SXOR single seater build

[hokie_yj]

Thank you!

 

[Beerj]

About how much is that ar plate a square foot

Copied this from another thread. They have the best prices that I've seen.

An fyi for those looking to buy AR400 that lack a local supplier. Their's a steel supplier online called Metalsforasteel located in Walton Ky (just south of Cincy OH). Lucky for us that their 3/16 plate is sold at a really good price. A 48"x48" 3/16 AR400 piece will cost you $165 and you can calculate shipping costs online too. Here's the link.

http://www.metalsforasteel.com/Catalog.aspx?Level1=01&Level2=11&C=Steel-Plate

Also, rig is looking sharp Ben. Black panels?

 

[sleepsontoilet]

YES!

 

[hokie_yj]

That price sounds about right. I was thinking the sheet we split was 5x10 but it may have been 4x8. I never actually measured it, but it was more than enough to skin the bottom.

Thanks guys!

Yeah, for the skins I'm going to use the black plastic that you can buy in rolls from places like Speedway Motors, etc. The hood I already have, it's on it in some of the earlier pics. It's red and gray with some sort of funky design that must be molded into the lexan or something. I'm either going to vinyl wrap it or just try to paint it.

 

[kmcminn]

That price sounds about right. I was thinking the sheet we split was 5x10 but it may have been 4x8. I never actually measured it, but it was more than enough to skin the bottom.

Thanks guys!

Yeah, for the skins I'm going to use the black plastic that you can buy in rolls from places like Speedway Motors, etc. The hood I already have, it's on it in some of the earlier pics. It's red and gray with some sort of funky design that must be molded into the lexan or something. I'm either going to vinyl wrap it or just try to paint it.

Cool im going to get some ar plate soon. Thanks gor the info.

 

[hokie_yj]

Not a huge amount of progress but I got both axles stripped down. I got the rear axle painted and hung under the chassis for hopefully the last time.











Still have to get the front axle painted and under the chassis and get it back to a roller.

 

[5BrothersFabrication]

Fapfapfapfapfapfap... hitit

Hey Kel, we need a fap emoji!!!

 

[hokie_yj]

Haha, thanks man! I'll have to keep an eye on you when we ride together, don't won't a bunch of stains all over it. molaugh

 

[5BrothersFabrication]

Haha, thanks man! I'll have to keep an eye on you when we ride together, don't won't a bunch of stains all over it. molaugh

Shiiiit, alls I'm saying is you better take the battery out of it if you park it on the trail! :driving:

 

[bjeep]

Looking good. How long are the lower links? drool

 

[hokie_yj]

Haha! Thanks guys. I'm working nights this weekend so it will probably be next week before there is any more progress.

The uppers and lowers are actually the same length. Both are right at 42.5" center to center on the heims. They were originally shorter, but I got the new links made longer in the rear to move the axle back to help with the driveshaft angle. The wheelbase went from 104" originally to 112".

 

[hokie_yj]

I know I haven't posted an update in a while. I started putting the rear axle together and ran into a big problem. Apparently during the process of trussing the housing I warped the hell out of it. Either that or the spindles weren't aligned correctly when the housing was originally built. (I bought this as a roller, I only added the trusses to the existing axles.) I'm pretty sure it was all the welding I did that caused it though. I tried taking my time and stitch welding but it wasn't enough I guess.

I sent these pics to a buddy and he said he could try to straighten it, but it would be pretty difficult to get it to move that much. I may end up having to buy a new housing and build a whole new axle and re-use my parts. I'm frustrated with it and upset with myself to say the least.

Right side:







Left side:

 

[Rokcrler]

Re:

That sucks man.
Cut the spindles off and reweld them on with an alignment bar.

 

[hokie_yj]

That's what sucks. I don't know if we can cut the spindles off without cutting off the truss, link mounts, and shock mounts. The weld where the tubes were spliced is right in the middle of the lower link mount.

 

[Rokcrler]

Nothing is impossible man. I know it's discouraging finding that after all the work, but everything is fixable.
Looks like a cut here and redo the brake bracket would be good

 

[TBItoy]

If the axles still go through, it ain't bent much.

Couple log chains and bottle jacks would get that straight enough,


But yeah, like mo said , just cut the spindles off and re weld them. It's really not a big job if you use a bar

 

[fabricator1]

I have straightened much worse than that by heating up the opposite side with a torch. You might have to go in multiple spots close together if you can see it bent badly in one spot. Last one I straightened the axle wouldn't even go in

 

[hokie_yj]

Thanks guys. I'm going to pull it out and take it to his shop as soon as I get a chance. He has an alignment bar and all that stuff. The shafts are not all the way in, but they're stuck right now. Idiot me just thought the splines were a little tight so I tried tapping them in with a rubber hammer. Then I realized they were wedged against the I.D. Of the spindle. So I gotta get them back out first. SMDH.

Looking at it I've wondered if you could slice the tube half way or so on one side and use a wedge or something to open up the split to get them lined up and then re-weld. The housing is a factory 9" housing and the tubes are only like 1/8". That's why I trussed it so heavily to begin with.

I'm definitely frustrated, but I will get it fixed somehow. I'm not giving up on this thing, it's been way too damn long coming. If it comes down to it I'll just buy an aftermarket 9" housing and some spindles and have him build me a new axle to fit my shafts. I don't want to, but I will if I have to.

 

[slravenel]

Tim @ LII did this to his Spidertrax axle on purpose to introduce a little bit of camber into the tires for some racing - and that buggy has been kicking ass and taking names for a long time now.

Is it ideal? not really
will it work? yea
would I do it if I was in this situation? yep.

Just brace it up and weld it out and then make sure you truss/fishplate it some more. These housings are thin as **** as you said...I think you can get it going and have it work just fine.

Then later on down the road if you dont like it or feel great about it, you can always build a different housing.

Having gone through several late-build stage issues that seemed huge at the time...there is ALWAYS a way to fix it. Sometimes it just seems like you are backed into a corner...

Cut, wedge, weld, brace -- thats my vote.

 

[TBItoy]

I've had to cut notches into several Toyota housings to get shafts out. A slitter disc cut & weld will pull a housing around a LOT more than you expect.

First 9" I narrowed for an F body was a old truck housing, it was about 1/4" out to get the tubes lined up with the new housing ends... I torched and cooled about a 3" circle on one tube and it moved 1/2" out the OTHER way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hokie_yj]

Thanks for the tips guys. Hopefully I can get something figured out this weekend. I'm on my day shifts this week, working 6:30a-6:30p doesn't leave much time to work on the buggy. But after Thursday I go on my 7 day long weekend so I should have some time to get this **** figured out.

 

[slravenel]

here is what I was talking about:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/23751826-post991.html

there are some more pictures of how it all went back together and how it looks, but as far as I know that is the same axle that they are still running.

 

[hokie_yj]

Small update with good news and bad news.

Good news:
The rear axle is not bent as bad as I thought, if it all. The splines were just really tight on the new shafts and I got them started a little crooked and they bound up.

Bad news:
The shiny new CTM 300M shafts I ordered for this axle way back in the build are the wrong lengths. I ordered them based on the measurements of the cut down stock shafts that came with the axle. The cut down shafts were wrong to begin with, and my dumb ass didn't confirm the measurements before I ordered new shafts. The long side was almost 1" too long and the splines go most of the way the way into what should be the gap between the shafts in the spool. The short side is almost 1" too short and only has about 5/8"-3/4" spline engagement in the spool. So now I have a set of really expensive spare shafts that are just barely useable as spares.

The last I heard CTM was at minimum 6 month lead time on shafts. I'm not about to wait that long. So I gave Stan @ Branik Motorsports a call and ordered a set of their 35 spline 300M shafts in the correct lengths. I've heard nothing but good things about their shafts, and he quoted only a 2-3 week lead time. I'll still be able to use the CTM drive flanges that came with the other shafts with the new shafts.

Just add this one to the long list of expensive lessons I've learned on this build. SMDH

I haven't much time, but I got a just little bit of assembly done yesterday.

On the front axle I got the ram mounted and the hard lines back on for the brakes.



On the rear axle I put on the rotors and calipers and the brake lines.



I also mounted the winch and fairleads. The winch mounts inside the chassis directly in front of the seat and the rope will pass through a fairlead at the mount, under the foot well, and through another fairlead up front. You can barely see it hiding behind the track bar in the first pic.



That's all for now. Not much progress, but I wanted to give a little update. I guess the next step will be getting the drivetrain sat in the chassis. Maybe I can get that done in the next couple days.

 

[paradisepwoffrd]

Re: Re: SXOR single seater build

Small update with good news and bad news.

Good news:
The rear axle is not bent as bad as I thought, if it all. The splines were just really tight on the new shafts and I got them started a little crooked and they bound up.

Bad news:
The shiny new CTM 300M shafts I ordered for this axle way back in the build are the wrong lengths. I ordered them based on the measurements of the cut down stock shafts that came with the axle. The cut down shafts were wrong to begin with, and my dumb ass didn't confirm the measurements before I ordered new shafts. The long side was almost 1" too long and the splines go most of the way the way into what should be the gap between the shafts in the spool. The short side is almost 1" too short and only has about 5/8"-3/4" spline engagement in the spool. So now I have a set of really expensive spare shafts that are just barely useable as spares.

The last I heard CTM was at minimum 6 month lead time on shafts. I'm not about to wait that long. So I gave Stan @ Branik Motorsports a call and ordered a set of their 35 spline 300M shafts in the correct lengths. I've heard nothing but good things about their shafts, and he quoted only a 2-3 week lead time. I'll still be able to use the CTM drive flanges that came with the other shafts with the new shafts.

Just add this one to the long list of expensive lessons I've learned on this build. SMDH

I haven't much time, but I got a just little bit of assembly done yesterday.

On the front axle I got the ram mounted and the hard lines back on for the brakes.



On the rear axle I put on the rotors and calipers and the brake lines.



I also mounted the winch and fairleads. The winch mounts inside the chassis directly in front of the seat and the rope will pass through a fairlead at the mount, under the foot well, and through another fairlead up front. You can barely see it hiding behind the track bar in the first pic.



That's all for now. Not much progress, but I wanted to give a little update. I guess the next step will be getting the drivetrain sat in the chassis. Maybe I can get that done in the next couple days.

Almost sounds like those shafts were cut based on a std pinion/3rd arrangement. Not sure why they would be though. I liked at going rear engine with my axles and was going to need all new shafts to flip the pinions, so i decided against it, or to just build new axles if i did.

 

[hokie_yj]

That's very possible. The original rear shafts were in the axle all the way back in '09 when SXOR originally sold it as a roller. One would think they would have had the right measurements since they built the axle. But mistakes happen, I prove that every day. Lol.

I used the Ruffstuff 9" axle gauge to measure for my new shafts. Just wish I would have bought and used it to verify before I ordered the first time. Sure as hell would have been a lot cheaper. Lesson learned.

As far as I can tell the front inner shafts are correct. Just visually checking the have probably 1.5" or so of spline engagement. They were ordered by the guy I bought this thing off of though.

 

[Rokcrler]

All is not lost...
What are the measurements of the shafts? someone building from scratch can build the housings to match... that would get you some money back.

 

[hokie_yj]

I probably will try to post them for sale and see if I can get something back for them. They're double spline shafts. One is 40.5" end to end, the other is 23.75" end to end. Overall WMS on this axle is right at 57", so it would have to be someone building another pretty narrow buggy.

 

[hokie_yj]

I've still been slowly plugging away at this thing when I have the time.

Got the headers finished up. They're going to get ceramic coated in flat black.









I also had a buddy powdercoat all my aluminum panels in flat black. Assembly is slowly underway. I'm putting some closed cell weatherstripping under the aluminum to hopefully keep down the vibration.







Got the transmission and transfer case mounted also. The motor is going to Patrick this week to go on the dyno for tuning.





I also got one of the mid-ship shafts finished up, still have to finish the other.





I decided to put down some anti-slip tape in the footwell to make it a little better climbing in and out with muddy boots. And I also got the hard brake lines put back in.









That's all for now. Hopefully I'll have more progress to post by the end of the week.

 

[jp fan]

Great looking progress man :dblthumb:

 

[5BrothersFabrication]

hitit