Round 2: Keepin' up with the Joneses, Mud Devils and Tony Woody

Jody Treadway said:
Possibly the following weekend. I may be riding on some 29" Maxxis tires with some buddies from ECGS and Oliver's on the 9th
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Hmm well let me know. I'm going to the Veteran's ride on the 9th. I'd love to see you on 3d with the Ford.........
 
Jody Treadway said:
Yeah, but they're invited :flipoff2:
Didn't know you were a biker. Obviously you're welcome to join if you'd like. You do like elevation gains, don't you?
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hahahaha

Of course I have a bike, just not as bad ass as you are on two wheels :) hell probably not on 4 wheels either..
 
The ol' girl continues to follow buggy lines and the sheetmetal proves that fact. Me and my crew recently had a killer weekend at Choccoloco in Alabama. The blue beeyotch performed great and aside from some pass door carnage, no problems
But an annoying thing keeps happening. The transfer case studs and nuts back out after a ride or two. I keep an eye on them, but they'll do so quickly. You can tell by watching the transfer case shifters start moving all over the place inside the cab.
So today I fabbed a DIY Atlas support ring and crossmember. I got the kit from eBay for line $60 and trimmed to fit. The crossmember is 1" x 3/16" square tubing. I welded a nut in the end of each end so it can be through bolted with 7/16" bolts. It rests in a pocket in the frame to help locate it.
All in all, a success. Now I'll pull the Atlas to access the studs and replace them with better hardware.
I hope @mcutler can sleep at night knowing such a high level of fab skills exist on my side of I40. o_O

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Jody Treadway said:
The ol' girl continues to follow buggy lines and the sheetmetal proves that fact. Me and my crew recently had a killer weekend at Choccoloco in Alabama. The blue beeyotch performed great and aside from some pass door carnage, no problems
But an annoying thing keeps happening. The transfer case studs and nuts back out after a ride or two. I keep an eye on them, but they'll do so quickly. You can tell by watching the transfer case shifters start moving all over the place inside the cab.
So today I fabbed a DIY Atlas support ring and crossmember. I got the kit from eBay for line $60 and trimmed to fit. The crossmember is 1" x 3/16" square tubing. I welded a nut in the end of each end so it can be through bolted with 7/16" bolts. It rests in a pocket in the frame to help locate it.
All in all, a success. Now I'll pull the Atlas to access the studs and replace them with better hardware.
I hope @mcutler can sleep at night knowing such a high level of fab skills exist on my side of I40. o_O

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Funny, I recently got a lesson from Matt on the 3 legged table theory (motor mounts and trans mount). That 4th leg you just added can stiffen any torque the driveline produces. Might cost you a bell housing.
 
@BigSouth that is a valid point. I've ran similar support rings on 2 prior rigs that had doublers
However...
In my case, all 4 mounts are the same, sleeve and bushing. Engine mounts are oriented parallel to each other as are the trans and Atlas support, albeit they are perpendicular to the engine mounts.
The Atlas ring isn't so much a mount as it is there to keep it from pulling off the back of the transmission. It will still torque side to side as the clamping rig will still allow the output housing to rotate a minor amount. If it were more rigid, yes there would be a potential for BH damage
Also on my side is the fact a C6 housing is cast iron and very resilient.
Good point and I'm open to discussion on this topic.
 
BigSouth said:
Funny, I recently got a lesson from Matt on the 3 legged table theory (motor mounts and trans mount). That 4th leg you just added can stiffen any torque the driveline produces. Might cost you a bell housing.
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But it’s inline with the trans mount. Probably only 18-20 inches aft of the trans mount. The added stiffness should be marginal compared to what the motor mounts are handling, no?


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Jody Treadway said:
@BigSouth that is a valid point. I've ran similar support rings on 2 prior rigs that had doublers
However...
In my case, all 4 mounts are the same, sleeve and bushing. Engine mounts are oriented parallel to each other as are the trans and Atlas support, albeit they are perpendicular to the engine mounts.
The Atlas ring isn't so much a mount as it is there to keep it from pulling off the back of the transmission. It will still torque side to side as the clamping rig will still allow the output housing to rotate a minor amount. If it were more rigid, yes there would be a potential for BH damage
Also on my side is the fact a C6 housing is cast iron and very resilient.
Good point and I'm open to discussion on this topic.
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Everyone has different experiences.

I'm a firm believer in the 3 leg table design. Adding a fourth leg is not an issue of engine torque, it will do its job in the respect. It's the chance of an impact anywhere between the engine mounts and last mounting point, in your case, the atlas ring. I've lost 3 tail housings when having a ring, due to belly impact; the drivetrain is over-constrained with 4 point design. Bell housing is not the issue, tail housing of the transmission is the week point.

Crude drawings included
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But what if your skid system takes the impact and not the trans crossmember? Asking because this is on my radar for next year....
 
Thanks @mcutler, feedback always appreciated. I totally see your point, that any impact between front and back mounts would/will look for a weak point in between.
In my case, would you support (see what I did there?) my thoughts as long as my skid plate is rigid enough so the crossmember/support mount wont see impact, it shouldn't be an issue?
My skid is quite massive, braced to Hellanbach, and perhaps most important in this case, independent and away from the new crossmember.
 
mcutler said:
Everyone has different experiences.

I'm a firm believer in the 3 leg table design. Adding a fourth leg is not an issue of engine torque, it will do its job in the respect. It's the chance of an impact anywhere between the engine mounts and last mounting point, in your case, the atlas ring. I've lost 3 tail housings when having a ring, due to belly impact; the drivetrain is over-constrained with 4 point design. Bell housing is not the issue, tail housing of the transmission is the week point.

Crude drawings included
08ad963dc27e6e6e4dd46f89ab8d8a56.jpg
a9a3c09ac658cf295c22e48cadf05cc7.jpg


Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
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What he said... apparently I crossed the I’s and dotted the T’s...
 
Jody Treadway said:
Thanks @mcutler, feedback always appreciated. I totally see your point, that any impact between front and back mounts would/will look for a weak point in between.
In my case, would you support (see what I did there?) my thoughts as long as my skid plate is rigid enough so the crossmember/support mount wont see impact, it shouldn't be an issue?
My skid is quite massive, braced to Hellanbach, and perhaps most important in this case, independent and away from the new crossmember.
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NickMaul said:
But it’s inline with the trans mount. Probably only 18-20 inches aft of the trans mount. The added stiffness should be marginal compared to what the motor mounts are handling, no?


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Indeed. As long as the neither mounting tube is in contact with a rigid skid, should serve fine. You can see this being formatted in many buggy designs with a separate tube an inch or so above the belly skid, or with a hanging mount. I fully agree that supporting an atlas isn't a bad idea, so long as your mounts allow twist of the chassis (especially in a stock C channel frame and transmissions prone to tail housing stress failures) and stay out of the way of impacts.

Below is the combo mount for both trans and atlas on the comanche.
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All done (for today)
Pulled the Atlas to replace some broken studs. Replaced them with some Grade 8 hotness.
@thebrotherinlaw was kind enough to use up my electricity and consumables and trim the belly skid around the Atlas support crossmember.
If I could just find some new (cheap) doors, I'll be set for another beatdown.
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I stumbled back on this thread looking for a pic of my dovetail for another forum.
Truck is still ready to do it's thing. No real upgrades on the horizon as I really just want a buggy. No immediate plans or anything, but hopefully within a year or two I'll have a Bent Fab chassis with all my powertrain and drivetrain in it. EB grille, retro paint and a #BTL decal.
 
Jody Treadway said:
I stumbled back on this thread looking for a pic of my dovetail for another forum.
Truck is still ready to do it's thing. No real upgrades on the horizon as I really just want a buggy. No immediate plans or anything, but hopefully within a year or two I'll have a Bent Fab chassis with all my powertrain and drivetrain in it. EB grille, retro paint and a #BTL decal.
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You are basically describing the buggy i want, as well. Which chassis are you looking at? Guessing CK1/EVO if you are skinning. I prefer the front of the Cliffhanger/Grunt/CH2
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
You are basically describing the buggy i want, as well. Which chassis are you looking at? Guessing CK1/EVO if you are skinning. I prefer the front of the Cliffhanger/Grunt/CH2
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EVO
I spoke with Tim at length last year and actually drew out my plans based off his spreadsheet. Money-wise, it is completely doable. I would rather get my shop built first so I'm not 45 minutes away from working on it in my spare time.
 
I couldn’t pass up a deal. But hey I now have 35 spline stuff with a nodular 3rd, I didn’t cheap out on that.... but I wanted to
 
77GreenMachine said:
Just do it already and get the chassis on the way.
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All kidding aside.
If that chassis ends up in my workshop, it takes up money making space and time. If it ends up at my soon to be home shop, I tinker on it in my free time.
That's the difference in my head.
 
Jody Treadway said:
All kidding aside.
If that chassis ends up in my workshop, it takes up money making space and time. If it ends up at my soon to be home shop, I tinker on it in my free time.
That's the difference in my head.
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...hmmm, I could just get two coming[emoji6]

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Jody Treadway said:
EVO
I spoke with Tim at length last year and actually drew out my plans based off his spreadsheet. Money-wise, it is completely doable. I would rather get my shop built first so I'm not 45 minutes away from working on it in my spare time.
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The EVO is a nice unit. No doubt.
With a hanging trans mount I must add :D
 
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