Harold of the Rocks

[chedisme]

Back of rear seat + wheels = best creeper ever

yea but I cant get mine out now that I have my "cage" instaled. I cant even flip it up more than an 1". which sucks cause I have alot of stuff under the seat that I cant get to any more.

get 12ft for the rockers. mine were like 5' 8/10" each side after trimming/capping, I planned for like 6' per side.

hmm thanks. Ill get 12'

ross measure you jeep from the back of the rear tire to your front bumper. I measured mine from the front tire to my rear bumper and got ~12'

I think if we run our straps from the axle under the jeeps we might be able to get away with a 24' trailer. I could even clearance my rear hatch with a hammer if need be. Im going over to my friends to measure his trailer now.

 

[chedisme]

just found these on my comp. this is the truck I drove before I got the XJ

and heres the kids car that hit me

looking at these again I cant believe I made it out with only a bruise on my foot and a burn on my chest from the seatbelt and not wearing a shirt. i think it was like 2 full rolls.


that thing was a liltle beast. it took what ever I through at it I beat on it like crazy. Im 100% sure it was still drivable. well I mean I think I could have made it home.

 

[CTeunuch]

Yeah you should be dead. Glad you're not!

 

[MoparManiac]

Yeah shit dude that's nuts.

 

[chedisme]

thanks guys. it was nutz.

ran to my steel place after work but didnt make it in time. they close at 4.

do you guys think it would be dumb to run a 7/8 hiem for my upper?

ive got 1.25s for the lowers, but I have a few 7/8 left over plus the ones from my steering since im going hydro and I dont really want to spend another 130$ on more 1.25s. plus I would save cash on tube by reusing the tube from my draglink.

 

[chedisme]

Got my passenger side stiffener all welded up today. Narrowly avoided getting burned pretty bad when the puddle fell on me but i saw it and rolled out of the way just in time. It was matrix shit.

I was going to cut my front xmember out but i noticed that the jeep is only sitting one 1 of the two jack stands. I think one of the tires went flat and im afraid that the frame is going to tweek if i cut it out. So im going to try to get it all sitti.g level befor i do.

 

[MoparManiac]

You can weld in a piece of tubing to the rails up front to hold them together while you cut it apart.

I used some leftover 1x1x1/16. But I also have no idea if the rails moved lol.

I know when I cut out the front crossmember on my first XJ, there was a POP and the rails moved a bit.

 

[chedisme]

thats a good Idea I have alot of 2x2 18ga ish Ill double that up to make it 2x4 and weld that in. that should keep it pretty stiff.

also I switched to the hot file method of grooving my tires and its ALOT better. zero mess and much more consistent grooves. only thing is Ive got blisters on me fingers! from pushing the file through a thousand times.

 

[MrShaft696]

thats a good Idea I have alot of 2x2 18ga ish Ill double that up to make it 2x4 and weld that in. that should keep it pretty stiff.

also I switched to the hot file method of grooving my tires and its ALOT better. zero mess and much more consistent grooves. only thing is Ive got blisters on me fingers! from pushing the file through a thousand times.

what was the method you were using before? I just bit the bullet and bought a groover...

 

[chedisme]

what was the method you were using before? I just bit the bullet and bought a groover...

I tried a knotted wire wheel which worked ok but threw melty rubber everywhere.

Then i tried a skil saw. But it was too cumbersome. Then a 4 inch circle saw blade on a grinder but it was scary and the groooves were too small

Then a sawzall worked very well. But was very inconsistent.

Then i used a ¾ chisel and a small propane torch. Cuts like butter.

 

[MrShaft696]

I tried a knotted wire wheel which worked ok but threw melty rubber everywhere.

Then i tried a skil saw. But it was too cumbersome. Then a 4 inch circle saw blade on a grinder but it was scary and the groooves were too small

Then a sawzall worked very well. But was very inconsistent.

Then i used a ¾ chisel and a small propane torch. Cuts like butter.

haha your crazy, I got a groover from summit for like 60 bucks, saved allot of pain and mess & its fast...
ill share

 

[chedisme]

haha your crazy, I got a groover from summit for like 60 bucks, saved allot of pain and mess & its fast...
ill share

lol thanks. and what is that pic of any way?


stiffs are done. got some 2x8 to start my front bumper. going to pick up every thing else I need to do my x member and rockers tomorrow. they might have the dom for my LCAs too. if not then ill get that monday.

and it turns out they mis-quoted me so my order is going to be about 60$ cheaper. score!

I think Im going to reuse one of my RE radius arms as a traction bar to help keep these springs alive untill im ready to link the rear.

 

[chedisme]

got some shit done today. not as much as I would have liked to but yea. and I didnt take pics because I was too cold and miserable to stop and find my camera.

I got the steel that is going to hold my cross member up tacked in place and cut and measured. this sounds like nothing now that im typing it. but it took awhile to figure out where I want to put it and clean up the parts of my RE kit that are getting re-appropriated to become these pieces.

I got hung up for a little while on nothing, I just had a major brain fart. I just laid under my jeep looking up and cursing to myself.

tomorrow I hope to get the rest of my X member mocked up.

 

[MoparManiac]

I spent plenty of time farting around and thinking, don't worry about it.

Get some pics!

 

[chedisme]

ok so here are some pics of what I got done yesterday.

I took my old RE brackets and cut off there the arms go that left them like this

then I wasen't happy with the way they fit the frame rail after the stiffeners were installed so I cut off the L piece and trimmed down the side that left me with this

I found out the other day that we've had a cutting torch setup this whole time that my father had stashed under the deck.

I think the cut came out pretty good considering Iv never used a torch before

here they are tacked up

their going to get welded all around and bolted through the flange that sticks off of the rail you can see that here

I think Im also going to put a triangle piece up to the frame rail to give it more 3 dimensional strength.

here's the cross member.

I took a piece of .25 wall 2x6 and cut some nifty slots in it

then slipped some .25 plate in them.

look familiar bill. unlike you I will shamelessly steal other peoples designs. I was even going to do that cool little angle thing you did. but got lazy. Ill just fill in the gaps with steel.

I still have to trim down the .25 to fit better under the jeep.

 

[CTeunuch]

Nice progress dude! What are you planning to run for a skid and tranny mount?

 

[chedisme]

well the trany will bolt to the 2x6. then Im planing on doing a separate Xmember for the atlas support. then Ill tie the two together with some 3/16 for something with some small angle welded to the top for RIGITITTY!

im going to go and try to get alittle more done now, but its raining so Idk if Ill get much done.

 

[OverlandZJ]

^^ Matrix shit... :laugh:

Looks good man! But how could you miss those oxy/acetyline tanks?

 

[chedisme]

^^ Matrix shit... :laugh:

Looks good man! But how could you miss those oxy/acetyline tanks?

thanks.

there were under a big black rubber tarp behind some shelves in the corner of the shed with no lights under our deck. I never really go in there. every thing I use is always right inside the door like shovels and rakes and stuff.

 

[chedisme]

so I got some more stuff done. I cant believe how long this dam xmember is taking. I thought it would be the fastest part of all this.

got all my holes drilled at least I thought they were all drilled.

the two pieces on the sides are going to be welded to the jeep. I just wanted to make sure the holes lined up so I drilled them through at the same time.

here it is installed.

Its tucked up there pretty far.

so I cut out the portion I needed so I could sink the rubber mount in...

... and its still too high.there is not enought room for the rubber mount. so I bought some bushed DOM from ruffstuff and Im going to make my own trans mount.

its gonna kinda be like this

the little red line on the left is going to be a piece of plate that bridges to a second bushing set up like the one I drew.

If I realized I was going to do this in the first place I would have pushed the X-member up a little higher.

I think I might start on my 2x6 rockers while I wait for the bushings to showup.