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slydog

How to tub a ute Slydog style.

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OK so after removing the old 28 spline axles from my locked diff the decision had to be made to move on to another axle.The old ones have some chatter marks in em already so thats not a good thing and will only get worse.I'm thinking 31 spline Strange unit's may be the go now.

 

Any way got it down on its feet and it is exactly how I wanted it...

 

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Sit in just enough to give good clearance and not look silly.

 

20130803_121344_zpsda6edf42.jpg

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What says they won't accept more down as is :) It's just above the pinion snubber right now so looks like I'll be modding the rear of the tunnel for clearance.Sort of planned to do so anyway and mod the snubber while I was going but now is more reason to do so.

 

Look at all that clearance...

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With either leaves or 4 link as long as the stuff goe's inboard you could go out to a 325-335 I'd suggest.

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Nice work Rob and is looking good.You may even be able to go wider if you were going 4 link havd the lower arms kick into the centre more for clearance if bigger wheels are wanted to fit.

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It is getting a triangle 4 link bro and yes the bars do go inside the rails but the bottom bars must be straight. It will take a 325/335 easy with the correct rim backspacing as is so it doesnt need anymore tyre gap.Poor little 250 wouldnt turn em...lol

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Ha ha thanks bro...now the only question is will anyone else follow suit or sit back and procrastinate about doing it one day.

 

Thanks for the props guys, and yes it was very wet on my driveway washing off grinding dust and such.Trust me when I say cover every bit of your "nice car" or you will have tiny bits of metal in your paint everwhere.

 

More doing tomorrow with things going my way.

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You are best off with new axles Rob. Never seen any success in cutting and resplining. Once you cut into the soft core of the axle they are weak.. By the way looks good

A step ahead of ya bro...seen what my solid cammed engine did to 28 spline axles so Ill be getting some new 31 spline units and full spool and some long studs.

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255 tyres fit under a stock wheel arch ill procrastinate on other things id be way to scared to cut my ute that much and the vic roads guys and hwy guys would love to put my ride off the road cause of mods i cant undo :(

 

dont big slick use more HP to turn them? yes it looks cool as but will drag a small engine down, a 100 shot to make up for it?

 

Thats where we are different then bro...for 1 I'm not scared and 2 it's my toy not my daily and I accept what may happen.That aside I'm also making it safer with bigger brakes and a sneaky cage.I'm going to a Strange or MW unit cos they will out live the car then.I can't see me ever getting rid of this car TBH and if it's ends up just a drag/burnout car then so be it.I've had my fun with it on the road and it will only see very limited use on the road anyway. 

 

A 255x60x15 doesn't fit up and under in a stock tub with out rubbing if you use the car,I've done it before with a 255x50x16 and they rubbed so by doing what I have done has allowed me to run ANY rim/tyre combo I want now.I have no limitations realistically.Can't do that with a stock tubbed car.I have even thought of a big set of staggered rims like 22"s rear and 19" fronts but am yet to find a combo I like.Plus the fact they don't hold any more than 20hp to the ground on the licorice strap tyres they use...LOL

 

Yes big slicks do take more power to turn em but I'm not shy of HP or RPM and Mossy has gone 11.3 with a 275x60x15 ET Street so it hasn't slowed him down which I figure I'll be running as soon as this set is toast.

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turn the axles at the hub end a mate cut bore, a spline from another axle and pressfit and weld its strong and will snap at the spline well before anything dies at the hub end

 

I'm using a Mark Williams or Strange axle,no cut axles on this car.If someone made a 35 spline spool for a BW I'd get one and run 35 spline axles as they appear to be easier to find and cheaper ATM :(

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Ha ha thanks bruz...if the car had 800hp I'd run a split leaf solid front sprung rear and a Caltrac for pinion adjustment.All them US 10.5 170mph Mustangs cant be wrong.US boys only use what works on race cars.

 

Got the coil overs in today and had a little laugh when I got there.Nath knows why but basically no more flat foor, its going to have a diff tunnel aswell now :).

 

Pics when the kids get off the computer,it's Miller time.

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So needed to find a spot for all this shit...

 

20130804_094051_zpscdf9d5c5.jpg

 

Ended up with a lifted rail for the coilovers due to previously mentioned issue :) and will now run a diff tunnel as well.Smooth or angled is the question now?

 

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So it got lifted 1.5 inches to leave me with 3" of tunnel clearance and around 3.5" of rail clearance.Might notch a inch or two out of em yet via some 5mm wall 120mm pipe,but after I mod the pinion snubber so I know what I have to work with all round.

 

Still has tuck lifted...LOL

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So this week I'll talk to Stu @ Racers choice and see what he wants for a front x member before I get carried away with locating the bars and shit.

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Thats for me and Nath to know Clint :) But basically know what your saying and have done it before but it wasn't happening today. I don't mind the look of a diff tunnel and it gives me a chance to get the small flat areas right as one BIG one was gunna be hard.

 

Thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it...

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So didn't finish till late and had a body guy come around to inspect the ute for paint prep so I didn't get any thing done this PM.But It has given me time to think about the front lower bar cross member and how I'm gunna fit a tail-shaft and 2 x 2.5" pipes past it?

 

Thinking I'll use either some tube with braces and bends for the exhaust or some RHS and sheet metal cut to size with exhaust cut outs in the bottom part of the RHS.Seeing as I don't need to put mufflers under the car (they will go where the old spare wheel compartment was) I'll gain some room there but the diff and bar work is gunna be in the way of it all to a degree.Over or under the diff is still gunna be tight but as this is not a daily use vehicle I'm pretty lucky though a smart shop could make it work anyway.

 

Sheet metal...

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Sheet metal cutouts...

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Smooth tube...

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Tube's...

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Nothings locked in and I'm not after awards for looks it has to work not fall off and leave me room for the exhaust so looks like the car is going back in the air again.

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So had a chat to Stu @ Racers Choice and I will mod a couple of my ideas to suit and and the cross member will be made out of RHS and sheet metal.After setting the car up at ride height and taking some measurements I can run the cross member rather high up in the car as it sits a bit lower than the norm.Means I need to get slightly longer diff hangers but the cross member gets to sit higher which means I can make room for the exhaust (with a notch fabbed into the cross member each side) to pass under easily.

 

So I'll be a busy boy this weekend for sure...

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So didn't quite work out as planned thanks to the steel shop supplying the wrong gauge material so I made 1 out of some 75x50x3.2mm RHS.

 

Exhaust cut outs welded in...

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Loop welded in...

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I'll recess the front mounts into the member to get the bars up higher and allow more adjustment and a shorter diff mount but I have to get the member and rail plates on first.

 

Till tomorrow.

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Awesome dude! Fuck this is going to be massive :D

 

Skids and burnouts must be done on video ;)

 

Looking forward more slydog style tubs :D

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So after redesigning the under side of the loop which I fitted with some 12mm strap cut and shaped to size for extra support I started trimming and measuring.Took it down to 940mm then took 13mm off each side to give me a 3mm gap between the rails and face plate for weld penetration.It's fuckin hard laying on your back welding vertical up's and long supper supper hot tack welds so position everything.

 

I also found that because the ute is so low I needed to fab up longer bottom arm brackets which I ended up making out of some 50x50x4mm RHS.After tacking the front in place I set my trolley jack up to lift and hold the bottom arm till it was just level for the ride height I wanted.Then cut the brackets to size and got it square and level I welded it up.I'll get a shot of the bottom brackets tomoz till then...

 

Cross member face plate with holes for plug welding in place...

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Gearbox end with new design and exhaust cutouts...

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I'll get pics of the bottom brackets tomoz after I swing the top bars on and drop it down...it's Miller time!

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good shit Rob, looking awesome, 

welding upside down sucks every time doesnt it, makes you wish you could easily just flip everything into in ideal position lol 

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