[FINALIST] - AK's LT-08 Rat Rod Tractor Build [2019 Build-Off Entry]

Looks good and straight. Nice job on the spindled. In your mock-up... Your axle going to be that far forward?

Thanks fellas. The axle was a bit farther forward in that mockup than I planned on it being.

Speaking of which, I got to some more front axle work on the weekend.

Here are the bumper brackets I showed earlier in the thread:



Planned on turning those into the frame mounts. After some mock-up, measuring, and cutting, they look like this:



They fit right along the frame under the footboards and got welded directly to the frame in a few spots.

I decided to use some automotive inner and outer tie rod ends for the main rods of my wishbones. I drilled and tapped the ends for 5/16" bolts, I figured on having the bolts go right through the axle:



Drilled the holes through the axle and bolted them up!



Then I got the wishbone frame mounts welded in place:



Pretty happy with how they fit along the frame!

Trimmed the bottoms up a bit so they didn't look so goofy, haha.





Also made some angle steel braces for them so they wouldn't bend sideways:





Should be nice and solid!

Then, after a little trick with a piece of angle steel, she held up on four wheels for the first time!!





Oh yeah!!! Hahaha.

Still seems to be enough clearance for decently sharp steering, I'll definitely be making some steering stops though.



Pretty happy about the way it's going so far! Also, just to be clear the radius arms are not finished yet. These are only the main rods. I still have to do the upper rods and make the mounts to attach to the top of the axle. Once I do that the caster will be under control. After that I can get the steering arms and a tie rod made up, and then I can work on getting the springs mounted up to the axle and the frame.

Either way, I'm really liking how she's sitting now!



Let me know what ya think!!

YES!

Looks great AK.  Looks like you will need some steering stops there, but like you said steering will be fine!

I assume you're using coil over shocks? How big are they? I mean, if your not going off road with 'er then you definitely won't need anything crazy like what's on the MTD. Then again you're the suspension expert and half the suspension stuff yall talk about... I don't even know what it is. This'll probably be a learning lesson for me lol.

Murraymountain wrote:

I assume you're using coil over shocks? How big are they? I mean, if your not going off road with 'er then you definitely won't need anything crazy like what's on the MTD. Then again you're the suspension expert and half the suspension stuff yall talk about... I don't even know what it is. This'll probably be a learning lesson for me lol.

Judging by what I see.  I figure a leaf spring in the front.

Its a rat rod!!!!  I'm seeing something like this...

Thanks Mighty! Yep definitely gonna add some steering stops in there! Also you are close on the front end. I am using leaf springs, just in a different orietation, haha.

Murraymountain wrote:

I assume you're using coil over shocks? How big are they? I mean, if your not going off road with 'er then you definitely won't need anything crazy like what's on the MTD. Then again you're the suspension expert and half the suspension stuff yall talk about... I don't even know what it is. This'll probably be a learning lesson for me lol.

Nope, no coils or coilovers on this one. I have a main leaf spring from a trailer I'm going to cut in half and use for a 1/4 elliptic leaf setup. "Half leaves" in other words. It was covered further back in the thread.

Ah okay. Just wondering... Wouldn't look right with those coil overs. It's coming along real good though, matter of fact, now that all the build off rigs are taking shape and we can get a feel of what they are, I'm betting that this one's gonna be a winner!

Well thanks! I appreciate it!

I went back to work on the wishbones today, first I fabbed up some upper links:



Then I made a couple mounts to be welded to the front axle:



Mounts welded on:



Then the first wishbone all done!



Sorry for the dark pictures, but here's the setup after I got it all welded up:









Didn't turn out too bad if you ask me!

Now, for a couple full four wheel pictures!





Oooh I'm getting excited now boys! Hahaha.

I'm really liking the way it's looking now! I fought with the adjustments gor a while when I was trying to tune the geometry in, but I finally got it to come around and it's nice and true now!

I think tomorrow I can get the tie rod and steering arms figured out, after that I can get the axle centered, and hopefully get the springs rigged up! This is where is gets good...

Let me know what ya think!

The front axle looks great mounted up. This is fitting your theme perfectly! I'm glad the drive shaft worked out too.

Thanks Carl! Good to see you're still hanging around.

So first thing I did today was get some steering arms and a tire rod made up for my front axle:



I was planning on having the tie rod out front but it didn't end up working so great, so it went behind the axle. Turned out pretty good and the Ackerman angles are perfect!



It does come a bit close to the grille, but I don't think it'll become an issue. Worst case scenario I can move the grill back a bit.



Should work good!

Another thing I did was finally get the upper transaxle mount installed. I've been meaning to do it for a while now and I finally got around to it:





Pretty simple. I'm just glad I remembered to do it before the first test run, haha.

Also, here are a couple more shots of it in the daylight:





I'm definitely liking it! I would've done the springs today too, but it was too darn hot out for any more messing around. So this is where I stopped, haha.

Still pretty good progress though! Let me know what ya think!

shaping up, got a long low stance, I forget if you said what tires you are running in the back? Keeping those or going bigger?

Thanks mrshaft! I'm gonna be running another set of turfs on the back that are in better shape, but are the same size as these. 18.5" I belive.

Oh this is looking great!

Hey thanks Beal!

What type of headlights are you gonna use?

Well as I said to Rich I'm not positive that I will have lights at all, being that I won't be running a battery in this tractor.

I might throw something behind the headlight sockets though, maybe like some sheet steel ground down to bare metal and clear coated. Just something to make it look a little meaner in the front, haha.

Are you gonna put the lenses back in?

Been a minute since iv'e checked your build gave me a lot to check out. love that front suspension. keep up the good work !

Thanks! I appreciate it!

Looks like this one is gonna be epic Nice build!

I just had a funny thought. I just remembered the "Pissed -n- Broke" piston from the old Toro.  Hang that guy out one of the headlights.  LOL

Destructive wrote:

Looks like this one is gonna be epic  Nice build!

Thank you! I sure hope it turns out okay, haha.

MightyRaze wrote:

I just had a funny thought. I just remembered the "Pissed -n- Broke" piston from the old Toro.  Hang that guy out one of the headlights.  LOL

Hahaha, yeah that might look interesting. I still have the piston too!

Okay fellas, spring time is here! Leaf spring that is.

I decided to get at my spring setup today, and I made some pretty good progress! First step was to cut the spring in half so I could figure where everything would go:



After some mock up I ended up cutting an additional 2 1/8" off each leaf.

Took a couple more old shackles and cut them in half to be used for the axle leaf mounts:



I also installed new bushings in the leaf eyes, so everything's nice and tight now.



Then after some more mock up, some measuring, and some welding, we have leaf eye mounts!



So after that I figured out that in order to get the proper ride height I needed a spacer under the leaves, so I used a piece of 1" by 1" bar stock as a small lift block for the leaf springs to get them sitting at the right angle.

It turned out quite well!







They're just clamped down temporarily until I get a clamp down setup figured out, but she's holding 'er own weight!!

The next thing was making the grille fit right again:



Just did a couple cut-outs near the bottom, worked quite well:



Needs just a bit more trimming I think, but it clears pretty good and actually looks sorta neat, haha.



She's coming along pretty good now!

Hood looks mint! This may have been asked before, but what type rear tires are you using?

Great Progress! Lovin the setup.