1972 F-250 2wd to 4wd build

[rattle_snake]

Working on nitrous system solenoid mounting. Mounted fuel one on it's own on a single manifold bolt but knew alignment with the other would never perfect so aborted and changed directions. Made a rail type mount for all three and used different manifold bolts. Really need to use two mount bolts to be able to torque down with effecting alignment. Came up with this, 1/4 rod and some 1/8 flat stock, slice of DOM. Solenoid base to port heights are different so had to adjust to as needed. Didn't want to weld in place next to EFI so had to test fit a 'few times' to get it dialed in.

Routed #6 fuel supply back around manifold to ease access to fuel jet that is on the back of the injection plate.

Long way to go on wiring and other things but starting to look the part.

 

[F***roads]

Some street shenanigans before blowing the front end apart. Audio not the best but the 40s spinning make make a deep gnarly howl.

New video by Justin OShea

photos.app.goo.gl

sir everything about your truck makes my pants tight! the look, the sound. and smoking 40s music to my soul

 

[rattle_snake]

Thanks man. In the most hetro way possible!

 

[rattle_snake]

Puttering on nitrous system HW. Built a more robust WOT switch mount.

Hogged out the corners of the intake lower plane flange. The spray bar has holes close to the ends and the radius of that side would impede flow.

With fixes to secondary throttle I wanted to back off tension on throttle return springs, but was out of adjustment. So I made a new adjuster rod. Smashed one end in press to make springe easier to install and a nice way to hold round stock while threading.

 

[rattle_snake]

Been working on nitrous wiring and purge plumbing as time permits and parts show up.

Wired solenoid rail and WOT throttle switch to a weather pack connector. This allows engine (or cab / inner fender) to be removed without removing anything related to the nitrous system.

Built a harness for the switch, heater relay and instrument cluster indicators that are in the cab. It goes through firewall and has a weather pack connector to plug into the others.

Installed engine harness and wrapped up pluming. Went a bit crazy with ANs, but I like the ease of maintenance and look/feel they provide. All black like the rest, subtle.

Nitrous purge line is hose from solenoid to firewall to allow movement. Used a bulkhead fitting to transition trough cowl and go to 3/16 stainless hardline

Purge line exits center cowl at a angle.

 

[rattle_snake]

I like shiny things and stuff

 

['84 Bronco II]

The keyed design on that is nice; looks like a solid hunk of steel

 

[rattle_snake]

Built the last sub-harness for nitrous system. Used the last 2 open relay spaces in the under hood power distribution box. Other end is a pair of weather packs that plug into the engine and cab harnesses. Used 2 types of 4 pin connectors so can't plug into wrong place.

Was never quite happy with air cleaner assembly I have cobbled together. The original drop base was too low and interfered with sniper fuel lines and pressure gauge. Wanted a zero offset base but closest I found had a raise of about 3/4", so ran that for awhile. Didn't like that flange could be seen so I modified it by smashing it in the press. Now it is zero offset.

Now it sits just right.

 

[rattle_snake]

Added upper tailgate trim to my 72 F250 'Explorer'. The expo package didn't include it, only the ranger I believe, with a chrome handle.
Can't purchase one side so I bought a new lower and made the uppers out of the old lower. Hand formed the ends with various tools. Installed clips and one side and noticed how far off the body lines are. Poo.

So I moved all the clips and placed the trim where it looks right instead. Calling it a win. Also switched to a historic copper license plate.

 

[rattle_snake]

As I was ready to weld up the new tie rod, I realized I had 7/8-14 tube ends and tie rods are 7/8-18. Ordered some fine thread versions from Ruff and got back to work on the steering system. For drag link, it needed to be longer to reach the knuckle. So I cut one end off the old tie rod and used it.

My welding kung-fu has improved over the years and now I feel comfortable doing life-and-death steering welds. I weld with three beads, 120* at a time, 2 flats of the hex nut. So a slight up and slightly down path that won't look consistent unless you adjust travel speed.
The right bevel is key, leave 30% or so unbeveled. Goal is full fill, and full adhesion to available surface area.

Can see the heat signature by looking at inside. start-stop points, cold spots, ect.
I like this type of threaded insert that has no thread where the weld joint is. Threads that far back do nothing (smart people say only the first few thread so anything). I have another type from Sky's offroad that is fully threaded, and would worry about heat warpage.

 

[rattle_snake]

Installed and torqued arm. Tight fit.

Now drag link is quite flat. Even with track bar in flattest position it's not enough. Test drive confirmed bad bump steer. Have to extend the fame and/or axle brackets to dial it in.
Looks like it will clear frame when at bump on pass side. Steering wheel will still turn 95% of the 4 turns lock to lock using inner hole on arm. This means that before I was limited by box. Now it hits stops and tire just touches at full lock. So I gained some steering angle. Does seem to have a bit less assist force as expected. Will see how it does on the trail and if a ram is needed.

 

[rattle_snake]

Bump steer on old Ford was unacceptable with new steering setup. Needed to flatten out track bar, by raising axle side or lowering frame side. Frame side was originally a 3 hole bracket by I cut it down to 2 to not limit up-travel (6") by contacting tie rod. Can't use all the up-travel the suspension has due to the tire/sheet metal anyhow, so both options open.

I happened to have an extra axle bracket on hand, so it made sense to use it instead of creating something from scratch. Well, unless you have a CNC plasma and a press break. Was going to only add one more hole, but decided to go two incase one was not enough. Can cut off top hole if not needed easier than adding one twice.

Plan was to just copy contour of top down to bottom and melt together. To make it easier, I cut top off flat to give space to weld between bolt holes.

Ground a V on both sides for weld to sit in and have more contact area.

Welded it up and ground smooth. To reinforce, I added a gusset on back side that ties into the radius arm mount.

Plan to make an overlay plate on the front, back is sufficient with gusset.

Test drive in 4th hole was better. Behavior seemed opposite as before so I thought I had gone to far and needed 1/2" adjustment range. Before doing anything else I moved bar to uppermost hole and did test drive, perfect.
Both drag link and track bar are at 2* at ride height. Flattened track bar by 5-1/2" This reduces side to side axle movement due to suspension flex significantly. Axle end is close to frame now (~4") and might hit limit strap, so spaced it out as temp fix.

With geometry solved I centered axle, steering wheel and did a toe alignment. Drove truck to work this morning, 90 mph no hands on the wheel. Drives and handles great for a big tall pig on marshmallow tires.

 

[350TacoZilla]

Man you have patience and talent for the suspension geometry. At this point would adding sway bar to front be last step in helping the handling on rd? Maybe something you can disconnect from in cab like power wagon\ rubicon style?

 

[rattle_snake]

Yes a front sway bar is on the wish list. I think it would improve on-road manner significantly, as well as bombing down dirt roads. As for disconnect, would have to see how it works first. Seems the current way of thinking on buggies and crawlers is to tune properly with right bar size and arm length and leave them connected. I would have thought the radius arms themselves would have resisted body roll more.

Next step is new rear leaves, likely Deavers. Flip to tension shackle, more arc, no or minimal block.

 

[350TacoZilla]

I have seen where guys are now running them but wasn't sure with your trucks height \ lift \ tire setup if that would work well enough on rd and off to make it worth it or if something overkill on rd that you can disconnect would be more of a fit for it.

What made me think of the power wagon deal was I saw a kit that makes the disconnect manual where you just pull a knob, but then someone mentioned trying to adapt it to a cable from in cab kinda like a ox locker or posi lock setup and went on for using it in swaps instead of a factory power wagon.

 

[665.0coupe]

Yes a front sway bar is on the wish list. I think it would improve on-road manner significantly, as well as bombing down dirt roads. As for disconnect, would have to see how it works first. Seems the current way of thinking on buggies and crawlers is to tune properly with right bar size and arm length and leave them connected. I would have thought the radius arms themselves would have resisted body roll more.

Next step is new rear leaves, likely Deavers. Flip to tension shackle, more arc, no or minimal block.

Do you have rubber/poly bushings on the axle end of the radius arms?

 

[rattle_snake]

Do you have rubber/poly bushings on the axle end of the radius arms?

yes, it's a modified ruff stuff kit. Poly on all 4 axle end links.

 

[665.0coupe]

yes, it's a modified ruff stuff kit. Poly on all 4 axle end links.

Like you said above, the radius arm suspension should resist body roll because it's effectively a big sway bar.

 

[holdmypocket]

Yes a front sway bar is on the wish list. I think it would improve on-road manner significantly, as well as bombing down dirt roads. As for disconnect, would have to see how it works first. Seems the current way of thinking on buggies and crawlers is to tune properly with right bar size and arm length and leave them connected. I would have thought the radius arms themselves would have resisted body roll more.

Next step is new rear leaves, likely Deavers. Flip to tension shackle, more arc, no or minimal block.

Not that you asked but here's where I landed for myself:

I went with the "Superflex" 4" Deavers from Bronco Graveyard after reaching out to Scott @ Deaver about going 4" with block/shackle-flip vs 7" no block/shackle flip and the advice I was given was to go with the 4" for a better ride overall as the 7" just has more arch.

I currently have these springs in the rear with no block (1/2 ton axles and 33"s) and it rides awesome. The plan is to run this adjustable shackle-flip from Bronco Air (Shackle Reverse Brackets) so I can dial in the height. I already have it, shipped quick, comes with hardware, powder coated.

 

[rattle_snake]

Like you said above, the radius arm suspension should resist body roll because it's effectively a big sway bar.

It does to some degree, but truck is high and heavy so a lot of leverage on the bushings. Body rolls significantly on cornering.

 

[rattle_snake]

Added an overlay plate to reinforce where I spliced the brackets.
Nice to have a plasma table for this

Rattle can'd and back together. Just need to design a sway bar into the system. Bar diameter, arm length, frame and axle mounts....

 

[rattle_snake]

new toy

 

[reptillikus]

Thats cheating

 

[rattle_snake]

Yes. Yes it is. Kind of like a dedicated shop, lift, air conditioning.
The miller 375 is undersized but going to see how it does.

Should take my projects to the next level, and save a bunch of time. The idea of not having to drill holes is awesome.
Can use thinner lighter material and make overlay plates only where needed.

And make artsy-fartsy stuff to hang on walls.

 

[rattle_snake]

Tested out clearance of drag link and track bar/mount at full bump. have an inch of room so plenty. I had spaced out the limit strap just in case, but it puts leverage on the bolt. I removed the spacer, all is good.

 

[reptillikus]

Should take my projects to the next level, and save a bunch of time. The idea of not having to drill holes is awesome.
Can use thinner lighter material and make overlay plates only where needed.

I want one in the worst way, just not sure where to fit it. So definitely a little jealous!

 

[rattle_snake]

There are a few 2'x2' tables out there. Small footprint but still big enough to make most 4x4 things, brackets and such.

 

[willis_racing]

There are a few 2'x2' tables out there. Small footprint but still big enough to make most 4x4 things, brackets and such.

I've had that exact thought. I think for the general purpose small bracketry and other such things we would use a table for, a 2x2 is actually pretty adequate. Stuff that's longer than that can more than likely be separated into ~2' segments and butt welded.

Less useful for cutting giant 4x8 metal murals and selling them to people for thousands of dollars but I could build a hell of a lot of suspension brackets with it.

 

[JKommuter]

I don't want to derail rattle_snake 's thread but I would like to get one from ARCDROID CNC I like the trace feature.

 

[Will Scarlet]

I don't want to derail rattle_snake 's thread but I would like to get one from ARCDROID CNC I like the trace feature.

That's interesting, but checking on the page the notes states:

Import duty and taxes may be charged upon arrival, please check you local regulations.

Since it being shipped directly from China, I have to wonder what the final cost would actually be.