My 1950 Willys Trail Rig

[OWEN]

Here is how bad the axle wrap was. I ripped it around the parking lot at my shop a few times. My friend said the pinion would twist almost 90 degrees when I would get on it, making the driveshaft bind, as you can see here. The binding mashed the Ujoint caps on the 14 bolt yoke


Prep axle
Plasma cut off the perches that helped the jeep move .03 miles

Smooth


Next, I wanted to set the axle back up to see what my new wheelbase is going to look like. The jeep was at 97" before, I am going to 102". Someone told me that is too long, but I do not agree.



Removed the rear bumper and I am going to move it back. It has a pretty good departure angle now


Next thing I have to do is redraw my 4 link design and start making my truss/ upper link mounting points

[OWEN]

I started running the 4 link calcs on the jeep, but realized I wanted to do a couple of other things first

First off was to make an axle crossmember/truss for the upper links to attach to. Material is .25 wall 2" square tube






Then I wanted to get my jeep setup on the spings, to see what the ride height was going to be like



At this point, I decided to raise the rear driveline up 2 inches for better ground clearance. I wanted to do this before building any chassis link mounts, as I may incorporate the link mounts and skid plate all in one.

This rise in driveline involved starting with cutting the floor some more



Next I am going to build a new crossmember to support the drivetrain... Well I already started it, will post up completed pics next

[netrachamp1853]

Now that your rainbow desiel is in the paint shop you can get this thing wrapped up. We are all waiting on its maiden voyage haha

[Rowdy XJ]

looking good((plasma cutter))

[Even]

any plans to shave the 14b, or is it already? i can't really tell by the pictures

[OWEN]

Its "smoothed" I took almost an inch off of the bottom of the diff to remove the "grappling hook" shape that it has stock. It slides over stuff a lot better. I might do a more aggresive shave someday, but I have enough other stuff going on with this project to take on any more. The axle was already setup from my old rig. Shaved, discs, gears and a detroit.

[ninetysix-ex-jay]

Great work man. Looks sick

[OTTE]

Nothing like a good custom built ride. Good job Owen.

[OWEN]

I finally came up with a functional and fabricatable design for my 4 link. I started out on paper and some good tech articles. The 4 link analizer v3.1 really saved a lot of erasing on paper and its a great way to see how changing the variables affects the end numbers

The big word everyone associates with rear 4 links is ANITSQUAT. Most of the people that try to dial in their antisquat using the calculator are forgetting one thing; that is most people assume a Center of Gravity height.
I encourage anyone interested in 4 link suspension to download the 4 link calculator... After you put in all you link mounting points, mess with the COG height. Changing the height an inch can change the AS value drasically. That being said, the COG is ever changing, especially in a Jeep: Passengers, windshield, hard top, soft top, no top, fuel, tools, etc, all put weight in different spots and move the COG around.

Therefor, I felt more inclined to look at the Antisquat and the rest of the suspension design from a dynamic rather than static. I wanted to start with 70-90% antisquat static. A big problem associated with too much antiquat is hopping. Theoretically, numbers over 100% will cause the rear to rise when you hit the throttle, and continue to rise and rise as traction is gained and lost from the load shifting. Too little antisquat and the rear will just sink and not put the power to the ground. So I wanted to design a suspension that INCREASED the AS as the suspension compressed and DECREASED the AS as the suspension drooped.

I have to be up at 5:30 tomorrow, so I will write more tomorrow night... and some pics possibly... I started to make some of the brackets

[OWEN]

I also wanted to come up with somethat that handled pretty well. I kept the roll center height up and the roll axis sloped down toward the front of the jeep. I don't really feel like explaining all of this... PBB has a lot of great threads, if you don't mind spending the time to sort through the BS. This is a pretty good thread
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...ght=suspension

[OWEN]

Most people like pictures more than words, here is a pictoral update.

When I started working with the 4 link calculator, I needed to make some decisions about how and where to mount the links at the frame. Your roll axis angle is a big part of how the jeep handles from rear steer. (Any 4 link will have some rear steer unless the links are infinately long or the suspension doesn't move)

I decided since I gained another 5 inches of wheelbase and 5+" of driveline, I would raise the driveline up a little, so I built a new transmission mount crossmember. It is mounted rigidly to the frame, with a rubber bushing between the crossmember and drivetrain

Start
Remove old.


What I am working with.


The new one is square tube, I didn't think I would be able to come up with another one made from bent DOM working under the jeep.




Painted and installed. I test fit a driveshaft and it clears fine, even though it doesnt look like it in the picture


Gussetting on the spring perches, not my best work


Upper link axle brackets


Now I am working on my Lower link frame mounting crossmember and brackets

[justtorchit]

i gotta come check this thing out some time.... i lovee the work you put in this... everytime i see this thread i wana jump outside into my garage and do shit

[OWEN]

i gotta come check this thing out some time.... i lovee the work you put in this... everytime i see this thread i wana jump outside into my garage and do shit

looks like you are kinda far, but feel free to stop by anytime, the shop is on rt 68 in Durham

[OWEN]

I have been working a lot, but I got some time in down at the shop in the past couple of days to try to get this suspension done

Crossmember.
It bolts behind the transfer case. I didn't want to weld it in, in case I want to take the transfer case out. It is made from 2.5" square tube, 3/16" thick. I made a crossmember so I could triangulate the lowers for a better roll axis angle



The 2.625 ballistic Joints fit nicely in this 3in square tube, 3/16" wall, so I decided to use it for the brackets on the crossmember


frame mounts


To get the OC locations right I drilled some 1/4 holes at the centers, then the brackets could be rotated to the correct angle, while maintaining the correct center



I recessed the brackets in an inch for better strength and clearance.



Lower arms to axle.
I wanted something simple and strong. Start with 1/4" steel, I whipped these up


Angle cut


Notch, using some 3.5" OD shit pipe for a template


tacked


Upper arms to frame
I wanted to be able to adjust the height to dial in the squat
here is the start... more to come

[OWEN]

more from today

Upper links frame mount
I wanted to integrate the mounts into the stock crossmember

Start. Notch it out


Weld in at 20 degrees to horizontal centerline, vertically plumb


Rear view


Next I have to finish tacking on the Upper link axle mounts and build the links. I am going to try to get Jamming on this to bring it to RC in July