OBS F250 slow adventure build

[amgvr4]

Sunday

Not a lot done today. Only had a few hours so I spent it trying to nail down the x-member and radius arm mounts. I came up with several options.

First option and most difficult is to make a new x-member and mount the jonny joints inboard on it
Pros;
Best articulation

Best turning radius

Stronger mounting point for arms and much simpler x-member than factory

Cons;
Joints are 2" lower for the worst ground clearance.

More things to make

Front drive shaft will be tough to clear the cross beam with full articulation





Second option and easiest, shorten the radius arms to 34" and mount them to the frame.
Pros;
Easiest by far

Cons;
Reduced turning radius, possibly worse than the leafs

Shorter arms= less flex




Third and probably my favorite is to keep the arms at 39" and inboard them slightly with frame pads just behind the factory x-member.
Pros;
Less fab work

Good articulation

A little better turning radius than leafs

Cons;
Not what I was hoping for on turning radius or articulation

Not as strong of a mounting point





I also got a chance to test out the reinforcement I added to the engine crossmember chop I did. It supports the full weight of the front of the truck great!

 

[amgvr4]

Monday

Lots of progress today. I started the day heading to work and stopping for coffee. When I got in the car to leave Starbucks my Volvo decided it did not want to start. It was just cranking with no signs of firing at all. The last time this happened it was the crank angle sensor so I figured no big deal they are cheap and easy to change. I had to walk the three miles back home and get my wife's car to make it in to work. I we are slow enough I just decided to get everyone going and take the rest of the day off to get my Volvo working and put some time in on the truck as well. Turns out the Volvo just needed some spark plugs and a vacuum leak fixed so I got a decent amount of time with the Ford.

I started by deciding on a mounting solution for the radius arms. The best compromise was to leave the arms long and keep the factory x-member. To do that I had to make some mounting pads for the pivots to get them inboard as possible. I settled on 7* of cant so not a ton but should be enough to make a difference. Once again the bender came in super handy. This thing is amazing! It is so nice to be able to bend instead of having to weld flat plate to create multi faceted parts.






Next I drilled and welded in the tapered bushing on the f350 pitman arm




Then I moved on to getting the drag link DOM cut to length and put together. Having a lathe made cutting and beveling the tube super easy and clean.







Finally I decided on the length of DOM for the upper links of the radius arms


Tomorrow I need to make the brackets that mount the upper tubes to the radius arms, machine wrench flats on the tie rod and drag link, notch the radius arm tubes, and start welding it all together. Still on the to-do list; coil buckets, track bar brackets, and shock mounts. I finally feel like I'm on the down hill side of the axle swap with pretty much all the time consuming planning and designing behind me. I would love to have the front wrapped up by the weekend but we'll see how it goes.

 

[Trav0302]

Sweet build.

 

[amgvr4]

The last few days have netted some good progress. I took the radius arm tubes to work and notched them on the mill for a 7* cant inboard. When I welded the tube adapters to the 2"x.250 wall I went a little rowdy on the first pass and heat seized one of the jonny joints into the tube. I was worried that I might have welded the joint into the tube for good, but after a night soaking in penetrating oil and a large wrench with a 3' cheater bar and I was able to get it back out. Lesson learned for sure.

Next was the upper tube brackets. I used 1/4" plate and my bender to make the brackets fit nice and snug since the tube is 2" and the space between the rod ends was 1 3/4".


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I welded up the frame plates and pivot brackets so I could dial in the final location for them on the truck




Finally I tacked everything up on the truck to get an idea of how good all my planing and design had been. Everything looks good except the tire clearance at full lock steering. One of my biggest concerns was trying to get the main tubes in far enough so the tires would not rub at full lock, but without in boarding the pivots more or bending the arms there is just no way to get the clearance I need. I will see if running some thin wheel spacers will cut it so I can have a interference free system.

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It is starting to come together but I still have a bunch of work to do including finding space for the track bar and making coil buckets.

 

[DetroitDiesel]

Great build and very detailed insight I appreciate that. As a owner of now 4 OBS Fords this thread really helped me decide that I wanted to build a OBS into a camping rig. I already own 3 diesel OBS and a just recently got rid of a 90 Bronco. My plan when joining this website and setting out on a vehicle search was to find something like a 80 series or WJ or something like that. Then I started seeing the Diesel RHD trucks and was like I have to have one of those, but then the more I thought about it I kept checking out your build and the guy with the white one and a few others and I said why not build something I know like back of my hand already. All these great suv builds all complain about issues related to payload after they build them up. I figure a truck is perfect. So I just bought one and am going to start a build thread today. I would like to have you make a rear bumper for me. Thats the type of idea I wanted and I have searched all the Bronco bumpers and the Iron bull and all that but not specific enough for what I want. You kept saying if you had to do it all over again you would do some things different. Well sell me that bumper and build your new one or I would like to have you build a revised version of that. After you get some time when you are finished with the axle swap and all that pm me. Thank you

-I also d60 swapped my 94 idi and it was a much nicer ride, of course little harder but more solid less bouncy. Its well worth the year you've spent going back and forth.

 

[amgvr4]

Great build and very detailed insight I appreciate that. As a owner of now 4 OBS Fords this thread really helped me decide that I wanted to build a OBS into a camping rig. I already own 3 diesel OBS and a just recently got rid of a 90 Bronco. My plan when joining this website and setting out on a vehicle search was to find something like a 80 series or WJ or something like that. Then I started seeing the Diesel RHD trucks and was like I have to have one of those, but then the more I thought about it I kept checking out your build and the guy with the white one and a few others and I said why not build something I know like back of my hand already. All these great suv builds all complain about issues related to payload after they build them up. I figure a truck is perfect. So I just bought one and am going to start a build thread today. I would like to have you make a rear bumper for me. Thats the type of idea I wanted and I have searched all the Bronco bumpers and the Iron bull and all that but not specific enough for what I want. You kept saying if you had to do it all over again you would do some things different. Well sell me that bumper and build your new one or I would like to have you build a revised version of that. After you get some time when you are finished with the axle swap and all that pm me. Thank you

-I also d60 swapped my 94 idi and it was a much nicer ride, of course little harder but more solid less bouncy. Its well worth the year you've spent going back and forth.

Thanks for your feedback. I have had so little interest in the thread that I didn't think it was adding much value to this community. I keep adding updates simply because I hope it can help other people looking to do a coil spring dana 60 swap some insight that is lacking out there. I love my truck and other than its size it truly is a jack of all trades. I can't wait until it is finished and I can enjoy the benefits of my many hours invested in this. I will keep your offer for the bumper in mind, I have so many other projects in the works that I'd like to keep the bumper for a bit and move forward with other aspects of the truck. I look forward to watching your truck progress through its upgrades!

 

[98dango]

I don't post unless I can add but I read every day. Keep it up man its looking great.

 

[amgvr4]

Track bar bracket

I am beat! I spent yesterday and today working on the track bar and coil buckets. These are two items that I decided to make instead of buy, and now I am thinking that may not have been the best choice. Looking back the easiest would have been to grab some coil buckets from an obs 2wd truck that would have fit the frame properly and saved a lot of time. The other issue I have spent a ton of time trying to find the best location for the track bar. I finally had to just make a frame side bracket and start getting it dialed in. One of the tricky parts has been trying to match the track bar and the drag link angle to eliminate bump steer. I ended up having to cut off the 1x2" tube that I had added to the crossmember trim to make clearance for the bar durning articulation. One of the most important things I have learned is to hold off on things like that until you know it's going to fit!



I also notched the section by the pitman arm since that's going to be the tightest clearance


After trimming the x-member again I started on the frame side track bar bracket. I used 6x.250 plate and laid it out to bend into a u shape the would fit the 7/8" rod ends I am using here


In the bender it goes


One side



The other


All bent



The spacing for the rod end was 2" even. Fits perfect



Since I don't have a functioning drill press I had to hand drill the bolt hole. Started with a 1/4" pilot and went up to 9/16" in three steps to keep it square and round





It took forever going back and forth checking clearances for the track bar. After all that time I also realized that I couldn't really check them properly until I had the ride hight figured out. So after I got the bracket tacked on I moved to making the coil buckets. Sadly I will probably need to make a new bracket for here since it appears this one is about an inch too short. I'm still up in the air on that so we will see.

 

[amgvr4]

Coil buckets

So on to the coil buckets. All this cutting with a 4.5" angle grinder has me and my neighbors wishing I had a plasma cutter! I started with 6"x.250 plate and laid it out


I cut the radius for the coil spring


Bent the spring seat


Then the landing for under the frame


Drilled the mounting hole for the spring


Laying out the side plates



I didn't take any pictures cutting or tacking up the side plates, but here is one set in place



I plan on reusing the factory shock mounts welded to the side of the coil buckets.


I still have several issues to work through on the driver side. There is a bump in the frame where the steering box mounts that I need to remove or make a cut out on the coil bucket for it. Also I need to have to figure out if I am going to fully weld them to the frame or just bolt them in. I am having to make some sacrifices on things I want in order to just get this project done and back on the road. I'm not sure if I will get to work on it tomorrow or not, we will see how I feel and if my wife will put up with it again! More to come......

 

[amgvr4]

I have a small update after several weeks of no progress. I was borrowing a welder to get the project started and after two weeks of work had to give it back. Without a way to weld I was kind of dead in the water as well as burnt out from all the hours I put in trying to get it done before giving the welder back. Well I sold my miller wire feed and just ordered my new tig/plasma cutter on Friday so I should have that by mid week and I can get back at the truck. I also just sold a volvo wagon I have had sitting in my garage for over a year. With the welder and much needed funds I would like to get this project finished up in the next two weeks. Hopefully my next update will have some actual progress in it.

 

[norcal*PWRstroke]

I admire your style of fabrication very much, nice attention to detail. What welder do you have there? I am looking to finally get my own welder soon.

 

[seanpistol]

Damn! OBS 7.3L CCSB with the ZF5... all it needs is the D60 swap- looks like you're on it. This is probably my dream truck. Subscribed.

 

[amgvr4]

I admire your style of fabrication very much, nice attention to detail. What welder do you have there? I am looking to finally get my own welder soon.

Up to this point I was using a Miller diversion 180. It was a nice welder, but far too much money for its limited capabilities. I just ordered an everlast superultra 205 tig/stick/plasma cutter. Brand new with a 5 year warranty it was $689 shipped. I am really looking forward to having a plasma to cut up my plate now instead of a 4.5" angle grinder. Thanks for the kind words. I hope I can inspire people to make their own stuff. It is so rewarding to know you built your truck!

 

[amgvr4]

Finally some progress. My welder showed up this week and after a little testing I got down to it. Today I was able to finish welding all the radius arms and steering links. After everything was welded I put the axle back under the truck to figure out the axle side track bar bracket. It was too late to do any cutting so after some mock up I called it quits for the night. Tomorrow I should be able to get it on and test the clearance under droop and compression.

The new welder/plasma cutter


Some of its handy work


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I am dying to get this thing back on the road so hopefully I can make some really good progress in the next week and get it pretty close to being done. I still need to order shocks but I am waiting on getting the ride hight finalized so I can measure them accurately.

 

[seanpistol]

Gonna put a redhead steering box in from the get-go? I can't stand the slop in the steering wheel these old truck have. I put on in my Mom's 02 7.3 and it made a world of difference.