66 CJ5 Rebuild

Hi John, I'm still at it. The holidays and honey-do's have slowed things down
a bit. I'm hoping to get a sand blaster for Christmas so I can blast the frame and have a rolling chassis by end of January.

 

Here are the shackles I just made. I already have some Con-Fer shackles for the rear, so I decided the original front ones needed some upgrading.
These shackles are made from 1.5" wide by 3/8" thick cold rolled steel. The bolt centers are 3 3/4" and the inside width is 1 7/8"

In the mill










I'm currently working on finishing the u-bolt plates for my u-bolt flip

 

Can you move those stacked dimes, I want to see how good of a weld job you did.

 

Wow. That's all i can say, Wow. Good job!

 

Did you have a problem with the ends of the shackles shrinking inward from welding the center supports in? I did with 1/4" plate. I sure like the look of the 3/8".

 

Hey Posi, the shackles did "collapse" inward after welding the center piece, however, I only had a small change. I started with 1.865" for the inside width and after the steel cooled down, I measured the width at 1.845" I'm okay with 20 thousands of an inch movement. I started with the center piece tack welded on each of the four corners. I placed the bolts on each end and tightened the nuts to help prevent a large movement. After the steel cooled the bolts were no longer tight. I really like using cold rolled steel, it's dimensions are very consistent and it's easier to make accurate parts.

 

I have a length of 3/8" cold rolled that I thought was overkill for the shackles. After seeing yours though, I think I may redo mine after I drive it some and make sure I like the lengths I have.

 

Some more parts to look at...After seeing a u-bolt flip idea, I decided to make my own. I really like this design and I think it looks clean. I used 4" wide by 3/8" thick cold rolled steel. The solid round stock is 1/2" and also cold rolled.

Here is the picture I used to build mine.


Here is the first plate in the mill


Finished and ready to go




On the axle




I had to make one that would fit around the passenger side of the Dana 30. Here is the shape.








Now I just need to take some measurements and have the u-bolts made. I will also make some shock mounts that I will weld to the axle tubes.

 

Sick welds!!! TIG?

 

Since you are making a set, how about making another set for me
Good job, nice work.

Terry

 

Nice work.

 

Amazing Welds!

 

Thanks for the compliments guys.
Gotta show you my Christmas gift.....My girlfriend got me this lovely item, so I guess I can keep her for a while longer
I also received a handy sand blaster...Now it's time to tackle that frame.

 

You are truly blessed! Keep her!

 

A couple of updates.....I built a front diff cover for the D30. I wanted to protect the bottom of the cover and the bolts.



I decided that I wanted more protection for the front of the cover, so I used cardboard to help with a design.





Completed cover, just needs paint.





Used the new sand blaster to clean the frame. 70 grit black aluminum oxide was the trick. I was able to reuse the black stuff several times and it continued to cut away all of the crap on the frame. Very pleased with the results. It's back in the garage so I can weld some cracks and clean a few spots that I missed with the blaster.





Also got the leaf springs cleaned

 

Nice work, keep it up.

Terry

 

:iagree:

 

I didn't plan on welding in a 2" receiver mount, but I realized it's a lot easier to do it now. You never know, I may want to tow something. I found the material at my local steel yard. It's seam welded .250 thick 2.5" by 2.5" square tubing, but the seam is milled flat on the inside. Two 5/8" holes and it's ready for towing.



I also made a trip to Dunbar Spring here in Phoenix. This is my favorite place for custom springs and u-bolts. It took about 10 minutes to make all 8 u-bolts and they are spot on. I also picked up 4 new spring center pins. They are 3/8" by 3" and the head diameter is an exact fit for the CJ axle perches.

 

Looks like you are doing a shackle flip. Definitely need a hitch. You might think about a bracket or tab of some kind to mount a plug for trailer lights. I used a piece of 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" angle for a bracket for the plug-in. Don't have a pic.

 

Here are some drawings of the u-bolt plates I made. These work for 2 1/2" diameter axle tubes and 1 3/4" wide leaf springs.

These three pics are for the rear axle plates and the driver side of the D30.





The next four pics are for the passenger side of the D30