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New guy build-The Family Truckster

Yeah, neither will my son's, at least not till it's far from a DD and it's his problem if he screws it up, not mine. :)
 
A big day for the "Family Truckster". The front suspension design is done. Everything cycles like it should and nothing crashes into anything else. Track bar and drag link and within .25" in length and are sitting at the same angle. Cycles 10" with room to spare on both ends, which is what I was shooting for. Caster is 5 degrees and ride height and 12 at full bump. No bump steer and the caster gain should make it really stable.

Lots of welding and fab still to go, but the hardest part of the front is done.

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A big day for the "Family Truckster". The front suspension design is done. Everything cycles like it should and nothing crashes into anything else. Track bar and drag link and within .25" in length and are sitting at the same angle. Cycles 10" with room to spare on both ends, which is what I was shooting for. Caster is 5 degrees and ride height and 12 at full bump. No bump steer and the caster gain should make it really stable

is this a go fast rig or crawling rig?
 
Summer has been super busy for me. Family vacations, mandatory overtime, and life in general has been keeping me out of the garage. Got back at it today, finished up the frame side track bar mount. I'm never 100% happy with my welding, still working on being super consistent with my bead size and profile. I have no doubt that parts are glued together good though.

I also copied the great ZT Fab's toolbox welding cart. I should have doe this years ago, it is so nice have all my welding and metal fab stuff in one place.

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I wouldn't worry about your welding. That's professional level work.
 
Burned in all the suspension links. All the heims threaded in nice and smooth!. Painted and assembled all the links/spindles and stashed them in the shed. Whipped up this quick steering box spacer out of 3/16" plate and .250 wall DOM. TIG welded for style points!.

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I started working on reinforcing the bump stops, shock mounts and front end in preparation for paint and final assembly. I cut of the bottom of the stock bump stops and sleeved them with 1.75” DOM. The new bump stop tube runs up into the engine bay and is attached with a 3/16” plate. I will tie the new bump stop tube into the top of the shock mount. The new bump stops have nuts welded (pictured) inside them for short urethane snubbers. I will use prothane coil inserts with a UHMW rod inside as the actual hard stop.
I cannot wait to be done welding on the thin galvanized sheet metal, it’s terrible to work with.

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It's coming together slowly. Got the SYE installed and t-case back installed. Fresh paint on the trans cross member and my fabricated transmission mount.

Started on the driver side motor mount. I love having my mini fixture table. Makes measuring stuff like this so easy.

Picked up a new toy. $200 for a very basic 3-1 mill/drill/lathe machine. It was never used and was still covered in grease from 1994. It is so nice to be able to face off tubing to make it square. I wish I would have paid attention better in High School shop class. I'm learning as I go.
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Got any info on the mini fixture table?
 
Got any info on the mini fixture table?

I made it from 3/8” cold rolled steel. The top slats are 3” wide with 5/8” holes every 2”. There are 2 2” runners on the underside tying it all together. The space between the top slats allowes a c-clamp to fit in.

I really wanted a tab and slot style table, but they are expensive and I’m cheap. I also have a really solid workbench with a stainless top. The small size let’s me move it out of the way when needed. I absolutely love it, being able to fixture parts is amazing. I should have built it a long time ago.
 
I made it from 3/8” cold rolled steel. The top slats are 3” wide with 5/8” holes every 2”. There are 2 2” runners on the underside tying it all together. The space between the top slats allowes a c-clamp to fit in.

I really wanted a tab and slot style table, but they are expensive and I’m cheap. I also have a really solid workbench with a stainless top. The small size let’s me move it out of the way when needed. I absolutely love it, being able to fixture parts is amazing. I should have built it a long time ago.

I'd love to see pics if at all possible. Perhaps a different thread?

Apologies if you've already posted pics- I can't see them, or indication of them, at work.

I was looking at this:
https://weldtables.com/collections/...elding-table-top-kit-most-popular-pro-top-kit It's a 2X3 kit that ships flat, then you knock it together and weld into a reinforced structure.
 
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