TTB van pics please!

wyndsurfr

Observer
I totally welcome constructive criticism though, in no way do I have a full picture of this critter in my head yet and I know there are plenty of things I'm overlooking. At this point for instance I am pretty sure that I will have a custom exhaust and quite possibly a custom carrier bearing setup for the front driveshaft. The drivers side exhaust and catalytic converter are right where the driveshaft needs to be, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Now we're just hoping I can get that front differential tucked and as you said see where the hub comes out... One thing I did not do, which I now regret is I did not take measurements for ride height before I pulled everything off, hindsight 20/20 I guess.

4x4 components and modifications are a new realm for me and I'm definitely learning as I go :) That said, I welcome all knowledge in the matter.
 

wyndsurfr

Observer
Raul, I will either add them to this thread or make another just for the swap when I get it all together. The only thing I know for sure is I'm going to make it sit as close to the ride height that it was previously as I can without getting too crazy. I wouldn't mind a 2 inch lift, I will live with 4 inches if this is what I have to live with, but my preference is for it to set just as it was previously. It's already such a tall van with the fiberglass top on it, that I don't want to add any more height than I have to.
 

wyndsurfr

Observer
taking a quick break today, and thought I would share the failures as well as the successes....... original radius arm plan scrapped, not for any other reason than I'm a dirtbag..... I got in a hurry and cut the opposite side of the radius arm horizontal surface where it bolts to the TTB top and bottom. It was having some interference issues on one part that needed trimmed off, wasn't going to cause much of an issue with strength, but....... I had the arm flipped the wrong way and drew my cut lines on the opposite (left/right) side of that surface......... so whoops, not worth buying another stock radius arm when I already have these aftermarket ones.... These are 13 and 3/8ths inches longer than the stock ones, so, no biggie, just move the mounting point back 13 and 3/8ths (ish) inches. I don't think it matters to get this super precise, just so long as they're both the same. I'll try to get this as close as I can though.... I'll post pics of the fail this evening.
 

wyndsurfr

Observer
poop...... two things in a row messed up, looks like I need to step away from it.... cross threaded the bolt on the lower mount for the drivers side radius arm, gonna have to find a tap big enough to clean those threads up or completely disassemble the ttb so I can put the bolt in from the top and straighten the threads from the other side..... Couldn't use the aftermarket radius arms anyhow, they put the radius arm bushings/bolts right into the transmission crossmember, so, back to the van's stuff, which means while I can use the wrongly cut radius arm for this mock-up, I have to buy another and cut it properly haha...... I could do some welding to the one I cut backwards, but, prefer to have a new one with stuff taken off than the old one with too much taken off, then something added back...... Today is one of those days :p I'll check back when I get back on it, started getting frustrated and angry and that's when it is time to just stop and do something else for a bit.
 

wyndsurfr

Observer
well, even though I promised to quit.... I didn't I made some progress today though. Fixed everything I f-ed up, back to using the van radius arms and got the drivers side temporarily mounted to cycle the suspension.... Looks like I might blow the deadline of driving it out of my shop on friday because of the fails all morning, but.... who knows, might drive it out on saturday :) I still don't know how tight I can tuck it, but looks like it is possible to tuck it very tight, however, still being able to use the van springs and not going with shorter springs may blow that... I could very easily put the mounting pivot of the TTB about 2 inches lower than the stock 2wd mounting points were, and that may be the way I have to go... anyhow, more tomorrow.
 

Numbchux

Member
I do not own a Ford van, and haven't really looked at one in person with the thought of converting it to 4WD. So take this thought process with a grain of salt...


I was looking at radius arm designs, as the D50 never came with radius arms, only leaf springs. I was wondering if the OE van radius arms would work, but my concern that the 4WD TTB radius arms (specifically the LH one, as that's where the diff is) have to handle the torque of the front axle, not just the suspension movement. Do you think the Van arms will be strong enough?
 

wyndsurfr

Observer
Good thought, but, yes I think it will. The OE truck radius arms look just like the van radius arms, and in case you missed it, I'm doing a dana 44 conversion, not a dana50. In fact, I haven't actually taken any OE truck arms off to really examine them, but, I think they're the same, if not the same, then VERY similar.. The radius arms that I have on hand are aftermarket and very much longer than "stock" for either a bronco or a van. I had reached a point of using them yesterday, then where their mounts needed to be was directly in line with the transmission crossmember, so.... I am back to using the van's.... I am pretty sure that I will have to make a drop bracket though, if for no other reason than to turn the driveshaft yoke on the differential down, I'll know more when it has weight on it, but it is pretty darn high........ I know for a fact right now that if I had or buy smaller springs (than the van stock springs) I could put the ride height of the van exactly or very near what it was before I started this, but I'm really trying to keep custom components to a minimum here.
 

Numbchux

Member
The OE truck radius arms look just like the van radius arms

Very cool. I did know you were doing a D44, which is why this is a great comparison, as it actually has OE radius arms.

Just keep in mind that the height of your radius arm mounts will also effect your castor, which will have a huge effect on the handling.


Good to know it's possible to keep it low....that would be my goal as well.
 

wyndsurfr

Observer
lol, I just figured this out today :) Gonna have to drop those arm mounts a little bit, but, what I have will work to get me off of the lift and on the ground, then I can move the arm mounts down to the point I need.... I may end up moving the mounts back a little bit too so I can take care of some clearance issues.... I have a couple of issues to sort out with angles, the axles going between the two beams aren't lining up right and the mock up mount I made for the drivers side beam is hitting the passenger side axle... but, no sweat... I'll either move the mount forward or the radius arm back, I like where the tire sits in the wheel well right now, so... moving the mount forward is probably my plan. I drove my bronco to my buddy's shop today so i could put it on his lift and look at angles and such... anyhow, the van radius arm is 23 inches from center of bolt hole to the edge where the big washer sits for the bushing... An OEM bronco arm is 22 inches.
 

wyndsurfr

Observer
This is a load bearing picture, the van isn't on the ground, but I jacked the suspension up until it came off of the jackstand, then test fitted the wheel. This is the van's rims too, I was quite happy to see that they fit and cleared the brakes and all :) very cool, although I'll still be swapping them for 4x4 rims just to get a trim ring on there. I may have to move the radius arm back, or the TTB mount forward, gonna play with both tomorrow. I had things where I thought I wanted them, then before I did anything more than a few tack welds, I put the passenger side beam on and test fit it, the mount I made for the driver's side TTB pivot interfered with the axles. If I move the mount forward, I have to trim the engine cross member, if I move the radius arm bushing brackets rearward I'll change where the wheel sits in the wheel well... It looks very nice and centered right now, so I'll see how much I have to play with by removing the bushings on the radius arms tomorrrow, that should get me over an inch, and I will see where that places everything. I have a couple 32 inch tires on wheels as spare for my bronco which is a 31 inch tire that I can put in this hole and see where it goes, but anyhow, two steps forward and one step back is still progress :) Or maybe more like 3 steps forward and two back haha.... Honestly, I have about 4 hours of straightforward work in this now, but it's taken me about 4 full days of work to get here. If I ever do another one, I know I could be at this point before lunchtime on the first day all by myself, well, maybe with the exception of the rivets on the engine cross member, those were a bear even with a plasma cutter. Definitely not a full day's work to get to this point with having a clear plan though. I'm pretty sure that after I get this one done, I could do another front end swap pretty quickly. I have been complaining about having no help here, but, honestly, at this point I am thankful for it, I'm getting my hands on every part and seeing the difficulties that one will encounter.

maybe it's time for a build thread so it's easier to follow this trainwreck... haha
 

wyndsurfr

Observer
Time for a beer :Wow1:

it's not done, but I think my mock-up is done.... tomorrow I take everything off of it again and make the real mounts.... it's just using some flimsy leaf spring hangers for a boat trailer I had laying around spot welded in place to check interference and suspension fit.

Pretty happy with ride height, definitely going to move up a couple sizes in tires though, that front differential isn't near high enough off of the ground and it's just asking to get smacked.... I plan to weld a little angled skid plate on it for sure to stop and nasty catches from happening.

what a week! I MIGHT have it driving again tomorrow, if so, that's 7 days of work on it, not full 8 hour days, but close.... Funny thing is, next time, I could get to this point in a half a day for sure. Could have the whole thing done in two days max all by myself. Anyhow, tomorrow I start engineering the final mounting brackets :-D Depending on how long that takes, I could be on steering components by the afternoon.... or, could be next week before I have it steering.... Still have to drop the radius arm rear bushing brackets as well, but that will be the final thing and really shouldn't take that long.



20170323_170550.jpg
 

Timjim

Observer
How's that Millermatic 211 woking out for ya?? Been going back and forth about grabbing one of those with the aluminum spool gun.

Wish you the best of luck getting that TTB in there permenantly.
 

wyndsurfr

Observer
buy it... best mig I have ever touched. All my friends who are boilermakers covet it as well, they say it's the best mig they have ever touched. The auto setting is perfect every time. I was torn between this one and the lincoln that will also tig, what stopped me from buying the lincoln is the LCD screen on it, I just don't see a place for an LCD screen on a welder, at least not in my shop. Anyhow, I got the spool gun and love it too. I've used it a couple times with 110 voltage and it works fine and dandy. I really don't have a single complaint about it, have had it for a year now and it works great. You can see the big ol lincoln buzzbox in the background, I have it for the big farm stuff, but, can't beat this mig.
 

philos

Explorer
Nice progress so far, I'm going to have to check out your Facebook page too once we're moved completely and have internet service again (sitting outside a cafe now).

Also, +1 on the Millermatic 211. Nice little machine with tons of power for what it is. Certainly not an all-day production welder, but it's a fantastic machine. Buy a 15' lead and a 15' quality ground cable plus clamp, and you'll be in business, the 10' gun is just too short in my experience. You will understand the need for a quality ground cable when you see what's in the box.
Oh yeah, the regulator they ship is a quality piece of kit too.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

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