Frankenstein Street Queen (a.k.a. SpeedBump)

[ckruzer]

Ordered: Prothane 1” BL. EGR/EVAP Block Off Kit. Block Hugger Headers. OEM Starter. New OP Sensor. Alternator. 3 core Aluminum Radiator. Fan.

 

[XJsavage]

Dang!! That's like $1200 worth of stuff.
I know who I'm inviting on my next Vegas trip.

 

[scotch737]

Looking good!

 

[ckruzer]

 

[ckruzer]

Looking good!

Thanks man!

 

[scotch737]

EXACTLY what my build is doing right now.. LMAO!!! Add about 3 more guys with front end loaders lol.

 

[ckruzer]

Welp. Got the rear shock CM cut and welded in. I am NOT a welder so keep that in mind when flaming. Haha.

Got the front tie rod welded up and started painting, of course. Lol

 

[ckruzer]

Ok. Here is the connundrum. Engine is level. In the trans area I have 11.5 inches from bottom of rail to underbody to work with. Right now I have the trans as high is it can go with possible metal touching somewhere. Engine is again level.

The CM tube will sit like this using the stock ax15 mount.

As you can see. There goes my flat belly skid idea. So I'm scratching my head trying to think of a way to get this within the frame rails.

Ideally. if I could find a way to come up a couple inches I could mount like this.

Realistically maybe a 45 degree mount may work but it takes away the meat to weld into. There is not much room to notch. Maybe half an inch so the bushing tube doesnt contact the frame. Plus I'm still not flat belly so might as well go the easier route?

As you can see here. Not much to work with on this mount. The ax15 has four main bolts but that certainly would put me down too far and for certain a below frame mount. But the stock bracket angles up like you see here. Maybe cut away that rubber and use a universal rubber boot and drill through the plate there into flat stock welded to the tube?

Idk. I welcome all help and thoughts from the collective here. Haha.

Thanks!!!

 

[XJsavage]

While a flat belly is helpful, 2" drop is not going to kill you. Remember, a stock ls oil pan hangs way low.

 

[Loganwayne]

Put it inside the frame and 45 a tube down and then notch it to the main tube

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[ckruzer]

While a flat belly is helpful, 2" drop is not going to kill you. Remember, a stock ls oil pan hangs way low.

That is a good point. I will have to address that in the future. But im more worried about crawling over a rock and it smashing an aluminum trans/tcase...

Put it inside the frame and 45 a tube down and then notch it to the main tube

That is a great idea and would allow for a skid plate to still be easily made (with a drop). the 45 piece of tubing mayyyy be outside my very limited welding/fabbing skills. Haha.

 

[Loganwayne]

That is a good point. I will have to address that in the future. But im more worried about crawling over a rock and it smashing an aluminum trans/tcase...



That is a great idea and would allow for a skid plate to still be easily made (with a drop). the 45 piece of tubing mayyyy be outside my very limited welding/fabbing skills. Haha.

I've got a notcher

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[ckruzer]

I've got a notcher

Weld it like this? Will this be strong?

 

[Jody Treadway]

You don't need bushings on the crossmember as well as the rubber tranny mount. That's redundant.
Toss the OEM trans mount in the garbage. Cut a piece of flat place and drill the holes to mount the plate to the trans. Mock up the new crossmember and then see how to attach it to the aforementioned plate.
Or go the easy route like @XJsavage said and lose the belly clearance but still keep a flat skid, just a little lower than planned.

 

[ckruzer]

You don't need bushings on the crossmember as well as the rubber tranny mount. That's redundant.
Toss the OEM trans mount in the garbage. Cut a piece of flat place and drill the holes to mount the plate to the trans. Mock up the new crossmember and then see how to attach it to the aforementioned plate.
Or go the easy route like @XJsavage said and lose the belly clearance but still keep a flat skid, just a little lower than planned.

That is an excellent point! Ill just shave off the rubber on the plate there and mount straight to the bracket! Thanks! Doh!

 

[Jody Treadway]

I did the same on 2 YJs in the past. Did just what I described and they both worked flawlessly.
Simple tabs on both frame rails just like you propose. Then notched the tube for the bushing sleeves. Finally I cut slits in the 2 halves of the crossmember tube and slid them over the plate and burned them in.

 

[ckruzer]

I did the same on 2 YJs in the past. Did just what I described and they both worked flawlessly.
Simple tabs on both frame rails just like you propose. Then notched the tube for the bushing sleeves. Finally I cut slits in the 2 halves of the crossmember tube and slid them over the plate and burned them in.

do you have any pictures?

 

[Jody Treadway]

I don't, it's been a few years back.
I really just cut slits out of the tube so the plate could fit in it. Then welded it up.
I notched the tubes to fit the frame side bushing sleeves like normal.

 

[ckruzer]

I don't, it's been a few years back.
I really just cut slits out of the tube so the plate could fit in it. Then welded it up.
I notched the tubes to fit the frame side bushing sleeves like normal.

ohhh. gotcha. thought you were doing something different. makes sense now! i may try an end mill to get my slit. with my size pipe, I will also have to make sure there is clearance for the tcase depending on how i position the slit.

 

[ckruzer]

@Jody Treadway @Loganwayne @XJsavage

Thanks for the tips!!!

I went the route of the Croc Master. Got rid of the boot on the stock bracket and then Cut a slit in the tube for the bracket to go into. Then just weld all together! That notch was a pain in the butt to do. Tried a 5/16 cutting wheel. Taking too long. So drilled a hole and then tried an end mill. Got about 4 inches done and it was traveling too much. But with the cut there the larger cutting disc made quick work. Getting the ends just right... I swear I "just an 1/8 more" about a dozen times. Haha. Well it's all in there. Would have been cleaner with a notcher but whatever. Ran out of wire so couldn't finish welding. One bracket is half welded and the other tacked on. I'll see if I can finish it up tomorrow evening. Doing it this way I was not only able to bring the brackets inside the rails but was able to drop the trans about 2 inches from max height. That should really help with the Tcase clocking.

Oh and here is a pic of the CM for the rear shocks. B/W just for you @XJsavage

 

[XJsavage]

Hell yeah! Puts a whole new light on it.

 

[ckruzer]

Started welding up the crossmember

Installed the steam vent line with new gaskets that arrived

A butterfly ran into the OP sensor and it broke off. Had to buy this stupid $50 dollar sensor. Dumb. Installed now tho. Got a little bit of line clearance issue. Will need to if it causes a problem or not

Emptied what was left in my pockets and sold some pocket lint on eBay. Picked up the fluids

And bodylift looks spiffy

 

[XJsavage]

When are things that come in liquid form NOT a huge expenditure?!
Coming down home stretch!

 

[ckruzer]

Some cool stuff arrived

 

[pitbullcruiser]

I would grind those welds out and do them over after some practice. Crossmember weld failure would be catastrophic. Just my 2 cents.