JKS SBS & ARB FIT & FINISH

[chris420]

I needed to make my XJ unibody stronger. The driver side was flexing even with 32" BFG AT's. I ordered the JKS SBS system for both the driver side and passanger side. I currently have an ARB bumper and fitment was a concern sence the ARB is already a tight fit on the unibody. No one has posted a wright up on how to fit an ARB bumper to the JKS SBS system so I figure I better document it to help other people with their concerns. Please be patient with me during this post as I will be adding several pictures tonight.

You need to sand down all the paint off the unibody rails inner and out with an 90 degree die grinder. I used a 4.5" grinder on the outside rail and 60 grit sand paper with my hand on the inside rail. Trust me buy a diegrinder for this job I feel like I wacked off for day's. After I sanded everything down to bare metal I spayed it with Duplicolor Weld through primer. Some one on here told me that the Weld through primer causes splatter and it did. I am glad I masked off the unibody in the areas that I needed to weld but the plates I needed to sand down with a wire wheel. Below are some pictures.

1. Driver side inner prepped and ready to weld

2. Passanger side inner prepped and ready to weld.

4. Driver side outer prepped and ready to weld.

5. Passanger side outer prepped and ready to weld.

6. Crapy Duplicolor Weld Through Primer. It probably help protect against rust but causes splatter.

7. Here are all the parts that the kit comes with. The passanger side is identical to the driver side.

8. You need to strap the steering box out of the way in order to gain access to the unibody. I used a hanger strapped to the hood latch to keep it from falling and a ratchet strap to pull it towards the passanger side. It was still very difficult to get in there and I was not able to fully weld around the sleaves because my gun could get in that small area very well. I do not feel it is neccesary to fully weld the sleave on the inside plate.

9. You need to bolt the steering box into place using the supplied hard ware before you begin to weld. You will notice that I also placed the bumper bolts and the back tow hook bolt in and secured them to insure that the brackets were in perfect allignment before I began to weld. I did need to enlarge the holes on the inner bracket for fitment.

10. The ARB bumper bolts to the bottom of the unibody and the sides. No other bumper on the market bolts to the bottom of the unibody. I feel the ARB bumper is better than most bumpers due to its unique bolt pattern and that this bolt patter helps spread the load to the unibody. Unfortunatly due to the ARB's bolt patern the tow hook option can not be used and you need to hack off the portion on the outer bracket that is used for the tow hook. The ARB bumper comes with intergrated tow hooks so no need to worry just hack away.

 

[Gaius]

I welded some 1/4 in plates on the outside of my rails (AJ's bumper mounts) and my old ARB bumper had enough adjustment in it. I just took the spacer plates out.

 

[chris420]

Well the administrator will not let me edit my post so I gues I can not finish sorry everyone.

 

[1990JEEPXJ]

just continue it now. no need to do it in one post.

 

[chris420]

Ok I will continue I dont understand why there is a restriction on post editing.

You will need to drill out the hole in the passanger side to fit the sleeve through. Refer to picture #2 and you will notice the hole that is not drilled out on the inner passenger side plate.

Here is the passenger side mid progress.

Here is the driver side welded up and primered.

Here are the specs for the ARB bumper from passenger outer mounting bracket to driverside outer mounting bracket.

Here is the spec for the JKS SBS system once welded and ready for the ARB to be instaled. You can see that the tolerances are close. Tomorrow I will install the radiator support brackets and bumper.

 

[chris420]

What I thought was cool about this set up is you can bolt a spare steering box to the passenger side of the unibody. I have always feared snapping a steering shaft and now I can bolt a spare steering box to the passenger side.:loveu:

 

[Gaius]

What I thought was cool about this set up is you can bolt a spare steering box to the passenger side of the unibody. I have always feared snapping a steering shaft and now I can bolt a spare steering box to the passenger side.:loveu:

Or breaking it off the unibody...

 

[Begster]

What I thought was cool about this set up is you can bolt a spare steering box to the passenger side of the unibody. I have always feared snapping a steering shaft and now I can bolt a spare steering box to the passenger side.:loveu:

How do you figure you can bolt a spare steering box to the passenger unibody now? Unless you decided to bolt it to the outside of the rail, the bolt patterns will be reversed. And on most cherokees, those holes were always there because that is where the RHD steering boxes bolt to.

Ok I will continue I dont understand why there is a restriction on post editing.

You have a 45 minute window to edit your posts, after that they are there for good unless removed by a mod. This is because if you notice on other forums, one person says something, encounters decent from others due to incorrect information or inflammatory tones, and then like a little baby goes back and changes his original post to act like he was being bullied.

Its also useful so that if one person is suggesting something, or giving the OP build advice, the results will be after that post, and will have continuity. Rather than having a single post with a bunch of pictures and how the person did it, with a few pages of responses suggesting things that were already done in the fist post.

 

[chris420]

How do you figure you can bolt a spare steering box to the passenger unibody now? Unless you decided to bolt it to the outside of the rail, the bolt patterns will be reversed. And on most cherokees, those holes were always there because that is where the RHD steering boxes bolt to.

You are correct never thought about that. I will make a bracket to reverse it and mount the steering box. I will only use the two most accesible bolt hole locations on the box to mount it. I had not put much thought into mounting a spare on the passanger side because I do not have a spare steering box yet. I forgot that everything is reverse on right hand side vehicles. I will need to do a wright up on this sometime. The SBS kit definatly makes things easy to do this mod.

 

[kastein]

why would you mount a spare steering box under the truck to get hit by things instead of putting it in a box in the cargo area? I am also not sure if it will clear the alternator, the engine accessory layout is different on RHD vehicles to accomodate the steering box and shaft from the column.

Looks good otherwise.

 

[chris420]

why would you mount a spare steering box under the truck to get hit by things instead of putting it in a box in the cargo area? I am also not sure if it will clear the alternator, the engine accessory layout is different on RHD vehicles to accomodate the steering box and shaft from the column.

I noticed that the alternator is in the way and I dont think the spare box will fit there. I might use the area for a compressor instead but not sure. Its on the back burner for now.

 

[chris420]

Radiator braces back on.

 

[chris420]

Here is the Bracket that goes inside the unibody to bolt to the bottom of the ARB.

Bracket in place.

 

[chris420]

This is the inner factory tow hook bracket. I need to do some grinding on it to get the bolts to fit. I did not want to through it away and figured I could intrigrate it to this build.

 

[chris420]

Driver side bumper bracket in place. I needed to use a dead blow on the ARB brackets to bend them out a little. I also neede to take the powder coat off on the inside of the ARB bumper for added clearance. It was still a tight fit but it fit.

Here is a shot from the passenger side.

 

[chris420]

Done. I am very happy with the system. The steering works great and I do not have any creeks and cracking noises comming from the front end. Well worth the money.

 

[fyrfytr1717]

10. The ARB bumper bolts to the bottom of the unibody and the sides. No other bumper on the market bolts to the bottom of the unibody. I feel the ARB bumper is better than most bumpers due to its unique bolt pattern and that this bolt patter helps spread the load to the unibody.

My T&T Customs bumper mounts to both the bottom and sides of the unibody. The brackets also extend much further back on the unibody rails than the ARB brackets. That nutsert the ARB uses may be unique and their bolt pattern may be on par with some other manufacturers, but I don't think its fair to say that it is better than any other serious winch bumper out there.

To mount your new T&T Customs Rock-Runner winch bumper, you get a pair of outer-unibody-braces. These braces double the number of mounting points from your bumper to your unibody - to include the 3 steering box mounting bolts on the driver's side. Also included are through uni-body crush sleeves and all of the hardware needed to complete the installation - standard with your TREKSTM Rock-Runner Winch Bumper purchase.

The portion of the mounting bracket that is bent upward in the above pic gets sandwiched in between your sway bar mounts and the frame. Go ahead, count the bolt holes... :shhh:

 

[whitexj98]

I think any bumper that goes farther back then the ARB is better regardless of 2 bolts on the bottom.

 

[Dundy]

ARB bumpers work awesome at what they're designed to do. They're not meant to not bend. They make weak spots in the bumper so that it takes it in an accident instead of the passenger.

 

[Begster]

ARB bumpers work awesome at what they're designed to do. They're not meant to not bend. They make weak spots in the bumper so that it takes it in an accident instead of the passenger.

Ya, that is the thing most people don't understand, ARBs are designed to bend.

I know you saw first hand me denting mine in that day.

10. The ARB bumper bolts to the bottom of the unibody and the sides. No other bumper on the market bolts to the bottom of the unibody. I feel the ARB bumper is better than most bumpers due to its unique bolt pattern and that this bolt patter helps spread the load to the unibody. Unfortunatly due to the ARB's bolt patern the tow hook option can not be used and you need to hack off the portion on the outer bracket that is used for the tow hook.

I definitely don't feel the ARB mounts are more than adequate, or better than any other bumpers mounting systems on the market, with the exception of the bumper that use just the 3 stock points.

I used to have an ARB on my front, and I had it nearly rip off one time I couldn't make forward progress on ice. There was a loud crack, and one of the guys standing a decent distance dove for cover. When I got out to look, the bumper was tweaked and you could see the mounts had shifted, due to the salt lines from the winter.

The ARB mounts are also why I hacked the old bumper mounts off, and fabricated some mounts out of 1/4" plate that encompass the stock bolts, the steering box holes, as well as the large hole behind the box.

The ARB bumper comes with intergrated tow hooks so no need to worry just hack away.

This is actually incorrect, those two tabs on the bottom are for a hi-lift attachment, they were originally intended to be used for recovery (even though everyone does, as have I). They also bend fairly easy.