the wishbone project-waayy too many pics-

[Beezil]

heres some progress pics of the front wishbone project I'm working on....made much progress this weekend....

tommorrow I will roll the parabola-shaped wishbone link on the tube roller, I'll probably use 1.5 dia .250 wall.....and the fat wall thickness I'm thinking is necessary to limit side-load flex, but maybe its overkill?

the parabola will be 27" wide and 35" long, which is somewhat proportional; to the st. louis arch...it will be a 13-step shape with 6 different radii on both legs blended as its rolled....

it should work out that will not have to modify the oil pan, but running the exhaust will be a bitch!

crossmember and skidplate to follow, after the exhaust is re-routed.

http://users.rcn.com/beezil/public/wishbone1.JPG

http://users.rcn.com/beezil/public/wishbone2.JPG

http://users.rcn.com/beezil/public/wishbone9.JPG

http://users.rcn.com/beezil/public/wishbone11.JPG

http://users.rcn.com/beezil/public/wishbone13.JPG

http://users.rcn.com/beezil/public/wishbone14.JPG

http://users.rcn.com/beezil/public/wishbone19.JPG

http://users.rcn.com/beezil/public/wishbone22.JPG

http://users.rcn.com/beezil/public/wishbone23.JPG

[vintagespeed]

Looks good so far, how are you going to protect those LCA mounts from the rocks?

[Beezil]

they are up an inch or so higher than my old radius arm mounts, which were never a problem....I'd hit rocks from time to time, but I always just slid right off of them.....that's why I put those returns on the ends of the brackets....

those brackets are no lower than the factory crossmember.....

[XJZ]

Holy cow!! Someone's been busy. Looks awesome!!

I realize the bent lower arms add clearance, but I remember Matt(?) had a problem with his when he had to brake hard and they buckled. He had a bend in the lower arms also. Did you do something that would address that? I think Matt ended up adding a gusset, which sort of eliminates the bend anyhow. Maybe that's where your wishbone dillio comes in? Then again being the trailer queen that it is...... :)

Also those calipers look massive, from what?...

Looks great Beez!!

Edit, are you using BFG Krawlers? 17 inchers? Which axle are you running in front? Fun!!

[vintagespeed]

Are you going to cross-brace the wishbone so that it can't flex? And where will you locate the cross-brace?

[Beezil]

there is no room to cross-brace the wishbone.....I am barely gonna get-away with sneaking the thing around the oilpan to begin with. I have no idea how the crossmember will work yet, but it must tie-in well with everything I already have for increased strength.

xjz, you mean farmermatt? if so, I'll have to wait and see what he says to compare notes....

the lower arms are 1.5 dia .250 wall DOM, and the bends are 15-dgrees done on a tube roller which puts bigger radius bends in tube....I'm hoping/wild-ass-guessing, that a wide bend instead of a sharp bend may add some strength.....

we'll have to see what happens.

[Goatman]

Originally posted by vintagespeed
Looks good so far, how are you going to protect those LCA mounts from the rocks?

No problem......web rocks are difficult to get hung up on. :D

That hard breakover/drop off obstacle on Upper Heldorado will seperate the men from the boys when it comes to breakover angles and clearance. :)

[Beezil]

you mean that big boulder? or the waterfall!!!???

[Jes]

I think he means that big boulder.
Very nice, I especially like these brackets...
http://users.rcn.com/beezil/public/wishbone9.JPG
...sexy.
I look forward to seeing how that's gonna work in October.

Jes

[vintagespeed]

I've gotta ask cause we debated this topic before. How is this easier/better than an inverted triangulated 3 link with the 'wishbone' on the bottom? I'm just curious.

[MaXJohnson]

Man, Beezil, Your fab work is second to none.
That bracketry is first rate but should have some brightly colored stickers on it:

"Caution - Welding required"

[XJZ]

Beez:

Not Farmer Matt, Wandering Willy's Matt (I did a search). Check it out: http://home.off-road.com/~wanderingwillys/xjpics/3_link/new_lowers.jpg

I guess someone cut him off, so he hit the skids quite hard and it made the arms buckle under the pressure. You'll also see his "after the buckling" arms w. gussets.

Just thought I better make you aware of this. Maybe you can compare notes.

[REDXJ4FUN]

If i remember wasn't one of MATTs problems That caused that was that his uper joint on hie wishbone and axle broke and cause a bunch of problems.

[4ward]

Personally, I've done the bent lowers route and am not too terribly happy with the results. The arms flop around from side to side causing your jam nuts to loosen up quicker than normal. This is a constant (daily) maintenance item. Once your heims start to wear some those things will flop back and forth at a discomforting and bothersome rate. If you are putting a poly bushing on one end, you'd probably be alright. I'm going with straight 1.75" .25" wall DOM for my lowers front and rear.

I'm diggin' on the brackets.

How long do you think that upper wishbone made out of carpenter's string will hold up on the trail?

[Beezil]

one ping, I have a solution for the slapping arms...not a problem.

xjz, thanks much for the heads-up, yes I will have to compare notes, although it looks like my bends aren't as much....I guess I'm just gonna go with it for now, and see what happens....this thing is trail only, so I am not expecting any brakestands at highway speeds. All I can hope for is not to get close to similar forces while moving slowly.

vintage, My wishbone is on top simply because it looked like it has the best driveshaft and ground clearance. It just seems to make sense there...I played around for hours with string and tape judging clearancing and arc movements.....what I was trying to do the whole time was figure out if a true 4-link was possible, but instead, ended up with a concept that definitly isn't new, more or less a copy of what I've seen done on some other rigs, Matts and One-tons for example....and I tried so hard to be different!

(change is good).

[FarmerMatt]

Not me beez. Mine arms are straight & square. As for the slapping deal, I just placed a piece of rubber hose over one side of the tapered spacers for the heims to press up to. This gives the heim full movement yet keeps the arm under tension so it keeps the bends where their supposed to be. This is what I did for my steering.

Matt

[JJ13]

I really love looking at your fab work Beez :D

[THE_OWL]

Some SAW or FOX Bumpstops would be nice if you have an extra $500. Especially on a bent arm setup
Crash was bouncing that around.

[KarmirXJ]

Originally posted by XJZ
Also those calipers look massive, from what?...


those are from a 3/4 ton, same as D60 calipers, Ho much you wanna bet his runnin 8 lug?

[KarmirXJ]

This looks sexy....:loveu:
http://users.rcn.com/beezil/public/wishbone9.JPG

[dave]

hmmmm beez .. wanna tell me what you do for a living so i can get a job doin it too? 37 inch crawlers .. looks like 17 inch aluminum rims ...... not to mention all the other stuff hangin off it.. whew.. looks ......

[JnJ]

Don't worry, you are different......

Now, why heims and not JJs?

[Beezil]

now thats a question I can answer!

I used heims simply because they are smaller than JJ's....

I don't have much room to play with on the frame bracket.

[JnJ]

Ok, next easy question. What happened to not wanting to weld to the unibody?

[Blix]

just a thought that might help you out: get a bunch of aluminum welding rod and tack it together at the ends and try using that instead of string. That way you've got a solid mock-up device that you can also use to model your architecture and swing clearance.

-Steve

[Beezil]

What happened to not wanting to weld to the unibody

where did I say I don't like to weld to the unibody?

I've welded to the unibody all ove rhte damn place....

damn drunk texans.

[Flowers]

Originally posted by JnJ
Ok, next easy question. What happened to not wanting to weld to the unibody?

That's why he uses JB Weld for his suspension components. The JB won't damage the thin sheet metal. Besides, everyone knows he can't weld.

[JnJ]

Originally posted by Beezil
where did I say I don't like to weld to the unibody?

I've welded to the unibody all ove rhte damn place....

damn drunk texans.
Don't make me go and dig up those old post.

JB weld? I thought mom did the welding?

[Beezil]

sure, go ahead and find it.....I'm sure it will be out-of-context anyway.

[Hunter-Lynchburg,Va]

all that fancy fab work and your still stacking wooden blocks on top of jackstands, what gives? you could make millions making taller jackstands!


Hunter

[Beezil]

hey, there's a little bark-eater in everyone!