Build JHF Trail Chassis
- Thread starter woody
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- Thread starter
- #572
Get the rig vertical, with the "bottom" axle at full lock, then try to steer. Weight, combined with any bind, and it's jammed. Happens regularly. There are a few reasons for it (all addressed with the new ram and it's internal design) but the added size is a big part.
The goal is to eliminate a weak point/problem area. Obviously, lots of other components need to be upgraded to ensure they don't bend or fail.
I'll start a separate thread on the builds/parts in a few weeks. None of this stuff is going into my current buggy
whiterhino
Wheel'in since 1976
oooooh.......... there's a hint there somewhere...........
pennsylvaniaboy
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- Mar 6, 2017
- 81
- Thread starter
- #575
I believe those came from Poly Performance
SteerAndStuff
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I've bought those from Poly but also see Trail Gear with them as well. Note the largest size is 11/16" which fits typical 3/8 hose. I use 1/2" and doesn't fit those clamps.
I have also drilled an extra hole in those clamps for my rear to fit both brake lines and air locker line.
I have also drilled an extra hole in those clamps for my rear to fit both brake lines and air locker line.
chaplinfj60
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i 3d printed mine. made them each a bit different so i could route a brake line and diff breather up on like. and did the others for hydro hoses.
chaplinfj60
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even printed these for my power steering cooler where two lines are routed next to each other. i know there are better ones out there but its kinda fun designing and printing these
- Thread starter
- #579
Current weight/bias w/ 5ish gallons of fuel. Front tire/wheel/water weight is 330# ea. Bias is 58.55%, total weight is 3725#.
Been super pleased with how the car works lately, so wanted to get some notes
Been super pleased with how the car works lately, so wanted to get some notes
- Thread starter
- #580
2025 updates...
First, I ended 2024 with a junk D300 intermediate gear....my "guess" is one of the set screws for the Midnight case fell out and made a mess. Either way, that meant a new intermediate gear. The shift rods were also tweaked, I had a spare set that were supposed to fix the shifting. In short, they didn't, and it turned into a complete shitshow. I literally had to hold the levers into high or they'd pop out. Beyond dumb.
So, screw that mess....I've been chatting with Behemoth at various events and keeping up with their changes/improvements to their billet case...and then they came out with their cast aluminum Apex case AND their updated 32-spline front output shaft. I caved during their intro special, and installed that in mid-April.
I'm now a couple weeks in, and am thus far impressed. Shifting is FAR better. It DOES still bind, but that's unavoidable....but in situations where I expect it to shift smooth (and the MMW sometimes did...) the new APEX does. One continual headache with the MMW was loading on the trailer and then shifting from 4WD to front only....the MMW forever fought it. The APEX had done this simple shift flawlessly, every single time, high or low. On-the-fly neutral to low shifts are buttery smoothy. Zero issues of popping out, front or rear. My only annoyance now is that low is now just like a factory D300 (forward)....my MMW and prior D300 setups had low with the levers pulled back. I'm getting used to it, but still screwing up occasionally. I'll learn...
Oh, and it's quieter. Noticeably. My original D300 and the MMW both "chattered" endlessly at dune speeds (ok, 20-25) but it was super annoying. The APEX does too, but barely. I'm hopeful that it stays quiet, time will tell.
Next up was this weeks fun....finally put my tires on the Monsters Inc exit, and it kept binding....hard. I finally decided to push thru and see what happens....and BOOM. Lost some bits of ring teeth, and popped a side adjuster right out of the caps!! (first junked diff in 3-1/2 years of wheeling) Fortunately, I had a spare set of 4.88's and a 4cyl diff case on the bench, so I built my first ever 8" and installed it yesterday. Tested this morning, and nothing fell out, so we'll see. Backlash was set around 6, and pinion torque about 11. Now to order another spare set of gears so I'm ready for the next break (and decide if I'm gonna stick with 4.88's all around, 5.29's all around, or overdrive.
I did mess with overdrive (4.88/5.29) and the MMW hated it, so I went back to 4.88 all around. With now well the APEX works, I may drop that spare ARB 5.29 in the rear and see what I think. I wouldn't mind being lower overall (5.29's would drop me from 75:1 to 81:1), and would prefer to avoid 4:1 case gears, since 114:1 seems way TOO low.
First, I ended 2024 with a junk D300 intermediate gear....my "guess" is one of the set screws for the Midnight case fell out and made a mess. Either way, that meant a new intermediate gear. The shift rods were also tweaked, I had a spare set that were supposed to fix the shifting. In short, they didn't, and it turned into a complete shitshow. I literally had to hold the levers into high or they'd pop out. Beyond dumb.
So, screw that mess....I've been chatting with Behemoth at various events and keeping up with their changes/improvements to their billet case...and then they came out with their cast aluminum Apex case AND their updated 32-spline front output shaft. I caved during their intro special, and installed that in mid-April.
Finally tired of the MMW issues...I had that case as dialed as I could, but losing a set screw and eating a few intermediate gear teeth at the end of 2024 left me with additional headaches. Decided the special offered by Behemoth for their new cast aluminum Dana 300 Apex case was a deal worth taking.
I'm now a couple weeks in, and am thus far impressed. Shifting is FAR better. It DOES still bind, but that's unavoidable....but in situations where I expect it to shift smooth (and the MMW sometimes did...) the new APEX does. One continual headache with the MMW was loading on the trailer and then shifting from 4WD to front only....the MMW forever fought it. The APEX had done this simple shift flawlessly, every single time, high or low. On-the-fly neutral to low shifts are buttery smoothy. Zero issues of popping out, front or rear. My only annoyance now is that low is now just like a factory D300 (forward)....my MMW and prior D300 setups had low with the levers pulled back. I'm getting used to it, but still screwing up occasionally. I'll learn...
Oh, and it's quieter. Noticeably. My original D300 and the MMW both "chattered" endlessly at dune speeds (ok, 20-25) but it was super annoying. The APEX does too, but barely. I'm hopeful that it stays quiet, time will tell.
Next up was this weeks fun....finally put my tires on the Monsters Inc exit, and it kept binding....hard. I finally decided to push thru and see what happens....and BOOM. Lost some bits of ring teeth, and popped a side adjuster right out of the caps!! (first junked diff in 3-1/2 years of wheeling) Fortunately, I had a spare set of 4.88's and a 4cyl diff case on the bench, so I built my first ever 8" and installed it yesterday. Tested this morning, and nothing fell out, so we'll see. Backlash was set around 6, and pinion torque about 11. Now to order another spare set of gears so I'm ready for the next break (and decide if I'm gonna stick with 4.88's all around, 5.29's all around, or overdrive.
I did mess with overdrive (4.88/5.29) and the MMW hated it, so I went back to 4.88 all around. With now well the APEX works, I may drop that spare ARB 5.29 in the rear and see what I think. I wouldn't mind being lower overall (5.29's would drop me from 75:1 to 81:1), and would prefer to avoid 4:1 case gears, since 114:1 seems way TOO low.
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- Thread starter
- #581
And lastly, a tire update. These Milestars went on some new 20x8.5 BattleBorn forged wheels in mid-August 2024, and I had grand plans to swap my earlier tire/wheel combo back on to wear them out. Well, short but sweet, I like the new narrower setup SO MUCH BETTER that I never swapped back...and am now committed to burning these down to zero.
I went from 85" outside of tire to 82" outside of tire, then added 1/2" billet spacers for a final outside of tire of 83". LOVE it. 6.75psi front, 6psi rear. Wating for the cords to pop before I toss on a new set
I went from 85" outside of tire to 82" outside of tire, then added 1/2" billet spacers for a final outside of tire of 83". LOVE it. 6.75psi front, 6psi rear. Wating for the cords to pop before I toss on a new set
Blase
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Woody I'd love to see you try to overdrive again and tell us how the APEX handles it. What didn't the MMW case like about it exactly? Asking because i'm planning to run 4.88/5.13 with my APEX.
- Thread starter
- #583
The MMW liked to pop out of gear....likely due to the other headaches that existed with that case....it worked fine until I did the OD setup, and I only ran that for a couple months before swapping back. I need to get motivated and re-swap the 5.29's into the rear....
- Thread starter
- #584
In car from today's run up Easy Street....a few t-case shifts mixed in
Blase
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how close are you to the trails you run? Seems like you wheel a couple times a week. LOL Asking cause I'm jealous. LOL
- Thread starter
- #586
Currently, 30 minutes to Sand Mountain....new home will be about 10 minutes
And yes, I'll get out a few days a week.... #threehourtourThere are a handful of others here with "flexible" schedules who can wheel a few times a week too, so that helps. And I bet there are a couple dozen portal car owners in Dixie Springs, which is less than 10 minutes from the trails.
- Thread starter
- #587
Ironman today in Hurricane/StG, so traffic around Sand Mountain is a disaster ...took me 90 minutes from fully assembled to this pic...next, clean up the housing, seal and soft-set the new 5.29 diff, assemble the balance, then torque and fill with lube tmrw (I like to let gasket maker sit overnight and set up before torquing/filling)
Blase
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Can't wait to hear how it does now!!
- Thread starter
- #589
Well, that took less than a minute...literally loaded onto the trailer and had to R-N-D-N-R the shifter to unbind the t-case...on the trailer. It still shifts FAR better than the MMW did overall, but the added bind issues are a given.
As a friend put it yesterday, the only reason to do overdrive is to make your D300 shift like crap. He's mostly right. the benefits to OD diff gearing is definitely there, but unless you are regularly doing death climbs or competing, I wouldn't bother. I'm betting I end up swapping 5.29's into the front in another month or two. (I've been wanting to be overall deeper than the 75:1 I had with 4.88's all around)
OD sucks when grabbing reverse to save a roll, since the rear is now 8% slower, and the front will kick you off the climb that much quicker. OD sucks for side hills, since the slower rear wants to drift down. OD DOES help flatten the front links/chassis on steep climbs, but so does sucking down the front winch. You do need to spend more time shifting into 2WD to help things stay unbound between obstacles (personally, I run front only most of the time)
I didn't make anything new yesterday, and still haven't made one climb that I'd like to. We had 3 buggies out yesterday and each got denied once on different obstacles.
Blase
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Well hell! Thanks a ton for the detailed report. I certainly don't do a ton of death climbs and I do not compete.
The main reason I was wanted to run 4.88/5.13 is because wouldn't have to buy 5.13's for the front axle when I swap the 44 for the 60. I have a set of 4.88 HP 60 gears on the shelf and the Rear 14 bolt already has 5.13. Not a good enough reason to have all the negatives you've listed IMO.
The main reason I was wanted to run 4.88/5.13 is because wouldn't have to buy 5.13's for the front axle when I swap the 44 for the 60. I have a set of 4.88 HP 60 gears on the shelf and the Rear 14 bolt already has 5.13. Not a good enough reason to have all the negatives you've listed IMO.