landy_andy

We’re going to see how it tows, easy to add some later if required. Already have the brackets.

Finished up with mounting his RTT on top and the trail bike carrier on the front. Brakes are connected up to a surge coupler with LED lights all round. Will look great once it’s had a coat of black ‘Raptor Liner’ on the tub.

Tub had the front closed off with some 16g aluminum sheet & a section of capping grafted into the top. Modified the old ‘All Wheel Trim’ hood to be accessible from both end & cover the long storage area on the front.

Axle was designed to use the left over parts from the old D1 axle I had in the 90, I drew up some adaptor plates to graft the stubs onto some 3” Sch.80 pipe. I then made some brackets to mount the old calipers & some caps for the hubs.

Had the old D90 tub sitting along side the property for a long time, started building a frame for it back in 2019 but it got back burnered. As we’re moving house in the spring it was time to finish it off… and a buddy decided he wanted it. Frame is mostly 3”x2”x3/16” wall tube with a 3”x3” reach.

All ready to be bolted up !

If your struggling with TRE’s then consider using Chevy 1 ton ones, there readily available on-line and you can get the correct taper reamer from Barnes 4WD and many other after market suppliers. Generally if your running larger than 35’s this is the common upgrade. Barnes 1t link kits If you want to go extra beefy then step up to these cartridge style. Rock Jock HD TRE’s 2.5t TRE’s are also available but less common.

Decided to make a full belly skid to prevent branches poking up through the seatbox when traversing clear cuts.

Drew up a custom wrench (similar to Artec one) to disassemble the SKF unit bearings, already have the one so will get another for the front & get the Timkens for the rear as there a bit cheaper. Darn… Artec have stopped making the Timken tool… will have to wait until I get my cut parts to move forwards 😕

The 35 spline outer finally arrived, don’t think it fits the hubs 🤣 Found the special tool from Artec Industries to disassemble the Timken brand hubs and have the bores machined out. Getting an idea of 3rd member offset, highly accurate ! Now the waiting game again… at least the snows melting fast, finally have some green grass on the front lawn.

A few more chassis parts arrived from Barnes 4WD, nice H/D winch tray I’ll add some extra gussets to it for looks & stiffness. At $75 it’s not worth drawing one up & having it cut out ! Two sets of 10 degree square tube link mounts for the lower link subframe end. Some 3/8” threaded bushings to mount the belly skid and I’d already got some teardrop reinforcements from TMR Customs. I can now finish drawing up the reinforcements for the winch tray and just need to order the material to make the main frame rails, rest I have on the rack.

Started to collect parts for the front axle… some cleaning required ! Already have the inner 4340 CrMo 35 spline axle shafts, ordered up a 35 spline outer to figure out the axle tube dimensions. Once that’s done we can get welding !

Axles will be based on the same fabricated centre sections I used on the D100 but with 99-04 Super Duty C’s and knuckles on the front and Trail Gear unit bearing pockets on the rear. Here are a few pic’s of the last ones I built.

As requested, here is the start of my tube buggy rabbit hole ! Frame is based on a Jesse Haines chassis I modified to use a winch tray from Barnes 4WD with the rear switched out to shock hoops. This will allow me to build the frame out to a roller without having to finish all the cage work. DOM tubing is ridiculous expensive at present so, this will save some $ for the time being.

Afraid not, axles will be based on 99-04 Ford Super Duty inner C’s and knuckles, Inner half shafts are 1.5” 35 spline stock and the outer stubs get upgraded to 35 spline, both will be after market CrMo’s for extra strength. Unit bearings are SKF brand bored out to suit the 1.5” stub shafts with solid drive pucks. Rear axle will have weld on pockets for the unit bearings with double end splined half shafts and drive pucks again. 3rd’s are Ford 9” based in Yukon HD housings with ARB’s front & rear. Housings are the same fabricated centre sections as I built for the D100 with 3.5” x 3/8” wall tubes. Brakes will be Willwood Dynalite 6 piston calipers on custom brackets. Lots of wheel options available from cheap steels with a weld on beadlock kit right up to race spec double beadlocks… all depends how deep you pockets are !

So, a couple more pics from the other weekend. Really happy in how the front steering has worked out, tucked up fairly high and well beefy ! Nice shot but gotta do something about the drivers door, is original and has the scars from its previous like as a RAF airfield run around. Maybe some nice large LR decals. Still waiting on the aluminum belly skid plate to be cut & bent, only been 8 weeks now… hopefully have it by the time my hands healed and we can finish off the last few parts then. Finally, a sneak peek of my current design project. Took an older Jesse Haines chassis and drew it out in Bend-Tech with a few changes to make home construction easier. Shock hoops front & rear so it can be built to a rolling chassis without having to finish all the cage work first. Will have another set of 609 axles using the same housings as the D100 but retaining the 99-04 unit bearings. Lots of aftermarket wheels available then and we can use the wife’s winter wheels in the meantime to move it around. Full hydro steering and probably a GM 4.3L V6 with a TH350 behind it and probably a Behemoth t’case with 4:1 Lomax gears. Waiting on a few bits from Barnes 4WD as I wanted to keep the custom cut pieces to an absolute minimum due to the extended wait times.

Thanks, been a very long time coming. Only problem now is I injured my hand climbing over a snow bank taking the pup a walk. Gotta keep a finger splint on for 6 weeks, so no shop time. Argh ! 😭

Well, the snow has finally quit… sun is out and things are starting to melt at last. Took the opportunity last weekend to get the custom trailer out and see how the truck fits. Crawled up & over the fenders real nice in low, low. Now to get the lights finished & wait for the local forest road to clear out… hopefully be out by late June.

For some inspiration…. Globe Trecker Interiors

And… I decided to add a skid plate under the transfer case & exhaust muffler. Will go from the front x-member to just behind the rear trailing arm mounts. Think it’ll be 1/4” aluminum with a 3/8” UHMW skin to make it slippery. Same as most of the ultra 4 and other race cars run, could also use AR400 plate but she’s already a heavy beast !

It can be, would need to see how it goes first. Most aren’t disconnected as there designed to allow flex.

Swapped out the rear 26” limit straps & we have just enough clearance to allow for a bit of stretch in them. And what’s left to do…. - Refit the passenger side floor plate, just need a 6mm push fit ‘T’ for the breathers. - Last full nut & bolt check. - Work on the rear anti-rock install.

Spool for the time being… the 9” ARB’s were in short supply when I built it up… thanks Covid-19 🤬 Will run that for a while till I can get a deal on another ARB.

Mini air compressor arrived & installed, just need to pipe up the front ARB now. Another job ticked off the list.

Mounting bracket drawn up, just waiting for the bushings to dimension out the sch.80 pipe.