Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

outlaws4x4
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Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by outlaws4x4 »

Hi guys, my name is Ash i have been asking a few questions on here and the guys here have been realy helpful so i thought i would put a very compressed version of my build here. I have a full build on my web site outlaws4x4.com called the "New Outlaws4x4 offroad class 8 race truck "

Well this has been a very long build with sooooooo many changes. i have really done this all in my head with next to no plaining. i the build would probable be finnished if i had planed it better as i would not have changed so many things and wasted so much $$ and time on things i am not even using anymore.

In Australia our off-road racing classes are a little different to yours.
Our biggest flaw is even our unlimited classes have engine restrictions to either 6000cc capacity naturally aspirated or 3500cc forced induction. This i believe is our major down fall as it restricts so many international competitors coming and competing in our off-road competition. The two biggest off-road races we have here in Australia is the "Finke desert race" and the "Gasgoyne Dash"

These are our offroad classes.
Pro Buggy - Buggy with engines 3500cc to 6000cc and all Turbo engined buggies
Pro Lite Buggy - Buggies with engines 1651cc to 3500cc
Super 1650 - Buggies with engines up to 1650cc and two seats
Sportsman - Buggies with engines up to 1330cc and two seats
Extreme 2WD - Highly modified 2WD Vehicles with engines up to 6000cc (This is our unlimited truck class where Trophy trucks fit in)
Performance 2WD - 2WD vehicles with engines up to 6000cc (Production class)
Clubman - Restricted Buggies
Production 4WD - Production 4WD vehicles with engines up to 6000cc
Extreme 4WD - Highly modified 4WD vehicles with engines up to 6000cc (This is our other unlimited truck class but 4x4 This is the class i am in, it is also known as class 8)

I am building a truck for extreme 4wd or Class 8 - this is our unlimited 4wd class where other than engine capacity almost everything is free to do what you want with.

My build started out looking nothing like what i have now. Originally i just wanted to go racing so i purchased a Nissan patrol wagon chassis and body and was going to modify the suspension a little, cut it down into a extra cab utility and put a big engine in it and go racing.

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Oh iv been building this for about 2 years now too. Now from the beginning i wanted to have trophy truck style race truck but i did not have anywhere near the amount of $$ to buy or build one but being competitive i new that the solid front diff in the front of the Nissan patol was not going to do.

I looked into different options for IFS i looked and going to 2wd and looked at staying with 4wd. in the end i came up with staying with 4wd and trying to build a IFS. The main reason for this was like most sports there are certain classes that only people with massive sponsor backing and or just endless amounts of money race in and if i had of gone to 2wd that would have put me into classes where i would be racing against these sorts of people and money dose play apart in weather you win it dosnt necessarily mean you will win if you have lost of $$ but is sure gives you a huge advantage if you have a good driver with an unlimited budget compare to a good driver with no budget. So class 8 extreme 4wd was the class for me.
The biggest thing about class 8 is here in Australia for some reason people with huge money have always built 2wd unlimited trucks or pro-buggies. the unlimited 4wd class seamed to be left for the guys wanting to slightly set out of production class and run a big v8. But none of them really made the most of the rules and most just ran fairly standard trucks with big engines. however over the last 2 years some on the bigger budget guys have seen the potential of an unlimited 4wd and i think there are 2 or 3 professionally build class 8 full tube massive travel trucks.

these are the other professional class 8 extreme 4wd truck i know about.

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and here is mine as it sit unfinished today.....

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Well anyway somewhere along the line i got my hands on a nice Holden 355 stoker V8 and a dana 50 IFS front end and from this point on my whole build changed for the better.

I started rebuilding the dana 50 IFS and cut and turned it. I removed most of the body of the Nissan patrol and some of the chassis

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outlaws4x4
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Bronco Info: Im building a class 6 race truck with a TTB front end.

Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by outlaws4x4 »

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And then the biggest change was to remove the cab completely.

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it was about here i ordered a custom rear end from ruff stuff and a full size Trophy truck body and lots of other little bits and pieces for the build to continue.

here are a few shots of my steering set up.

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I had to cut more of the chassis rails out to clear full bump for the new rear end.

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This is the new tyre carrier rear end i made.

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And this is pretty much where im up to in my build.

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Like i said this is a massively compressed version i think my build thread on www.outlaws4x4.com is up to 44 pages so if you want to see all the little bits and pieces and by all means check it out. There is quiet a few off-road race trucks and rock crawler being built on there so worth a look anyway :D

Well now i have my build up here i will keep asking lots of questions because the hardest thing i have found building this truck is getting information about the Dana 50 IFS. Thanks for checking out my build and answering my questions. hope to see some of you on outlaws4x4.com would love to see some of these American builds which we don't really see here in Australia mainly because parts are s hard to get.

thanks
Ash
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by Joxracing »

That thing is rad!
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by ESHALLBETTER »

I like the look of yours best. The raptor body is sweet. Get that thing done! Cool build.
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by bajascott »

Very cool!
FRONT YARD FABRICATION
http://ssfab-n-offroad.com/
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hobbyturnedobsession
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by hobbyturnedobsession »

Bitchen!!!
I'm just here for the views. It helps me feel wanted.
outlaws4x4
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by outlaws4x4 »

Thanks for the comments guys.
Do you guys run drive slugs or manual locking hubs for the front? i am going to run an open centre up front. but i still need to buy either slugs or manual hubs what do you think.

The rear is a full spool with slugs.
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by ESHALLBETTER »

outlaws4x4 wrote:Thanks for the comments guys.
Do you guys run drive slugs or manual locking hubs for the front? i am going to run an open centre up front. but i still need to buy either slugs or manual hubs what do you think.

The rear is a full spool with slugs.
Most of us will run hubs. For something race only like you have I would run slugs.
outlaws4x4
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by outlaws4x4 »

Ok well my builds progressing along nicely. Now i need to source my rear axles for my custom housing. My rear end is a custom ruff stuff housing with a ford 9" center and dana60 spindels and hubs. going to run 35 spline axles, i have a 35 spline spool for the 9". my axles will all be the same length 41.375" does anyone recommend a good place to get axles from? have anyone run this setup before? anything i should look out for?

thanks
Ash
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by cs_drums »

I believe Philo is doing a similar set up with a sterling 10.5 center, he can correct me if im wrong. The ford 35 spline is going to have a different pressure ange than the Dana 60 35 spline. I have only bought axles from Currie but no complaint there, good customer service and a fast turn around. I am thinking of your same set up to convert my semi to full float down the road so keep us posted how it works out. Did you use a weld on or bolt on snout?
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by philofab »

Yukon is doing my axles. Make sure they know what you are doing so they can build them correctly. Over 40" is difficult to get blanks for. I have always had good luck with Dutchman and Moser. Yukon takes very good care of me too.
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by Rmc »

Did u have to pay for the fiberglass bodies to be shipped from California? Sounds expensive.
outlaws4x4
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Bronco Info: Im building a class 6 race truck with a TTB front end.

Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by outlaws4x4 »

Yes i did have to pay to get the body shipped and it was expensive, however i offset the cost as me and my friend brought in a 40ft container and filled it with stuff so just averaged the shipping out and made it alot more affordable. however still not cheap.


I am going to get my axles made by performance products machining. getting a good price on 300M :)

i will try get some more progress pics up soon
cheers
outlaws4x4
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Bronco Info: Im building a class 6 race truck with a TTB front end.

Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by outlaws4x4 »

ok guys well im still alive and building :) just been moving along at a slow pace as my money tree is all but dried up :( but moving forward still and the end is near.

since my last update i have done a fair amount of work on the truck. I have painted the frame
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and also the body panels got a bit of paint too :)
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Got the rear swaybar installed and started assembling the truck.
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Also made and installed the exhaust.
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Now next week i will start plumbing all the lines and finishing off some work on the fuel tank.

After that i need to look at re-building and re-gearing my front diff and this is where i am hoping some of you can help me out?
Firstly just to re-cap to save you re-reading the old posts, the front differential set up is a 6" extenderd TTB Dana 50.
Now i also have in my shed a Danna 44 center which has the retaining bolt for the axle. My question is which one should i run??? they both will fit, they both are about the same weight, one an 8.8" and the other's a 9" either way i need to do a full rebuild and re-gear so it comes down to which one will be best???


Thanks
Ash
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by RyanDS650X »

The 50 can be machined to accept the 44 bolt in stub shaft if you wanted the best of both...
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by philofab »

What gears are you running? The 44 has a few more options for gearing...

I have never seen a R+P failure on either... that includes hi mileage unmaintained trucks. U-Joints and splines on the axles seem to be the weak point... as both use the same splines I'm not sure you will ever know a difference.
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by Dust »

If you are going to use the TTB as a Drive axle then of the two the D50 is the way to go, however if you are going to use the TTB as suspension that has the ability to pull you out of the occasional "Aw Crap" situation then the 44 is the way to go. Just my opinion.

Dust, it will pass you sooner or later.
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by 300 »

philofab wrote:What gears are you running? The 44 has a few more options for gearing...

I have never seen a R+P failure on either... that includes hi mileage unmaintained trucks. U-Joints and splines on the axles seem to be the weak point... as both use the same splines I'm not sure you will ever know a difference.
I can certainly say I have seen my share of D44 R&P failures. In fact I could probably pave my driveway with them. I will admit that many of them were taken out by the chunks of the spider gears when they exploded. As of late the quality of the available R&P's has dropped and they have been failing before the spiders.
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by hobbyturnedobsession »

I had my spiders chunk apart and the r&p were fine.
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Re: Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

Post by philofab »

300: on a TTB or on a straight axle?
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