If you feel the desire to make another set of slider, I got a vehicle that can use them. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Good job. Very cleanly done with the kick out. o yeah the black trim looks good.

Thanks guys. I'd gladly make stuff for people, but you'd have to leave your truck with me for a few months <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> . Get in line behind Angelo <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />



Yeah, it's been too long. How are you doing? Been really busy lately. My sister and family flies in today for a couple of weeks, but we need to figure out your skid issue. We can either weld tabs on your truck for your existing skids as a temporary measure or you need to take some measurements and get down to Foils to buy some material to make some. Got a couple of new toys in my garage now <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Oh yeah Angelo, FISH PLATES!!

So I've had these upper ball joint spacers from plh for about a year and finally had a couple of hours to fit them this morning.

My preferred method for popping out the upper ball joints. A few decisive simultaneous blows works every time. Remember to loosen the upper ball joint nut and support the LCA.



Ball joint removed. Of course you must first take the dust boot off to get the ball joint through the hole in the UCA.



Ball joint and spacer







Installed







Difference in distance between UCA and spindle





That's one thing I liked about this mod as my bump stops are trimmed a lot.

Comparison of the LCA angle with one side done. Ball joint flipped and spacer installed on the d/s. p/s has upper ball joint in the stock position. The difference was significant. The hub dropped 30mm.

[img]http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/6485/dsc09309o.jpg[/img]





















However, all this was in vain <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

[img]http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6628/dsc09316zc.jpg[/img]

There is no way of correcting that much positive camber! Not even close. Unless I'm missing something this mod will not work. I guess it may without a t-bar crank, but I have my t-bars cranked to match the 50mm coils spacers in the rear. So the different angles between the LCA and UCA mean the camber is extreme.

I removed the spacers and thought about just doing a ball joint flip, but I just didn't like the way the ball joint sat. I put the upper ball joints back to the stock position. A good few hours work...

Bummer <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

all that work only to take it back apart. So nothing to correct that? I thought it was simple and would all line back up again, guess not? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Even if you lower the t bars down 30mm to make up for the drop? You'd still get a 30mm increase in flex up front, but would stay in same postion as before. Atleast you wouldnt be riding on top of your bump stops, input?

Cool Info too bad it did not work to your expectations. Wish there was an easy drop to the lower control arm and then it should be good set up. Where did you get your spacers?

Looks like a lot of work went into those spacers.

I think longer upper control arm bolts and washers could correct a lot of the positive camber. Been a while since I delt with flips and spacers.

Even if it did work I experince an exponential increase steering part failures after my balljoint flip. Idler arms didn't like the new geometry at all. Alignments only lasted one trail ride max, and it was hell on the expensive tires.

http://www.4x4wire.com/forums/showflat.p...rue#Post1186784

I found the thread by searching for Spacer. It was on the 6th page of results. If you had typed in +ball +spacer it would have been a quicker search.

Yes, a far amount of work. Reminded me of the fun we had with the front diff swap <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" /> Remember that effort Angelo?! I'd already done the swap and back once <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

'Uncranking' the t-bars would help, but then I'd loose ride height and the front would be lower than the back. I did think about long UCA mounting bolts. That's the logical solution for sure. Only trouble is on a Gen2, there is barely enough space on the d/s to get a socket on the nuts as it is. No room for longer bolts as far as I can see. Also, I'm not sure I like the idea of, may be a couple of inches, of more, of spacers and I'd worry that the UCA would interfere with the shock at full drop. Good idea though Doug.

Yeah, the tie-rod angles looked a little extreme.

I got the spacers from plh on here. They are beautifully made.

I think I'll just have to accept that I have max'd out the IFS. D44 is the next option <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> That's down the road though.

I had to work all last weekend on a grant proposal so I took a day off today to get a couple of things done before Saturday's Uwharrie work day.

After the discussion in this thread, I thought seriously about getting the tranny temp sensor bung tig welded in. So dropped the sump (I'll use normal words since you lot seem to know what I mean <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> ), took careful measurements and drilled a hole...then I thought, 'bugger it' and decided it was too much hassle to get someone else to weld it. I made a couple of mock ups by cutting a piece on round stock, drilling out the center and practiced using different settings in my mig with some 16 and 14g sheet. Once happy, I welded the proper bung in. The outside bead is a tad bulky...





I tested it by filling the sump with water and letting it sit for a couple of hours. Zero leaks <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I have also been gathering bits and pieces for an auxiliary trans cooler recently. I used a 2nd stock unit because they are very nicely made (Denso) and fit in the available space. I pulled the original cooler and found a lot of Uwharrie mud in the fins so I was loosing some cooling capacity there. I also put a can of Kooler Kleaner through each cooler.

I fab'd up a couple of brackets that bolt in under the stock brackets. They are 'T' shaped at the back to make them rigid. I also made a center bracket at the top of the cooler.





It tucks up nicely under the front skid plate. The fan puts out over 300cfm and will be thermostatically controlled. Should help out off road when speeds are low, but load is high. I'm going to put the thermostat in the oil return line. It triggers the fan at 180f and then off at 170f. That might be a bit cool, so I'm going to have a little light in the dash so I can see how often it's on. I can always get another thermostat with a different temp range if the fan runs all the time.

I had a fun day

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Looks nice, did you open up the plastic behind the new cooler to allow the air through?