Nighthawk!

birdco85 · Post by **birdco85** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 7:00 am

Yeah I had one in my ranger for a while and it started loosening up fairly quick. I'm thinking either a stock track lock or a true track.

hollandermotorsports · Wed Mar 18, 2015 7:31 am

I have a pretty good memory and you put that Ranger through hell. lol. Do you remember the flash flood night at cibola?

birdco85 · Post by **birdco85** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 7:42 am

Sure do! We got pushed from one side of the road to the other, engine died and it wouldn't shift out of 2nd. It is a little freaky when water is cresting your hood! And I put that thing through hell. It was a whoop eater when I finally put the Monroe's on lol.

dtbback · Post by **dtbback** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 8:21 am

yikes wrote:Auburn won't hold up for long.

In the front?

birdco85 · Post by **birdco85** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 10:33 pm

dtbback wrote:
yikes wrote:Auburn won't hold up for long.
In the front?

I'm sure it will last forever in the front Will, but I'll spend a bit more for a true track. I don't want to pull this thing apart again.

And I'm getting to C H O status on the welds haha. Making a new rear bumper and they're coming out pretty nice.

And I know th is a beer thread but thus is worth trying if you can find it. The Costco in LA Mesa has it. My new favorite.

dtbback · Post by **dtbback** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 10:46 pm

Darren those are some beautiful looking welds!! Is that with the flux core welder you were telling me about?

yikes · Post by **yikes** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 3:27 am

dtbback wrote:
yikes wrote:Auburn won't hold up for long.
In the front?

Yes. The clutches can't handle big tires. I ran one for a while and pulled it out because there was no longer much limited in the slip. They are rebuildable and I believe there are some tricks to get more out of them, but I'm not a fan of taking the diff out of these front ends on a regular basis to fiddle with them.

birdco85 · Post by **birdco85** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:11 am

dtbback wrote:Darren those are some beautiful looking welds!! Is that with the flux core welder you were telling me about?

Haha no way! It's my Miller. I could probably do something a little similar with flux core but I don't think it would be nearly as pretty.

yikes wrote:
dtbback wrote:
yikes wrote:Auburn won't hold up for long.
In the front?
Yes. The clutches can't handle big tires. I ran one for a while and pulled it out because there was no longer much limited in the slip. They are rebuildable and I believe there are some tricks to get more out of them, but I'm not a fan of taking the diff out of these front ends on a regular basis to fiddle with them.

That's kind of my thinking. I don't want to pull this thing off again. Unless I'm putting some fancy axles or knuckles in at the same time. Too much work involved to pull it off just for a carrier rebuild. I think I'll just drop the cash for a true track.

dtbback · Post by **dtbback** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 2:13 pm

Now I regret getting my Auburn

birdco85 · Post by **birdco85** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 2:20 pm

Sell it.

And started on the bumper. Lights on the outside and hitch in the middle. What do you guys think?

birdco85 · Post by **birdco85** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 2:22 pm

And I'm going to trim the fenders to match. Do I just cut them? Or do u need to worry about structure? A lot of sheet metal meets right there

dtbback · Post by **dtbback** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 2:30 pm

I was thinking about how I'd do this the other day. I would tape and mark up where I wanted the new line to be and then drop that line 5/8", trim there and then use a hammer and die to bend to the desired line. If the fender is a little flimsy after trimming a piece of rod could be attached cleany to limit any movement.

Btw, I really like how the main portion of your bumper is cut! It's going to look awesome when it is done!!

Wrightracing.net · Post by **Wrightracing.net** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 3:13 pm

birdco85 wrote:Sell it.

And started on the bumper. Lights on the outside and hitch in the middle. What do you guys think?

I have done several bumpers, a rock crawler style and a tube bumpers and one thing I like is to protect the corners. Please excuse the Chevy, it is the last one I have pictures of. I am not sure how I am doing mine this next time but I will probably have some type of corner protection.

birdco85 · Post by **birdco85** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 4:26 pm

I was considering corner protection and actually had something cut out already, but the aluminum panel on the tailgate will hit it. If I took the panel off (I don't want to) it would clear.

You can kinda get the idea. Cut it at the yellow line and that is the most narrow part of the fender. And then between the two sides I wanted to run a piece of 1-1/2" tubing to kind if make it "prerunner" and not so rock crawler. I don't want to move the bumper any lower because of the gap between the gate and bumper. I'm already 1-1/8" gap. I just really like the aluminum panel. Thoughts?

Wrightracing.net · Post by **Wrightracing.net** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 5:41 pm

On one I had done, I put a filler plate under the tailgate after leaving space to clear the tailgate when down.

It might be interesting to radius cut the plating on the ends to follow the corner and tuck it close to the bottom of the fender. This is a basic idea with a bad sketch.

birdco85 · Post by **birdco85** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 5:51 pm

I'm not sure if I want it to wrap around the body, I was thinking just to the edge. I'm worried I might catch it on something. And the bumper sticks out from the body about an inch right now. I'm considering cutting the brackets, which are of course fully where's right now, off and moving the bumper in an inch to make it flush with the body. Then I'll have about 2-1/2" to work with without it hitting the tailgate.

Wrightracing.net · Post by **Wrightracing.net** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:09 pm

Ya, I understand the worry of catching on stuff. I am interested to see how it turns out. It all ends in a compromise for one thing or an other.

birdco85 · Post by **birdco85** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:29 pm

That's true. I kinda wanted to make a place a tire carrier spindle too, that's why I was gonna put that piece on each end. I might run it this way for a bit and see if I like it. I also won't have a step anymore if I need to get in the back with the tailgate up.

Cactus Cooler · Post by **Cactus Cooler** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 7:08 pm

I did my 1/4 panels by cutting and then adding a 1/2" bend for rigidity. I used 3 hand sheet metal clamps I picked up from Harbor Freight for $15 bucks. Worked pretty good, didn't even chip the paint.

Funny, I see the same dent in the same place in your tailgate as mine.... stupid tire gate. lol

birdco85 · Post by **birdco85** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:19 am

That looks good Cactus. I'll have to look up those pliers.

Also, I am going to flush in a receiver. I need it to be at least 2-3/8" from to front to the start of the pin hole. I'm not going to be towing much, if ever. The main thing I want it for is maybe a cooler rack or something to hold gas cans. I do, however, have a hitch mounted d ring that I would like to use.

I've been searching for a pre made one that fits my criteria but can't find one. I ended up buying one of the adapter tubes for a class V hitch that matched the measurements needed. It's not quite 1/4" thick and a little thicker than 3/16". Would that be fine our should I just bite the bullet and make one and hope I drill the pin holes in the right place.

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