tallwelder81

tubeshark is nice. and local. well, depends on your definition of local. i figure anything within 500 miles. 100 for fruit and dairy, lol.... hey GD, YEA thats a killer find, much grassy-rump roast.... good start with the dies. at least i would have a decent selection for a few months until i get itchy for something smaller. 2 questions. when they say THIN wall, does that mean it will or wont do bumper/rollbar/etc? and how smooth are the bends? im kinda picky about exhaust curves. kinda get p.o'd when i pay good money at a professional exhaust shop, and the bends end up looking like dog crap. pinched, kinked, etc..... do YOU think the bends are acceptably smooth? i would definately consider buying one of those enerpacs. and thank you obk and rob, also.

thanks a lot rob. i was aiming at maybe like 800-1200 range though. although, as you say, i can cut costs now on the bender, and end up losing out over the months and years, buying a $200 die here, a $300 die there, adds up fast... blue angels just blasted over my house... from here to downtown seattle in under 3 minutes. and thats WITHOUT afterburners. i dont think even mid-90s era bill gates could budget the fuel the US military burns up every year, lmao!!! dang..... and back to the point, rob, i dont mind used bendeing equipment. the good stuff is designed to be abused hard for many decades. did you check out the link i put up here? does anyone know if those are good? the picture makes the bend look pretty smooth, no pinch, no krinkle, no accordian-polka action... and if the AD looks good, then it MUST be good, right? just like jack in the box commercials, the cheeseburgers look like ten dollar gourmet red robins style burgers. heh.... sorry folks that i get off track so much. im a chronic rambler.

yea, the whole dl/gl thing confuses me. my 83 brat has t-tops, dual range 4x4, the nicer style dash, and slider rear window. but it also has 2 headlights, not 4. i personally like the 2 headlights. to ME< it looks more truckish, less passenger car style.

as some of you already know, i was in a MAJOR car wreck in 2007. heli-lifted to harborview, broken spine, bolts in my back, 2 year on heavy narcotics, etc etc..... whatever whatever. point being, i got a decent settlement, but tow caveats of that settlement: 1. it was big enough to notice and patch a few holes in my life, as far as home repair and a reasonably priced worktruck, and college tuition <COMMUNITY college, F.Y.I.>. but hardly big enough to buy a swimming pool or a leer jet, or a bathtub full of cocaine and caviar, and lobster every night, lol... 2. it was legally set-up so i didnt get any tax penalties for it, as i am on low-income status, officially. in return for low-income status, and aforementioned tax breaks, i had to agree to only spend it on necessities. leaky roof, vocational school, job related tools. not a big screen tv or an xbox, etc.... on a side note, i wouldnt want a bigscreen anyhow, never really saw the need for a tv over like 35". mine is 27 and ive had it 7 years, and im extremely satisfied with it. basically, to get to the point, i have been window shopping and plotting on a tube bender, and a nice 4" air-saw, and a tubing notch cutter, if y'all know what those are. they are to prep the end of the tube to join in a clean, professional quality T or X intersection. rollbars, complex bumpers, etc.... the saw and notch cutter are pretty cheap. i want a GOOD set. not a chinese one thatll crap out on me after a single weekend of serious use. the main expense is the actual bender. and more specifically, the infinite number of dies in various tube diameters and curve radius. where YOU all come in, is to advise me on what works and what is worth paying more for, vs. what costs more but just sounds cool in the ad. i want QUALITY, smooth bends. im strong, and dont mind a manual powered bender. the one on ebay i keep seeing is the infamous JB2 bender. http://cgi.ebay.com/JD2-manual-Model-32-Tubing-Bender-Roll-Bar-Cage-rd-sq-/190548371113?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5d9166a9 but the dies, ouch. i only have 2 kidneys. im not the type to piss away money just because i have it. i figured the 2" die was teh most important. well..... wouldnt you know, its 405 dollars. american dollars, not pesos. for the DIE. not teh tool. actually i think the tool is less than each die, at least the bigger, more useful sized dies. basically, anyone who wants anything done on here, i will do it for free, or at least dirt cheap, like ten bucks per hour. but if YOU want a diameter other than 2" tube, 7.5" curve radius, then YOU can pay for the stupid die itself. and when i do your project i want to keep the die for MY garage. HAH.... hence my willingness to do your work for ten bucks an hour. but if you wanted one that i want also, id probaly pay for half. like a 1.75" would be handy for exhaust and smaller stuff like the add ons to the core of bumers. headlight protectors and such. all input is welcome and appreciated. i NEED this stuff to be a valid and professionally functional welder/fabricator. i havent done near as much work as i want to, because although i have a great, high quality 240v lincoln electric Mig, my ONLY way of cutting anything is a sawzall. it just doesnt work for a lot of situations. and i cant BEND any material. that limits me more than i can even describe. help ME out, and it will benefit us all. at least, all of us between olympia and everett and yakima. i am serious about doing dirt cheap work for you guys. at least as long as you give me good word of mouth advertising. at the very least, if i work cheap for you guys, it will get my skills known by the public more.

my pic didnt attatch i guess.... http://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPic.jsp?sidewall=Outlined+White+Letters&tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=LTX+A%2FT+2 like most michelin, these get excellent reviews all around. noise, ride comfort, longevity, fuel efficiency, pavement traction, trail traction, and safety. and just judging by looks alone, they look like they would be tame and smooth on the freeway, but do pretty decent on gravel and dry or damp dirt. you might not be able to climb up a sheer cliff in a hurricane, but as you know, tires ARE aaaaalways a compromise. you cant have it all, at least not in one tire. like all michelins, though, they arent dirt cheap. tirerack.com says $143 per tire for the smallest size, 235-75-15.

hey scott. i know this thread is a bit older, but hey, here i am anyhow. everyone beats that same dead horse of grabbers and bfg a/t's. MICHELIN is a very good quality brand though. and i would run THESE if i had 15s or if they came in 14.

THANKS a lot you three!! i didnt NEED a new clutch, it was in great shape. therefore, no clutch kit, hence, no alignment tool. i will try the loose p.p. bolts trick... hehe "PP". lol...... that means tinkle, hee hee..... just kidding.... by the way, i didnt even think this post went through. it kept getting an error message. im glad it did. im ready for this gosh durn thing to get installed and on the road again. like willy nelson.

i got it hanging there in my engine bay. the tranny shaft thing is IN the flywheel/clutch pressure plate. i just cant quite get it that last half inch. i dont recall hearing/reading about needing any conversion for those parts?. i have the sjr plate on it. whats the deal? please help, before i jump off a cliff. and NO, i dont have/didnt use the clutch alignment key whatchamacallit. grrrrrrrrr........... also, if anyone wants my old coil, and the coil clamp hanger thing, its yours.

UH OH!!! got your girlfriend experiencing the dreaded "baby fever" huh? my girl is like that too. every time, any time, anywhere, if theres anyone under age 4 at the grocery store, gas station, restaurant, ANYWHERE ANYTIME, she is ALL over that baby, and its kinda scary.... heh..... been thinking about a rollcage and more speakers in the brat, PURELY for the sake of making it a ONE seater. "sorry babe, no room for passengers". lmao

i dont have the ea. so i have the awesome, bone crushing 110hp. and yea, you may have crawled your car at angles. but have you done 30 or 40mph on a curvy gravel road with loose surface and not nearly enough of a bank to the roadbed on the hairpin corners? THATS what scares me. and im still stock height. im planning to add a 2 inch lift. what do you mean by 150-200? like tools and stuff? what does a lift kit weigh? i kinda wonder what a factory low-bar weighs.

input is definately appreciated, thank you. the steering is the same as before, i assume? its still factory steering. the only diff is the actual powerplant. but i could see where a fairly large power increase would affect the effort it takes to control the vehicle.

no, why? does the added power make a big difference? im all ears. im well aware that im no expert and that lots of guys here know much that i do not. so speak up, please. my biggest thing is that the passenger corner of the engine bay is real crowded. my radiator doesnt look like it will even fit. and the p/s assembly <pump, belt, reserv> is exactly WHERE i could use the extra few inches.

my brat didnt have it originally, and i loved the feel of the wheel. lots of response, great "connection" with the pavement. and i have 185-75-14s on alloy pugs. meaning my rollers dont weigh much. i totally understand the attraction of power steer in say.... a half ton work truck. or like a classic muscle car, cutlass, chevelle, whatever..... but i have experienced p/s in a small sports car, like a miata. its SCARY. its TOO easy to steer, and it makes the car squirrely. no thanks. also, it takes ROOM. and my radiator is pinched in as it is. i like a hood compartment with LOTS of elbow room. not crowded. and yes, i agree, the p/s is fairly light. but its way up front, and up high, and 6-7 lbs at the far extreme of the car has a definite affect on a car is light, and also extremely FRONT heavy, such as a brat with an ej18 swap. i dont know the facts, but if i had to guess, id say the brat with the ej, bullbar, skid plate, and tranny support frame thingy, is around 80/20 front/rear. 70/30 at best. off topic- what would be really awesome, relating to overall weight, and weight ratio f/r, would be a high strength, aircraft aluminum bullbar, skid plate, tranny mount. rollbar also would be cool, but id prefer the rollbar as a fully welded extension of the frame. cant get a strong weld between ferrous, and non ferrous. bullbar/skid plate, etc on the other hand, is a BOLT in unit, and rightly so. IDEAL for a high tensile aluminum. anyhow, my personal feeling is that a super-stront bullbar is kinda scary. in an impact, whatever energy the bumpers refuse to absorb, the humans gotta swallow. not fun. ive been in a major car wreck, heli-lift to hospital and all that, 580,000 dollar hospital bill, 3 years on narcotics. id rather just have a bumper that crumples when it needs to.

my fiancee and loooovely partner, sarah, lived near there. in palmyra, on monticello rd. i had to fly my butt ALL the way there, and drive 3,000 miles ALL the way home. her fine round butt BETTER appreciate, y'all.....

i dont want it. three questions. 1. how do i remove it? 2. a-what does it WEIGH? b-how much parasitic loss does it cause? 3. what do i do for the new belt? is there a part number i should know? and i final, but seperate question???? does anyone WANT it when i remove it? the belt will come with it. i think ten bucks is a fair price. at least then i can buy my smaller belt.

alright, well, i dont have a ton of hardcore offroad experience. just an occasional 30mph bombing run through a big ol' mud puddle, or a exploration of logging road. nothing too crazy like one eye and qman do. possibly you also, i am just naming the two im aware of having an extreme offroad reputation. i just like to be able to BOMB down some remote gravel roads, and maybe cross a creek when i need to. and the diamond plate rockers look pretty dang cool.

p.s. concrete is a cool area. i suppose you already are well aware of the de niro movie set in concrete? lol, just realized the double entendre <set in concrete>

and i think i could fab up a design where the diamond plate are seperate from the mount. like an expendable piece, easily replaced. a "pawn" if you will. diamond plate aluminum is so common in junkyards, old damaged pickup bed-boxes and such. enough to protect the entire lower rocker couldnt weigh more than maybe, i dunno, twenty lbs. twenty lbs, even on a 4 cylinder asian car, is not a big deal. if anything, its USEFUL weight. its down low, it could act as a mild ballast, to counteract the high-up weight, especially in lifted rigs that are so tippy and top heavy.

couldnt weigh much more than any of the other junk some guys haul. and im not saying it needs to be attatched JUST like the picture. that was just a visual reference. not carved in stone.

im thinking that body fabrication on a cherokee and a brat is pretty similiar in a lot of ways, considering the uni-body design. and brats tending to be a fair bit LOWER, even with a 4 inch lift, rocker panel armor is something we could all use. i think SJR or HTI could probably make a real quality design, and and i bet they would sell at LEAST a dozen in the first month. [ATTACH]8807[/ATTACH] of course, it wouldnt be EXACTLY like this. a cherokee is square, where a brat or lego is much more rounded/45degree at the rocker panel.

i see em on jeep cherokees a lot. sometimes on dodge ram pickups. never seen it on a soob, though. anyone done it? kinda surprised McBrat doesnt have this on his bad beast. [ATTACH]8805[/ATTACH] but more like THIS, tuffer, thicker, and with the nerf incorporated into the same strong unit: [ATTACH]8806[/ATTACH]

thanks rob. and yea, i prefer a brat. im just saying, if i gotinto that famous situation where you get married, and a baby or two, and the wife starts crackin the whip for a minivan or station wagon. nothing against suby wagons. but they are so much more often seen than a brat. i gotta be different. plus these have a pickup bed. and they are uglier than a legacy wagon, much uglier. if i gotta buy a family 4 door in 5 years or ten years, i want an ugly one. dont ask why, its just the way my mind works. cuckoo. lol

kinda tight in that subaru sort of way, huh? like an early 80s brat. handy, practical, kinda ugly in a GOOD way, and kinda cool and not at all yuppy prissy.

well, gas mileage, simpler wiring, fear of excess power. dont get me wrong, im not scared of big power. i have had cars with a LOT of power. my 67 riviera has about 550 ft lbs of torque....... at the rear wheels...... at 2800rpm THATS a fair amount of power. a lot more than these prissy shiny new f250 super dutys that all the limpy yuppies drive to starbucks and to pick their kids up at school. lol..... i bought it from suberdave. also, i heard rumors from friends that stayimg with equal displacement is good from a registration aspect. on a sidenote, what do you think of these VW dokas?