HanksDeuce: 8" Lift, Bobbed, External Cage, A/C and more Project!

[welldigger]

Hey hank im not sure if they do ss lines but bearing service up here in shreveport builds custom lines for all kinds of applications.

 

[HanksDeuce]

Hey hank im not sure if they do ss lines but bearing service up here in shreveport builds custom lines for all kinds of applications.

I'll give them a call tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[welldigger]

No problem. If they don't do it try kryptonite kustums. They build rock crawlers with the 2.5 ton rockwells. They may can help you out. Tell them Jake referred you.

 

[Kohburn]

if you know the correct banjo sizes you can get ss lines from summit racing and the fittings and assemble at home with basic hand tools. the ss lines have standard threaded ends that the fittings screw onto.

 

[Adrian A]

Napa has the ability to build hydraulic lines too. Or any hydraulic repair shop. Farm equipment and etc.

 

[HanksDeuce]

Most of the shops mentioned above will NOT take the liability to make brake lines. The hydraulic lines they would gladly make for the public are mostly used for off-road equipment on farms, construction sites, etc. DOT requires testing all brake lines to 3000 psi. Some of these companies will not take the liability to do that. If it passed the DOT test it must have a stamp or paperwork with it to that effect. My original custom SS brake lines from Connector Specialists were stamped DOT every foot or so on the braided tubing. I have made my own lines before, but I refuse to make a brake line that could fail and cause an accident or injury.

I will make a few more calls this morning to some of those vendors above and see what they say. I don't have my hopes high because of the liability.

 

[HanksDeuce]

Woo whooo! Robert at the following company was able to make my custom braided SS brake lines (DOT legal too). They will be made today and arrive by next Wednesday. The lines will keep the bulkhead fittings on the front axle (5/8-18 external thread and 7/16-24 inverted flare). The rear lines will use 7/16-24 inverted flare male swivels to attach at the tee fitting on top of the axle. All 4 calipers will have a 1/2" thick block with a straight connector (Brakequip #HFB283) that accepts a 3/8" banjo bolt.

E.L. Johnston Auto Parts
1941 Roosevelt Highway
College Park, GA. 30337
Established Since 1926
(Toll Free) 1-888-767-8693
www.brake-hose.com

 

[Dblbeard]

I'm curious to know how much better the disc brakes work than the drums?

Don't mean to crash your thread, but I've been working on cars since I was about 12 and that was a ways back, let's say the early 70's anyway.
I know disk brakes have always been the *%#@, but I've been told on several occassions that when it comes to these big toys the drums are the way to go on daily drivers with people that have a budget in mind.
The way it's been explained to me is that when you are talking about brake pads it's all about contact surface and everyone knows the drums have way more contact surface than the disk brakes do and though they may apply more pressure per square inch with disk brakes that means more wearing on the pads, therefore replacing the disk pads more. This is the reason all the big rigs have always used the big drum brakes (yes I know some newer trucks are going disk)
Now I'm not beyond saying I'm wrong, I was wrong once in 1993, I said I do and so did she and there you go.

I'm willing to hear the rebuttle.

 

[HanksDeuce]

I appreciate your feedback. Discs have performance and basic design advantages. The combination of rotors (the discs) squeezed by piston/caliper-driven pads can provide shorter stopping distances than the shoe-and-drum type of brake. Discs resist “fade” — the loss of power you experience when heat causes drums to expand away from shoes; discs don’t fade away from pads, and keep working even when very hot. Discs also have fewer parts and are self-adjusting.

I can't wait to do a comparison. I would rather take 2 caliper bolts out and change 2 pads than to deal with removing the axle nuts and outer bearing to do maintenance on the drums. Discs won't need anything near the cleaning if you go in the mud either. Heck, I can check the remaining pad life without taking a wheel off! I can source replacement pads and rotors from autozone. It seems like a win-win for me, but I will list any negatives (cons) from doing the swap. I just haven't found any yet.

 

[Dblbeard]

Wish you all the luck, hope you'll keepusposted on your progress.

 

[HanksDeuce]

I decided to fix a few troublesome leaks today. Man, I'm sure glad these trucks are built a little better than non-MV trucks. See below for examples...

1) First up was removal of the transmission PTO for my winch. In June of this year I swapped my transmission out for a "recent government rebuild". When I installed the PTO I put a single thick gasket and the backlash came out within the spec found in the TM. Unfortunately, I didn't take the extra precaution of adding a thin film of sealant on either side of the gasket to help keep the transmission fluid actually INSIDE the transmission. Now it wasn't a big leak, but it was annoying. The cover plate was leaking a few drops too. Fast forward to today where I removed the PTO, cleaned the mating surfaces, smeared Permatex 2H sealant, placed a new thick gasket, attached the PTO and tightened the 6 bolts. I did the same thing for the PTO cover plate except it only needed a new thin gasket. Talk about a PITA to work with that PTO while the transmission is IN the truck. It was much easier with the transmission on the ground. Hindsight is 20/20...

2) Next was the transmission countershaft rear bearing cover. After removing the 4 bolts and prying the cover off it was apparent what caused the leak. The rebuilt transmission had a crack in the countershaft rear bearing cover on the flange pretty much at each bolt hole. It is a good thing I kept my original transmission. I removed the cover from my old transmission and it didn't have a single crack. However, there wasn't a cotter pin to be found on the slotted nut! I cleaned the mating surfaces, smeared Permatex 2H sealant, placed the new gasket, attached the countershaft rear bearing cover and tightened the 4 bolts. Anybody know why the TM has a picture indicating a lever sticking out the passenger side of the countershaft rear bearing cover? Neither the old transmission or the rebuilt one had the lever. They did, however, have a blind tapped hole.

3) Just to be safe I decided to replace the gasket and outlet seal on the mainshaft rear bearing cap. Since I hate that tiny little driveshaft between the transmission and transfer case I decided to only disconnect the transmission side and tie it out of my way. What a PAIN IN THE BUTT that was. I should have removed it completely. Once I removed the companion flange off the mainshaft rear bearing cap I then removed the 4 bolts holding the rear bearing cap. I cleaned the mating surfaces and -you guessed it- I smeared Permatex 2H on the rear bearing cap and back side of the transmission. Since I had the TM pages saved as images on my iPhone I decided to take another look. It turns out my gubmint rebuild transmission didn't include an outlet seal on the mainshaft rear bearing cap that mates up to the companion flange for the driveshaft. No wonder I had a constant small leak. *sigh* I made sure there were no cracks in the rear bearing cap before reassembly. I installed a new output seal in the rear bearing cap. The outside of the companion flange needed some light sanding to make it smooth again so it didn't chew up my new output seal.

Other work:
4) I installed 2 new tie rod ends on the front knuckles. I counted 29.5 turns on the passenger side and 30.5 on the driver side. When I put the new tie rod ends on I made sure to put them back in at the same amount of turns. This keeps my toe measurement the same as what it was before installing the new tie rod ends. I will get an alignment soon to make sure it's within spec, but when I actually DO drive the deuce there is no noticeable tire wear or pull to either side.

Oh, and that Permatex 2H Aviation / Automotive Gasket Sealer is good for Dentures and it soothes hemorrhoids!

 

[welldigger]

I can't wait to hear about how the new disk brakes perform. O and I'm glad you finally found a brake line maker. Amazing how the smallest and simplest parts can slow you down or flat out halt progress.

 

[znuh]

I came here to learn about your fantastic build; imagine my jaw dropping when I found another Westfield owner, on a Military site of all places!

Not to threadjack: I've got a 1995 Sei Wide, brought over from England myself, assembled myself when I found the 'factory' guy here in New England was a sham. I'm running a 1.8 Miata engine and five speed. Long build because life kept happening - Engine went in in 1995, car finally hit the road three years ago.

It's said that Westie owners have to be great fabricators - you've proved that with the great build of your new truck! I'm with you there as well; saw the Westfield next to a Caterham at Lime Rock, and preferred the Westie - something proved when the Caterham broke a halfshaft and lost his rear tire while racing.

Just discovered M35 'bobbing' tonight; ravenously reading all there is. From one surprised Westfield owner to another - congrats on your project! Now I gotta find me an M35 here..... (Bethesda, MD)

Best,

-Jim S.

 

[HanksDeuce]

Jim,

I sold the Westfield Megabusa in June of this year to a guy in Denver, CO on the USA7s.com forum. Now I have 100% of my time dedicated to the deuce.

Good luck on finding a deuce!

 

[HanksDeuce]

Today I decided to add some piece of mind on critical bolted joints on the deuce by installing Nord-Lock washers. These washers prevent loosening of critical bolted joints because the angle between each little wedge on the washer faces is greater than the bolt pitch (angle). Each joint receives a pair of Nord-Lock washers that are harder than any bolts, washers, or nuts (48 Rockwell C). I chose to install the Nord-Locks on the drive shaft flanges first. This would be the front driveshaft, rear driveshaft, transmission-transfer case driveshaft as well as the winch driveshaft.

The little buggers are pretty expensive. $0.90 for each 3/8" washer pair, $1.36 for each 1/2" pair, and $3.23 for each 3/4" pair. You can't use them on the lug nuts because deuces are lug centric and not hub centric. Nord-Lock does make lug nuts for heavy equipment and other vehicles that have flat faced lug nuts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgwmuZuJ02I

 

[blackrock]

Don't mean to crash your thread, but I've been working on cars since I was about 12 and that was a ways back, let's say the early 70's anyway.
I know disk brakes have always been the *%#@, but I've been told on several occassions that when it comes to these big toys the drums are the way to go on daily drivers with people that have a budget in mind.
The way it's been explained to me is that when you are talking about brake pads it's all about contact surface and everyone knows the drums have way more contact surface than the disk brakes do and though they may apply more pressure per square inch with disk brakes that means more wearing on the pads, therefore replacing the disk pads more. This is the reason all the big rigs have always used the big drum brakes (yes I know some newer trucks are going disk)
Now I'm not beyond saying I'm wrong, I was wrong once in 1993, I said I do and so did she and there you go.

I'm willing to hear the rebuttle.

My major thing i hate with drum brakes is when they get mixed with mud. That's why i like the idea of disc.

LOOKING GOOD HENRY!!!!! Stop slacking and test this puppy out. !!!!

 

[HanksDeuce]

My major thing i hate with drum brakes is when they get mixed with mud. That's why i like the idea of disc.

LOOKING GOOD HENRY!!!!! Stop slacking and test this puppy out. !!!!

I'm not slacking. My new brake lines will be here Wednesday.

 

[HanksDeuce]

Just got back from a 10 mile test drive. Thanks again for Waterloo Specialties for making the power steering kit for my deuce. It is so much easier to navigate my driveway both forward and reverse. A few roads near my home have an angle that meets the highway where the road you are turning on almost doubles back on you. Effortless steering I tell you. I left 2 unique marks in my driveway where I turned lock to lock sitting still.

I bled the Black Rock Fab disc brakes until I saw purple Silicone Dot 5 and no bubbles. I used a pressure bleeder at 20psi. Started with the air pack/master cylinder, then the passenger rear caliper, driver rear, passenger front, and ended at the driver front caliper. I can't believe the disc brakes work that well without a proportioning valve on the rear.

Lastly, I was worried about my hubs being too hot because this was my biggest axle/brakes/bearings job. After driving 10 miles the hubs are slightly warm. They are all pretty much the same temperature (felt by hand though, no IR gun).

Next week is paint!

Pictures and videos will be posted after Christmas.

 

[Danger Ranger]

Ooh, paint, I love me some paint! Lets watch this thing turn green! (Or will it be another color?)

 

[HanksDeuce]

Ooh, paint, I love me some paint! Lets watch this thing turn green! (Or will it be another color?)

Everything will be desert tan (frame/body/wheels). I got a $3 Behr sample from Home Depot and it looks great!