rattle_snake's random shop projects v0.1

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Ya, I'm at the point I'm ready to off load some toys... but with my kids the age they are and wanting to go boating/camping/riding I have to keep at it. I enjoy my road bike and duning too much to sell the 2 wheelers. So I try to schedule time for all the maintenance and not start other projects.
I have maintenance logs for most things with wheels. Can't remember what was when.

I'm lucky to be able to have all the **** I do but it is a chore to keep up. 5 vehicles, 5 bikes, 4 trailers, boat. That's 54 tires and 14 batteries to go flat/dead.
Next is brake and bearing inspection on Mrs. rattle_snake's horse trailer. New tires, fix some trim, add some tie downs, and so on.

Yeah, this forum doesn't help anything either......there are some threads I need to avoid as I feel like I need everything with a motor and/or wheels that catches my eye. I think when my kids start up in motorsports it will really force me to thin the herd. Right now you've got some awesome stuff for the family, so it's worth the effort.

I actually worked on my flatbed this weekend. 4hrs of replacing all the bearings and seals, new jack, etc. It still needs a new deck really badly, but I'm dreading that job for some reason, probably because it involves wood.

I'm at my daughter's gymnastics right now, but I need to get home and put another coat of paint on the front axle for the Bronco as I'm taking the rest of the week off to try to get that in place......taking time off work is the only way I can get anything done.

I'm just glad I don't have the patience for the detail you, Mike, Pat, Cam, and some of the other guys have or I'd really never get anything done!

 

[rattle_snake]

It has been said my shop is too clean. I've had people ask if they have to 'scrub in' before they can work. Did a repair on Mrs rattle_snakes muck bucket carts, aka turd toters, **** carriers. I was able to ignore the voices in my head and weld with **** stuck on the tires and falling on the welding bench. I didn't re-paint or install bigger tires.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Haha, that's showing some real progress Justin!

I totally understand. That '56 Chevy I rewired this Spring had a thorough cleaning before I started pulling wires...I even washed the inside/outside of the windshield and rear window.

 

[rattle_snake]

Thanks that makes me feel better.

 

[rattle_snake]

​Ready to start on rear wheel wells so figured I should see where the limits were first, understand what is needed and why. The irrigation head in my front yard seemed like it would work well enough. Sadly the truck is still a 2WD, and had to chew some holes in my road to get up on it. Couldn't get bluetooth front driveshaft to connect...
So, poser pics

Can see the rear is doing most of the flex, but the radius arm front does have some.

Tire was contacting fender at this point. Suspension has more flex than this but need to chop up bed sides first. Could just move axle back and call it a day, but I want to lower the whole truck down and have custom big wheel wells.

 

[rattle_snake]

​After contemplating where to cut, I drew some lines and cut a big hole. Removed 2" strip at the top. This will make the bottom wider by 2" as well.


But simply moving the whole thing up isn't going to work


So cut into 3 pieces to retain the body lines. lower ends are moved out into the lower edge. Needs 2 simple scabs.


Now the front and rear wheel openings are the same height and more of the same size. Better matched. Still need to move the axle back a 1/2 or so. Ignore the burnout marks on the concrete.
​

 

[zmotorsports]

Looks good Justin. Chasing interferences is fun huh?

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Definitely looks better with the matched wheel arches.

A video "making" said burnout marks would have been great!

 

[slodat]

Continuing to make it look easy and really good! Nice work!

 

[harley jim]

That looks right Justin, you have a good eye.

Sent from my SM-A102U using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[mc4life27]

​Ready to start on rear wheel wells so figured I should see where the limits were first, understand what is needed and why. The irrigation head in my front yard seemed like it would work well enough. Sadly the truck is still a 2WD, and had to chew some holes in my road to get up on it. Couldn't get bluetooth front driveshaft to connect...

So, poser pics

Can see the rear is doing most of the flex, but the radius arm front does have some.

Tire was contacting fender at this point. Suspension has more flex than this but need to chop up bed sides first. Could just move axle back and call it a day, but I want to lower the whole truck down and have custom big wheel wells.

lol Bluetooth drive shafts that would be f’in funny as all hell, when they never want to connect and they having to update either the drive shaft or the truck every other week lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[rattle_snake]

Looks good Justin. Chasing interferences is fun huh?

I dunno. endless grinding and body work isn't my favorite. I did buy new coilover spings and u bolts. I like shiny new stuff.

Definitely looks better with the matched wheel arches.

A video "making" said burnout marks would have been great!

I'll have to post one of those video's. I really like how it looks with bigger wheel opning.

Continuing to make it look easy and really good! Nice work!

Easy? I'm a rooky at this bodywork stuff. Sadly. I am learning a lot though, which I enjoy. Each corner of the truck is better than the last. Using **** clamps and some new techniques. Trying not to thin the edges out before I weld. More hammer/dolly, less or no filler. Patience. Ok well I don't use the last item much.

That looks right Justin, you have a good eye.

Thanks Jim. Will also allow a better ride and handling. Less pucker factor on off-camber situations.

lol Bluetooth drive shafts that would be f’in funny as all hell, when they never want to connect and they having to update either the drive shaft or the truck every other week lol.

haha yes the BT driveshafts are actually very common at SEMA. Build a ridiculously tall truck with unreasonable deadline that will never see dirt. So no need for front driveshaft, 4wd or anything like that.

 

[royce]

Justin,
Your build is really taking shape in fine fashion.
The year, color, slotted mags and nice big tires really look slick.
Fantastic truck

Royce

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

Nice work on the wheel arches, I think it makes the truck look better.

 

[rattle_snake]

Justin,
Your build is really taking shape in fine fashion.
The year, color, slotted mags and nice big tires really look slick.
Fantastic truck

Royce

Thanks Royce. Nice to hear from someone who envisions and creates masterpieces one after another.

Nice work on the wheel arches, I think it makes the truck look better.

Thanks I'm really liking the result. Was in the plan all along had to be patient to wait to the right time to hack it up.

 

[rattle_snake]

Disclaimer: The following images my be disturbing to those with decent welding and body work skills. Proceed with caution.

On this job I tried to learn from previous experiences. I cleaned all the undercoating off (I hate that stuff!) and ground backside of panels clean to not contaminate the welds. I tried to get vertical cuts as parallel as possible to minimize gaps to fill. Can't really measure distance across due to tire in the way so used math, pythagorean, to make sure both were at right angle to horizontal cut. Once cut out, I used **** clamps to hold piece in place and touch up gaps in horizontal cut with cut off wheel. This gives a consistent gap, then move up to minimize gap. Can't do this for vertical as it just removes material and make gap bigger. Tacked in place and then cut lower edges back about 7/8" each to align the fender lip angle.

Hand formed 2 scabs to fill in the gaps. I enjoyed this part and was relatively easy.

After lots of booger welds and more grinding I had the basic form done. Also cut out the fuel fill hole and filled in with a square scab. The rear seam didn't come out so well and ended up with a trough. I hammer and pried some of it out but decided to use some filler. The body naturally curves there anyway. I placed horizontal cut on the flatter part, between upper body line and lip edge, difficult area to grind. Used a mini belt sander to get into that area.


Then 2 minimal coats of filler and 2 coats of rattle primer, to identify all the mishaps and errors of my work.


I had just enough wintergreen rattle can to do the left side. Piss poor match but I already new that. The front was not as bad as the blend was in the narrow part at the top of the arch. On the bed the blend is the whole panel twice. May paint the whole thing, will see how far next can goes.

Decided to leave the trim holes and minimize the scope of this job to just the wheel arches. The other fuel fill hole is irritating me though...
Axle still needs to move forward to look right and stuff further up in.


Really happy with the look of the larger arches. Looks like it could have come that way from Ford.


Got started on the other side with help from my assistants. I think it took me about 8 hrs to do the left side. Cutting is quick, grinding *****.

 

[racer-john]

Fender cut-outs look great. Nice looking assistants, very watchful.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Yeah, that body work looks great. Nobody would notice it didn't come that way.

 

[zmotorsports]

Justin, if you didn't tell anyone that you're a rookie to doing bodywork they wouldn't be able to tell. Great job, the rear wheel openings turned out amazing.

 

[quadrcr87]

The truck is looking great Justin, the fender mods are subtle but make a big impact. Almost time to head to Glamis with it.

I don't think I would allow the poop cart onto my welding bench... you must really love your wife. The bench looks too nice, do you have any build details on it? Sorry if I missed it somewhere in the last 50 pages.

BTW, My lifted Jeep Cherokee upgraded itself to a Bluetooth rear drive shaft back in high school! Spinning tires transitioning from dirt to pavement is not recommended. Even if you are late to work.

 

[larry4406]

Justin, if you didn't tell anyone that you're a rookie to doing bodywork they wouldn't be able to tell. Great job, the rear wheel openings turned out amazing.

I myself would be quite happy with your results! Cheers!

 

[rattle_snake]

Fender cut-outs look great. Nice looking assistants, very watchful.

Thanks. Their attention span is very short unless food is involved.

Yeah, that body work looks great. Nobody would notice it didn't come that way.

How is the Bronco front end coming?

Justin, if you didn't tell anyone that you're a rookie to doing bodywork they wouldn't be able to tell. Great job, the rear wheel openings turned out amazing.

Thanks Mike, glad to have your approval.

The truck is looking great Justin, the fender mods are subtle but make a big impact. Almost time to head to Glamis with it.

I don't think I would allow the poop cart onto my welding bench... you must really love your wife. The bench looks too nice, do you have any build details on it? Sorry if I missed it somewhere in the last 50 pages.

BTW, My lifted Jeep Cherokee upgraded itself to a Bluetooth rear drive shaft back in high school! Spinning tires transitioning from dirt to pavement is not recommended. Even if you are late to work.

I did a thread on my welding table. let me see...
here https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=400967

I myself would be quite happy with your results! Cheers!

Thanks Larry. I'm pleased with results. I have to remember it's an old truck I'm going to drive through the brush. Maybe a mishap with a large rock.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

How is the Bronco front end coming?

It's getting there. Housing and radius arms are all mounted. Working out some track bar issues. Getting the old brackets and frame cleaned up/painted took some time. I'm hopefully going to build out the housing this weekend. I'll probably be calling you once I get to reaming the knuckles. Literally every one of my driving vehicles has had an issue this week and we got other **** going on, so we'll see if I get anything done this weekend.

 

[cspcrx]

Body work turned out amazing!

I’ve been searching for a body shop to re-skin the roof on my CRX, has a sunroof now that doesn’t work, and it feels like work like this is becoming a lost art. Seems like shops now only want to do insurance work, remove and replace, not actually metal work.

Hat off to you for tackling it!

 

[lilscorpion]

Wow Justin, that bedside looks fantastic!

 

[OutlawDrifter]

From what I can see, unless they know what to look for, no one will notice what you've done. It will just look awesome and they won't be able to put their finger on what is different. Great work man!

 

[zmotorsports]

It's getting there. Housing and radius arms are all mounted. Working out some track bar issues. Getting the old brackets and frame cleaned up/painted took some time. I'm hopefully going to build out the housing this weekend. I'll probably be calling you once I get to reaming the knuckles. Literally every one of my driving vehicles has had an issue this week and we got other **** going on, so we'll see if I get anything done this weekend.

Hey Ryan, how about some pictures of that thing. Would love to see your work on it, even if it is a Fo*d. Sorry about the language.

 

[aggierailroad]

This is a rad project, I'm sorry that I'm just now finding it!

Great work!

 

[LXCam]

Its been a while since I had a chance to get caught up with this project. WOW Justin, you got this baby nailed

I'm just glad I don't have the patience for the detail you, Mike, Pat, Cam, and some of the other guys have or I'd really never get anything done!

DoOd...you're outta your mind. But I'll take whatever I can get too sooo

haha yes the BT driveshafts are actually very common at SEMA. Build a ridiculously tall truck with unreasonable deadline that will never see dirt. So no need for front driveshaft, 4wd or anything like that.

Hey, this magic even works for super chargers too. Back in 08 when your stang boy Steve Salene got into the hemi world I built a Challenger for Diablo Motorsports that was supposed to have the first Techco PD twin screw up top. Well they couldn't get us a real one in time so they sent me the plastic version instead. Do you have any idea how hard it is to try and make the belt look tight on a plastic SC????...huh do ya??!!

It will just look awesome and they won't be able to put their finger on what is different. Great work man!

Exactly, you pulled that off perfectly bud.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Hey Ryan, how about some pictures of that thing. Would love to see your work on it, even if it is a Fo*d. Sorry about the language.

We all love the 4 letter F word....

The ironic part is my wife's cousin has been coming in from Colorado to escape the cold and help me (I separated my shoulder a couple of months ago) and he's a GM service guy.

I can't say I've fab'd anything on it at this point. It's been all bolt on's and the associated prep. The whole goal was to get it together as quickly as possible as it's sitting in my driveway, and I have an HOA. I plan on doing a thread on it when it's more complete.

 

[zmotorsports]

We all love the 4 letter F word....

The ironic part is my wife's cousin has been coming in from Colorado to escape the cold and help me (I separated my shoulder a couple of months ago) and he's a GM service guy.

I can't say I've fab'd anything on it at this point. It's been all bolt on's and the associated prep. The whole goal was to get it together as quickly as possible as it's sitting in my driveway, and I have an HOA. I plan on doing a thread on it when it's more complete.

Looks good so far. I'll keep an eye out for the thread on it and there's nothing wrong with bolt on parts at all.

 

[rattle_snake]

It's getting there. Housing and radius arms are all mounted. Working out some track bar issues. Getting the old brackets and frame cleaned up/painted took some time. I'm hopefully going to build out the housing this weekend. I'll probably be calling you once I get to reaming the knuckles. Literally every one of my driving vehicles has had an issue this week and we got other **** going on, so we'll see if I get anything done this weekend.

See, you need more wheeled time sinks. I'll can hold your beer while you run the reamer.

Body work turned out amazing!

I’ve been searching for a body shop to re-skin the roof on my CRX, has a sunroof now that doesn’t work, and it feels like work like this is becoming a lost art. Seems like shops now only want to do insurance work, remove and replace, not actually metal work.

Hat off to you for tackling it!

Thanks. Roof is a tough one. can just the sun roof hole be patched? Should add rigidity to chassis too, which would be helpful given your avatar.

Wow Justin, that bedside looks fantastic!

Thanks to aftermath of bigger tires I guess. I showed pics of chopped out hole to my wife and daughter, and told them that I was making room for bigger yet tires. I got the reaction I was looking for

but that said I do need to replace these rough mock-up tires at some point. Maybe 42s would fit

From what I can see, unless they know what to look for, no one will notice what you've done. It will just look awesome and they won't be able to put their finger on what is different. Great work man!

Yes that was my goal. Stock looking but somehow able to clear 40s with 14" of travel and not be sky high.

I have had a few people walk up to the truck and look only at the suspension. Get underneath and try to figure out what happened.

 

[cspcrx]

That’s an option. I found a non-sunroof car and cut the roof off of it. I have seen it done a few ways. One was to remove the existing roof skin and us the non-sunroof skin. This takes more time obviously as the windows and hatch must be removed. The all of the spot welds drilled out and remove the existing roof skin then weld the replacement. The other way I have seen is a patch is welded in the opening, greater chance of warping and distortion this way. The other is to glue the non-sunroof skin over the existing roof with panel bond.

Had a chassis shop that I Was working with early on in the process that does this a lot on BMW and Porsche cars n the east side of town. Problem is they went out of business. Been calling shops to find someone on the west side. Your work is inspiring.

 

[rattle_snake]

Finished up the other bedside which makes all 4 well opening mods complete.
I took a few more pics but process is the same.
HF **** clamps to hold the pieces in. Cheap and work very well. There may be a better way but these are way better than nothing. Since the hot welds shrink, one is often forced to hammer the welds (as one should) to get the clamp shank out. I could have used 12-16 clamps but I had only 8 so I moved them around as I welded.

After initial tacks are done I verified the panel alignment and touched up a few spots with the hammer and dolly. The goal is to avoid having one panel higher (plateau) than the other were it will never grind flat. The lower corners are cut back further to align the lip. I ground the back side of the welds to prevent cutting my hands later and painted to prevent corrosion.

 

[j p smith]

Cool modification looks great!!

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Good execution Justin, I need to look into those clamps next time I'm at HF.

 

[rattle_snake]

With rear wheel opening enlarged I was able to move forward with suspension changes, mainly lowering ride height. For the rear I used the parts I had ($0) as I didn't know quite what I would end up with. Now that truck is complete and full weight I wanted to make some adjustments. Overall it sits too high and will benefit from lowing CoG both on and off road, and eases angle of all the links. So improved instant centers front and rear and steering/track bar angles.

For the front, the driveshaft angle limits droop so decided to compromise with limiting droop with limit strap and lowering ride height another inch. I called Accutune and they suggested lighter spring rates that equal length of shock fully extended, 12" 200# and a 14" 300#.
To get them installed I disconnected the drag link and limit straps so axle could drop out enough to get shock loose. I was able to swap springs with them in the truck. Bump stops stayed as-is, travel is now 4.5" up and 6" down.

For the rear I guessed at what I though I needed and cobbled together some blocks with stuff I had. I wanted to lower by 1.5" and move axle back 0.5". I had some 2" (1.9 actual) blocks from my 2014 F250 but the existing ones were 4.25" So I added some height to get the difference I wanted. The blocks are cast steel and weld fine. Drilled the spring pin hole offset to move axle relative to spring. Picked up some 5/8" u-bolts from Barnes. The bump stop perch is in about the same location, not ideal but can work with it for now.

The spring plates also needed pin offset so I hacked up what I had. Welded a 5/8" washer into the stock plated a 0.5" back.

Moving axle up will utilize most all of the upper portion of the shock, so travel ended up at 7" up and 7" down (at the 12" shock).

 

[rattle_snake]

After getting hardware installed I re-adjusted most of the suspension settings due to different link angles. Caster moved to 7.5, so set it back to 5.5" Recentered axle. Adjusted dual rate sliders on coilovers, they were way off before. Check rear pinion angle, traction bar forces so it was OK. Since I had to preload it up about 1.5* before, it should be right at neutral (no load) now. Front axle is farther forward, will probably move it back 0.25 or so at some point.

Even though height change is minimal (1, 1.5) it seems quite noticeable to me. Not as big and beastly, but now tailgate is only 40". Can see link angle is imporved and operating were horizontal offset (bump steer) is reduced.

driving up on same obstacle, rear tire no longer contacts (although it looks like it does in this pic). This is with axle and well opening both moved up, and axle moved back. Could go back a bit futher...
This is with front left tire on 24" tall wall. Front does about half the flex the rear does. 13" difference at rear tires. Lots of shock left.

At this point the spring is just getting to overload and has a ways to go to stop. Will rub inner wheel well and/or outer lip first I assume. This will dictate spacer I can run on rear.

The lower trim still fit OK so I put it back on for now, have to minimize scope if I ever want to move on to the next thing.

Bed rail measures flat but truck seems to sit nose up a bit. I think I will fab some decent rear blocks and spring plates that are 3" tall and have 3/4 offset. Bump stop perch moved up to top. Glad I build something quick to test for free.

So how does it drive? About the same as expected, since change was small. Can tell CoG is a bit lower. I did notice improvement in panic stop/swerve with coilover slider stops set correctly. The are 1" up from slider @ride, so transitions to harder lower spring after only 1" of up travel.
I've got the suspension dialed in good, it rides better than my 2014. Goes down the road straight no hands on wheel over 65. Not bad for a big tall truck on 40s. Lots of unsprung weight, terrible fuel consumption.

First full-tank fill up yielded 6.5 mpg. This is all in town stop light to stop light, burn outs, brake checks. I expected 7 (city) and maybe 10 best case. That said total usable range is about 200 miles, less than I wanted. Tanks is 31g, low level warnign starts at 5g left. So can only fill about 27-28 gallons without getting too low. 28*7 = 196 miles.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

40" tailgate height is perfect (my work bench is 41") for drinking beer, when should I swing by? I'll bring the beer, you tell the lies

 

[rattle_snake]

yes I agree it is an ideal height for beverage consumption and BSing.

My 2014 is about 40.5. Still a pain to load a motorcycle, ramp is steep! Eventually I'll get so old I'll leave them stock.

My wife was convinced that the green truck would always be a huge beast. I told her it would be the same height as the brown 2014. Of course she wouldn't believe me so I got a tape and showed her it is actually shorter now.

The lowering also helps trailer towing, brings receiver down, less drop hitch, leverage.