Ford LT 110 Off-Road Build

Yeah studs seems like a better option so half the pressure on the oil pan casting isn't removed at once.

But anyway the oil leak still seems to be cured which makes me happy cuz I don't have to worry about loosing all the oil anymore, haha.

I can't believe how long you ran it with those missing bolts.  sometimes it's just the simplest thing causing a problem.

Believe me if I knew they were missing I would've stopped using it until I put new ones in, haha.

I think if you ran it long enough like that you would have cracked something, that would have sucked.

Yes I'm definitely lucky it didn't crack or warp the oil pan casting.

Yeah, that would have really sucked. Although if it were hairline i would have just ran it like that. Whatcha gonna do i guess lol.

Well I finally got some brakes rigged up on the little Ford today. A short while a go I made a setup that hooked to my deck handle, which seemed to work nicely. However, no matter how I adjusted the caliper arm the pads would not grab the rotor at all. I tore into it today thinking the pads were fried but actually discovered this:



Yep, someone put the arm on backwards. Hahaha. So after I cleaned and lubed everything up I put it all back together and made up a new linkage.



This is the handle with the brakes disengaged:



The linkage tucked up nicely underneath:



Then the return spring at the back:



Also when I initially made the brake setup I welded in these heavy duty braces for the radius arm brackets:



The brakes work great!



They slow it down right away, and I also have a parking brake now because the handle locks in place. Which is pretty handy.



Let me know what ya think!

Very nice... Brakes are nice! Sure like that ford!

Yeah you can never go wrong with brakes. I kinda like them myself, probably because it's a privilege if I use them haha.

MightyRaze wrote:

Very nice... Brakes are nice!  Sure like that ford!

Thanks Mighty! Yeah, they sure are handy, haha.

muckmudd wrote:

Yeah you can never go wrong with brakes. I kinda like them myself, probably because it's a privilege if I use them haha.

Hahaha, yeah I kinda got used to not having brakes on this one, but I'm definitely happy I have them now.

And I wondered how my welds hold

biggasmowers wrote:

And I wondered how my welds hold

Yeah, well I don't see the front end breaking apart due to piss poor welding, so I think we'll call it good.

It blows my mind how far you're into this project and you're just fixing the brakes now, I guess it all depends how and where you ride.  I ran my jacobsen when I was a kid without brakes for years until my dad made me new pads.

Yeah, haha. It's not really a big deal, but it's sure nice to have them now.

brakes....? what are... these brakes you speak of?

I think they're an optional feature on some models

LOL brakes.... who needs them.

I had brakes, but the linkage came loose and the new tires have a larger circumference so mabye a disk brake is up next. But who need to stop? I mean I have not ever wished I had brakes , not even after I paid 400 dollars to get the garage door replaced.... wait a minute, yeah I do regret not having brakes

Hahaha, yeah definitely I'd like to avoid that type of situation if possible.

Brakes are pretty nice lol. Looks good!

For sure, haha. Thanks Rich!

*Major Front End Re-Vamp Time*

Yep, about time the ol' Twin I-Beam got some love, now that I've gotten it to the point where it's no longer in the "experiment" phases, I figured it was time to blow it apart, brace it up, and give it some good paint.



All apart!



First I added some gussets on both the pivot knuckles:



Planning on adding grease fittings as well.

Then on to the beams. I welded rod all the way through and added a gusset for the radius arms mounts:





Pretty heavy now, haha. Then I cleaned it all up for some paint:



Went with a gloss black Tremclad paint for the beams and stuff. It's brushed on so won't be the prettiest thing, but I used it because it's quite durable and it's only the front axle stuff.

Super high-tech mobile paint station



Then same stuff for the other beam:






Also got all my radius arm brackets on the frame side cleaned up and painted:



Unfortunately that's all I got done today, haha. Everything should look real nice painted up though.

Tomorrow I'm gonna tackle making the radius arms look a bit more professional, clean up and paint the coilovers, fab up a new drag link, and I'm also toying with making some actual shock hoops for the coilovers. I also have a pretty neat plan to modify my tie rod setup to make it work better with the Twin I-Beam setup, but I don't think I'll be able to get that done tomorrow, so that'll be for another time. Haha

But yeah, hopefully the ol Twin I-Beam setup will be a lot better looking once I'm done everything. Let me know what ya think!

Good work AK, looking real nice!

Thanks Mighty! I'm hoping it'll really improve the look.

Well progress today didn't really work out, all I got done was a shock hoop setup and by the time I got it all painted and bolted up I really didn't like the way it looked at all. Oh well, you win some you loose some. Hahaha. I'm probably just gonna make some nice bolt on angle steel upright coilover mounts. Won't look quite as sleek as shock hoops but it should be quite strong. I'll add a couple of artistic notches and stuff and we'll call it good.

So yeah, hopefully I'll get to that soon and then we can move on to some other neat stuff!

Looking good cleaned up and painted. Will look sharp once it's all assembled.