WRMorrison's "just another bobber" thread

[WRMorrison]

Be forewarned; I’m long-winded at times and generally post a lot of pics… So, if you’d rather skip through just to look at the pics I won’t hold it against you… Also, some people think build threads are boring since there’s usually quite a gap in posting because, well, “life happens.” That’s why I waited as long as I have before posting because I wanted to have a lot of progress for the initial post. Surprisingly, this build is moving along MUCH quicker than my other projects.

I’ve wanted a deuce for as long as I can remember, but either the price or the timing was never right; until now. First, let me just say that I’m a Jeep fanatic and (up until a few weeks ago) I had 3 of them at the house; a ’09 JKU, ’01 WJ, and a ’46 CJ2A. The ‘2A was my project Jeep that I was restoring in the garage. For the Jeep project, I had acquired an engine, transmission and transfer case that were recently rebuilt by the PO, and I rebuilt, repaired, or replaced everything else…except the body. The body was in poor shape because I was saving that for last.

I was cruising the local CL ads for Jeep-related stuff as usual, and ran across a deuce (M109A3) for sale nearby. As it turns out, it was owned by a forum member here; codyharper15. The price was more than reasonable, but I couldn’t afford to buy it at that moment (because of the Jeep project in the garage), but I noticed in his for sale thread here on SS that he would entertain trades. More importantly, he mentioned once in his thread that he would consider selling the box separately. Now, I won’t give away the details of the exchange, but let’s just say that he got my Jeep and I got his truck…and he kept the box off the truck. After reading the thread on “hank’s deuce” (AWESOME truck, by the way) and drooling over Hundy’s trucks on pirate4x4 for years, my mind was already set on a bobber project.

Cody and I met up, and the deal was done. He showed up to my place and I helped him load the Jeep project on one trailer, and another trailer just for the body and all the spare parts, and I followed him back to his place in my other Jeep. As soon as we rounded the corner to his house, and I saw all that OD iron parked in the street, I got the biggest &$^%-eatin’ grin on my face...FINALLY! I was a bit nervous, so I had him ride around the block in it with me so I could try it out. Even after that, I was still a bit intimidated by it all, and I had him drive it back to my place for me while I followed behind.

All this happened around the last of May. Most of my neighbors (under 40) LOVE it. The rest of ‘em have mixed feelings about it sitting in my driveway…lol. The guys usually dig it, but the women folk usually roll their eyes and shake their head as they walk their dogs by. No matter; I love it!

Anyway, that’s enough for the first post; here are a few pics of it in front of my place:

View attachment 433629View attachment 433630

Biggest convertible on the block!

-WRM

 

[WRMorrison]

With the deuce now in my driveway, I started reading tons of threads about what I would need to accomplish my goals. I’ve learned a lot so far, but still learn a few new things every day. I decided to go the route of the trailer box and springs, and I found a local guy selling a M105A1 complete with bows and new cover for a good price, so I decided to snatch it up.

While I’m talking about the trailer let me just mention this just in case anyone else is starting down this path; the pictures you see online of these trailers are generally deceiving, and the trailers themselves are HUGE! I’ve seen these trailers on CL for the past few years and have always thought, “These would make for a nice camping trailer behind the Jeep.” No friggin’ way. Everything on the trailer is so well-proportioned that they appeared (to me) like a normal-sized trailer. What the pictures don’t tell you is that the stock 9.00-20 tires on these trailers are around 39” tall! The bed sides, when the trailer is sitting on (roughly) even ground, are around 55” tall.

Before seeing it in person, I was going to just pick up a pintle adapter for my class 3 hitch and pick it up / tow it home with the wife’s Grand Cherokee. But, since I knew I would probably never use that adapter again, I decided to just find someone with a truck that already has that style of hitch to pick it up for me and just pay for the fuel and a little bit of their time. I found someone in my local Jeep club that was up to the task. He drove a 3/4T newer Chevy HD with a 6” lift and 35’s…and the trailer still dwarfed the truck. It rode just fine mind you, but it looked a bit funny going down the highway. I sure am glad that I didn’t attempt the recovery with the wife’s Jeep; I’d probably still be sleeping in it. Here’s a pic of the trailer behind the truck:



-WRM

 

[WRMorrison]

Deuce in the driveway, trailer in the garage, now I need some tires. I REALLY want a set of those 16.00-20 XZL’s, but after just putting new 35’s on my Jeep and new tire’s on the wife’s Jeep, it just wasn’t in the budget at the moment…someday. So, like anyone else here would do, I started browsing GL for tires. I found a set of (6) 15.50/80R20’s on wheels in Hooks, TX that came off a M1076 weapons trailer…and I won that auction for a mere $100. Now, I live in AZ, so I needed to find a way to get them home. Estes wanted nearly $2K to get them here, but they recommended another local place, “American Group,” and they said they’d get them to me for around $525! Sold! So, now I’m waiting on them to get here. Due to some comm. errors between GL and the trucking company, my tires are due to be picked up this morning. Here's what I purchased:



Once the tires and wheels get here, I'll dismount one of them and put the wheel on the CMM and take some measurements so I can machine some adapter plates.

-WRM

 

[WRMorrison]

For the past week or so, I've been taking off little odds and ends on the truck/trailer to get it ready for the bob process. Hopefully, it'll save some time and allow the job to be done quicker. I've removed: auxiliary fuel tank (non-matching and non-functioning), tie-downs on the truck chassis, middle 2 bed mounts on the truck chassis, a few bolts and rivets in non-critical areas, and all but 2 of the trailer box mounting bolts (left just enough to keep the box attached for transport if needed). I was planning on doing the work in my driveway; not much room to work (not to mention the current 110° weather here in AZ) and was going to bring a forklift home. That was until I got a call from Local Motors in Chandler, AZ (home of the Rally Fighter):

http://localmotors.com/

They said that a couple of their employees mentioned my upcoming project to them, and they've decided to host my project at their shop!!! They've got a huge facility where I can do the work indoors, every tool known to man (including a few forklifts, post lifts, etc.), and they said that they could probably round up a small army of people to help me work on it. Doesn't get much better than that! So, I called the trucking company that's bringing my tires and told them to drop them off over there instead of my place (saves a big logistics headache of transporting them twice), and I'm dropping the truck and trailer off over there tomorrow. I plan on being there Saturday as early as possible, and if I can get enough people to help, we're going to try and get the bulk of the bob-job done in one day.

Lots of little things to do before then:
-pick up some 1/2" Grade 8 bolts/nuts/washers to put on the trailer spring shackle hangers, and the rearmost cross member
-machine some 4" perches/blocks for the rear
-get some custom u-bolts made
-make some top u-bolt plates (maybe incorporate a shock mount? I'll think on that one a bit...)

If the driveshaft needs to be lengthened (and I figure it probably will), I'm thinking of using the shorter driveshaft between the two rear axles to do it. I can cut/weld the two together and take it to one of the local driveshaft shops and have them balance it. They've also got a water jet there, so if my wheels/tires show up in time (and if they have material on hand), I'll see about having them cut my adapter plates there as well.

If there's any locals that want to stop by and lend a hand, or even just stand around and watch me sweat, feel free to swing by their shop after 9AM this Saturday. I'll need you to sign a waiver, and they might even let you drive the Rally Fighter around their test track

-WRM

 

[gimpyrobb]

Sounds like your well on your way. I bet they come up with some cool idears. Wish I had access to a shop like that.

 

[WRMorrison]

Sounds like your well on your way. I bet they come up with some cool idears. Wish I had access to a shop like that.

Yep, their gracious offer was a Godsend. It also helps that the guy in charge over there loves MV's and is looking for a 5T shop van One of the employees that works there (a former classmate of mine) also drives a Unimog.

-WRM

 

[Castle Bravo]

Yep, their gracious offer was a Godsend. It also helps that the guy in charge over there loves MV's and is looking for a 5T shop van One of the employees that works there (a former classmate of mine) also drives a Unimog.

-WRM

I see that Unimog sitting in the parking lot often when I drive by on 10.

Maybe I'll see if I can stop by on Saturday...

 

[540fordman]

Pretty cool!! Sounds like it was meant to be

 

[WRMorrison]

Pretty cool!! Sounds like it was meant to be

Pana, IL?! I was born and raised in Pana... Is this Rob W?

-WRM

 

[540fordman]

Pana, IL?! I was born and raised in Pana... Is this Rob W?

-WRM

Ha ha, yes it is! How ya doin Rich?

 

[WRMorrison]

Ha ha, yes it is! How ya doin Rich?

Great! Yeah, I saw "ford man" and "pana" and put 2 and 2 together...lol. I dropped off the deuce tonight and plan to start working on it early Saturday. Here it is sitting in their parking lot:



-WRM

 

[RedbeardTheZombieHunter]

If the driveshaft needs to be lengthened (and I figure it probably will), I'm thinking of using the shorter driveshaft between the two rear axles to do it. I can cut/weld the two together and take it to one of the local driveshaft shops and have them balance it. They've also got a water jet there, so if my wheels/tires show up in time (and if they have material on hand), I'll see about having them cut my adapter plates there as well.

If there's any locals that want to stop by and lend a hand, or even just stand around and watch me sweat, feel free to swing by their shop after 9AM this Saturday. I'll need you to sign a waiver, and they might even let you drive the Rally Fighter around their test track

-WRM

That thought crossed my mind when I bobbed my 72 KJ M35A2. Come to find that the intermediate shaft from the intermediate axle to the tag axle is a smaller piece in both diameter and U-joint size. The slip joint is also considerably smaller. The cheapest way and IMHO the easiest way to go is do the whole bob job first, then measure the gap between the axle flange and the T-case flange and have the original rear shaft re-tubed to the correct length.
On the bright side, once you get the truck bobbed, you can lock in the front axle and drive it to go get the rear drive shaft done.

 

[WRMorrison]

Thanks for the info Redbeard; I haven't had time to measure the OD of the rear shaft yet. Luckily, I live in the "land of fab" and there's plenty of shops around that can make or lengthen the shaft for me.

Yesterday after work, I stopped by one of the local shops and had some new u-bolts made for the rear axle. I'll be flipping the bolts upside down so the threaded ends don't get hung-up on everything. Attached is a basic print I made of them; they ran ~$114 out the door for (4) u-bolts, washers and nuts. I had them made a little long, and I'll trim them up after installation.

-WRM

 

[WRMorrison]

At 8AM this morning, I showed up at LM labs and got right to work on the deuce. A friend of mine, who also works there, a few other guys from the local jeep forum, and our very own Castle Bravo and M35A2-AZ showed up to help. I can't thank these guys enough for their time today; we got a lot accomplished! Not everyone could stay all day to help due to other obligations and commitments (which is completely understandable), but a friend and I stayed until 8PM this evening. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I really think Uncle Sam should have used more rivets on the rear suspension...

Wow, what at pain in the rear those rivets were...but, we were able to overcome them (finally) and got the rear suspension removed. We also disassembled the trailer early on, and got those parts staged for use later. We split the axles in the rear suspension and rolled one underneath the truck, but we ran out of time and couldn't permanently attach it. Since the work bay has to be empty during the week (production takes precedence) the truck HAD to be mobile. So, without having the time to put a rear suspension under the truck, we welded in some temporary steel support bars that braced the frame to the axle; they will be cut off later obviously. Sorry there's no pics of the jerry-rigging; ran out of time...I'll snap a few on my next trip over there.

Here's the pics I was able to take today:

1: Pulled into the bay (indoors and cooled! sure as heck beats outdoors in the 110° heat...)
2: Rivets part 14
3: Rivets part 49 I think...
4: Success!!!
5: Admiring the fruits of hours of our labor
6: Supporting the truck while we position our precarious jack stands. These stands are high quality 12 ton units (and they're huge in their own right) but were still a little short, so we blocked them up.
7: Hauling out more stuff that won't be re-used

 

[WRMorrison]

Oh, and Castle Bravo showed up in his 5T; It's the first time I've seen a 5T in person, and I'm officially in love (with the truck, mind you...); one of these WILL be mine in the future...

Here's my ugly mug and his beauty: (I needed to get one with me in it for size reference so I can show it to a coworker just how tall the "small" 14.00-20's are). The pic is a bit grainy because it was taken with an older cellphone and I enlarged the picture.

-WRM

 

[gimpyrobb]

Sweet!

 

[WRMorrison]

I swung by there today to take a few more pics. Here's the pile of unused parts, the trailer box and the ghetto-fab temporary suspension.

-WRM

 

[gimpyrobb]

Dunno if I'd call that a "suspension"!

 

[WRMorrison]

Well, technically the axle is suspended (albeit rigidly) from the truck chassis...lol. Good enough for now. With any luck I'll have time to remove it and fix it right this coming Tuesday or Thursday.

-WRM

 

[WRMorrison]

On another note... At the end of yesterday's festivities when we were trying to get the truck out of the shop, the rear driveshaft was wired up since it wasn't connected. I had planned on driving the truck out to the parking lot by using the front axle, but noticed that the front driveshaft wouldn't even turn. I'm still researching the subject, but I read that a sprag transfer case (I have the 136-21) turns the front axle slightly slower than the rear axle under normal conditions, and that it only really engages the front axle when the rear wheels lose traction. If that's the case, and the rear driveshaft isn't connected, wouldn't that be the ideal circumstance for the t-case to send power to the front axle? Long story short, the front axle didn't engage and the truck wouldn't move under its own power; we had to tug it out to the parking lot with another vehicle.

I'm still searching the forum and the TM's (like how to adjust the linkage), but in the meantime, can anyone tell me if this is normal or should I be looking for other issues?

-WRM