While the carrier was on its way I decided that I would try to make a new Diff Cover for he Dana 44 axle. I had searched previously to find a DXF file with good enough dimensions to cut on the CNC Plasma. Since the cover was off and I had time I just created the file myself. I placed the stock cover on my weld table and used a scribe to outline the existing cover and the placement of the holes. Once I was comfortable with the markings, I proceeded to measure and draw it in CAD. The outline was fairly simple, but the holes tend to not be so easy. First off the tolerance of the stock cover was all over the place. So I first cut this into a thin sheet of steel to save on the cost of checking the dimension I took. After an initial trial, I discover that two hole were just far enough off that you could start all the others and just slightly off to start the bolt. On the thicker material I decided the easiest way to fix this was to open the hole size up to .375 from .34 and all the bolt fit with out an issue. (more…)
Decided it was time to do a gear swap on my Jeep. there is only so much you can do with 33″ tires and 3.53 gears. most of the time I have the clutch pushed in because even in low range i was moving to fast for the obstacle in my path. So i headed on over to Randy’s Ring and Pinion and pushed the needed 4.11 gears for my axles. The rear is a ford 9″ from a 1979 Ford Bronco so I went with USA Standard Ring & Pinion gear set ZG F9-411. Since i still recently installed new bearing during the spool install, I still have the appropriate shims needed to set up the gears. The install went without a hitch. Gear pattern looked good and everything went together easily. (more…)
After not having access to be able to machine any new parts for myself and not wanting to have to pay someone to make something that I can make myself, I am feeling the need to step up to another CNC machine. Since I cannot make the parts myself I am having to resort to searching for one to buy.
I have been searching for one for quite some time. Since not having a large budget I have had to make some concessions. It needed to be able to upgrade myself later if I needed to go bigger. It needed to be a robust design that could stand up to machining aluminum as well as other types of projects like wood, plastic, and vinyl. (more…)
I was browsing the internet today searching for a way to control my CNC Plasma without having to spend a fortune. I came across a plugin that allowed me to use an Xbox 360 controller to run my machine. Now since my machine uses Mach 3 software and CandCNC hardware, I was skeptical as to the success of this plugin, but not enough to try it for myself. I looked into the CandCNC pendent control, but at $200+ it was a little out of the price range for the need. After all this is for convenience and not necessary. At that is what I though at first, but more on that later.
To install this you will need to find a couple of items. (more…)
Been working on the table for the last few weeks. I will have a better update at a later date, but here is a video of me checking the movement on the long travel of the table after work was complete.It is setup op to move from .50″ to 1.00″ dwell then move the other way. It looks like I have the steps really close.
After loosing a bolt for the roll bar mount for my Gopro (Again) I needed an easy way to replace this in a hurry so I could use it without having to order a replacement or having to buy a new mount to just get the bolt.
I saw this on a site called shelf3d. Here is my version of the same type of mount.
Photo courtesy of shelf3d.com
I started with the need to easily mount a Gopro to my Jeep while I am off-road. So I decided to make a magnetic mount to allow it to attach it anywhere on the Jeep. Sure Gopro has a suction cup mount, I actually have one, but with the amount of scratches, dents, dings, and mud on the Jeep and any given time, the suction cup didn’t want to stay in place. If the surface is “CLEAN” and free of defects it works great. For this application it created more headaches than a solution to my problem. (more…)
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As the title states my Jeep decided to start leaking all over my drive this past week.
The transfer case was leaking really bad from the front output shaft. After acquiring the proper seals for the Dana 300 from the local parts store. (more…)
