Cruzer's Re-Build for the Rubicon

hope it holds

 

Was in the garage and found this



Fawwwwk! I put the wrong balance beads in the bead grip wheels I have to go back to the shop, pop the impossible bead, and throw these in there.

 

OOOOOOOOOOOPS

 

I think I’ll try feeding it through the valve stem.

 

What beads did you use ?
We used to use airsoft beads and never had any issues.

 

I’m using glass beads cuz they’re not affected by moisture, they’re more dense so they take up less space, and they won’t melt or lose their special coating if I use a flammable spray to pop the bead back on.

 

So what did you put in....that were not the balance beads

 

That sounds like a lot of effort to fix something that won't make a difference.

 

Literally took all day to install the glass balance beads through the valve stem. They’re like a 1/3 the size of BBs for an airgun so I figured they would go right in the valve - nope. Of course they like to get stuck.

Drove her on the freeway at 80mph and no out of balance vibrations Although I could feel each knob of the tire when I go slow. Have I mentioned that these tires are loud AF? Crazy loud but I like it. The knobs on the tire are so big that I now rub on the body mount at full lock.

 

I bought a ceramic set and a glass set of beads. The ceramic set came in 2 different size bags. I put the smaller of the two bags in the tire.

 

Curious to se how you like them. Wheeled with a heep over the weekend that had them and was extremely unimpressed, but the whole rig was unimpressive so maybe that was the real issue

 

Truck looks good'm mean with those tires

 

Drove the truck to work in order to get some miles in so that I can re-torque the drop bracket and everything else I took apart. I was surprised that the tires felt lumpy from what I guess the truck being parked overnight and tires developing a flat spot. Once I drove it a little the flat spots disappeared. I was also surprised that my alignment was still spot on. These tires don't wander around the lane like my road tires do so that's definitely a plus. I'm not liking the rub though. The knobs on the outer edge of the tires really do stick out far. When feasible I do plan to trailer these wheels to the trails in one of those small enclosed Uhaul trailers and do a wheel swap at main camp.

 

Your truck is so big it makes it look like you bought a tiny house from discovery network

 

Had to drive the truck around at 55 or less for an extended period of time and it sucked. I knew going in that the tread on these tires are so aggressive that my ride was gonna suck. The balance beads work really great at 65+ but below that these tires feel like a yellow brick road. I can’t tell if the rotation is too slow for the beads to work or if the knobs on the tire are just too chunky. Either way I’m not happy with the on road performance of these tires, which was expected cuz I bought them for off road use only. Can’t believe I’m saying it but I can’t wait to put my street tires back on

 

Badass

 

Just drive >65mph everywhere. Problem solved.

 

The opposite of what I want to do but interesting choice of where he chopped the frame.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV5fJHyvOQE

 

Holy shit I was randomly searching for Tundra transmission parts and this popped up. I immediately snagged their only one. Been looking for a long time for this output shaft cuz I need it to get a spline adapter made.


Now to find a used transmission tailhousing on the cheap.

 

Whaaaaat?! Today is my lucky day. $250 for this fucker is the cheapest I've found. Sold!

 

Did you buy a lotto ticket also ?

 

Damn this looks good. :O

 

If you need some design work, sniv speed shop is available

 

Design? I know I need a spline adapter made if you could help with that

 

Only prerequisite is you have to invite me next time you're in Utah

But for real, I'm down to help since it's a sweet project. Between the spline adapter and if you're planning to run an adapter plate between the trans and atlas, you might need a bit of CAD work. Also that machinist I use that I sent the contact info for, as I recall I've seen him machining splines. Which on that note, regardless who you have machine the spline adapter it'd probably be a good idea to send the spline ends to the machine shop so they can verify the fitment before sending it out, since there's quite a few variables when it comes to splines and would suck to receive the part and have to send it back if it didn't engage properly. Food for thought.

 

Are you able to measure the spline angles? I have no clue on the terminology and stuff. Gonna reach out to your guy.

 

So I put my 39" street tires back on. I had the shop put the ceramic balance beads on the front tires only. One tire still had the counter weight, while the other tire I took off the counter weights. Pre-balance beads, 75mph I would still feel an uneasy vibration. Post-beads, shit is buttery smooth at all speeds. I did 55mph for an extended period of time and had no problems. Did 90 and it was a smoooooth criminal. Quite happy and at ease with these street tires now. Ever since the tire launching incident I've been paranoid AF.

So my take on balance beads is that if you're tires are NOT meaty, then it'll probably work. Driving down to SoCal this weekend and really don't want the to experience a tire launch cuz that'll be the end of my wheeling career

 

If you measure the minor diameter, major diameter, and distance between the valleys of the splines that will tell you the angle. Spline angles are usually pretty common and either 30deg or 45deg.