The Oddball build - Isuzu solid axle 3-link, Coilovers on 37's

Tried that snappy... We need almost 60 deg at full droop. That ain't hapnin lol.

It needs a doubler BAD. I want to see him swap over to a 2wd tranny and run a divorced case like a 205 but we'll see.
 
The front axle centerline is now 4 inches in front of stock but the pinion snout is about that much longer than stock. At ride height the front shaft is like 21" long so even the 8 or 9 inches a doubler might add would really not be enough.
 
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Yeah de ja vu, I was just talking to a friend of mine about this issue.
I've got some ideas but Ill go over them with Chris on Monday in detail.

Probably the shortest driveline ever.
V6 is mounted straight, its just that the 5 speed trans is short and the Tcase is integrated into the 5speed section. (3 pieces including the bell housing)
The Tcase front output is actually in the middle case (weird I know). Its all gear driven, no chain - so you can't just chop and plate it.
There is some creativity we could do with a 5speed 2wd trans and adding an auto's 4wd Tcase as it is separate and the front output is on the unit and not 'through' the auto trans. (like it does in the 5spd)

Once I got a final agreed solution that will actually work, I'll post up the plan.
This is gonna be kinda nuts
 
That is Really Awesome! And you get to say - "It's 1 of a kind"! As somebody else referred to, looks like a lot on the front frame. Keep a watch on it.
Are you using the factory brakes? I guess you'll soon know,if it stops!
 
Thanks Rodney. The brakes on the Dana axle are much larger than the stock isuzu front brakes. It will still be four wheel disc all the way around. Kept the parking brake because believe it or not the cables are long enough even after the spring over job. So yeah I still get to keep the driver "oh shit" handle.
 
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cool build. glad to see an Isuzu build. I like the linked ft versus leaf springs. I wondered about it. I have an amigo stuck back that hopefully 1 day will get on the build list. parts stocked for it, yota ft axle and a chevy 4.3. and like u said. I planned on 36s
 
Great fab work Chris! I LOVE builds like this, good job going forward with something unique.
 
Yo Lorenzo cool to see this coming along man. Chris does great work as always. You know theres been several guys how have converted out trans to doublers. Look at the old wire forums or doesnt the 3.2 have the 60* GM bellhousing drilled into it as well. So there was A thread the other day on the planet and I think you can end up basically bolting a t5 or even an SM 420 trans straight on. That would open up your transfercase and gearing options. Also an SM420 is pretty cheap compared to Isuzu parts lol.
 
Saw this rig up close yesterday.
Awesome!
:beer:
 
Thanks Paul.
Goin big is the plan. Hope to wheel with you guys again.

Dylan, I haven't heard to much about the sm420 jobs. Pm me any links or info you may have.

Right now we're looking at this option:
The Isuzu AR5 manual bell housing bolts up to my 3.2 and somehow I'm going marry that trans with a Toyota R trans and run a case or doubler behind it. Supposedly the AR5's guts is an Aisin R trans essentially, like an AX15 and others.... The challenge now is the spline count on the output.
You can't believe everything you read on the Internet but I'm determined to make it happen.
 
If it is just ax15/R150 then that would be the way to go. I'd go with the toy trans and run a Toyota doubler but the R trans are hard to find cheap. So really an ax15 with a 231 with a 300,241, or 205 behind that. The clutch would be the only issue then. You'd have to swap inputs between the ar5 and ax15.
 
I ran into the 'tarded short front shaft issue when I was doing my old 1st gen trooper (4cyl with manual). I'd already moved the axle forward quite a bit and I had a shackle fwd SOA setup that matched the height of a stock rear SOA. Going any farther forward would have looked stupid and also required moving the steering box. The options were a.) lower it via SUA with different springs, b.) cut and turn and use a CV (or a combo of both a & b), c.) swap to a 2wd trans and mount a divorced case, d.) the dual isuzu case (which only a few have done). I ran out of time fiddling with it and sold it. I would think going with a linked setup would allow you to keep it low enough to have a decent angle at ride height, but the droop would be an issue, for sure. I'd run a limiting strap until you can get more driveline length, somehow.
 
Yea going to a 2wd trans with a divorced case was my first plan of attack but with limited gearing in a 205, the cost of the gear set and the overall size just didn't make sense. I really need some real world info on these aisin transmissions. There are threads all over the web explaining how they all relate and what the different gear ratios are available for them but really nothing on input/outputs. In theory the R series toy, the AR5 and a few others are all the same case with different bell housings and tail housings. So it would make the most sense to use a complete Isuzu AR5 trans so that the slave and clutch are not an issue. Then a tail housing from a R151 an mate it to a gear driven top shift case or..... a R150 taco tailhousing and an adapter to a gear driven toy case. Unfortunately I don't have these transmissions sitting in front of me so this is all in theory. I just need more info on what output shaft size, spline and length the AR5 has. Any help would be very appreciated.
 
http://forum.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=74895
http://highdesertoff-road.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=65
http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/showthread.php?t=4740
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyo...ota-w-o-adapters-hybrid-r150-ax15-tranny.html
http://www.4x4wire.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=264689&page=4&fpart=1&vc=1

Just a little research. From what I've found the tail housing from a toy R trans will bolt up the the AR5 but the AR5 has a 24 sp output where the toy cases are 21 and 23. Not sure if you could swap the out puts but the front half of the cases appear to be the same so essentially you could swap the AR5 input into a R series trans and use the AR5 bell housing and run toy cases.
 
MarsFab said:
Yea going to a 2wd trans with a divorced case was my first plan of attack but with limited gearing in a 205, the cost of the gear set and the overall size just didn't make sense. I really need some real world info on these aisin transmissions. There are threads all over the web explaining how they all relate and what the different gear ratios are available for them but really nothing on input/outputs. In theory the R series toy, the AR5 and a few others are all the same case with different bell housings and tail housings. So it would make the most sense to use a complete Isuzu AR5 trans so that the slave and clutch are not an issue. Then a tail housing from a R151 an mate it to a gear driven top shift case or..... a R150 taco tailhousing and an adapter to a gear driven toy case. Unfortunately I don't have these transmissions sitting in front of me so this is all in theory. I just need more info on what output shaft size, spline and length the AR5 has. Any help would be very appreciated.
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I've seen a divorce mount kits for toyota cases. You could also lop off the front output from the stock case and run a divorced 'whatever' behind it...205, nissan case, etc. Just food for thought.
 
I think it needs a small bloc, 465, and an atlas behind it.:flipoff2:

Looking good. Hope yall can figure something out. Just make sure it's strong enough to handle those 37's. I know how Lorenzo is.
 
paulevans76 said:
I've seen a divorce mount kits for toyota cases. You could also lop off the front output from the stock case and run a divorced 'whatever' behind it...205, nissan case, etc. Just food for thought.
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Thought long and hard about that route. Input and output are same spline on the stock case so you can actually slide the input of one over the output of the other. I just don't like the lack of aftermarket support. Or hell any support for that matter. But worst case scenario it'd work.
 
Maybe stinkbomb will chime in to correct my mistakes. He was looking into a drivetrain fairly similar. An ax15 out of a dodge Dakota has gm 60* bell housing pattern, and you could then bolt up a d300 behind it or swap, input and bell housing off dodge ax15, into toyota r150/151 (3.0 v6 5sp) and adapt any Toyota case/doubler etc behind that.

Lorenzo and Chris. I have a Toyota r150/151 whichever from behind a 3.0 v6, and a spare yj ax-15. If you want or need me to tear them both apart and figure out what where you can convert one to the other PM me and I'll be glad to. As far as the AR5, I have no useful info. IIRC, stinkbomb should chime in and help, he can give the specs on the dodge trans with GM 60* bolt pattern.

Lorenzo awesome build can't wait to see this back on the trails and Chris awesome work as always man.
 
Thanks

The main part we need right now is the tailhousing from a 151 and the output shaft. It will bolt to the back of our AR5 to allow us to run a geared Yota case.

I think Lorenzo has an ar5 on the way so we can have it in front of us to figure some of this stuff out for sure.
 
If the 3.2 has the 60* Chevy pattern, an ax15 out of a late 90s Dakota is what you need. It will have to be a 2.5, 5-speed, 2wd, which is an ax15, with the 60* pattern bell and a 23 spine output. You could then do a direct D300 bolted to the back or even a 231/300 doubler, which is flipable.

IMO, the 231/300 would be the cheapest route, since pretty much every Toyota gear case(rf1a), is 21 spline(unless its the needle in a haystack turbo truck case with 23 spline). Yes, you can buy a 23 spline input, but if doing a doubler, you'll need both cases to be the same, for the coupler to work(comes in 21 or 23 spline). If you need to buy two new 23 spline inputs, they're $300 a piece. Read below for transmission/case interchangeability

I like my Toyota stuff, but behind a v6, in a heavier vehicle, save your time, money and hassle and skip the Toyota cases, they're stout, but I don't think they would be up to par, unless you ran all 23 spline and a longfield or marlin output, which is a few hundred doll hairs.

Transmissions:
-R150 is found behind 3.0s
-R151 is the gem found behind the 22ret(turbo). This has a bell that bolts to a 22re on it ($$) and same pattern as an rf1a case on the back.
-Same tranny as an ax15, internals and bells interchange, different tail pattern

Gear cases only bolt directly to the g and w series transmissions and the r151. The r150 requires an adapter. Which is also another $300.

Holy long reply(haven't had my caffeine injection yet, laying in bed, on an iPhone, going off memory)
Cliffs:
-2.5, 5-speed Dakota ax15 has 60* bell
-^transmission is 23 spline, so a 231 and 300's are direct bolt-ons
-If you make a hybrid ax15/r150 trans, you can then run Toyota duals, BUT you'll need a v6-rf1a case adapter, and either 23 spline cases, or 23 spline inputs and then a 23 spline dual adapter(outputs become fuses, in which case, the whole case needs to come apart to fix)
 
Chris, I'm assuming an ar5 is roughly the same as an ax5, which is the same as a w series Toyota trans. Holds up fine behind a 22re, probably fine behind a 2.7 also, but not behind a torquey motor, plus it would require all 21 spline case parts, which don't like torque, at all. Building strong toy cases are really expensive and then step into the stock strength of other cases. But they are very lightweight and if you need a long drivetrain, they're great. But only the r series trans used 23 spline, everything else is 21.
 
The ar5 were using is an Aisin. The same tranny as the Toy R series the ax15 and a few others but with a more desirable gear set. It supposedly shares the same clutch and slave configuration as our existing tranny. I'm not sure about the ax15.
 
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