Bent Fab EVO 4 Build "RangeKrawler"

[toreadorranger]

Figured a little bit more info on my build then what is in the introduction thread wouldn't hurt.

The new and final iteration is:

EVO 4 Buggy Chassis by Bent Fabrication
Cammed LQ4 "6.0L LS"
TH400 mated to a twin sticked NP205 with 32 spline outputs
Steering 2.5 Ton rockwells, mohawked with Full hydro steering front and rear
47" LTBs on H1 double Beadlocks
4 Links front and rear

It will be skinned in my old trucks fenders, grill and bed sides when completed.

Started with a bone stock 2000 Ford Ranger, was my first vehicle


Added a 5.5" Coilover lift and 33's but I kept breaking cv shafts up front.


long story short I started to do a solid axle swap, that ended up going through multiple diferent axles and suspensions, in the end I parted out the truck and scraping the body and frame


Out with the old and in with the new.

Bent Fabrications EVO 4 (4 seater chassis)


Next I sold the D60/D70 axles I had and swapped to a set of steering rockwells.



The reason I did this was because the tons were never going to hold up to the tires I had picked up.

47" LTB swampers (next to the old truck they were slated to go under before I scrapped it.)


Next I hauled it all over to my friends shop to get started


wheels and tires all together, running H1 double beadlocks with the outer rings painted New Holland blue.


Started to mock up the rear suspension


Rear suspension done for mock up. It was at this point I had to move the buggy back to my place to store it so my friend could move in some paying customers instead of my non paying paper weight. haha

[toreadorranger]

Since my garage is currently full of other projects and my motorcycles the buggy had to be put outside in a makeshift garage I assembled from a carport and roofing panels with a framed out rear wall. 



I have been assembling a mockup LQ4/TH400 combo so that I can start making my engine mounts and move on to the front suspension.

One last thing is my Shocks.  I have decided to go with ORI struts.  They are more expensive than coilovers but I do not have to run bump stops or sway bars with them so overall they are about the same price. 

the links for the 4 links are hopefully overkill with 2"x.25 wall square tube uppers and 2.5"x.5" wall lowers.  I hope I can get away without them bending even though the weight penalty is pretty intense.

[toreadorranger]

My plans have had to scale back some since I started building the buggy, I have since got engaged and bought a house so I sold off some parts I had to simplify the build.  I originally had a Roots supercharger for the LS motor but have decided to scale back to just a stock motor with a cam to save money on my fuel system and trans, in the idea of getting it going sooner.

Picked up a Trap door style oil pan, that is really low profile compared to the stock truck LS pans, will make clearing the front rockwell chunk alot easier.


Assembled a mockup drivetrain, using a spare LQ4 block and TH400 trans housing.  I was eyeing one of the plastic mockup blocks until I saw the almost $500 dollar price tag.  I have a spare intake and heads as well for mockup.

[calvynandhobbs]

I look forward to reading this build. What you're doing is out of my league, but I enjoy watching what others are capable of.

[toreadorranger]

Its not fully in my league either, haha, but I'm learning as I go.  As I said earlier what started as a pretty simple Solid axle swap has really morphed into a out of control monster.  it will definitely leave a steep learning curve when it is finished,  considering the last rig I really wheeled was on 33's, making the jump to 47's and 4 wheel steering should make for some interesting developments out on the trail.  But the 4 seater should be really fun since friends and eventually kids will be able to join in on the fun.

On a more tech sided line of thought, I'm almost done rebuilding my NP205 with twin stick shifters and 32 spline front and rear outputs, Ill throw up some photos later of the crusty mess of a tcase before and after. 

For anyone looking to rebuild one who hasn't before, I found a great resource on another forum.  really is making the process easy.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=469726

Another side note I bought a Harbor Freight 20 Gal Parts washer to help with cleaning duties and I can't say enough how helpful it was.  Like usual HF tools I had to do some modifying but its worked great so far.  Ill throw some pictures of that up later as well.  I added some braces to the tray in it to hold up to the NP205 case since its a heavy SOB.  They make solvents for it but I set it up in my basement so I didn't want flammable solvent sitting in it, so im running a 1:1 mix of water and Simple green and then have a variety of wire and scrub brushes. 

[toreadorranger]

Crusty NP205





In process of being reborn



I went to tractor supply today and picked up all new hardware for it.  Grade 8 is cheap since its sold by weight there, so I figured why not.  I started to assemble the new 32 spline front output as well tonight.  I had to swap all the gears and bearings over to it from the stock 30 spline, the stupid C clip really fought me.

[Mreecew]

Can't wait to see this thing finished, its gonna be sweet... Except for the whole chevy drivetrain idea 

Also looking at the pictures of your rear links, are you planing on running a trac bar in the rear at all? If not I'd say flip the uppers to the inside of the frame rails and try to stuff the upper links as close to the ham as possible. Just to get more trianglution out of it, and it might help with mounting your air shocks. It looks tight with the upper links like that. Thats just my opinion, I'm sure you probably have a full plan for it though.

OH WAIT! One more thing, are you planning to do mohawk's on the axles?

[toreadorranger]

No tracbar in the rear.  I have enough triangulation on the lower links.  You only need about 45* of total triangulation to keep axle position and this is a popular Rockwell 4 link setup so it should work since Im using off the shelf axle brackets.  The upper links are actually getting remounted on the frame side to be further out since the little bit of inward angle gets subtracted from the over all triangulation.  I had http://badapplefab.com/ cut out some brackets on his plasma table I sent him a DXF file for, so it will allow me to move the uppers out more to maximize the triangulation.

[98xj]

So sick, but like Roger said also incredibly out of my capability

[toreadorranger]

I just realized the crusty 205 pictures are of a different NP205 I have that one is a ford case, woops.

[Big Chuck]

You are going to have it all buttoned up and ready to go wheelin Saturday morning right? HAHA, looks good man!!!
Chuck

[toreadorranger]

I wish it was ready.  Ordered a set of Rockwell Flange outputs for the NP205.  Allows me to run the factory M35 6x6 trucks driveshafts.  Ill have to lengthen or or shorten the actual driveshafts as needed but they will bolt to the tcase just fine.  I have a few of them that came with my axles when I bought them and flanges are just so much easier to work with since you don't have to worry about U joint caps staying on when your messing with them as well as keeping spares on the rig or trailer.

[toreadorranger]

Ive been working on getting the NP205 all finished up.  I just need the new flanges to show up so I can figure out what size seals I need to install in the seal housings, than I can get it all finished.

Diy4x PTO cover and 32 spline front and rear outputs.  installed some adjustable shift detents as well. 

[toreadorranger]

finally got the Tcase all buttoned up.  Flanges are on, they are big.  but the 2.5ton driveshafts are cheap so its worth it.  Next I can move on to getting the motor and trans in the buggy and mocking them up with the front suspension