got the red rail home.

[dsrace]

well i got scotts red rail home. time to start some modifications and quite a few repairs.

[dsrace]

going to cut the front end off to swap out to my newer version. i need to think long and hard on the multi link rear end. i like them and know them well but that damn 091 side starter is just in the way. on my blue v6 rail i ran u joints that stuck out 1.5" farther then the cv's.  the rail currently has a 105" wheel base and is just under 13' long. scott left me this rail in his will when he passed. he started modifying a few things after he got sick. he wasnt in the right frame of mind when he started  and not a huge surprise when your faced with an inoperable brain tumor.

so i need to strip parts of the frame back down and redo and i will just cut the entire nose off and build new with my a arm front end kit.

[fabr]

Scott is smiling down on you.

[dsrace]

Scott is smiling down on you.

thanks fabr
i believe he is too

[DeepBusch69]

Nice DS.  It doesn't look to be in too bad of shape.  I think the last time I saw this was when Glenn was pulling it backwards

[dsrace]

Nice DS.  It doesn't look to be in too bad of shape.  I think the last time I saw this was when Glenn was pulling it backwards

i remember that trip well. so that rail sat in his trailer for a few months before we rolled back into his garage. that was the last time i ever heard the engine start. he decide to add a 6th link at that time. the tabs are not lined up down the center of the cv. he modified the carriers as well for 5/8" heims and started making an eps system for the front. he also blew the head off the shock and i have the new shaft and oil in rt. so the front end on the rail has never been right since it was slammed into the earth to avoid a grain bin during a wheelie. it needs my new front end, scott new it but he didnt want to cut through his powdercoating.  where the tabs were added for a 6th link is in a spot not easy to cut out. so i'll just pull the engine and cut those entire tube sections out and bend new. infact i have a few ideas to reconstruct better. still debating 5 link vs a arm........real tough choice. need to pull the shock and check clearences for an inboard mount.

[fabr]

There is a devine reason your trans is delayed you know. 

[dsrace]

could be for sure.

speaking of trans.....i called and spoke with sean at weddle yesterday. i just like to keep in touch for updates. he said at this point we are now looking at 6 to 8 weeks before they have the parts they need to finish. interesting enough he said mendi 2d parts are 8 months out.

budlight, dont break your trans again 

so it sounds like the out of country place they had making r&p's has had issues due to covid. so apperantly there are only 3 machines they can make the r&p sets out of that material in the world?? so they have diversified to a german company as well as the 3rd place. will get them from all 3 now. same goes for some vw style parts needed for the medi's and hv series. they are being made in house or by 2 or 3 outsourced companies now.

there is more info on that subject but i didnt listen that well  not after i heard 6 to 8 weeks 

fabr ,like you said theres a reason. so i have some real plans for scotts rail. it needs to be a safe and functional rail as my daughter and grandson will be in it as well as my son in law. 

i do not have enough room to start on it in a serious manner until my truck is complete and now another week out on the brand new (not remanned) injectors.

[dsrace]

really debating a arm rear end or 5 link. i say 5 link because there simply isnt room for a 6th link with that starter there......not with cv's anyway. i do not want to space the cv's off 1" or more to make room either.  i do have 2-1.25" cv spacers on hand though. thought about the 7/16" cv grease plates, because that would space the cv in toward the axle and away from the pivots . 7/16" at the wheel bearing carriers.  by doing that,  ( at the trans side)  the inner cv would not only be spaced 7/16" out but the pivot would need to be an addition 7/16" out farther yet to match the pivots at the carriers. that would be an easy 1" spacing and might work.

i pretty much have decided to cut the cage off and build new. there is only like 4" over my head to the roll bar. my son in law is taller and the cage is to close to my head while sitting in the seats. 

i  will need to remove the uprights between the upper and lower frame sections to spread the front of the rail up 3 " more. that is for my new a arm design. need atleast 13" between upper and lower frame tubes so the upper a arm doesnt hit the frame during the up stroke. 

spent sun cleaning the roof of his GN trailer as the roof sealant had begun to fail. so i resealed the entire roof just to be safe. my rail is currently residing inside of that trailer as well. went from sat and sun to 1" of slushy snow today!!

[dsrace]

running into some clearence issues. can anyone think of any reasons this shock configuration wont work/shouldn't be done??

[dsrace]

i know the sunlight blows out the cell camera but nothing i can do about it.

[DeepBusch69]

I keep thinking that it will introduce a larger "Out of plane" load on the bearing carrier, thus getting more load transmitted to the upper and lower links.   But it would work. 

[dsrace]

it would definitely apply more load to the upper link.  there i no good way to make this one a 6 link with the starter where it is located. so i considered using a 3/4" heim and tie rod , in steel, for the upper link to handle the increased load . even mapped out how to get that rod under the shock location centered over the stub axle. these are type 1 to 930 stubs and the cv's are rcv's high angle or so they claimed. cannot rotate beyond 26* as i discovered when i bought them with the turbo busa build. they advertise 28* and sent me a video showing they rotate at 28* on a lathe but that's one cv on that axle not a pair. for some reason they will not operate at that angle as a pair. i have tried clocking them 4 diff ways. so the cv's are directional in the sens of a snap ring on the end of the axle. i use fill circle spiral clips so that would matter so i wonder if they both have to be facing the same direction vs facing each other? i doubt that it matters but they dam sure don't operate at 28*.

so with the current 23" axles there is only 13" of wheel travel. that is because the rear link scott added hits his coolant line.  with the rod back in its original location it doesn't hit it. i have the cv's at 25* currently and at full droop the frame would have 21" of ground clearance in the rear. with the 10" wide rims on at full droop the bfg at tires are an 80" track width. so it does fit between wheel wells on  a standard car trailer or a wide utility trailer with side rails.  i have to take these things into consideration as this will be residing with my daughter and son in law. well after i field test it a few times until my hv 24 shows up 

i do like the look of the inboard shock mount. i also have a spare set of 28" axles i am going to try ( thanks for the donation brian N ) to see how much wider that will make it with dirt tires on. they may just have to buy a deck over to haul it on. i do need to mod the carriers a bit to repair some mod work scott started. the rail went many years on 1/2" heims on the rods and failed on his last trip. of course they were in need of chromoly replacements long before the last trip as they were worn out and low carbon steel hiems not self lubing sealed ones even.

[dsrace]

he had bottomed the rail out quite a few times and tweaked the frame a tiny bit.  trying to set this up so the shock bottoms out first or at the very least so they both bottom out at the same time rather then the frame hitting with 4" of shock stroke left.

i am thinking 18" to 20" of usable wheel travel would be enough for a good ride.

[dsrace]

only a tiny 5" diff in length