Welding on a Currie 9" HD housing and Design ideas...

[svandell]

HI all.

I havent talked to you guys in a while. I have been busy. How are you all? Anyway, I want to add a couple of things to my rear Currie 9 housing. I have to relocate the shock mounts from where Currie put them (cut Currie's off an add brand new ones), add some kind of protector for the brake hard lines, and add some kind of protector for the front 3rd member bolts.

My main questions are about welding on the housing as I am still pretty new with my MIG. How thick do you think the axle tube are? My biggests fear is blowing a hole while welding on them. I also have not done much welding upside down and verticle which I would have to do if it were on the TJ. What is the best way to weld underneath and verticle sections. So far my welding has consisted of small parts and a welding table that I made.

As far as the design of my mods, let me know what you guys think. There may be better ways to do what I need so please let me know. Also, if I should be using different material, let me know. Currently I get my metal at Industrial Metal Supply in Irvine so I could probably get whatever I want.

1) For the shock mounts, I was going to modify the N'th degree shock shifters to work with the Currie housing and clear the brake calipers.

2) For the hard brake lines, I was going to get some 3/16" flat stock pieces and weld them together in a triangle (maybe 1/4" seperation at the bottom) Then weld that under the brake lines so they are protected.

3) As far as protecting the 3rd member bolts, I like Blaine's design of the skid plate up to the pinion but that won't work with the stock sway bar on my TJ. Instead I thought I would get some 3/16" flat stock that is wide enough to weld pieces in a "U" to fit the bottom of the pumpkin and still stick out in front of the studs. I also might get some tubing and cut it down the length. Then weld on the bottom side of the flat stock to give it some support.

Thanks in advance!

Scott

[svandell]

No thoughts?