Yes on the voltage. Looks like it has 4 different settings. Run it pretty high, 3-4. I can't remember what my gas setting is. Gas flow can vary but I think for a "typical" welder it's around 22 CFH.

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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

Man I did what you said and its a whole dif. welder... just a quick bead on some test metal was nice... I wish I did that before I started to weld the other tubes... This will help... thank you... will get back later tonight to let you know how it went... will take a while to cut and notch the 2 tubes... then I want to tack them on and go back and grind the crap I did yesterday... I hope to be able to clean it up...

setting of 3 for voltage and wire feed at 4 with the gas on whatever its on??

That is the exact welder I use, max the volts out and run the wire at 60 to 65. Gas should be flowing around 10 to 15 LPM. I weld my arms and spindles with it so it does have enough bite. If you look on the inside of the lid it should have set up information.

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thanks Mike... I will give it a try in a few... I wish I had asked you guys before I started to weld... I hade a lot of grinding to do for what I started already... I will report back as to how it goes...

big help on the welder info...

well tonight went OK.. I got the tubes tacked in that go from the trans tubes to the frame... Now tomorrow I need to figure out the shock mounts... Any advice I was looking and I will have to change the idea for the upper mount... its two far back... for the bottom mounts I have dual tabs... Does it matter at all where I put them... looks like I need to get them out as far as I can... I will get some pics in the morning... but I was thinking I may be able to use one for the shock and the other for the bottom limit strap mount... once I get the bottom mount tacked, I will mount the shock and show you what I mean for the upper... I bet I need a mount that comes out like 6 or 7 inches to get the coils to clear the frame...


If I can show you something that will help you help me let me know what to get a pic of....

The shock doesn't necessarily have to be on the outside of the frame. I'm guessing it's the only place it will fit on this frame but some builders design the shock to sit on the inside of the frame. The lower mount location will change your shock travel. The closer the shock is to the front pivots the shorter the cycle. The further away from the front pivots the longer the shock will travel. I'd keep it out towards the stub axle and close enough to the tire to clear the frame. Don't get it to close that you have interference with the tire. Having an upper mount that sticks out 6-7" is not uncommon. It will look fine when everyone is looking at those big coilovers and not the mount.

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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

The upper mount needs to position the shock so it is square with the arm when it's all the way up. Take into consideration the wheel and tire offset for the lower shock mount, don't want to have the tire rub on the springs. Also think about future modification like larger wheels and tires. The limit strap should be square to the arm at max droop and be as short as possible so not to get tangled on anything and to limit stretch. Double shear is the best for a suspension shock but not mandatory. Using the right type of bolt the right way can be just as strong. Don't try to reinvent the wheel, look at what others have done in the same situation. Almost everything we do has already been engineered by someone else. Everything I'm doing on my car someone else has already done. The trick is finding what works for you. You have a bunch of time before it will be riding season for us, little thing called winter will see to that. Take your time, look and read through all you can.

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Thanks guys... I actually forgot... I need to try and get my tires mounted on the rims for part of the mock up... I only have 31's not sure what I will get later on... But I want to be sure I get this right first try, so I will take a few days to study it. Once I get the tire mounted I will post pics and see what you think before I cut anything. I think with my shock being 12 inches of travel I may want it as far forward as I can to increase what I have... So my first guess is all the way forward and as far out as the tire will allow.... Will try to mount the tire my self tomorrow, if I can't do it, I will run them over to the local tire place and get you some pics... Does it matter if the shock is more horizontal, how would o figure out what it will look like compressed? Tire first... More later.

Thanks for helping guys....

You don't need to compress the shock. Just raise the trailing arm up to the highest position the cv or bottoming out the frame will allow. Run the shock perpendicular to the trailing arm in this position. The shock will be sticking way up but it's not like compressing it will change it's angle. Just deduct how much the shock "should" be compressed and that is your spot. If it's not perfectly perpendicular to the arm it's not going to ruin anything.

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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

Thanks man, I can see what you mean on the shock and not needing to compress it to find the right spot to locate the upper mount (with arm fully up)... I am going to work on getting my tires off the old rims and on the new rims (new to me rims anyway) and if I can get that done myself I will move on to locating the bottom shock mounts first and will get pics before I tack it up just to be safe... but as it is I am pretty sure it will need to be as far out as I can get it to clear the frame... I just need to see what it will look like with the tire in place to know it will be OK.


More later...

well I cant get the tire off these Firestone v treads are old and tough... not the best but all I have for now... I am going to try to drop them off to get the tires changed over, not even sure if they hold air... guess if not I will get them to toss a tube in...

man... the tire place just called me... the rims I bought are two dif sizes... one front and one rear... I told them to mount them up any way... at this point I just need the wheels to be on the ground for moc up... he said one was a tiny bit more narrow than the other... screwed me on that deal... You guys think it will be OK for the shock mounting and other moc up?

Sending this jerk an email now... I am sure he thought it was funny...

they are widened to 10 inch (wide 5 lug) rims...

If they're aren't much different it really won't matter a whole lot. Now if you are talking and inch or two it may. I have some steel wheels that I welded beadlock rings onto in the garage. I'll measure them with the beadlock if you are interested. I think they were really close to 10" with the locks.

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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

Yeah, I may be interested... I asked the guy to write down what the measurements are... I will post them when I get them back. and I should have some pics later showing where I think the shocks will go...

Looks like one wheel is 10 inches wide and one is 10 1/4 wide so its a tiny bit taller I guess...

I am going to mount them and take some pics of the bottom mount placement...

Few quick pic's... gotta run out for something, but will be back tonight for more...

Looks like you have plenty of room on the bottom side with that offset on the wheels. Making progress, looks good.

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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

yeah the bottom mount is wide open... you think the location is OK? all the way forward and as far out as I can get it... Also should I line it up with the edge or try to line it up with the frame... It will be tight for the upper mount... but it is what it is... I want to get the bottom tacked up and then I will pull it all apart to weld up... and paint... then I need to cut the pivot bracket so I get more travel out of the arms so I can start the upper mount...


let me know what you think on the location of the bottom bracket??

Looks fine from here. Hard to tell unless you're right there measuring and looking. I think it will work out for you like that.

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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

At that point on the arm where your going to put the shock what is the stroke from max cv angle to max cv angle. I'm asking because you need to be sure your shock location isn't going to limit the travel of the arm. The shock should be placed at the point where the travel matches the shock length.

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I will get that in the morning... Right now the arm will hit the pivot bracket if I lift it up... I think I need to clearance the bracket so the arm will go higher... I have a 12 inch stroke on the shock... Not sure how I will know where the travel will match the shock... I thought I just needed to find max droop, then subtract 1 inch then mount the shock at full extension and add the limit strap to tweak... If I understand you right I want to get as much out of the shock as I can... So if the bottom mount is all the way forward it will use more shock and all the way back it will use less, I should look for the spot that uses as much of the Shock I can without running past full bump? I need to keep looking at this till it sinks in...

(I edited this remembering that you have parallel swing arms) If you measure at the stub axle, max droop of the cv to max compression of the cv you will get a number, lets say 20". If you were to measure half way down the arm, max cv droop to max compression you will get 10". You need to find the point where you get 11" along the length of the arm. The point you have chosen now might require a shock that needs 14" or 16" of stroke to not limit the travel of the arm.

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Thanks... I get it. I will check this measurement tonight...

I ordered the limit strap brackets this morning and the clevis bolt (will get the strap later when I know what length)...

I went with the weld on bracket for the outside of the frame, and dual shear lower bracket (may or may not use)... I picked the made in USA clevis bolt for a single strap. for the upper shock mount I have ordered this:
http://www.genright.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=BKT100X

I figure I can use it...

You guys think I need a dual shock mount on the arm? guess it cant hurt to keep it as is...

I am not able to max out the upward limit of the CV due to the pivot bracket stopping the arm from going high enough... I get 10 inches of travel till it stops with a lot of movement still left in the axle. should I go with my current plan or should I drop the arms and notch out the top of the pivot bracket so the arm can go up higher and get the measurement you asked for?

guessing I should start taking off the arms....

I can't max my CV out in the up direction either. If I were to do that the frame would be on the ground as the bottom of the tire would be an inch above the bottom of my skid plate. Just set your bump stops where the bottom of the tire is an inch below your skid plate/ cage.

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I will look at it today... If I remember right I needed to notch the pivot bracket to get more lift so the tire would end up about 1 inch or so from the bottom of the cage... Right now it's more like 2-3 or so... Other problem is I have no bump stops... I need to buy or make some... Can you guys give me some ideas ? I will notch out the brackets and take a few pics to show what I have space wise for a bump stop, might be able to just weld in some tube pointed down and make a plate at the end for a bump stop to bolt to? Would be nice if it was adjustable... I guess if I had 1.5 Id tube I cold weld a sleeve on the frame and then slide a pipe in and run bolts through it??? I will see what I can find.