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Johnny's Goatbuilt JHF buggy build

I'm doing the rear brakes first because it will be easier. For the front my "plan" is to build a bracket off the stock for caliper mount. I know I have to modify the caliper mount as the stock mounts collide with the knuckle mounts.
 
JohnnyJ said:
Fuel pressure testing setup arrived. Holding 58psi.

With fuel pressure checked, pulled the rail to look at o-ring and this is the stand that mounts the rail is cracked and the nutsert was lifted out. Without the injector clips that 665.0coupe referenced, the fuel was able to flow out between the injector and fuel rail.

So why would it be reading rich? At best I'd expect this cylinder wasn't injecting any fuel, and would be pumping air or at least lean.

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Don't know if you resolved that question yet but if the O2 sensor is on that bank the dead cyl is just pumping non combustion mixture through that is full for oxygen. Because the sensor reads oxygen amounts the o2 sensor sees to much o2 thinks its lean and fattens it up. The other 7 cylinders run stupid rich.

Just went through this with a dead injector that was stuck closed.
 
I think I’m ready to cut this out of 1/4” material. There’s a 1/4” spacer between inner and outer bracket. Trying to figure out if I want to make it all bolt together or weld it into one piece.

The caliper is about 1/2” higher than the old setup with K-10 front caliper. I had it mocked up with bracket on backwards and it hung 2” lower. Whoops. At least it was an easy fix, but as I looked at the CAD vs real world I was scratching my head.

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edit: On the rear I ended up reusing the 2003 Yukon XL 3/4-ton rear rotors instead of 1999 E350 rear rotors. They have the right bore for 14-bolt hubs and are a 12.99" diameter instead of 12.83". The flex pads fit perfectly on the yukon rotors.
 
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Leave for West Virginia in a few weeks, so I need to get this back together.

I did most of the wiring over the past week including moving the ECM to the B-pillar fire wall. This helped clean up wiring in the engine bay. I had enough wired up today to verify that the engine is good to go. Some upgrades since last time was moving to a MSD relay for the fans and fuel pump. I also wired the terminator to read the trans temp sensor and run the trans fan. I need to add it to the watchlist on the handheld.

Tomorrow I'll work on wiring up the iBooster. I have a pressure sensor on the front circuit, so I am interested to see what it generates. I can get about 500psi without power. I am hoping it its around 1300-1500psi.

I have a list other stuff to finish up, but I'm feeling pretty good.
 
The other day I wired up the iBooster. The best I've seen for pressure is 1250psi with the engine running with the brakes bled. I think that'll be fine. Looking forward to test driving on the trail to see how it feels.

While doing wiring, I moved the ECM to the firewall behind the seats. I made a new console that is full length, has cup holders, and a box to enclose the ECM so it's reasonably protected from the elements.

Weekend plans are to finish wiring now that I picked up the final leftovers, install seats, and finish up a punch list of other small tasks. I'd really like to have it done by Sunday night, so I can either take a break from it, or work on BS list.

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how do you like that msd solid state relay? I was thinking of putting one in the back of my buggy for fuel pumps and radiator fans since they're both back there and to simplify wiring.
 
I had a bank of 4 relays in the last version and I have to admit that wiring up the MSD was a lot easier. So far no complaints. I have the 35 amp / channel version, which is overkill for my trans fan and fuel pump, but should be more than enough for my radiator fans.
 
cdemart2 said:
how do you like that msd solid state relay? I was thinking of putting one in the back of my buggy for fuel pumps and radiator fans since they're both back there and to simplify wiring.
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I've been running one for the last 5-6 years servicing my radiator and trans fans. Far better than the old Bosch 30 amp relays that kept failing me.
 
thanks guys. I'll add it to the list for winter. season is starting in a couple weeks and I'm not tearing things apart to make changes now. just have figure out how to switch between fuel pumps with the msd pack.
 
In 48 hours I should be at Good Evening Ranch in West Virginia for the first trip of the year, and the first after attempting to burn the rig down around Thanksgiving at Rugged Mountain Ranch. Hopefully this ranch treats me better.

Here's the final pic of the iBooster wth offset pedal all mounted. Electrical is all done and unit is plumbed in. The front and rear brake shut off valves are within my reach for cheap digs. Not as good as cutting brakes, but better than nothing. First test driving around the block was impressive. Still have some tweaking to do, but big improvement over my last setup.

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The e-stop switch will eventually get a cable so I can pull from the driver seat. After the shutoff is a fuse block with 3 ANL fuses to power the MSD solid state relay, main fuse panel, and the iBooster.
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Up front I had to ditch the idea to use the same 2009 Ford Flex front calipers that I did in the rear. In early mockup I thought I could get them to fit, but it would have required machine work on the knuckle. I remembered seeing someone had put old trusty Chevy calipers on front with some brackets, so I opted to go that route. I had to do some slight grinding on the knuckle for piston clearance, but nothing major. I have the CAD file, so if anybody wants a copy I can throw it in the library.

Right now I have Howe 33658 calipers that are the same as K10 calipers but with 2.625" pistons instead of 2.94 or 3.15 pistons. I did this as it was a close match to the Flex dual 1.85" pistons I have in the rear (10.82 vs 10.98in^2). I used 1999 E350 rotors that had the center bore opened by white-rhino.



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Out at Good Evening Ranch in WV. First day with iBooster and I’m happy with the performance. Plenty of brake pressure and I feel like it’s easy to modulate.

Engine has occasional idle issues that it didn’t have before the fire that I need to sort out. But nothing that would ruin the trip.
 
Back from the weekend, and 100% happy with the brakes on the trail.

End of the day Saturday I tested it by driving off a big ledge. Old brakes I'd struggle to hold it back, needed lots of leg to hold. Now it's moderate pressure and it's got more holding pressure than anything I've driven. I was able to creep down the ledge with great control. Very happy.
 
Can you remind us:

Pedal ratio
Caliper area (front and rear)

please ?

Thanks
 
I adjusted the effort and boost to match what I measured on the gauge I had installed on the front circuit for testing. I checked in manual and boosted mode.

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Are you actually pushing 100lbs on the pedal ?
That's a lot.
 
I did not measure pedal effort. I measured pressure, and since I knew the master cylinder size and pedal ratio, I used the pedal effort to match my measured pressure.

Pedal effort is not bad at all with this setup.
 
Not really. Spent the week out a Trail Hero. No major issues (had to tighten some stuff up, weld a bracket that failed due to loosening); but otherwise a good week of running hard trails.

Likely won't get a lot of attention this winter as I have more home projects and hopefully will put a new frame under my 1975 Wagoneer. When I get the Wag project rolling, I figure I'll throw a build up but it will be a light duty rig.
 
After reading some threads on axle builds, one thing I thought of that could be of interest is around my front axle shafts. I'm running later model stock Ford 1550 shafts and u-joints (pass side is narrowed, but otherwise stock). I've been hammering on them for the past 3 seasons, and so far no issues. They are greaseable, so I hit them with the milwaukee grease gun before big trips and that's the extent of my maintenance program.

If I have a failure I have a set of spare 1480 shafts and figure I'll upgrade to 4340 1550 stuff; but for a 3900# crawler on 39" stickies they are holding up.
 
Overall I'm happy, it's imperfect but I'm ok with the compromise. Did I slow down walking by the behemoth d300 doubler at Trail hero? Yeah, but I'm not ready to drop that money to get more choices. For a non-doubler setup, I'm good.
 
chaplinfj60 said:
are you happy with your gear choice . is it too deep or just right
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I’m pretty confident I have wheeled with John almost if not every trip he has been on. His rig works well. Like all groups, a rig will shine or struggle more or less depending on terrain. But all in all, I have never had that “he’s geared to high/low” feeling.

Now if his rig could get a better driver…….. :lmao::flipoff2::shaking::stirthepot:
 
JohnnyJ said:
After reading some threads on axle builds, one thing I thought of that could be of interest is around my front axle shafts. I'm running later model stock Ford 1550 shafts and u-joints (pass side is narrowed, but otherwise stock). I've been hammering on them for the past 3 seasons, and so far no issues. They are greaseable, so I hit them with the milwaukee grease gun before big trips and that's the extent of my maintenance program.

If I have a failure I have a set of spare 1480 shafts and figure I'll upgrade to 4340 1550 stuff; but for a 3900# crawler on 39" stickies they are holding up.
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Thats some good info. I was planning on doing the same for the next build and hoping it lasts for at least a little bit. How much steering angle are you using with this setup?

Also, good info on the gearing selection. I've been looking for a 5.3 4l60 combo and haven't had much luck.
 
chaplinfj60 said:
what do you mean . you cant find a donor truck?

around here all you need to put in the facebook search is broke frame and bam here is your truck
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I'm in commiefornia, so we don't see many broken frames unless its been in an accident. Not much rust here. Out here when you search for a tahoe, suburban, yukon, whatever, you wind up with a bunch of parting out ads where the seller has already pulled the motor and trans out to use in another project and just wants the rest of it gone. Or its a tweaker vehicle, or scam. There are vehicles and deals, but none that have really peaked my interest for the $$$ and distances involved. Vans seem to have the highest ad prices oddly.
 
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