Baconcreekmetal
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The amount you space it out depends on your suspension geometry.
Hoopdee 94.0 Bronco
- Thread starter Brett_408
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Austen2019
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- Jan 30, 2024
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Just buy solo cut n turn then do the rest of the fab lol
Fuck that they want almost 800 bucks to do the cut n turn only. I'm going to set the beams at ride height after I extend them, cut the BJ out then put the angle finder on it and just set the BJ where the camber is happy.
the bodj
Well-known member
I've never done it, but it's not exactly rocket science. Set the truck frame to your desired ride height, place the beam where it needs to be located to have the hub at the center of the tire height. Hang a plumb bob and determine how far out your lower balljoint needs to be to fall in line with the plumb string. Cut and extend by that amount. Plate it back in. Profit??
Yeah, I was mostly referring to the way he sliced it. I would adjust the way you mentioned earlier.
The beams will be needed to be turned different amounts since they are not equal length. say 5/8" on one side and 3/4" or 1/2" on the other depending on ride height desired. Then you can use alignment cams to get it dialed in perfectly.
I also set the caster at 10 degree's back at ride height, it helps pinion angle and drivability too.
I also set the caster at 10 degree's back at ride height, it helps pinion angle and drivability too.
Thank you for the help really appreciate it.
Got the beams and knuckles back from sandblasting and started on removing all the factory coil buckets, beam pivots and radius arm mounts. Mocked up the solo beam pivots on the frame and put the beams under the truck at roughly where i want them for caster and back into the stock wheel base location. Tacked in the uniball cups where they were happy in the mounts and didn't bind then welded them in. Also cut out the lower ball joint for the cut n turn. I pulled them out to @85Yota recommended (5/8" long beam and 3/4" short beam) they're only tacked back in place for now so I can double check the location after the beam is extended and put back under the truck for more mock up.
This weekends progress... Beam fixtures built. Had to build a different fixture for each beam. I can't take credit for the idea though I saw Chris Wilson do this in his class 3 build thread a long time ago and stumbled upon it a few months back and decided to try it this way. The tube portion is a 1.75" tube with a 1.5" tube sleeved inside it with holes drilled at 2" on center (this could be modified for which ever amount you'd want to extend your beams). Also if anyone on here in the future plans to extend or build beams feel free to contact me I'd gladly lend these fixtures out.
I also got the 2" extension done to the driver side beam. I decided on 2" extensions because I've been told and read that you can fit 35's with stock fenders still. Also the "Tina Turner" build on GFB did a 2" extension and ended up on 37's with fiberglass and looked awesome this would be my plan down the road when funds permit. Everything is still heavily tacked together so I can cycle and check clearances before fully welding, plating and trussing the beams.
Cleandezert
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- Apr 7, 2022
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are the beam pivots drops? or how do you fix the camber of the beams with a lift if you just extended them and didn't do anything for camber?
Solo Motorsports stock location beam pivots. If you look closely in the photos you can see how I cut the lower ball joint out and extended them 3/4" to correct the camber for the lift. 3/4" was just based on recommendations so far so nothing is fully welded in until it mock it up and cycle it.
Cleandezert
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oh i see that now... makes sense. pretty cool you can do that.
@85Yota I like the fixture. I wouldn't trust myself to weld anything on straight, so seeing this is pretty cool
They're beams nothing straight or matters with them really. If you weld one a little crooked the axle still goes straight from diff to u-joint then angle doesn't matter since that's where the tires turn. Camber/caster adjusters fix the rest within reason, which is why you cut and turn aka extend lower BJ to correct camber, and radius arms determine the majority of the caster.
I have also seen people do it with no fixture and just a strait edge but I tend to overthink things before I execute them and seeing Wilson do it this way made a lot of sense. Keeps everything inline and ensures the extension is exactly 2" at the top and bottom of the beam even if the cut is fucky.
Giant Geoff
Well-known member
You can widen the passenger side this way because the axle can float around in many directions. I always setup the 3rd, up right. wider axle and stub and make sure the snout can slide over it and steer before you weld anything! You don't know how many people have cut their beams apart to get it to align after they have welded everything and been screwed!
