The Nail Salon

[TORX]

Wheeled Elbe this past weekend. Nail Salon did awesome, probably one of the best runs yet for the Jeep. It finally felt like everything was "dialed" in.

Waiting for Eric to catch up.

Playing in the Rock Pit at the top of Rainier Vista.

Against my better judgement I even let BPB take it for a spin.

Aside from some small maintenance things, I don't really have anything on the to-do list for it. I need to tighten up the Superflex joints on the front end, and eventually swap in a new fuel pump since the check valve has failed on mine (common issue on the Great Models).

I was really starting to get the itch to start planning Phase2.0 for this thing, but after a solid day on the trails I realized this thing is doing exactly what I built it for. Drive to the trails, wheel all day and not walk everything but actually have to work at some stuff, and then drive back home.

Next trip, Oktoberfest!

 

[BoringDave]

Wow! Does it have a straight body panel left?

 

[TORX]

Time for an update!

Not really a whole lot has changed on the Jeep in the past five months. Just been kind of busy with life, and actually getting out an using the Jeep as much as possible.

After our Elbe trip, a few of us took a trip up to Evans Creek for the NWC's annual "Oktoberfest" trip. It was an awesome trip, with a lot of great memories.

Dellstopjeep and I almost died in a rollover off a cliff. Slight miscalculation for the conditions while 2Low'ing it. No big deal, luckily the NWC's most handsomest hero, 98CherokeeSport, was there to act quick.

I always enjoy Evans.

Evans didn't bring out any major fix it/need-to-upgrade things so I kept daily driving it, and eventually brought it out to the Thanksgiving Run at TSF. Good trip, we covered a lot of ground over two days. Photo cred to Nightfoam.

After Thanksgiving the snow started to fall. I fully took advantage of it and got out as much as possible. I'm really pleased with how the Cooper/Allied combo works for the snow.

On Ruger81's Atlas Shakedown trip I got stupid and bit off more than I can chew while blasting through the deep snow using my momentum. Well eventually I got stuck, bad. TooBig tried pulling me out with no luck, so I called Warn in for the rescue. What I didn't realize was how burried my front end was in the concrete snow. We heard some bad noises, and that's when I discovered TORXFab had failed. The winch plate on the bumper had bent upward, and the winch itself had twisted. FML.

The next weekend I began the task of fixing it. This shows just how much it had bent.

Beat it back to shape.

Through some steel at it.

Through some more steel at it.

I feel confident in the upgrades. I should have known better to use .188 plate unsupported for a winch plate. Live and learn though. As for the winch, luckily Warn parts are plentiful locally. I called Woody's 4x4 and they had a new set of tie rods for me that day. I went ahead and took the winch apart to do a quick refresh on everything too.

TardFest came around, and back to TSF I went.

Once again, back to TSF for GlueNTape's Run. Photo cred to Rockbilly.

This pretty much brings this up to date. The Nail Salon definitely could use some maintenance things done to it (Superflex joints tightened/greased, RMS replaced, etc), but nothing critical is needed which is a good feeling considering it's been a solid daily driver and weekend wheeler for over a year.

All good things must come to an end though, and a 50 mile round trip commute in a lifted Jeep just wasn't working at 15mpg. Not to mention the wear and tear on other parts (tires, tre's, u-joints). So I picked up a trick little 95' Mitsubishi Mirage 4cly/5spd for daily driving. Can you say 35mpg! So now that the Nail Salon isn't my primary vehicle, I actually have some motivation to start working on it again. Again, mostly just maintenance things, but I have a few future mods kicking around in my head for maybe summer.

For now though, I just plan on enjoying it for what I built it for, and that's wheeling all the trails of the northwest, have fun doing it, and driving it home after. I'm feeling another Elbe trip, or Evans Creek trip coming up soon.

 

[TooBig]

Looking good Dustin. Glad you're posting again. I always enjoy the read.

 

[kndrewa]

Great work with that Jeep, Dustin!

 

[kenny811]

Hey Torx, nice to see you again, keep coming back. It works!!

 

[crazymoose1990]

Not for everyone ask me how I know.

 

[LJ dude]

Good to see that you got your bumper and winch all taken care of.

 

[TORX]

Since I was losing a fender flare (or all four) on almost every run out, I've since just ditched them permanently. I personally like the look of keeping the stock flares, but it just wasn't worth the hassle for me.

So with the rear flares removed the holes in the fender for the brackets always bugged me. I figured it was time to do something about them with the classic cut-n-fold on the rear fenders.

First remove the bumper end caps, surprisingly the plastic end caps hid some dents I never knew about. Whoops, I'll deal with them later by cutting and folding the lower quarters.

Start by cutting off the lip, and then marking your cut lines. I chose every 2" or so for no particular reason.

Next choose your favorite hammer and start to fold the flaps under the fender for a smooth curve.

Add paint, and you're done. They're not perfect, but it got rid of the goofy holes and lip, while also opening up the wheel well some more.

Next project was removing the goofy door trim since it was the last of the stock body trim remaining.

Once you pull it off it leaves some residue from the adhesive behind, so Sticker Eraser to the rescue.

Done.

She's changed a bit since Build Week almost one year ago.

 

[TORX]

My rear suspension sucks, plain and simple. Redjeep2.0 will be the first to tell you.

My shocks are good. The problem I believe lies in my springs, more so in the shackle angle. It's damn near vertical, which means it's not letting my leafs do their job. I was hoping it would settle in over time, but it hasn't changed in a year of wheeling, so it's time to do something about it.

As much as I hate to eat my own words, I think I'm going to end up fabbing up another set of shackle relocators like I did on JeepForceOne.

After I did this on JeepForceOne the front and rear suspension actually started working together like it should.

The other option is trying to find a longer main leaf (dodge van, etc). However, I really don't feel like experimenting with springs, or going junk yarding for used springs.

 

[jonesinxj]

Dustin, Rig looks good man. Sucks you have to eat your own words, but take a look at what Kris Frolich just came out with as far as a relocation bracket, maybe get some ideas and go from there.

http://froehlichsuspension.3dcartstores.com/LOW-PROFILE-Shackle-Relocation-Cherokee-XJ_p_22.html

 

[#S194]

Welcome back. Now get that thing ready for SierraFest 2013...the campfire would be the same without you guys. :shiver:

 

[TORX]

Welcome back. Now get that thing ready for SierraFest 2013...the campfire would be the same without you guys. :shiver:

Oh I'm planning on being there. :cheers:

Dustin, Rig looks good man. Sucks you have to eat your own words, but take a look at what Kris Frolich just came out with as far as a relocation bracket, maybe get some ideas and go from there.

http://froehlichsuspension.3dcartstores.com/LOW-PROFILE-Shackle-Relocation-Cherokee-XJ_p_22.html

Thanks, Tim. I wasn't aware Kris was offering relocation brackets. I saw HD offers some "no lift" brackets like these as well. I don't really care if I gain .5-.75" though. Nice design though, and definitely another option for those in the market.

 

[TORX]

Spent this weekend working on the Nail Salon.

First project was cutting and folding the lower quarter panels. I used the write-up in the FAQ section (located HERE) as a guideline. Before...

First you're going to cut off the portion below the lower body line off. Lucky for me this is where my dents were.

Some more cutting.

Do the same on the front. Leave a little extra sheet metal on the top cut to fill some space later.

After the cutting is done, it's as easy and folding the pieces together.

For the front, I chose to add some filler panels to help seal everything up a little better.

You can weld the panels together, I've heard of some people even using JBWeld, I chose the classic pop rivet route. I used a jack and 2x4 to press the two pieces together while riveting while working my way down.

Also discovered mass Bondo on the passenger side.

Overall I'm pleased with the turn out. I still need to do some sanding, and add some paint. Then eventually I need to get around to building a rear bumper with some slider bars for some protection. For now though the extra clearance and less body will be nice not to worry about.

 

[Demonoid369]

Add paint, and you're done. They're not perfect, but it got rid of the goofy holes and lip, while also opening up the wheel well some more.

holy crap thats clean, nicest one ive seen to date, might just ask for your hand in help when i do mine lol

 

[TORX]

Second big project was fixing my shackle angle. I first started by trimming off the lip on the stock box.

Then after some thinking, some cutting, some drilling, and some tacking I had the new boxes put together.

Made some new tabs.

Tacked on.

Pulled them off to burn it all home. I used some tube to keep the tabs from warping during welding.

Ground off the zinc under coating, and welded the new boxes on. I also chose to utilize the stock shackle bolt out of principle.

Ta-da!

It rides so much better! I can't wait to get it back on the trails.

 

[#S194]

Nice work Dustin. :thumbup:

 

[BPB]

Almost as handsome as you

 

[kndrewa]

I've heard concerns about unibody strength residing in the rear 1/4s - any input/rationalization there, TORX?

 

[TORX]

Thanks, guys.

I've heard concerns about unibody strength residing in the rear 1/4s - any input/rationalization there, TORX?

I think cutting the lowers does reduce the integrity of the area. You're cutting out a body panel that's been welded together from the factory. Will my Jeep now fold like a taco? No, but I do know that area is now more susceptible to cracks. In the end though, I know the future of this rig, and the benefits of trimmed lowers out weighed the long term effects in my opinion. It's something to keep in mind though if you're considering taking a sawzall to your rig anytime soon.