rattle_snake's random shop projects v0.1

[WoodsTruck]

I always carried some kind of funnel to get fluids in all the gear boxes. If I was desperate I didn't care what kind of fluid, figured something was better than nothing.
Needle nose pliers for cotter keys helped. I also had a chainsaw file that I sharpened the handle end down to a blunt wide point and then slightly bent. This worked well to get under the outer front hub spring or other lifting needs and I could use the file to deburr things as needed.

 

[C91x]

You need a brand new never used Hi-Lift jack mounted in plain sight to complete the mall crawler look.

 

[rattle_snake]

I always carried some kind of funnel to get fluids in all the gear boxes. If I was desperate I didn't care what kind of fluid, figured something was better than nothing.
Needle nose pliers for cotter keys helped. I also had a chainsaw file that I sharpened the handle end down to a blunt wide point and then slightly bent. This worked well to get under the outer front hub spring or other lifting needs and I could use the file to deburr things as needed.

Yes the hub internal snap ring is a be-otch. I still fight it while trying to stab myself. Thanks for the ideas.

You need a brand new never used Hi-Lift jack mounted in plain sight to complete the mall crawler look.

I'm cheap so I would have to paint the old beat up one I have, a bright color of course. Lime green?

 

[rattle_snake]

​A friend gave me a 10# CO2 tank and reg for tire inflation. The tank is large and heavy but should be fast so going to try it out. Need some type of mount. Thinking of something like this
https://www.polyperformance.com/poly...2-bottle-mount

Unfortunately it sticks up over the bed rail. Maybe angle the mount. Also got me thinking where to mount the nitrous bottle. Found a plastic toolbox that also fits in this space nicely for some more storage. Need to think before drilling more holes.
​

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Also got me thinking where to mount the nitrous bottle.

So...how big of a shot are we talking here?

 

[zmotorsports]

So...how big of a shot are we talking here?

^^Exactly. Inquiring minds want to know just how much of a shot she's getting.

 

[nsula_country]

Yeah Justin... Is it a whiff, a snort or a SHOT?



Side note, thank you... I believe you have talked me into a 445 FE stroker for the 1975 F250.

CT

 

[Trapps]

Stools are cool! Truck is cooler! Nitrous is the coolest! Cold even...

A couple of decades ago I had a, wait for it, Ford Contour with a Nitrous system in it. I'm proud to say I did it BEFORE the Fast and the Furious came out. As far as semi practical 4 door, kid hauling grocery getters went, it was a fun car.

Your truck on the bottle should be quite interesting; I never imagined using N20 in that style of vehicle. Trucks yes, but trucks with big articulating suspensions, no.

Vids please once it's out being a menace to society, or more likely, a menace to places other than society.

 

[rattle_snake]

Plan is a 'whiff', 75 hp. This is only about an 18% increase in total power from 425 hp. Motor has cast pistons I ring gapped for limited nitrous use. I put in enough fuel system to support, will be a wet plate system.
Cylinder pressure at lower RPM is a little more of a concern. A 75 hp jet should provide +125 ft*lb increase at 3000 RPM. This should get me to 650 ft*lb tq.

Planned use with nitrous will be mostly in the sand. Sand drags, dunes.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Plan is a 'whiff'

That's how it starts...Just a whiff, just to see how it feels

 

[rattle_snake]

Side note, thank you... I believe you have talked me into a 445 FE stroker for the 1975 F250.

CT

Who me? haha, yes you should, if I'm helping spend your $


I will say that an FE build of similar power is around 2x the cost of a 460 based engine. A member over at FTE posted build sheet with prices of a mild 418 FE and it was $12.5k for 375 hp.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1644068-71-250-cs-2wd-t18.html
Some items on the list are not really engine related but are necessary during an engine power upgrade.

Another member is building a 505" FE bet he has over $20k+ in it. These are both lower rpm truck engines.

 

[zmotorsports]

Plan is a 'whiff', 75 hp. This is only about an 18% increase in total power from 425 hp. Motor has cast pistons I ring gapped for limited nitrous use. I put in enough fuel system to support, will be a wet plate system.
Cylinder pressure at lower RPM is a little more of a concern. A 75 hp jet should provide +125 ft*lb increase at 3000 RPM. This should get me to 650 ft*lb tq.

Planned use with nitrous will be mostly in the sand. Sand drags, dunes.

That's what I put on my old 1991 2wd shortbed Chevy that I slammed and used as my shop truck for a few years, just a 75hp "whiff" of NOS. Fun little truck and with the tricks I did in the 4L60E it was really fun. I just made sure to take the bottle out of it on the rare occasion when my son took it to school.

 

[rattle_snake]

Stools are cool! Truck is cooler! Nitrous is the coolest! Cold even...

A couple of decades ago I had a, wait for it, Ford Contour with a Nitrous system in it. I'm proud to say I did it BEFORE the Fast and the Furious came out. As far as semi practical 4 door, kid hauling grocery getters went, it was a fun car.

Your truck on the bottle should be quite interesting; I never imagined using N20 in that style of vehicle. Trucks yes, but trucks with big articulating suspensions, no.

Vids please once it's out being a menace to society, or more likely, a menace to places other than society.

Thanks Trapps. That is an interesting application for some sauce. I have some short in cab burnout vidoes but they aren't much to see. But the sound is awesome on my shop audio system

 

[rattle_snake]

Out of brain power to work on truck and my Cobra has been neglected, so swapped parking spots to put car on lift in shop. Luckily the truck still fits in the garage, with an inch or two to spare, which may be needed later.

Car is in for bad vibrations at highway speeds. Over 80 mph shaking is severe. Seemed like vibes got worse on front tire change, but had all tires re-balanced a few times since.
But before I would even touch it, it needed a deep cleaning. Step 2 was to check IRS nut torque, both sides were ok @ 300 ft*lbs. Need to get a container for roadside tools to store in the trunk with the other 'necessities', secure it somehow.

Up to 57k miles now that car is 17 years old. I bought it with 33k 10 years ago. It has consumed a lot of sets of rear tires over that time.

Next step is to check driveshaft/ujoints. Front brakes seem to have a lot of drag compared to rear. Not sure if dragging brakes would cause shaking, maybe. Front brake circuit has line-lock in it, I rebuilt it not too long ago.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Vibrations can be troublesome for sure. Is it any different when you're on the brakes?

24k in 10 years...well, you've got my Z28 beat, I think I'm at 7k or 8k in 10 years. Same issue with rear tires though

Thanks for sharing the pics, I can actually hear that last one

 

[rattle_snake]

Thanks for tip, vib is same on brakes or not, so not likely the issue. Also tested line loc, burnout, just to make sure

Next step is to put rear on jack stands and spin up to 80. Should indicate if it is front or rear.

 

[quadrcr87]

I classic restored dirtbike would look really nice in the back of that truck. I'm thinking an old yellow Yamaha.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Also tested line loc, burnout, just to make sure

It's definitely part of the troubleshooting tree

 

[PhantomEB]

I need to start putting nitrous on everything, then people will really start calling me crazy.

 

[jlenander]

Hey Justin,
Your vibe problem is interesting. I'm enjoying following along with your troubleshooting and I'm sure you'll find the issue!
Have you considered using a vibration app on your phone to help? There are lots of them available for free. They aren't aerospace quality data loggers, but they have a perfectly useful FFT that will tell you the frequency of your vibe. If you take data at a constant speed and know your engine RPM, gear ratios and tire diameter, a little figgerin' could narrow down the source.
I was honestly shocked at how well it worked for me to identify a driveshaft issue i had in the past!
Good luck and enjoy the process!
Jon

 

[C91x]

Does the vibration change at all if you pull in the clutch? Does the steering wheel shake?

 

[rattle_snake]

I classic restored dirtbike would look really nice in the back of that truck. I'm thinking an old yellow Yamaha.

Yes it would. Not sure I need any more projects. Although I just signed up for carbs on a '87 Virago.

But, I ride red in the dirt

I need to start putting nitrous on everything, then people will really start calling me crazy.

Good new is that the crazy people seems to sell nitrous kits that have never been installed for cheap.

Hey Justin,
Your vibe problem is interesting. I'm enjoying following along with your troubleshooting and I'm sure you'll find the issue!
Have you considered using a vibration app on your phone to help? There are lots of them available for free. They aren't aerospace quality data loggers, but they have a perfectly useful FFT that will tell you the frequency of your vibe. If you take data at a constant speed and know your engine RPM, gear ratios and tire diameter, a little figgerin' could narrow down the source.
I was honestly shocked at how well it worked for me to identify a driveshaft issue i had in the past!
Good luck and enjoy the process!
Jon

Cool, didn't know about those. Didn't think to use Fourier on mechanical things, but common practice in my day job with electronics, looking for noise signature to identify source.

Does the vibration change at all if you pull in the clutch? Does the steering wheel shake?

No, not engine speed related. No shake in wheel, replaced front brakes not long ago to solve that and annoying noises from failed rotor turning long ago.

 

[rattle_snake]

Identified the source of the vibration, right rear tire is separated.

I put rear A-arms on jack stands and spun the rear tires (sketchy) to isolate front/rear. Then swapped track slicks on rear one at a time to determine which side.

Sadly I have not had the car back to drag strip since I moved and build the shop, so I felt obligated to remove the crusty old rubber and make sure they still held air. There was liquid water falling from sky at the time so backed out just enough. Rubbed piled up 2" deep!


I had just taken the car to discount tire, I never do this as they typically smash in pinch rails, but dropped it off to have all balanced and flat repair. The left rear still had a slow leak and I thought right needed balance, so I went back. This time they refused to work on tires at all as they are in the wear bars. Guess they missed that and tire damage the first time.

So I went to a local mom-n-pop tire shop and tech instantly diagnosed tread separation issue and fixed the leak on the other for free. I gave him a $10 tip.

So need a new set of drag radials. I got 2700 miles out of these, I usually run then all the way into the cords on inner edge, they still hook 500hp+ in 1st gear.
But first I need to get the rest of my money out of them, so depositing the rubber in safe places. I sit on line lock for 5 seconds until smoke envelopes car then let off lock and roll into throttle as tires start to hook. The sound is amazing as motor fully loads and lays down a serious set of patches.

Not sure I trust these bias slicks anymore as they are old and have old tubes in them. 120 mph on 10 psi is sketchy already, a flat could end in a wicked wreck. Instead of replacing slicks might be better to just run the drag radials at track and be more gentle/aware.

 

[quadrcr87]

Between the truck and the Mustang, the tire dealer sees you coming!

 

[C91x]

No, not engine speed related. No shake in wheel, replaced front brakes not long ago to solve that and annoying noises from failed rotor turning long ago.

I usually go into neutral to see if its a driveline or axle issue. The vibration will either reduce or change once its not loaded.

I am glad you found it though. Vibrations can get expensive once all the more common things have been excluded.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Based on pic #2, one would assume there may have been multiple attempts at tire destruction?

 

[rattle_snake]

Between the truck and the Mustang, the tire dealer sees you coming!

Discount just opened a store on nearest major intersection. Been there a lot lately. Too many toys, 1st world problems I guess.

Based on pic #2, one would assume there may have been multiple attempts at tire destruction?

I call it tire rejuvenation. Exfoliates dry rubber, frees trapped fragrances.

 

[rattle_snake]

Took the truck out for maiden trail voyage. Made it back, so success.

Trip was about 120 miles, 45 on highway each way. Truck did 70 mph at 2600 rpm. Exhaust is loud in cab even with all the sound deadening, but can have conversation. I was too lazy to air down for short time offroad, left tires at 25 psi. Truck rode OK on washboard sand/roads and rocky/washed out roads. The limited bump stop gap was not an issue like I expected it to be, even without airing down. No surprises or issues after 30 miles of bumping and bouncing around. Traction bar works well in sand, no wheel hop at all. WOT moves a lot of sand rearward.
Never shut of the motor, ran for 3.5 hours continuously. Water temp stayed in regulation and trans didn't go above 120*. Total mileage on truck is about 600 now.

Needed to get it out off road to really determine what next steps should be. Departure angle seems like it will be limiting as expected, need to move up priority of rear bumper side extensions to protect the lower sheet metal.


Poser shot

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Well that's cool, shakedown run in the wilderness with no issues!

120*, you must have one hell of a ****** cooler. What were the outside temps? Sister sent me a pic from her driveway in Mesa...82*, we barely got above freezing today.

 

[zmotorsports]

Cool shakedown run Justin and great job determining the source of your vibration on the Mustang. Cool toys for sure.

 

[rattle_snake]

Well that's cool, shakedown run in the wilderness with no issues!

120*, you must have one hell of a ****** cooler. What were the outside temps? Sister sent me a pic from her driveway in Mesa...82*, we barely got above freezing today.

Yes, how could that happen? A miracle. I focused more on enjoying the trip instead of looking for potential problems.
The trans cooler is quite large, I went with a new OEM ford unit for a 6L diesel. With a non-lockup torque converter it is making heat all the time. On Sunday it was about 75 on the trip back. Had to stop in at a new BBQ joint I had yet to try, it was quite good. The truck got a lot of attention in parking lot. You can tell who is a gear head as they look under the truck not at it.

Cool shakedown run Justin and great job determining the source of your vibration on the Mustang. Cool toys for sure.

Thanks Mike. I almost didn't go for a few reasons, including that the suspension isn't 'right' yet. But I figured some real word experience would help guide the next steps. I really though the front end would be limited from the small bump gap. It took pretty aggressive driving to get it to bottom out, so I think even just one more inch will be enough. 1/2" from new bump mount, 1/2" ride height increase.

I found a set of heavier leaf springs at local recycler. They are from 2003 2500 with 4+1 leafs. I was planning on a 5 leaf spring with 10% more 'rating' (number is somewhat non-applicable to progressive leaf pack), but after trip I think the slightly lighter spring is the right choice.

With new rubber the tire OD is larger and rubs both ends of rear wheel opening. But will have to re-do bumps for new springs anyhow.

This ledge was steep enough to get at least one tire unloaded. I expected rear to do most of the flex, but front does quite well for a radius arm. I get about 18" of travel tire-to-fender front and rear.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Looks great man! What did you end up with for front up-travel?

 

[rattle_snake]

Only 2" to bump. Seems like it would never work but did OK.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Only 2" to bump. Seems like it would never work but did OK.

That gives me hope! Hahaha! I think I'll end up at about 3.5" maybe 4".

 

[rattle_snake]

Made it back in one piece from another dune trip. Joined a friend that had a large group, 8-9 families, so lots of rigs, kids and stories. Mix of bikes, quads, rails, SxSs and even 2 trucks. One was a stripped down 78 bronco with a hot 460 and paddles. We went way into the bowels of the dunes, he never even used 4wd. Just need big power and traction.
Camped on the other (east) side that I had not been to before. Smaller more technical dunes, more dangerous on a bike. I found myself trying to ride the edge of the rutted paths, but that lead to dangerous ledges. A few were big, 6', only hope is WOT off lip and land at WOT to keep front end from sinking. Hard on bike and the old man riding it. Did some big hill climbs, we because.

Got into some gnarly areas, as usual I saw a few SxS roll-overs. No one got hurt. After a long day of abuse on the bikes we also took a few rides in the SxSs at night to the usual places. A few were full on money pits, quite capable. Not my style but I have more respect for them. Over the last few years the typical SxS at Glamis has become pretty heavily modified. For the same money I would get a used mid-level V8 powered rail.

Ended up getting a flat rear tire. Didn't notice until loaded on trailer. a few cups ripped up so tire is trash. Tire/tube is from 2013 so old. So more tire purchases in my future.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Well, glad you made it home in one piece!

It truly amazes me what one can tie up moneywise in a SxS! I'd love to have one around here, just can stomach the entry price for what I'd want.

 

[harley jim]

Well, glad you made it home in one piece!

It truly amazes me what one can tie up moneywise in a SxS! I'd love to have one around here, just can stomach the entry price for what I'd want.

X2 on that, I have the perfect set up for one but choke on the admission price.

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

 

[C91x]

I always hated the small stuff for the exact reasons you stated. Witches eyes when the sun is at its highest point could quickly ruin a day.

Sent from my SM-G960U using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[rattle_snake]

I always hated the small stuff for the exact reasons you stated. Witches eyes when the sun is at its highest point could quickly ruin a day.

The upside it the small technical stuff is a skill builder, but have to respect it. Having some experience with bike control when airborne becomes important.
I think one of the other reasons I haven't gotten hurt (bad, yet) was improved physical ability from weight lifting and exercise. Part of my deal with myself when I got this dirt bike back in oct of 2018 was to get back in shape. I have come a long ways since then, including a knee surgery, to drop a bunch of fat, strengthen abused joints and build muscle. That said I'm still old and frail, so have to live within my limitations.

 

[zmotorsports]

The Glamis trip looked like fun Justin. Sometimes I miss the quads and sandrail and our duning trips. Sometimes.....