I've really been eyeballing that heater but in the 45k btu range.

Glad to see some progress.

If you cut enough, you can get an Atlas & ZF into a truck with no body lift. Its not clocked flat, but only 1 hole off. Its hanging a couple inches under the frame, but no lower than my link brackets. Much better than I expected. My front driveshaft looks to be about 36" and my rear shaft about 26". But I'm going to move the rear axle back 1" or 2" whatever is possible without hitting my gas tank, before taking final measurements. I'm going to do a little more trimming to the floor, a little more on the frame, and hopefully it will sit no lower than where its at now.

The notch in the frame is larger than I'd like, and its over the end of my radius arm link bracket. I'm thinking to box the notch, and plate the frame to reinforce it. I have a bunch of 3/16" around and don't mind using it up. Any advice is appreciated. I'll pull the t-case again and take a pic of the notch, probably tomorrow.

P1030157.JPG

P1030158.JPG

P1030159.JPG

P1030160.JPG

P1030161.JPG

P1030162.JPG

P1030163.JPG

Looking good.

Solid work Chad!! I'm sure you know, but make sure there is no contact of the body and the tranny-tcase. Besides the rubbing, the body will reverberate drivetrain noises like ! The Atlas isn't known for it's quite operation!

As for the frame notch, I'd try to lay some plate internally in the frame and plug weld it in as well as fillet in the corners. Along the bottom and outside looks to be the best option. Don't add plate to the outside like I did. I just don't like knowing it's not symmetrical if I ever decide to change up my front suspension mounts or make frame mounted rock sliders.

The only thing stopping you from going flat is the body correct? That's still tucked up in there pretty good!

Yeah, push that rear axle back as far as possible. I know I had to take some material off the ball socket and the ears on my CV for fear it might bind up at full droop. I think it still may, but I didn't feel comfortable going any further. As long as one tire is stuffed, I'm fine.

Thanks,

Yes the t-case is sitting on the frame & hitting the floor. That will all get adjusted out. The floor under the driver's seat is what would prevent me from clocking the Atlas flat. I can cut a little more out, without putting things up into my seat, we'll see how much room is left. Looks like the front output flange is clearing the floor, so hopefully I won't have to cut much, if at all there.

Are you using an oxygen bottle for an air tank?

I ask because I have two sitting around I was going to do the same thing with.

Plate away! You've seen what I did to my frame and it hasn't cracked yet. You could tie in a top & bottom plate along with the outer, a external channel type setup.

I'm starting to consider how high to push the t-case. It is already higher than my link brackets. Now, my concern is that the higher I push the t-case, the steeper my drive shaft angle gets. I will probably remove & remount my leaf spring brackets on the rear axle instead of screwing around with axle shims. I have a feeling I'm going to need a major correction.

How far can I turn my 9" before causing problems?
[/quote]

1 word... "Multiple Double Cardan Joint!"
Well, you get the idea.
Don't mind me, I'm just on this whole MDCJ kick!

Your rig looks badass, the bottom of it reminds me of the mad Max car with all the explosives and switches and such !

What's the diameter and length of the bottle? We could figure out capacity roughly. I do like that idea tho. But as you mention - they take up some real estate!

I doubt you would need to turn the 9" enough to affect oiling. I think I ended up shimming mine slightly.

Holy crap its +3* at 7:30 in the morning. Heat wave!

To keep that even keel, make sure you get the offroad rig finished and put it to the test. That's cheap therapy!

Some more cutting & I have a pretty good fit. I'm going to take a little more off the frame wall where its too close to the t-case (it won't take much) . Because I've cut out so much floor support, the floor has some sag to it right now. I think when I restructure it, it will lift up a little, and make a little more room. Everything has 1/8" minimum clearance right now. I started cutting & prepping some of the frame plate too.

P1030164.JPG

P1030165.JPG

P1030167.JPG

P1030170.JPG

P1030171.JPG

Nice! If I ever custom build a frame for a Bronco it's going to be 3" wider than stock. The narrow frame is a PITA.

Time for an update. I've been pushing along, slowly.

I plated the frame, around the outside, and added fillers to box the inside, all with 3/16" plate. It is not pretty, but it's stuck. It took a few tries, but I was able to get mostly contamination free welds. The outside of the frame that used to be against the auxiliary tank was the worst. I'm planning to add a couple pieces to fill the cut out (like JD's pics above). But I wanted to wait till I had the t-case set in it's final location first.

P1030172.JPG

P1030176.JPG

P1030178.JPG



P1030179.JPG

P1030174.JPG

Also got the t-case mount tacked together. I'm somewhat concerned with the driveline angles. I'll leave it tacked until I can finalize the rear axle location, leaf spring shims, & rear driveshaft measurements. I might end up with an expensive high-angle driveshaft. I still want to maintain highway driveablilty. We'll see.

I installed the front driveshaft on the rear to check the c.v. clearance (and some perspective). It's too short, and my angles are way off. Also, if I hadn't trapped the ratchet strap handle I could have pulled the trans jack, but I didn't have the time to remove & reinstall the t-case (again).

P1030182.JPG

P1030183.JPG

P1030187.JPG

P1030181.JPG

P1030184.JPG

P1030188.JPG

Good work! Great to see progress! Hopefully, you can get your driveshaft angles to work.

Thanks, I think it will all work out. I'm hoping to push the rear axle back 2" so that will help some. Also, it seems like its sitting pretty high in the back right now. The weight of the gas tank and other stuff I carry should lower the rear a little.

Hate to say it, but I suspect you're in for a custom driveline. Even with that you're potentially going to need a center limiting strap on the diff to prevent binding when the rear is heavily flexed.

It will be interesting how it all comes together. Moving the axle back & relocating the shocks is my next step. It might have to be really stretched & linked to get a long enough driveshaft. But I really don't want a fuel cell yet. Thats still a few years away.

Makes sense. Didn't you have a tank made that allowed a little more room?

With a stock or aerotank and a 9" you should be able to relocate the axle back 3 1/2 - 4"s without an issue. I moved my d60 back 3 1/2.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

The kicker is that if you're going to link it the upper link mounts will interfere with the crossmember under very heavy compression if you go more than about 2" back. You could probably engineer around it, but it'd be a pain.

I relocated all 4 hangers. If I were going to do it over, I'd leave the front hangers, have new longer leafs built like rjlougee did, and only relocate the shackle hangers.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk