Project: Bad Bagged '68.5
 

Thought I would post my progress pics on my '69. So far I have started the back half. Nothing too fancy. This is my first build. Next I need to finish the bridge which I got from Suicide doors, and then install the 4 link.

Got a question concerning pinion angle. Are there any special considerations when setting the angle with a two piece draftshaft? I was about to tack the bag brackets on the axle, but got thinking if my pinion angle was correct?

Re: progress pics
 

Oh snap, that looks awesome.

Re: progress pics
 

i think it is suppost to have a upward angle of like 3 or 4 degrees. if you got a suicide doors 4 link the bars should have threaded ends so if you are off a little you can just twist the ends until you get it where you want it. when i set my bars i put it at about middle of the adjustment so i can change it if i have to.
truck looks good so far.:metal:

Re: progress pics
 

Yeah I installed mine rear end at a 2-3 deg upward angle at ride height. Also when you install the 4 link you want to install it at your estimated ride height. You want the 4 link bars to be paralle to the ground at ride height or pretty darn close. I imagine that you would want to install your bag brackets at ride height also. You pretty much setup everything at ride height. LOL, I said ride height a crap load of times (its been a long day). Anyways you definately are on the right track though cause your truck is looks sweet! Good luck!!

Josh

Re: progress pics
 

well depending on how low you wanna go, if you wanna lay frame i would install my bag compressed and layed out.

Re: progress pics
 

Project is looking good man! Like Josh said set it all up at ride hieght, This is very important! Trust me i found out the hard way when i did my first back half.....Hate doing work twice....But I learnt from my mistakes...

-Aaron

Re: progress pics
 

What i meant is install the bag brackets at ride height. The rear end will rotate a little between dump and ride height and it would be idea to have the bracket level at ride height. That might have been what you meant but just clarifing what i meant. Your truck is looking sweet FNLOW69! I know it is alot of work but isn't it starting to pay off seeing your progress. Keep up the great work!

jlaird- Just curious did you buy a trianglated 4 link or paralle? Talk to you later

Josh

Re: progress pics
 

Thanks for the compliments guys. Yes, as you see it in the last pic, the axle is at ride height which was deteremined by the Slam Specialities spec of 5.5"-7" recommended height of their bag(at ride height). Abadsvt, I got the parallel 4-link.

Re: progress pics
 

I was told that your pinion angle should be at the same angle as the transmission but that was after I did mine. I set mine at -4degrees at ride height and it seems to work fine, but I have a one piece driveshaft.

Re: progress pics
 

if your running paralle why go over the axle. go with a 6 link design you'll get more lift and a much better ride especially with those slams.
some thing like this

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...IESEL/pz13.jpg

Re: progress pics
 

also you goin w/ a pan hard or a watts link?

Re: progress pics
 

lookin good

Re: progress pics
 

I'm going with a panhard bar from Suicide doors. I'm just looking for a simple setup, thats why I'm going over the axle, and I don't need anymore lift than what I'm going to get with my setup.

Re: progress pics
 

what are the dimensions of your back 1/4 if you don't mind posting. I have these for the one I want to build. Do these more less seem correct or am I way off. It's just that I need to purchase all the tubing before they close for the holidays and before I tare my truck down.(Only source of moving all the tubing with.)

Re: progress pics
 

El curioso, I took some measurements for you.

Your 34" is 37.75"
Your 30" is 33.75"
Your 20.12" is 24.5"
Your 18" is 10"
Your 12" across the top of the notch is 12"
Your 15" is 12.5"
And your other 12" is 8.5"

Hope that helps.

Josh

Re: progress pics
 

That really helps. Thank you I'll post pics later on.

Re: progress pics
 

ive got pretty much the same setup and was wondering where to get a canti setup to eliminate over axle. also whjo makes a good watts link.

Re: progress pics
 

I was looking at watts links today. I could only find two company's, kp components which is for later style trucks but I'm sure they can be modded for ours, and totallypolished.com which are for our trucks and looks nicer IMO than the kp. But is is $500 bucks.

http://totallypolished.com/watt's_link_kits.shtml

Re: progress pics
 

Check this one out guys, Its from speedway motors http://www.speedwaymotors.com/xq/asp...qx/Product.htm

-Aaron

Re: progress pics
 

you could just make your own it's actually pretty simple.

also the canti stuff you could get from ssd but kp components makes bolt on canti and 4 or 6 link kits.

i'm doin my own canti and watts on both my 72 and my diesel. my diesel's already got a reverse 4 link set up, but with 900 lbtq there's a little wheel hop (to say the least). i'm goin with a forward paralle on the outside of the frame. and canti set up w/a bunch of moving parts lol.

Re: progress pics
 

i made my own watts link but i didn't fine tune it enough so i gave up and bought a panhard. i was going to get one of those totally polished watts links but i didn't feel like spending that much.

Re: progress pics
 

On the pinion angle....I have always heard 3-4 degrees down at ride height.

Re: progress pics
 

Worked on the bridge yesterday...

Re: progress pics
 

Looking good.

Re: progress pics
 

guys, heres a pic of the 4 link mocked up. My axle is at ride height which was derived from the slam bag being a little over 6" inflated at ride height. My issue is the angle of the 4-link. I thought it is supposed to be parallel at ride height. Is it ok the way it looks? I can't move the front mount any further up.

Re: progress pics
 

thats going to be a pretty low ride height.

Re: progress pics
 

I called slam specialties and asked them what the ride height of the bag I have is. The told me between 5.5 and 7". So I set the ride height up for the bag to be inflated to 6.25" high. Did I do something wrong?

Re: progress pics
 

That's freakin' low! Guess that's why I'll never run a step notch :D

Looks good though. Get that bad boy rolling.

Re: progress pics
 

Your problem is that your doing bag over axle which gets 1:1 lift which sucks ass if you want it to ride good because as you can see its pretty low. Id say your doing it right, its just the nature of the stuff. I guess.

Re: progress pics
 

Should I set it up for 7" bag ride height? That would help out a little in getting the 4 link more parallel with the ground...

Re: progress pics
 

I agree with everyone else on the VERY low ride height. You will only be a few inches off the ground with the axle that deep in the notch. It will definitely look cool though...

Maybe build a taller mount on the axle to take up some of the 'slack'. My understanding is that you want a tapered style bag on over-the-axle setups. The Slams are better suited to a lever setup. Have you considered mounting the bags on the upper link and to the outside of the frame?

Re: progress pics
 

yea, I too have heard that the sleeve bag is better suited for over the axle. My plan is to use what I have, and if it is not to my liking, I'm going to switch out the slams for a sleeve type bag.

I just went out and did some measuring. If I go with a ride height of 7" with the slam bags and use a 30" tall tire, my frame under the cab will be 6.25" off the ground. This sounds reasonable, doesn't it?

Thanks for all the help fellas!

Re: progress pics
 

I have one of these units that I played around with, never actually installed on anything, that could use a good home.

Re: progress pics
 

looks a little low... but good.

Re: progress pics
 

I agree with the other's, it's gonna ride real low. I can only imagine what you'll have to do to the front.

To get the four bars closer to level, maybe you can swap the front mounts of each side with each other. This would put the front mount tabs angling downward, allowing you to raise the front mounts a couple of inches higher on the frame rail. Instead of airing up the bags to 7" which may increase the firmness of the ride, maybe you can install spacers between the bags and the brackets to get the bars level at ride height.

BTW, looking good... :cool:

Re: progress pics
 

I will try flipping the front mounts, but I don't think it is going to make a difference. I'll have to go look.

The only thing that I am concerned about with the spacers is that the spacer is going raise the rear at full dump, correct?

Re: progress pics
 

Yep. This is why I suggested upper link mounting. At say, a 1.5:1 ratio you would get 10.5" of lift out of that same 7" of bag. -Chris

Re: progress pics
 

Does anybody have any creative ideas of how to take up the space between the 4link mount and the frame? I basically have to do exactly what is in this pic, but I was trying to think of a more "visually pleasing" way to do it.

Re: progress pics
 

I think a 6.25" ride height (bottom of frame rail to the ground) is plenty of room. I set-up all our stuff to run a 5" ride height. I know you have been discussing the height the bag is designed to ride at, and this is critical to have it function properly. Set the bottom of the frame rail to your desired ride height off the ground and then figure your bag mounts out. I would recommend a tapered sleeve on an over the axle set-up... the ride quality will be much better than a convoluted bag. If you are planning on 'possibly changing over' to the tapered sleeve later and run the convoluted now, keep that in mind when building your mounts.

Re: progress pics
 

Can I get a side shot of this? I've got an idea to make it more visually appealing, but need to draw it on a side view.