....not 1" thick but is 1/32" thick. I'm using 3 thin washers to prevent my flat box surface from contacting the "not quite flat" surface of my frame plate.

 

They would have to be really thick walled bushings....hard to locate maybe and probably easier to make your own from thick bar stock and drill your own 1/2" holes. Square bushings work just the same as round ones.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-1-4-OD-X-395-ID-STEEL-SPACER-BUSHING-1-long-/112006158949

 

Turn that bitch up and double pass a piece of 1/2" on to space it away. Drill and tap through the spacer and new frame to mount the box and that will give it extra clamping power. If you are really paranoid, drill some holes and plug weld it too

 

I could also weld it on enought to get it on the trailer to a friends with a bigger machine.

Half inch was a guess i may have to go more. Ill know more tonight.

 

Theres still hope for the ford box! No pics since i was muscleing this big bastard in there solo, still need to ger it clamped in there and do a flex test once i have an extra hand available to help me out.

 

I'm gonna guess that is one massive piece of pig iron that is gonna make the left side sag.

 

I have 4 extra sets of springs to add leafs if need be. Apparently 60/62 owners like to give stock springs away for free!

Hell whats another 40lbs to add to the taco lean, right??

 

I got the big bastard to fit. I chopped up the bracket for the alternator, now i have a ton of room. The alternator is going to be practically hugging the block which is fine. Also found out that im going to have to notch the oil pan for drag link clearance at full stuff. So ill be tackling that this week.

Modified bracket:

I chopped the alternator bracket in half and welded it onto itself. Adjusting the alternator may be a PITA, however i do that maybe once evrey 5yrs or so.

The clearance i gained:


And a pic of the offending steering box:


Where the box sits one of the mounting bolts would have to go right through the motor mount. I think im going to use a bolt for a stud for that mounting hole. I am also going to have to make a tab and mount for the hole above the frame rail. Looks like ill only have to worry about drilling one hole completely through the frame which is nice!

Other than that i got my trail gear crossmember mounted up, i have mixed feelings about it, and did a bunch of boring stuff like weld gussets to my rear spring mounts that i could not get to, and patch up shitty welds that i made on the frame scab plates that i attempted to blindly weld with the factory crossmember in the way.

I'm also contemplating ditching the IFS hubs and running the factory fj 60 hubs, i don't know yet i may do a mock up this week.

 

Damn, that Ford box is large.

Great job McGyver'ing things to make it fit.

I've always said, 'If it's not hard to do, it's not custom.'

 

Yea its a big bastard, however its supposed to be able to turn 37s with no hydro assist. Also west texas offroad will drill and tap them if i ever need to go that route which is cool.

Building custom shit sucks and i hate fabbing, seriously!!

 

Well it beats the hell out of paying somebody to do it lol [at least your wallet should think so ]

You should not need hydro assist with that thing for a while. So that should save some good $$$

 

Theres not a competant shop around here even if i wanted to pay someone to do it!

Yea for sure! One if the guys i wheel with has hydro assist and it he is constantly having problems with it so fitting this box makes more sense in the long run lol. Our wheeling group is traumatized by his stuff constantly breaking and leaking!

 

Lol and mine is the one that works....mostly. I go back and forth hard because the hydro assist takes a ton of strain off the box and surrounding frame. Just a lot of extra complexity and cost compared to the ford box

 

If this ford box, even if it doesnt, i may try that manual box with a hydro ram instead of a tie rod steering that is all the rage. That will be in a few years though unless this setup doesnt work at all.

 

There's always "that" guy haha.

If hydro assist is set up properly it should not give any trouble at all. Some people try to do it on the cheap and end up with a ghetto/hack set up with wrong fittings, poorly plumbed, etc. Not saying that's the cause of the guy in your group. But it is certainly costly to get it done properly.

 

He admitted when he first built it he was way over his head. Since then, its just been bad luck of leaking lines, pumps crapping out and boxes taking craps on him, bad luck at this point.

Then you have guys like snowy that i wheel with that slaps it together in a weekend and it works flawless.

 

That's my MO...No overthinking, put it together where it makes sense and wheel the hell out of it.

Upgraded my garage from a 1-car detached to a 1.5 car attached garage so I can actually do more wrenching