PD's Drivetrain Upgrade

[ihpartsjeff]

This project has been long in the making and with the arrival of the Scout yesterday afternoon via transporter from tennessee we can now begin the progress.

Most would be very happy with this Scout as it already has a SOA lift with reverse shackle, front ARB differential, rear warn full float axle kit, a 'built' 727 torqueflite transmission, an atlas transfer case, and more. Take a look at the pictures as this Scout is no slouch. But where theres a will, theres a way and we at IH Parts America know how to take any vehicle to the next level.

So here is the list of upgrades that will be performed on this Scout while it is here -

1. The 727 torqueflite transmission will swapped out in favor of a B&M racing GM 700r4 transmission using a CPT transmission adapter for GM automatic to IH engine.

2. A Klune-V will be installed between the transmission and atlas transfer case.

3. A curry rock jock hi-pinion Dana 60 will be installed in the rear set-up with a ARB differential, 4.88 Yukon gears, 35 spline curry shafts, and 12" wildwood disc brakes w/ internal drum style parking brake.

4. We are going to build what is called a '609' front axle(not to be confused this is not a unimog 609 axle). The center section will be a hi-pinion 9" from hi-9 set-up with 4.88 reverse cut gears and a ARB differential. The center section will be mounted into a spidertrax housing equipped with dedenbear/reid racing 'c's and kingpin type knuckles. 4 piston wilwood aluminum calipers will be installed on custom 5 lug hub/rotors.

5. All new custom exhaust.

6. Rear 4-link coil suspension.

7. Front 3 link coil-over suspension.

Below are pictures of some of the products that we will be using on this build.

That's a tall boy can by the way and yes we plan on using the larger flex joints on this build.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

Here are some pictures of the Scout upon arrival.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

Pictures of the Scout before we begin the tear down which should begin within the next couple of weeks.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

Darren and I got started on the project by first getting the Scout running. It came to us with a freshly installed afi throttle body fuel injection system installed by the owner. After a couple hours of testing circuits Darren found that the dui hei distributor wasn't wired properly for the afi harness. With the wiring corrected the Scout was started. After fixing a vacuum leak and timing the engine we had the Scout up and running good. After a test drive or two the Scout was pulled into the shop so teardown could begin.

First was the removal of the front axle and suspension.

That's one tight brake hose!

In the picture you can see the four main parts that need to be removed - the fang, shock tower, bumpstop mount, and shackle hanger.

Pic of the frame before some finish grinding is performed.

Darren took a break from some grinding and removed the rear suspension.

With the frame smoothed out it was time to move on into the interior.

Next was the removal of the transmission cover and atlas shifter assembly.

Followed by the 727 transmission......

.........and front section of the exhaust.

With all the parts removed we had a clean slate to start reassembling.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

Nice pile of good used parts(all sold and long gone by the way).

The CPT transmission adapter Plates were first bolted on.

You can see how the spacers mount between the flexplate and torque convertor adapter with the supplied 3/8" bolts.

We started the mockup of the Klune-V and atlas.

We have a couple different transfer case adapters to choose from. We'll probably go with the adapter sitting on the table as it will allow the crossmember to be tucked up inside the frame rails compared to the adapter that is currently mocked into place.

Dan @ RuffStuff specialties( ruffstuffspecialties.com - off-road fabrication parts ) came by with an assortment of brackets for the link suspension.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

The B&M 700r4 was installed next along with the Klune-V and atlas transfer case. With no body lift there was just enough room for the whole combo to fit without any cutting of the floor.

More parts started rolling in. We got the rest of the re joints in.

Darren started mocking them up in some of the various RuffStuff brackets.

With the rear housing setting under the Scout we had a better idea of what we needed to do.

Which was strengthen the frame so frame reinforcement plates were made out of 1/4" strap.

We decided to go with bilsteins new 14" rc9100 rock crawler series coilover. These are about as good as it can get. They have a real nice digressive valving that according to Bilstein this valving will greatly enhance vehicle stability while reducing impact harshness. Utilizing the digressive valving, wheel hop, front to rear/side to side weight transfer, erratic spring unload, and sway will greatly be reduced.

We also ordered in the matching curry truss to make mounting the top links a little simpler.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

Darren started installing the frame plates by first tacking them on.

Once they were tacked in place Darren spent the better part of a day welding them completely on.

Next Darren started the mockup of the upper axle link mounts.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

With measurements made Darren began tack welding on all the various links and link mounts. We used hrew tubing for the mockup of the links and will replace with the actual dom when all measurements are finalized.

We mounted the lower links to frame outriggers from ruff stuff specialties.

Some last minute adjustments were made before we cycle the suspension to check fit.

Suspension at full droop. Pinion angle still looks good!

Pic of the upper links and mounts.

Once we remove the electric fuel pump and filter that is currently mounted above the axle we should be able to cycle the suspension upward another 2"-3".

Darren then tack welded in the coil spring mounts and popped in the coils.

And with the springs in we were able to set the Scout down on the coils for the first time.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

With the mock up of the rear suspension complete Darren then moved on to the mock up of the front suspension.

First the tru hi-9 third member was temporarily bolted on to the spidertrax housing.

Darren then placed the housing under the Scout and began mounting of the axle housing brackets.

In order to fit the housing Darren made a few cuts on the custom made link bracket.

At this point Darren and I couldn't decide on whether to make the front suspension either a 3, 4, or 5 link. We played around with some different setups but in the end I did not like the way the brackets looked on the housing and how big they were. The size of the brackets alone was making it difficult to locate the trackbar mount and with the huge size of the reid racing Dana 60 knuckles it was leaving no room to mount the front coilovers.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

So these brackets were scrapped and smaller ones were tacked in place. At this point we made up our mines that the front suspension would be set up with what is called a 'missing link'. Follow along as Darren puts it all together.

Next Darren fabbed up the track bar mount.

The front Bilstein coilovers were set in place to make sure there was going to be no fitment problems.

At this point the suspension was manually flexed to check how good the setup was going to work. At this point ignore the pinion angle change as the mock up driveshaft we were using was too long and was forcing the pinion upward against the yoke. So far everything was looking good.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

Happy with the overall lengths of the mock up links Darren began cutting the actual 2"x.250 wall dom that is going to be used.

Darren also began welding on the threaded inserts.

The third link mount was tacked on and the suspension flex retested.

This picture clearly shows why this suspension setup is known as a "missing link" since there is no upper link on the driver side of the axle.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

One problem with our setup was the track bar was hitting the third link mount on top of the housing upon suspension compression so each end of the 2"x.250 wall dom that was going to be used for the track bar would need about a 20* bend. Being that .250 wall tubing let alone 2"x.250 wall dom was way beyond protools recommended maximum wall thickness (even for our heavy duty super bender that we use here in the shop) it didn't take much to break the bender die.

So Darren turned up the heat on the welder and burned the piece back on and then added a huge 1/2" thick gusset to it.

After heating the dom tube to slightly under 400* we quickly slid the tube into the bender and began bending. Success!

Darren then cut the bar to size and tack welded on the threaded ends. With the track bar in place the suspension flex was retested.

At full stuff the track bar tucks nicely under the oil pan. There is now plenty of room between the track bar and third link mount.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

Darren made the third link mount on the lower link permanent. He fabbed up some pieces of 1/4" plate and then welded/molded it all together.

More threaded inserts were welded into place as well as the third link which was finished off with the poly bushed end.

Darren then removed all the brackets which were tacked onto the frame and finished welding them all up.

And more of the dom links were prepped for welding on of the threaded inserts.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

With all the link and coil mounts welded up Darren then began permanently welding them on to the frame.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

The 12" travel remote reservoir Bilstein 7100 shocks finally came in.

Darren finished up the frame side of the trackbar mount.

He also finished off the mounts on the front housing and finished welding on the lower link mounts.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

The knuckle's were tacked into place and checked for proper alignment.

With the alignment set the knuckles were welded permanently into place. Darren did the welding while Chad slowly rotated the housing.

The housing was then reinstalled and mock-up of the steering began.

 

[Paul 3]

Jeff,
any update pics I can stare at the weekend?

 

[ihpartsjeff]

Jeff,
any update pics I can stare at the weekend?

I'll do my best paul to get not only this build but two others caught up this weekend. I plan on sitting in front of the computer all day tomorrow playing the role of book keeper & web dude updater! Stay tuned!

 

[Paul 3]

Jeff you're a victim of your own success...everybody wants to see what you and your crew come up with next. cheers!

 

[ihpartsjeff]

Getting back to the front suspension the next thing we needed to do was come up with a strong and simple hoop for the coilover that would work on both the left and right sides. On the driver side we have the steering box and shaft in the way and on the passenger side the alternator was going to be problem. So a pair of hoops were bent up with the driver side being slightly different but mounting points of the coilover are the same.

For extra strength both sides of the frame were drilled so that the hoop would pass thru the entire frame.

Not sure why I don't have any pictures of the driver side hoop but I will with the next update. Also, oval mounting plates will be added to the frame around each tube for additional strength.