Axle Relocation and Long Arm ideas

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Buddy Jesus

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Missourri
Good Day to all. I am pretty new to the Jeep thing, having just gotten my cherokee a few months ago in a trade. The Jeep was just a deal sweetener I planned on getting rid of :doh: but I fell in love with this thing. Started as a 96 sport 4.0 5sp with 3.05 d30 and 8.25 open/open with 2 inches and 31's. Then scored a set of axles (4.11) and various used lift components from a friend for cheap and now it sits on 35's with welded 8.25 and lockright in the d30 6.5 inces up front (3.5 inch coils and 3 in spacers) with rusty's short arms and 4.5 inch leaves in rear. My plan now is to lengthen the wheelbase and go with 9-12 inches of lift. I plan on building an extremely heavy duty bumper out of plate and using it to mount the coil buckets. Any thoughts? I will be using a radius am setup like Iron Rock sells, just a bit longer, made from 2 inch .250 dom which will be mounted to an extremely modified/beefed trans crossmember. Any ideas are greatly appreciated. I will post some pics of the XJ's current condition in a few...
 
Buddy Jesus said:
I am pretty new to the Jeep thing,


35's with welded 8.25 and lockright in the d30


go with 9-12 inches of lift.
Click to expand...

not to be "that guy"

those 3 lines to not mix

ya got some research ahead of you.

you CAN do what you have planned. but it wont be cheap or easy, nor will it perform all that great
 
Like I said, any ideas are appreciated. No one should worry about being "that guy." I have a buddy thats big into these XJ's and has been for years. He also one hell of a fabricator. I'm fairly new to off roading all together. So farI've been out on a few excursions and this thing does great. I Mostly want the increased wheel base for climbing over obstacles etc. I planned on keeping the coils vs going to leaves for the greater flex. I'm sure of our ability to do it, just don't know how well it will actualy perform. Would It be better to lenghten the rear instead?
 
What he's getting at is you can run 35's on 5-6.5" lift with some minimal trimming and proper bump stopping.

Also, the 8.25 welded on 35's MAY not be strong enough to last real long. Same goes with the d30 locked with 35's.

9-12"s of lift would be really unstable in a cherokee especially with standard width axles.


*I know nothing about fabbing up a suspension system though.
 
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Sorry, forgot to mention that I have trimmed the front wheelwells just above where the flare was located. I basicaly scribed a line around the edge of the flare and cut just above it with the flare removed. I also Cut the pinch seams between the spot welds and hammered them flat. My buddy was an excellent source of info for that. At full stuff I have no rub in the front that I can notice. The rear hasnt been tackled yet, but will be soon. I have noticed that with only 4-5 inches in the rear, the tires dont seem to rub at all. Any thoughts for rear trimming? Areas to avoid?
I'm glad you mentioned stability as I hadn't thought about that. It's pretty unstable as it is. I drive it to work occasionaly which is 12 miles round trip but I don't enjoy the way it feels. It will probably become a trailer only rig soon. I wonder if I should consider full width axles.
As far as the axles and the 35's, I have been told that I will have to be careful how I wheel it. The previous owner of these axles broke several shafts but that was only when he went full throttle in some bad spots with a 4:1 kit. I'm hoping they last a while. Thaks for the input.
 
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Same, I would not go above 6" for any reason... cut more! You obviously aren't afraid of doing so :thumbup:

Definitely going to have to be careful, if you run 33s you will be able to hammer on it with much less worry. Make sure you have the big-joint 297 size shafts instead of the 260 size ones in the front axle, and put Spicer 760 joints in them. Carry spares and have a blast.
 
Buddy Jesus said:
I plan on building an extremely heavy duty bumper out of plate and using it to mount the coil buckets. Any thoughts? I will be using a radius am setup like Iron Rock sells, just a bit longer,
Click to expand...


Wait wait wait........ You wanna push the centerline of the axle out to the front bumper??!! :shocked::shocked::shocked:


















Fawk yea!!! :greensmok
 
Jeeperjohn- Thanks for the input
Kastein- I'm definately not afraid to cut up front... the rear worries me though since a lot of it is structural. Does anyone know if it would be a wise idea to cut the rear quarter flush with the top of the wheelwell arch and then weld in some steel to brace everything? I could then use some longer leaves thus increasing the wheelbase for better manners when climbing. I have a freind that has his shackles mounted to a custom bumper front and rear and it performs great and looks pretty badass.
Foxwar- It was basicaly a free jeep so I'm not worried about hacking it up too bad. Might as well jump in the deep end of the shit pile. Metaphoricaly speaking...
 
You can cut the rear like you explained and it is called a comp cut. If you stretch the rear wheel base with leafs or flip your leafs 180* then you need to think about axle wrap and getting a (IIRC) a traction bar to keep your leafs from ruining themselves.
 
What will be the use of this jeep? If you are using it for rocks and trails I think you will find a problem with the wheelbase being that long and getting high centered on alot of stuff.

I could also see a problem with having the tires directly underneath beneath a bumper because if you flex up too much you could potentially hit the bumper. My tires go above where my coil starts, but with proper bumpstoping this may not be an issue.
 
94- I'm glad you brought up axle wrap as that appears to be a poblem at the moment. The rear lift springs I got appear to have been warped at one time. They are begining to resemble w's instead of u's. I have some procomp 2'' add-a-leafs that will help somewhat but will be a temp fix only until I can get some new leaf packs.
I am planning on this being a rocks/trail rig. I have learned that I don't enjoy the mud in this like I do on my 4wheeler. I live about 10 miles from Washita Off Road Trails here in Missouri so I am trying to make this rig capable of going through anything they offer. They have a lot of boulder strewn climbs and some wicked looking waterfalls that are calling my name. I haven't taken it out there yet, just rode with a friend helping get his stranded jeep. I guess the first order of buisness is to try it out and see how it does on climbs and such.
 
Like 94xjstud said, that's called a comp cut, people do it, works fine if properly braced like you were saying. Go for it!
 
94xjstud said:
What will be the use of this jeep? If you are using it for rocks and trails I think you will find a problem with the wheelbase being that long and getting high centered on alot of stuff.

I could also see a problem with having the tires directly underneath beneath a bumper because if you flex up too much you could potentially hit the bumper. My tires go above where my coil starts, but with proper bumpstoping this may not be an issue.
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the stretch in the wheel base is usually done to fit way bigger than stock tires (35-40's) and keep them from looking like the front and rear tires want to touch and look like this http://denver.craigslist.org/ctd/1945114640.html
 
so u dont gotta worry about axle wrap try custom fitting sayyyy some chevy 63s in the rear to fit along with the comp cut. my old 4runner with 63s in the rear flexed like all hell
 
You can move the axle forward about 2" to clear larger tires in a cut fender well. After that you run into steering problems, like where do you put the box? If you go any further it has to go too just as far. So to do what you want to do, you will have to extend the frame. Personally, to do all this, I would start with a vehicle that has a frame. It would be much easier.
 
or go full hydro steering and forget about it! Keeps the stress off the driver front frame rail too, so it won't buckle/crack/get all tooled up between the track bar and steering box quite as much.
 
kastein said:
or go full hydro steering and forget about it! Keeps the stress off the driver front frame rail too, so it won't buckle/crack/get all tooled up between the track bar and steering box quite as much.
Click to expand...
Or you could use a D44 with high steer arms pointing backwards so the drag link runs behind the diff like on some Toyotas. You would have to address the steering working backwards though. Maybe a different gearbox? :dunno: Or you could put the pittman arm on backwards.
 
jeeperjohn said:
Or you could use a D44 with high steer arms pointing backwards so the drag link runs behind the diff like on some Toyotas. You would have to address the steering working backwards though. Maybe a different gearbox? :dunno: Or you could put the pittman arm on backwards.
Click to expand...
That's a kind of a nifty idea actually, it'd also keep rocks away from the drag link somewhat, assuming you put them over the lower control arms. Not sure how it'd work with the uppers under flex however, would require careful planning.
 
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