Thread: byrons aka "ranger#1" ttb long travle beam build up

alright i live in the desert and i hate whoops and having 9 inches of travel soooo i either have to move out of the state or build a truck that can handle the desert floor and i chose :icon_welder:
i first pulled my doner beams out from underneath a 1993 expo. with 99000 mi on it leave it to me not to take any pix of it before any work was done on it but it looked stock so u get the picture lol my first job was to clean em and pull the diff.,axles,spindles,seals,brakes, off and to get started plating the bottom of them i chose 1/8 plate for this job because well I'm pretty sure I'm going to thank my self later for that :icon_idea:










then i figured i should cleean um up a bit and make em look purdy and give me one less excuse on why my welds look like shit



then i got me some cardbord and started playing around with som patterns for the remaning plating that needs to be done





then i turned the cardbord into metal magicaliy using cut off wheels and lots of them lol









them test fitted them and started bending and forming









today i just started dinking around with some radius arm idias lol u get the idia i think im going to use the one with less bend it puts less stress on the steel















did some cutting today got the driver side beam cleaned up and ready to be finished welded and also got to cutting on the beam for my 2.5 inch extension =]










any ways i got all of the plating done and also got the extension done 2.5 inches on each side =] there almost done just gotta add the truss and relocate the lower ball
not bad for a 18 yo in his garage eh?























o and by the way since I'm new please help me with my design im not pro and i love learning [looks like some should take a hint huh] i frequent therangerstation.com and can be found under the same user name but this is as far as i have gotten so far i look forward to the comments and opinons lol thanks a bunch =]
yea updated today i relocated the lower ball joint both out about an inch 1/4 and welded it up real good not bad for my 110v lincon i just turned up the heat and dowm the wire speed and slowed way down and pulled the putle along slowly lol and the last couple of pix im thinking about welding that on th add reenforcment to the lower ball i dont kno i looks a little wird but i does look like a strong what do u think

looks pretty good other then some of the spots you got perocity in.

could we get more pics please lol jkjk keep up the good work!

damn 18 yrs old, keep up the good work.. keep us posted!

cool stuff man, i was gonna say, he's putting in a lot of work for some stock beams, and then i saw you cut and extended them. REALLY good stuff, the only thing i'm sketch about is relocating the stock lower ball joint. If you needed to adjust the cambur for ride hight you should have just taken that into account during the cutting and extending process. Just so you can keep the integrity of the beam end. All good, hope the best turns out for you. I built my own extended ttb beam when i was 17

Originally Posted by Tigranger

looks pretty good other then some of the spots you got perocity in.

yea i could have done some better placment of the holes but ya gotta admit it loks bad ass from certan angles

Originally Posted by Manuel G

could we get more pics please lol jkjk keep up the good work!

yea i am a pix intencive guy beacuse i like to study my own stuff and referback if i have to also its for youguys how frutrating is it when u see a good build and its documented with cell pix

Originally Posted by ranger@super

damn 18 yrs old, keep up the good work.. keep us posted!

yea lol not to be cocky but im starting to relise it does look pretty dam good lol
im just freaking out on that lower ball i hope it will make it lol there is only one way to find out

Originally Posted by jonerton15

cool stuff man, i was gonna say, he's putting in a lot of work for some stock beams, and then i saw you cut and extended them. REALLY good stuff, the only thing i'm sketch about is relocating the stock lower ball joint. If you needed to adjust the cambur for ride hight you should have just taken that into account during the cutting and extending process. Just so you can keep the integrity of the beam end. All good, hope the best turns out for you. I built my own extended ttb beam when i was 17

fuck yea yong tallent is bad ass isnt it yea im stressin on that lower ball but im pretty shure im gonna gusset and plate the fuck out of it i dont wana sacrifice the safty of my gf in the passenger seat and possibly the hot seat

yeah, i'm sure it'll be fine for what you're using it for. Looks beefy

Originally Posted by ranger#1

fuck yea yong tallent is bad ass isnt it yea im stressin on that lower ball but im pretty shure im gonna gusset and plate the fuck out of it i dont wana sacrifice the safty of my gf in the passenger seat and possibly the hot seat

Don't worry your young and chances are she's not the one..

I know nothing about beams but keep it up young gun.

I still think you should have cut the balljoint seat and mocked it up on the truck. Measurements are only as good for certain setups then it's all custom after. Looking forward to see the outcome.

Originally Posted by slcpunk74

Don't worry your young and chances are she's not the one..

I know nothing about beams but keep it up young gun.

YES! Listen to the punk from Salt Lake w/74 Bronco. He knows the ways of the samuri

Oh, and just an idea.. Do not plate the lower ball joint until you've got it all back together and you know that all your angles are in-line. This way if they're off, you won't have such a shitty time cutting and re-welding..

Nice work so far though!

Holy shit, that has got to be the longest fucking post ever!

Originally Posted by ranger#1

o and by the way since I'm new please help me with my design im not pro and i love learning [looks like some should take a hint huh] i frequent therangerstation.com and can be found under the same user name but this is as far as i have gotten so far i look forward to the comments and opinons lol thanks a bunch =]

Well I wasn't going to say anything because you've worked your ass off on those things, but most of the plating you've done is unnecessary. I'm guessing that in the end the axle-housings will be about twice as heavy as before. Yes, they'll be stronger but they're more than strong enough when you box in the open channels in the back. The good news is you've got a ton of practice cutting and welding.

Keep it up. You're doing damn well for such a youngster.

Originally Posted by steveG

Holy shit, that has got to be the longest fucking post ever!



Well I wasn't going to say anything because you've worked your ass off on those things, but most of the plating you've done is unnecessary. I'm guessing that in the end the axle-housings will be about twice as heavy as before. Yes, they'll be stronger but they're more than strong enough when you box in the open channels in the back. The good news is you've got a ton of practice cutting and welding.

Keep it up. You're doing damn well for such a youngster.

i kinda figured as much the only necessary plating i believe was around the ears with all the extra stress ill be putting on those things i think that is gonna be a + and the truss will be a big plus because of the extension aside from that plating the back is the only other thing i see that was nessasary all the extra was and is really just eye candy and gives it a wow factor witch i think i did a pretty good job at cause it looks bitchin =] lol but hey I'm glad u said something good or bad keep the replies coming i like the attention lol

Originally Posted by mpower228

YES! Listen to the punk from Salt Lake w/74 Bronco. He knows the ways of the samuri

Oh, and just an idea.. Do not plate the lower ball joint until you've got it all back together and you know that all your angles are in-line. This way if they're off, you won't have such a shitty time cutting and re-welding..

Nice work so far though!

that's a good idea bit i think t this point ill just go misalignment if i have to lol

Originally Posted by slcpunk74

Don't worry your young and chances are she's not the one..

I know nothing about beams but keep it up young gun.

yea yea yea yea i kno but i nevertheless would feel pretty bad if somthing hapend to her beacuse of my crapy fab work

Originally Posted by ranger#1

yea yea yea yea i kno but i nevertheless would feel pretty bad if somthing hapend to her beacuse of my crapy fab work

Give it a while and maybe you will wish something had... Bitches will A: Fuck, and B: Fuck you over.

Back to the build and lets see some updates.

got these designed up today lookin good ? i thinkk im gonna be selling the compleat extended radius arm pretty soon sepending on the outcome and intrest and im thinking around the price of 260 plus shipping would anyone be intrested

this makes me want to go play with cardboard and lots of tape lol looks good keep up the good work.

yea it was tiged togher lol i did the weve with the tape lol

opon further review i dont like the dezign to big and square. i dont really like the square look i like round and flowing lines plus im shure this things gonna weigh a ton and a half. o well at least i have failed and now i can start the revision process =]

Punctuation. Use it.

you guys will not believe the price on these lets just say i really wana throw my name out there =] look iv updated my mount lighter and just as strong

almost there lighter but kinda looks funky




ahhh yes lookin good eh?

Over plated & under engineered. I think youre going to have some axle and camber problems when theyre mounted. Not to mwntion where the coil will be .
And she is the one.

im interested to see the moog joints seat in the beam end with all that heat. man thats a lot of work..friggin A+ for effort damn. i see some negative camber issues at ride height coming about. why did you compensate on the beam end rather that building camber into the extension. Other than a lot of weld junctions, i'd keep an eye on the lower bj reinforcement. theres not a lot holding that thing on. i would buy one hell of a caster/camber alignment kit lol

clean the areas you are going to be welding more, either with a grinder or a sandblaster to get rid of all the surface rust dirt and old paint. You will have better welds. You won't get the spitting and popping. Then you will be able to prime and paint without much prep. It's always better to work with nice clean metal for everything.

Originally Posted by sregnartrezed

Over plated & under engineered. I think you're going to have some axle and camber problems when theyre mounted. Not to mention where the coil will be .
And she is the one.

ahah fuck u thanks for the ahh advice?

Originally Posted by DirtFiend602

I'm interested to see the Moog joints seat in the beam end with all that heat. man that's a lot of work..frig gin A+ for effort damn. i see some negative camber issues at ride height coming about. why did you compensate on the beam end rather that building camber into the extension. Other than a lot of weld junctions, I'd keep an eye on the lower bj reinforcement. there's not a lot holding that thing on. i would buy one hell of a caster/camber alignment kit lol

I'm going to be using new bushings and i hope that the housings wont be to warped
i didn't build any camber into the extension ts all at the ball joint and i plan on using stx drop brackets
i don't think I'm going to be having too much of a camber issue do u think

dam photo bucket well i gotta wait 13 days for my pb acount bandwith to reset back to 10gigs

i havent read the entire thread, my bad.... with the stx brackets maybe not, im not too familiar with them, like 1.5 or 2" lower or something? but that may offset your camber enough to keep it straight, maybe. i'd pick up some large offset bushings. watch your caster angle and position of the bushing, or ur gonna have some sloppy steering. wont really know untill its rolling. finish it and find out!

do you know how much camber you added to the beam end? you didnt build any lift into the beam, that is why im asking....

i belive building lift into the beam can be done both ways either way at the balljoint or further up in the beam but you are just ajustin the camber angle to replace the work done by the drop brackets i have really no idea what amount of degrees i have built in to them but i spaced the lower ball joint out an 1 1/8 on each side

yes, it can, but you did not mock up how it will cycle.. and building lift into the beam is a lot safer in my book. you'll probably be okay.. you were pretty conservative with the extension. im willing to bet you'll be able to make up for any mis-calc in the bushings. go 2 harbor freight and get an angle finder and a plumb bob, lol. i live like 45 mins from u, if you need a hand let me know, im always down to help./

Originally Posted by ranger#1

i belive building lift into the beam can be done both ways either way at the balljoint or further up in the beam but you are just ajustin the camber angle to replace the work done by the drop brackets i have really no idea what amount of degrees i have built in to them but i spaced the lower ball joint out an 1 1/8 on each side

the only reason i didnt do it copycats way [hang it then pull til its good] is beacuse im not shure if im gonna be running coils or coil over yet and i dont relly kno the ride hight yet i found somone else that is running my idia or at least has the same one as me and it looks good
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/...d.php?t=206455

that exploder turned out really nice.i bet it will turn out fine dude, nice work. so the only lift will be in the brackets.. i jsut googled them, i guess they are 1.5 " lower. hopefully the camber correction in the lower bj will be enough. hurry up and finish!

pix are back

Did these ever make it on the truck?

no lacking funds for coilovers or springs man im just lacking plllz if you know anyone sellin some 12-14 inch coilovers for a good price under $500 or trade i know a good welder lol let me know lol some updates and pleze no flaming and no it wasent stiched so dont think it thx.

if its not stitch welded then at least slow the fuck down when welding, your welds will look much better and be stronger too

those radius arms look good but dont look much longer than stock....and your keeping the stock bushing setup...why?

Originally Posted by prerunsilverado

if its not stitch welded then at least slow the fuck down when welding, your welds will look much better and be stronger too

those radius arms look good but dont look much longer than stock....and your keeping the stock bushing setup...why?

beacus thss particular customer wanted them

finished r/a along time ago im just lazy on this site =]

guess what made it up on the truck =] as u can see up travel is limited to my fenders