Grand Daddyish build

TNThomas

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Love that long travel suspension. Ever considered air shocks? I put Monroe MA775 air shocks on my long travel front end, great adjustment and can handle anything. 15" ground clearance adjusts down to 2" whenever I want.
Amazon.com: Monroe MA775 Max-Air Adjust Shock Absorber : Automotive
I like the logic behind air shocks, but while looking over offroad vehicles, the vast majority of offroad vehicles have coil-over shocks. The combination of Gas/springs adapt to a wider variety of forces, faster, than air shocks alone. Additionally, I plan on going to some pretty remote areas, and If I blow a seal/air line running air shocks, I could be MIA. Blow a seal on coil overs, and I still have the actual metal spring component to give me some sloppy suspension, good enough to get home.

I use to drive this 1999 Ford Escort over 1,000mi round trip through central Wa, down to Central Or, and back up to Wa. Never let me down offroad, so long as I drove fast. I use to work in downtown Seattle and would park this thing downtown. Kids think its a race car, and I would often come out to folks just sitting in the movie theatre seats having a smoke break with a smile on their faces.Harrison.JPG
 

madprofessor

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The '99 Escort..........Pretty sure I'm seeing a snorkel up on the roof (yes/no, check one), but what's all that other stuff?
............and curious why there's seats using up the trunk while a jerry can is strapped up right beside the driver. Is it full of Koolaid instead of a highly flammable/explosive petroleum product, like say maybe, gasoline?
 

redflash

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after building my arachnid I realized that in the plans...the position of the front upper shock mounts only allows you to mount a 9 inch shock.
Certainly not long enough to be considered "long travel". If I were to do it again, I would arrange to position the upper mount maybe 8-10 inches higher to accommodate a longer shock with more travel. As is, in the stock planned location, I get about 4 inches of travel...which is probably enough for me.

Da Flash
 

TNThomas

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after building my arachnid I realized that in the plans...the position of the front upper shock mounts only allows you to mount a 9 inch shock.
Certainly not long enough to be considered "long travel". If I were to do it again, I would arrange to position the upper mount maybe 8-10 inches higher to accommodate a longer shock with more travel. As is, in the stock planned location, I get about 4 inches of travel...which is probably enough for me.

Da Flash
Yea, good observation. I am sure I will make a few errors here and there, and I have noticed that there are scattered errors in the build plans themselves. I widened the box that the A-arms mount to by 2 inches each, and the actual a-arms are each an extra 2 inches or so long. So I should be able to get a longer travel. The picture makes it look longer than it actually is though. I am totally departing on the upper mounting setup from the build plans. On the first page of this post, a different user (ziggy I think), had a better design than Spider cats. I am doing something similar. I am putting a bumper up front, and from that bumper I am going to run a lateral(ish) bar to the front of my roll cage. That will serve as the upper mount for my shocks. As for my shocks I have them on hand. I have ones that are 14"long, and ones that are 24" long. Just debating which to use. I plan on getting that figured out over the weekend.
 

TNThomas

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The '99 Escort..........Pretty sure I'm seeing a snorkel up on the roof (yes/no, check one), but what's all that other stuff?
............and curious why there's seats using up the trunk while a jerry can is strapped up right beside the driver. Is it full of Koolaid instead of a highly flammable/explosive petroleum product, like say maybe, gasoline?
Yup, vacuum hose snorkel, pvc air intake, up top is a shopping cart I pulled off of the highway. Extra fluids in the cart, along with a shovel and a mattock. Back is a pair of movie theatre seats I bolted in the back for my buddies who are brave enough to sit back there while offroad. Cut the wheel wells to fit bigger tires. Wherever it rubbed I just hit with a sledge hammer till it didn't rub anymore. I actually have had to use that gas tank a few different times because there are not many gas stations out in rural Central Oregon. My neighbor was a mechanic and just came over to put a few hundred stickers on the vehicle.
 

TNThomas

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Yea, good observation. I am sure I will make a few errors here and there, and I have noticed that there are scattered errors in the build plans themselves. I widened the box that the A-arms mount to by 2 inches each, and the actual a-arms are each an extra 2 inches or so long. So I should be able to get a longer travel. The picture makes it look longer than it actually is though. I am totally departing on the upper mounting setup from the build plans. On the first page of this post, a different user (ziggy I think), had a better design than Spider cats. I am doing something similar. I am putting a bumper up front, and from that bumper I am going to run a lateral(ish) bar to the front of my roll cage. That will serve as the upper mount for my shocks. As for my shocks I have them on hand. I have ones that are 14"long, and ones that are 24" long. Just debating which to use. I plan on getting that figured out over the weekend.
So, when do we go for our first ride! Getting antsy to see this done.
It will be a while, probably May. But the day will come!
 

TNThomas

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Yea, little by little. I'll get some photos up late tonight, but I got my front hubs in, along with the DOM tubing that i'll weld them to to make the front spindles. Its definitely overkill strength wise, but better safe than sorry I figure. My goal for this weekend is to get the Bumper on, and if I have extra time I'll get the spindles on.
 

TNThomas

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Im pretty satisfied with how the bumper turned out. Pretty dang sturdy, and way overkill, but I just like strong things. I got the 3rd seat in the mail too. Next steps:

1) finish mounts for front shocks
2) make spindles
3) make tie rods
4) finish steering setup
 
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