Won't start

Axle pt 10

After I leveled the axle I positioned the coil perches and tacked them in place (checking for level after every tack). This took a lot longer than it sounds.

Axle pt 9

As shown in the previous post there is not a lot of room in between the steering knuckles and the coil spring perches. To make more room, I cut down the perches a bit. I also leveled the axle. I picked up a Husky digital level accurate to 1/10 of a degree. Next up is to weld the perches to the axle.

Axle pt 8

The small parts are slowly arriving. I buy everything off of eBay it always at least half the price of Napa auto parts. Also here are a couple pics of the axle with the coil perches mocked up. You can see how close everything is going to be. I still need to cut down the perches a little more as well as move the sway bar mounts outwards on both perches so everything lines up. Note: the sway bar on a 2001 is different  than a 95 the mounts are completely different. I will post pictures soon to show what I mean

Axle pt7

More fab work on the spring perches. I didn't want to completely cut apart the coil perches so I slotted the new plate sides to fit the existing parts. I am quite lucky to have access to a vertical band-saw. I definitely need to obtain one.

Hmmwv intake

I am basically building the entire body off of eBay. I recently scored this N.O.S intake cap for a dollar. It has a couple dings but nothing that cant be fixed. 

Mill fab

 I have been working on getting the milling machine up and running. I bought a new single phase 220 motor rated at the same horsepower and rpm. In order to make the new motor work with the mill I had to reuse the belt tension plate. I don't have a running mill, plasma cutter or lathe big enough to bore the center out so I used a grinder with a cut off wheel. I got the motor mount tack welded in place, I still need to braze and bolt it in place so it will hold the weight and torque of the motor. Always pushing forward even if its only small steps. 

Axle pt6

 One of the issues I have to address when adding coil spring perches is the width. I have to keep the same spacing in between the perches so that the springs will line up straight and the sway-bar will still line up. The problem here is that the kingpin knuckles protrude farther inward than the ball-joint dodge axle. If I was to weld the perches in their correct location the kingpin knuckles come in contact with the perches. The solution here is to raise the perches by 3 inches so there is ample room for the knuckles to swing as well as room to service the upper kingpins. To do this I am modifying the perches. Since there is going to be a lot of weight and stresses on this area I am using 3/8" cold rolled steel plate.

Rotors pt2

I haven't had much time to any wrenching but I did manage to get some black engine enamel on the rotors. I know its completely cosmetic but I am a perfectionist and like the details.    

Track bar

I took advantage of the black Friday deals at RUFF STUFF specialties and ordered myself a track bar kit. I already have the upgraded steering kit from them I figured I might as well upgrade my track bar while I was at it. Here is a pic of it on their website. The piece of DOM will obviously be longer than the one shown below.

  

  

A few more pics

Drilled and slotted

 Since I only plan on rebuilding this axle once I am doing it right. I would have probably been fine with the stock rotors but I decided since everything was going to be apart I might as well upgrade to some drilled and slotted rotors. A quick visit to eBay and a couple days later I have these beauties as well as two pairs of ceramic pads.

Axle pt5

 I ground down the rest of the mounts and wire wheeled the axle. I also got a little O.C.D. and sanded down some of the casting seams on the diff.

 

Axle pt4

 Nothing too exciting here, just me busting off some slag and a whole lot of grinding.