BlueOx build

[BillysGruff]

Just bought this from Besslers, and I learned that stock GMT800 front calipers are the same as the rears on the newer 14 bolts.


I'm going to be getting the BFGoodrich H1's soon and am going to make some recentered H1 wheels. I'm also switching up the front hangers to a WFO shackle/bushing hanger setup. I decided its going to be better to mock everything up with all parts under the vehicle rather than fully welding w/o officially knowing its going to work. I also changed my mind about the brackets in that I'm going to bolt them on rather than weld. Dont want to stress the frame at the heaviest part of the whole vehicle. CoG on my truck is the upper bellhousing bolt.

[BillysGruff]

Update time.
Got the front end sitting on the tires, so much work. Does anyone have a bender w/1.5" die? I need to finish up with the drag-link, weld on the double-shear brackets for the HSA's, flip it around in the driveway, toss in the 10.5, build/get front d-shaft, and then it'll at least be driveable. I still want to do a panhard, and even farther downthe road I'm going to build sliders and a rear bumper.

Double-shear XJ pitman arm


Shackle angle




Centerline is about 3" forward

[dropitlow88]

[QUOTE=BillysGruff;80726]Update time.
Got the front end sitting on the tires, so much work. Does anyone have a bender w/1.5" die? I need to finish up with the drag-link, weld on the double-shear brackets for the HSA's, flip it around in the driveway, toss in the 10.5, build/get front d-shaft, and then it'll at least be driveable. I still want to do a panhard, and even farther downthe road I'm going to build sliders and a rear bumper.

I have a bender with a 1.5" die, in Elsmere KY

[BillysGruff]

Well that figures, as soon as I cut it to length and weld in the bungs, a nice fella chimes in. Ah well. Heres some pics for your viewing displeasure

I was able to keep stock brake lines as they are pretty much the same size as the stock Ford caliper brake line bolts. 10mm vs 3/8". Im also excited I wont have to move the steering box.


A question I was dying to have answered...Do GMT800 1500 stock front calipers fit on the rear of GMT800 10.5" FF? Yes they do, and this saved me about $200.


02 AAM complete with Detroit, 4.88's, diff kit, Undercover Fapworks diff cover, Chassis Unlimited pinion guard, stock front brakes, and freshy fresh paint that no one cares about

[biggin69]

Looks good but I do have a question....


Is that a skinned chicken sitting on a five gallon bucket?

[BillysGruff]

It most definitely is, thats hilarious. I didnt even notice that.

No, its the packaging material that Andy from TWF uses to ship H1 wheel parts. Its stained white because it was used to soak up brake fluid. I've used that material to ship stuff that I've sold and as rags cause theres a **** ton of it. Its interesting that he chose pink as the color.

[BillysGruff]

Brakes bled and torqued, ebrakes connected, u-bolts torqued, cleaned, and painted, shock mounts welded/painted, spacers torqued, new shackles for rear, diff cover all sealed up, oil in, dshaft connected and sorta driveable. I'm finishing up the front brackets to allow for a couple more bolt holes, then I'll remove everything, paint, and reinstall. Then its on to shock mounts and frame plate for the front....



Distance view

[WrenchMonkey]

Oh, nice!

Come do my Burban...

[BillysGruff]

Thanks man. Getchu a front axle and I'm there!

[BillysGruff]

Bomp!




RTI yard ramp




Exhaust is now welded and painted with 2000° header paint I did learn that I didnt have to lap back into the puddle because it would just cause burn through. Too bad I waited to one of the last welds to learn that.


Probably 1/8" clearance b/t hanger and p-side pipe, still need to put trans heat guard back on


Pretty good clearance here, stupid rusty rockers


For some reason it no longer rests on the trans xmember, not sure how that worked out, but I like it


Bushing is tweaked all to ****, but meh


Reinstalls fender well covers BUILD THREAD


Made a cutout of the xmember w/33° angles and welded in some 3/16" plate


Ordered 4 of these....hopefully they come in Skywalker Glowing Blue


I'm going to get some of the air soft pellets from Wally world to balance the H1's. I get up to about 35mph and then the steering wheel starts to wobble. I'm curious, though...The wheels have balancing media already on the insides, little square looking things. Should I remove those or just leave em be, and add the pellets? It drives kinda funny if the road is angled either way. It will pull to that side. Does that mean camber is off? Oh yeah, I finally measured my caster and its at 7°.

[93 Krawler]

Originally Posted by BillysGruff

I'm going to get some of the air soft pellets from Wally world to balance the H1's. I get up to about 35mph and then the steering wheel starts to wobble. I'm curious, though...The wheels have balancing media already on the insides, little square looking things. Should I remove those or just leave em be, and add the pellets? It drives kinda funny if the road is angled either way. It will pull to that side. Does that mean camber is off? Oh yeah, I finally measured my caster and its at 7°.

I used air soft pellets in my 39.5 TSL's and it didn't help. Death wobble was horrible, so I went full hydraulic steering. Problem solved.

[BillysGruff]

Originally Posted by 93 Krawler

I used air soft pellets in my 39.5 TSL's and it didn't help. Death wobble was horrible, so I went full hydraulic steering. Problem solved.

I'm planning on doing hydro-assist at least. I've seen a couple people's writeups on where to drill the box and how to run the lines. Doesnt look too terribly difficult, its just expensive. Was your full hydro pre-fender chopping? Asking because I was under the impression full hydro isnt street legal. I wish I had money for a tow rig. :/

[BillysGruff]

Hey Gents, been a while. I got the tires all setup with PVC inserts from Andy @TWF, and got the air soft pellets from Wally World. It definitely doesnt shake as much



But then, I'm working on hydro-assist and its not working for me.


Drilled and tap'd the box


Getting brackets tack'd in place


Supposedly I had everything correct.


Faaacccckkkk. I'm trying to bleed the system and no fluid gets down to the ram. It doesnt move at all because of this. There isnt any fluid going to the 90° adapter. The only seal I had to replace was the one on the back end of the piston. It was a 'square' ring seal over top of a rubber o-ring. I did have some blockage coming in the pressure line so I blew it out with the air compressor. When I removed the pressure line the second time to check for problems, there wasnt any fluid dripping out of it, even though the resevoir had plenty. Anybody want to come help me diagnose, I'm stumped? I would provide beer.

[93 Krawler]

Do the the tires move at all? If no, then you might have done something wrong putting it back together.
When I tried hydro assist on mine it didn't help. The angle of the drag link made it so it couldn't push very good. That's why I went to full hydro. My box was different than yours. I tapped it differently too.

[Ky Mudhunter]

Based on your mockup in this pic I think you have the hoses switched on the ram. The box is trying to go left while the ram is trying to right.

[BillysGruff]

Originally Posted by 93 Krawler

Do the the tires move at all? If no, then you might have done something wrong putting it back together.
When I tried hydro assist on mine it didn't help. The angle of the drag link made it so it couldn't push very good. That's why I went to full hydro. My box was different than yours. I tapped it differently too.

The tires dont turn at all when its on the ground and started up, even while moving.

Originally Posted by Ky Mudhunter

Based on your mockup in this pic I think you have the hoses switched on the ram. The box is trying to go left while the ram is trying to right.

Thanks for confirming this. Someone else pointed that out as well. I wish that was the simple answer. Do you guys think its the box or the pump? I was told that fluid usually makes it's way down to the ram even if the pump isnt working.

[Ky Mudhunter]

Did you bleed the system? If not, jack the front end up. Then turn the wheels back and forth from lock to lock with the engine off. Keep checking the fluid level and keep it full. This may take a while because of the extra volume of the assist cylinder you need fill.

Make sure you go ahead and switch the hoses because it probably will not bleed the air out of the cylinder with them backwards.

[BillysGruff]

Unfortunately, I did all those things and still nothing. I guess I'll take apart the box and see. :(

[blazerbrad]

If there is no fluid coming out of one of the ports you drilled and tapped on the steering box, then there is something wrong. Either the box has some internal issue or it was drilled in the wrong spot. Mine is drilled and tapped the same way showed by 93 Krawler but also a different style box. Just to clarify:

- If you jack the front wheels off the ground they won't turn side to side at all?
- Is this with the ram installed? If the hoses are backwards the ram is fighting the steering box. If the ram is not installed (just hanging) and the wheels won't turn then look at the box.
- If you disconnect the steering box from the pitman arm or drag link, can you turn it?

For bleeding I had to have the ram connected so when I turned the steering wheel it forced it in and out. Tried with it just hanging and it wouldn't bleed without forcing the cylinder to move some other way. I've also never had any luck bleeding mine (hydro assist and hydro boost) with the engine off. It will just burp fluid out the remote reservoir forever, or at least until my forearms can't take it anymore and it is never bled. I just fill up the reservoir, start the engine, and turn the wheels lock to lock once or twice. Refill the reservoir and do it over a couple times. Once the reservoir level stays fairly constant I will start it up and turn lock to lock many times. Oh, if hydro boost brakes you need to pump the brakes several times after you turn the motor off each time. There is an accumulator in the brake system (so you still have some power brakes if the engine dies) that you need to release the pressure in order to get it to bleed.

[BillysGruff]

Originally Posted by blazerbrad

- If you jack the front wheels off the ground they won't turn side to side at all?
- Is this with the ram installed? If the hoses are backwards the ram is fighting the steering box. If the ram is not installed (just hanging) and the wheels won't turn then look at the box.
- If you disconnect the steering box from the pitman arm or drag link, can you turn it?

1. The wheels turn fine right now that its on jackstands. There is 0 power steering while running and attempting to turn with the wheels on the ground.
2. Yeah, tried bleeding with everything connected, even started the motor and did lock-lock a bunch.
3. Steering box turns fine with everything connected and on jackstands. Its gotta be fluid flow not assisting.

I'm confused as to why theres no fluid going to the box. Its the first stop for fluid after the pump. Also, I think only the HD's got the hydro brakes.

[BillysGruff]

Originally Posted by blazerbrad

I just fill up the reservoir, start the engine, and turn the wheels lock to lock once or twice. Refill the reservoir and do it over a couple times. Once the reservoir level stays fairly constant I will start it up and turn lock to lock many times. Oh, if hydro boost brakes you need to pump the brakes several times after you turn the motor off each time. There is an accumulator in the brake system (so you still have some power brakes if the engine dies) that you need to release the pressure in order to get it to bleed.

Dude, you are the man. This helped me so much. You helped me remember that these things arent Sally Prius', Saturn Ion's, or 4cyl Escapes. You have to give it that extra umph to get it go. Thats exactly what I did. I gave it gas while turning and did hit the brakes a couple times after I turned it off. Its so easy to turn the steering wheel now with the truck running. I can do it with one finger. The lines I ran did have to be flipped, so thanks for that. Also, I didnt mention that I drilled the pressure line fitting in the pump to 5/32".

[BillysGruff]

Ok, I finally did it right. I bought some Loctite hydraulic sealant and wrapped the fittings about 10 times with tape. I was able to bleed and drive it around and it doesnt leak! I also bought the plastic line separators. I plan to make either a small tab or maybe even a small skid plate to protect the hydro lines. i also cranked on the pressure fitting at the pump because it was leaking, too.



Also just ordered a NP208/205/241 flange and seals to swap onto the 241. I went to Jacks down on Kellogg to look for one. He said I'd have to buy the whole tcase for $100. I said I dont need all that, he says $50 for the flange. The one from Ebay was $45 w/free shipping. Ill take that over getting dirty, cussing, bloody knuckles/fingers.

I'm gonna head down to Jacks today to see if he has any HD Dodges. I hear the front driveshafts are a 1350 CV and the flange mates up well with the 205/208/241 flanges. I plan to cut it to length and sleeve it/rosettes/plugs. I'll call Besslers too, they're my favorite.

[Ky Mudhunter]

Glad you got it all working. I really like your build. Don't see as many fullsize builds around here.

One question (and I'm not flaming you): how come you mounted the hydro assist cylinder below the tie rod? I have mine mounted behind the tie rod directly above the axle tube. I did this because it keeps the cylinder a little more protected and takes full advantage of the hi-steer. Based on the pictures it looks like you could have done the same but maybe there is something I can't see in your pics that would not allow mounting it like I did. Below are some pics of my setup for reference (1 of my initial CAD design and 2 of it finished).

[BillysGruff]

Ah yes, I see where you're coming from. That looks like a good setup to me. Thanks for the compliments. The only difference we have is that your DL is in front of the TR, whereas mine is behind the TR. Things might get crunchy if I bumped the pass side. This allowed me to not have to move the steering box forward. I get a decent turning radius. The other thing in the back of mind the whole time was that I didnt want the lines running up and around tubing. I wanted to keep everything ahead and out of the way of the TR and DL.

Question for you though...Did adding the panhard help much? I've got decent body roll, and hear that helps. I can see it even when I'm getting in it, and can see the reflection in the office building windows. These 52's are definitely flexy. Do you keep it connected while wheelin and dealin? I'm debating whether I want to add one or not. If you still have the CAD of brackets for it, could you tell me the specs that worked for you? My DL is about 7°, and yours looks to be about the same.

[Ky Mudhunter]

Ok. I thougt there might be a reason you mounted it like you did.

The panhard bar did not help with the body roll much but it did make the steering feel a lot tighter, especially on curvy roads where you are steering back and forth. I do take it off when wheelin' because it makes the suspension bind when it flexes.

Yes I still have the CAD files of my brackets. My draglink is at about 8 degrees and my axle is D44 so they may not fit perfectly on the D60. I think the only difference is that the axle bracket may need to be a little taller. Do you have any software to view CAD files? If so, what software is it?