92 2 Door Build

[akendal4]

I got the front finished last night. During reassembly of the driver side I discovered that I had stretched the ears on the stub shaft. The full circle clips definitely did their job and didnt allow the joint cap to fall out. I replaced the ujoint and the stub shaft with one of my spares. Chromo stubs are now on the horizon (already have chromo inners).

 

[Ghost]

Is your front a 44 or 60?

 

[akendal4]

Is your front a 44 or 60?

D44. Judging by the rust on the caps and inside the stretched ears of the stub, this happened some time ago and I just never noticed. I'll continue with the 44 for a while until funds recoup and a good deal on a 60 comes up.

 

[akendal4]

Saturday was a long day in the shop. I was only able to get one of the 2x6 rockers in. I spent most of the day working on 3 linking the front and rear of a TJ. Also, yesterday I picked up a brand new spare tire. Now I just have to decide if I want to put it on an H2 wheel or just get a steel wheel.

 

[akendal4]

Finished up the cb in the dash, welded in the supports for the passenger side rocker, welded in the drivers side rocker and bent up some A-pillars for the cage.

 

[akendal4]

Last night I made some time to work on the jeep some more. I got the A-pillars in but need to finish a few welds. I also need to bend up a cowl bar to tie them together. It's slowly coming together.

 

[akendal4]

Finished the jeep last weekend. I'm very happy with how it came out. Now it's time to start wheeling it.

 

[akendal4]

I guess I can update this thread some. Since March, life has been very busy. My job has had me traveling more and I got married. But, I was able to take the jeep out a few times and work on it here and there. My goal for this year is to make more time for taking the jeep out. I just put new wheels and tires on it and also picked up a D60 front to slowly build as the year goes by. I've broken 3 stubs shafts so that's why I picked up the 60.

 

[themauler]

What are the new shoes?


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[akendal4]

What are the new shoes?


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Cooper STT Pro. Breaking them in this weekend at Hurricane Creek and the Flats

 

[themauler]

What was the carnage from that weekend? Front shaft?


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[akendal4]

What was the carnage from that weekend? Front shaft?


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Yea. U-joint kicked a cap and then broke taking out the inner and outer driver side shaft. I had a stock outer and a chromo inner at the time with half circle clips. After loosing a total of 3 stub shafts to the joints throwing the caps, the replacement is chromo inner and outer, Spicer joints, and full circle clips. The parts actually showed up today so I'll be tearing down the front end this weekend.

 

[akendal4]

Time for a little update.

I got the front axle shafts replaced with chromo inners and outers. Then we went to AOP for a 3 day weekend which was a blast but the Jeep came home quite bruised. On Friday I broke a fitting off the hydro assist ram, the driver mirror, and the driver window. I was able to find a parts store that had the fitting I needed and repaired it first thing Saturday morning. After it was fixed, my wife got behind the wheel and we headed back out on the trails. About 100 yards into the first trail, she put on quite a show and bounced the jeep up to an opening but not without breaking the rear traction bar and bending the rear driveshaft. That pretty much ended our day on the trails. I limped it back down the mountain and onto the trailer. With all the damage, and the fact that it wasn't just me breaking it this time, it was time for some upgrades.

I bought some 2" .25" wall DOM to make a new traction bar. Bought an ARB for the front and rear. Bought a new drivers window and mirrors. As of now, the front ARB is installed along with new ball joints. I also moved the hydro assist ram for more clearance during suspension travel. I still need to wire up the ARB compressor, switches, and install the rear ARB. Hopefully itll all be done in the next two weeks.

 

[akendal4]

So, with that update out of the way, I can now explain why there hasn't been more timely updates. In addition to my full time job, a friend and I have started building rigs part time. Our first ground up build (1 ton TJ) was completed last month and the owner is extremely happy with it. We also just completed a dually swap on a 96 Ram 2500 and we have another TJ coming in in about 2 weeks. We've also had some smaller jobs roll through the shop (things like hydro assist, regearing, etc).

 

[akendal4]

In August we went to Harlan. Destroyed the driver Apillar and windshield on Crawford’s Cry I believe. I’m a dumbass and left the jeep in reverse, instead of drive, and took a giant rock to the Apillar that was going through my window. Also broke the passenger tail light, passenger locking hub, destroyed my half doors, and all 4 of my wheels are now squares.

The weekend before Thanksgiving we went to Karios in WV. Trip went well until we were quickly trying to get off the trails before dark. Let’s just say we didn’t make it and the Jeep ended on its side.

So that brings everyone up to speed. Now I’m getting ready to tear down the front again. Picked up a weld wedge 44 from a member on NC4x4. It’ll be going in with everything from the current axle along with a true 3 link and some Fox coilovers. Hopefully this project will begin in the next two weeks.

 

[akendal4]

In preparation for rebuilding the front, I picked up some replacement fenders and header panel. I've also purchased Ruff Stuff front frame stiffeners, and frame/axle side track bar brackets. All other brackets, truss, shock towers, etc are from Barnes. Since the shop has been filled with paying jobs the past month and a half, I've been working on modeling up the front 3 link. The plan is for 5.5" up travel and 6.5" down. Initial springs will be 150 over 250 and valving is 50/70.

Ride Height

Full Bump

Full Flex

 

[akendal4]

Well this is sad to report...

As I've started pulling the front apart to start preparations for the new suspension, I've found quite a bit of damage that couldn't be seen from the exterior. After weighing my options and long term goals, it's been decided that the Jeep will NOT get repaired or upgraded. It has been put back together with the current parts and will see one last ride in the coming weeks. At the end of that ride, it will go into the shop for the last time to be disassembled and parted.