Dirt Squirrel 3.0 - The 2nd Mortgage

[the_white_shadow]

My Northern radiator (22x19) and fan (16" Spal) assembly came in yesterday, along with the 12-gallon RCU Rock Crawler fuel cell. I went to mocking things up and lets just say the radiator/fan clearance is super tight, but i think i can make it work.

Its a dual pass radiator and the upper outlet is trying to occupy the same space as the alternator.

I plan on relocating the upper to the side and running a -20 AN fitting with a 90 degree fitting.

Fan clearance is tight to the water pump pulley. Ad as you can see, the air intake elbow is going to be problematic. i have a 3" elbow coming to see how it looks with a super tight radius. I can still move the engine back like 1/2" before the atlas rests on the rear subframe tube. Worst case is that i flip the intake manifold 180. Good news is that it all fits under the hood line by about 1/8".

 

[the_white_shadow]

Fuel cell position mock up. Im not a huge fan of it. It blocks some of my view of the passenger rear tire. I ended up buying a Jaz 8-gal cell that will fit between the lower chassis rails. This way i can sink it down probably 6" to help with the COG. I plan on not running a passenger seat probably 75% of the time, so improving the visibility is important.

Peekaboo with an old 42" red not bolted up.

The 8-gal Jaz cell i bought to see if it works out. Based on the dimensions listed on Summit, it will fit between the rails. Its ~21" x 16" x 8.5"

 

[GrantW]

I was wondering what you’ve been working on these days. Good to see you’re still at it.

 

[cdemart2]

-20 is overkill and will increase plumbing cost significantly. -16 will be plenty

 

[72blazer]

always liked your Toyota crawler. Excited to see what you come up with.

 

[the_white_shadow]

I was pretty productive today and got the seat mounts complete. They are pinned at the front for quick release and can be pulled in 5 seconds each. I had to bolt up the driveline brake but quickly ran into an issue. I guess the brackets are different for driver/passenger drop cases and also with or without speedo in the tail housing. Like with everything else, i chopped it up and modified the bracket to make it all work.

Seat mounts. The rear inners are on a removable bar. The front and rear bars will be tied together with a single bar to mount my winters shifter between the seats. It will all be removable starting at the dash tubes so i can pull the trans/t-case from the top, if need be.

Here is how the rear of the seats are bolted to capture the slotted brackets.

 

[chaplinfj60]

love the slotted seat mount....

 

[Sean]

love the slotted seat mount....

And how much room it appears the OP has in front of the engine for the crossover for the exhaust (2nd pic in post #61).

It's coming along great!

I notice much of the tubing structure is just tacked in place...is that so if something needs to change it won't be a major PITA to cut it out and modify?

 

[the_white_shadow]

And how much room it appears the OP has in front of the engine for the crossover for the exhaust (2nd pic in post #61).

It's coming along great!

I notice much of the tubing structure is just tacked in place...is that so if something needs to change it won't be a major PITA to cut it out and modify?

That’s correct. I’ve been burned by that before. Fully welded shit and cussed myself as I had to cut it all back out. Changes are much easier if needed. Tolerances are stupid tight on this thing so moving it 1/2” here and there has happened a lot.

 

[the_white_shadow]

Im starting to really like having a plasma table. Ill never cut anything by hand again.

Borrowed a winters shifter for mockup to see if i could fit it between the seats, so i made a mount for it.

Single cross tube to mount the shifter. Once i get the t-case shifters figured out, ill mount this permanently.

 

[the_white_shadow]

New 8 gallon jaz fuel cell came in and i got it mocked up. As it sits, its about 6" lower than the other sell that sat on top of the rails. Im going to get the third member in today and mockup a driveshaft to see where the cell will actually sit to be able to clear the shaft. Id like to keep it as low as possible to help COG. Battery will probably be mounted in the belly of the chassis under the passenger seat.

Fragile, must be French.

Also packing peanuts can blow me. I got those fuckers everywhere taking the cell out of the box. Id rather they use the spray foam shit.

 

[Will Scarlet]

Fragile, must be French.

 

[the_white_shadow]

Lets talk driveshafts. Specifically front shafts with carrier bearings. I used a single ended one from WOD on my last buggy. Worked out well for the most part. I had to replace the "sealed" roller bearings a couple of times. This was probably due to my unbalanced intermediate shaft and/or unbalanced heavy wall front shaft. It was a basket case of a front shaft. Any new latest and greatest carrier bearings that everyone is using for lighter rigs? My u-joints are 1350s at the thirds and 1410s at the atlas.

I used this WOD kit. Its the direction im leaning to go with again.

 

[chaplinfj60]

i love my busted knuckle
works the same but it bolts with polly

 

[the_white_shadow]

i love my busted knuckle
works the same but it bolts with polly

I did see theirs. My entire drivetrain will be solid mounted so i plan on solid mounting the carrier bearing.

 

[the_white_shadow]

So pretty.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

Why 1410 at the tcase and 1350 at the diffs? Seems backwards me

 

[the_white_shadow]

Why 1410 at the tcase and 1350 at the diffs? Seems backwards me

1350 is what came with the GW 10s that i bought used. If i would have ordered them, i would have went with 1410s. In this application, 1350s will be fine.

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Looking good!

 

[YotaAtieToo]

1350 is what came with the GW 10s that i bought used. If i would have ordered them, i would have went with 1410s. In this application, 1350s will be fine.

Why not switch them out? Having different u joints on each shaft for no reason would drive me nuts.

 

[the_white_shadow]

I really havent liked how the front end was coming together so i decided to make a change with the front shock mounts. I made a new mount and moved the shocks forward an inch. It sits about 3/4" above the tube work to help fit the radiator up front. The radiator will mount off of it and provide some protection in the event of a roll. It will be fully boxed and the holes in the front will be tied to the back with some 3/4" tube.

 

[the_white_shadow]

Spent yesterday concentrating on engine and transmission mounts. Im solid mounting everything this time around. I cut some engine plates to bolt into the OE location on the block and made some simple tubes to tie into the chassis. The tranny crossmember bolts in with 4 bolts that are sleeved through some 1.75" 1/4" tube. Boy did that suck to drill/hole saw through. End result is the engine and trans are no longer supported by some wood blocks. Next up exhaust and t-case shifter. I am also going to re-do the front end some to fit the radiator better.

 

[the_white_shadow]

Started mocking up the t-case shifter pivots. i tossed the seat in and i think im going to have very reachable shifters without being in my way. I need to finish them out today. I ordered some 1" DOM to use as shifters.

 

[the_white_shadow]

Spent yesterday tweaking the pivot point for the shifters. I got the throw to be nice and short.

In this pic, the t-case is in low and the shifter is in 1st gear. Everything is nice and ergonomic and within reach. I may move them forward and upright just a little, but otherwise, they are done.

 

[the_white_shadow]

Why does everything have to be so tight, lol. Packaging on this thing has been a fun puzzle. The WOD 1410 carrier bearing is tacked in place. About 1/4" clearance to all of the things that matter. Had to trim an ear off the 700r4 and still need to clean it up some. Top of the yoke is even with the bottom of the floor. I may swap to 1350 to gain ~0.5" and move it down some. Im still undecided.

 

[chaplinfj60]

no kidding tight tight tight....

 

[Boomtacoma01]

Mount them Tires up already

 

[the_white_shadow]

Mount them Tires up already

What tires?

 

[Boomtacoma01]

So pretty.

These ones. lol

 

[the_white_shadow]

These ones. lol

those ones arent mine.