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Llama Build- Slowly....

F

Forceful Llama

NAXJA Forum User
Location
MOdesto
Finally have a computer that runs. My desktop's hard drive blew up over the summer so I never had a chance to get a build thread going.

So....

July 2011 I purchased a 92 4.0 XJ with an ax-15, geared 3.73, about 3.5 in of lift, and already lined with a cheap bed liner. Sadly, this was to replace my 89 that had a long list of problems that would have nickled and dimed me and probably still wouldn't have passed smog.

The plan is to slowly strip my XJ of its lift, scrap the body after I take off every spare I could ever need (lights, shafts, bulbs, sensors, etc...) and start the build on the 92.



By whatagoat at 2011-12-13
Current specs-
3.5 procomp lift: add a leaf, fixed lowers, 3.5 coils
4.0 in in front of ax-15, np-231
axles: dana 30 & dana 35 rear geared at 3.73 rolling on 31's

Planned-
5.5 in of lift: 4.5 rubicoon express coils, acos spacers, 4.5 full leaf (RE) 1 in shackles, long arm upgrade of some sort ( still deciding between RE, TnT, and Clayton)
4.0 ax15 np231 SYEd with a woods shaft or if I get lucky at PnP a front off a V8 Grand cherokee as a temp
axles: dana 30 trussed and alloyed, lunch box locker,
either ford 8.8, dana 44 or Chrysler 8.25 in the rear geared 4.10 or
4.56 ( just looking for a pnp 1/2 off special or used most likely)
-gonna be running 33'3. opinions of gearing?
homebrew sliders mounted on the frame rails after I add some unibody reinforcement
JCr or homemade front bumper
Better quality bed liner

I am sure the list will grow as I tear down the old one

I'll post some pics shortly once I get an imaging site going.


2011122.jpg

By whatagoat at 2011-12-13
2011121.jpg

2011120.jpg

By whatagoat at 2011-12-13
 
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Well bummer... Ax15 took a dump on me on the way to work today. Not sure if its the slave or not yet. Will not shift at all no matter how far I put clutch in or yank on the shifter. So much for hiking this weekend. Gonna pull it out on Sunday and take a look.
 
 
for gearing id say its a function of cost.
if you end up going to a shop to have fresh gears put in id say 4.88 with 33s. i ran 4.88s on 31s for a while, totally do-able for a short period of time.

but if you are trying to keep it real cheap, beef up the rear, and get rear discs, id say, find a for 8.8 at pnp.
half off day is even better. ideally a 4.10 LS rear for 1/2 off is your best bet(prob pay around 75$ on half off weekend and you get 31 spline shafts, rear discs, 4.10s, and LS.)

then the front at that point gives you options:
there are 4.10 dana 30s on c list alot. or find a 4 banger on half off day with the 4.10s and grab that. or you can peice together a front locker gears , and carrier, and just pay the labor for the front end and keep it relativly cheap. )
4.10 d30 end at pnp 285 (about 142$ on half off day)
4.10 8.8 LS at pnp 160 (about 80$ on half off day)
if you get lucky on a half off day you can be geared and have one traction device knocked out for aroun 230$.
theres a dana 30 lockright on sf bay clist right now for 100$.
330 out the door and you are geared and locked front and rear...
of course youll need to SOA the 8.8 (ruffstuff has the kit for around 100$ to red members)
and the 8.8 flange can be bought at any local driveline shop for around 28$.

still not too shabby...
and your rear end is plenty strong to run 35s (even 37s with the chromos and c clip elims) when you finally go that high)

i
 
Was already considering the 8.8 for all the reasons stated. My nephew can weld so perches wouldnt be a problem hopefully. Discs, LS ( not great but better then nothing...), and beef are all selling points to it. For 4.88 gears in a Dana 30 I have heard and read the part of the gears themselves become the weak point. Any experience or opinions?

But for now, priority is getting it back on the road. Have a friend coming over now to help look over the tranny and take a look. I'm new to the whole manual transmission driving and symptoms. My best guess is its the slave inside. So I have to decide if I want to source a 94 or newer for the external, replace and forget, or buy a reman at a shop. Figure I can come up with a grand or so if I sell some stocks from work they give us every year.
 
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Since you have a manual trans, the 3.73's, I think, would do alright with 33's, but lower will help.
 
So I just put in a new master cylinder for now. Shifts much easier now then before it went out, just need to bleed the system better. I know I should replace the slave too, I just don't have it in me to do it right now. Hopefully this lasts long enough for me to source the parts for the 94+ bellhousing swap.

Next step- Spend next weekend removing lift from the old jeep and possibly buying a SYE kit. Unless of course the slave goes out now that there is pressure in the system...
 
Well, my Luk clutch and slave kit came in yesterday. Started to remove the transmission with the help of my brother in law... Gonna be a pain in the a$$. Think we have everything disconnected except for cps. Going to continue the removal tomorrow since I need to start getting ready for work. Never had to drop a 4x4 transmission before, it has a few more parts then the last one I removed from a econo van. Hope fully we can get another clear window from the rain.
 
Got the transfer case out, transmission is stuck in though. Going to try again in the morning with better lighting and a hopefully another set of hands. The xj should be back on the road by thus or fri.

With taxes coming back soon I am torn between long arm upgrades, getting an 8.8 to build, or swapping in my old axles with the (dana 30/chrys 8.25) with 3.55's and locking the rear. The gearing sucks, but its a free upgrade for the rear end.
 
Did you get the e-torx bolts from the top of bellhousing out?
 
Ya, plan on changing those to some standard ones. Missed 2 on the dust shield on top by the engine side in the failing light last night. Crawled under today and said "ahh fu...", 2 minutes later its sitting pretty on the ground.

Today before work I am going to do the slave and clean up the grime. Tmw I plan on doing the clutch after work. It looks a little old and my Luk kit came with one. It was the same price online for the full kit as it was to buy the slave from napa. Same brand even. Friday hopefully I will be putting it back in to take her for a test drive.
 
Well I have had the new clutch and hydraulics in for about a week now.Shifts so much better. All in all pretty straight forward job. Total was about 14-16hrs taking my time and doing it over the courser of a few days in addition to getting ready to move. Sorry but no pics. Hands were way to greasy. I plan to source a 94+ bellhousing for when this happens again I can do the swap to an easier system to fix.

So with taxes coming back I am on the lookout for a set of axles with 4.10 gearing or better. If anyone knows of a set let me know. Gonna be hunting pick and pulls in the meantime. Also gonna be ordering a set of the shackle relocation brackets next week. Maybe buying some more bed liner spray for fender flares and rocker panels.
 
So got the old RE short arm lift off, gonna pull any useful sensors tmw before heading to work. Should be sent to pick and pull this weekend. I really need to dig out my camera while i work on stuff...

I'm gonna have about 800 to spend on gears and install unless I can score a set of axles on Craigslist for around the same with at least 4.56 gears. Going to pick and pull thus to find a front drive shaft off a grand Cherokee to get things for sye that I'm ordering this week.
 
Not much new on the jeep lately. Been busy helping a friends dad remodel his bathroom.

Installed my old grant steering wheel the other day.
Ordering an advanced adapters SYE kit when I get home from work tonight and heading to pick and pull in the morning to locate a grand cherokee front shaft to save a few bucks til later.
May be taking my old axles down to a local shop to get gears installed next week since I have a few days off in a row to do some stuff. Unless I go fishing.
 
Finally got around to ordering the sye from AA and they shipped me 2 conversion pieces for a v8 gm into a cj7 instead. So that's on hold which is fine because I still haven't located a front shaft off a grand Cherokee that's long enough.

Plan in starting on the RE short arm kit I have tmw, didn't think it thru correctly. I forgot to order longer u bolts. Do places like autozone carry longer ones or is that an online purchase?
 
summit is pretty cheap and usually ships crazy fast. i ordered 2 sets of u bolts for my willys and they came within 2 days each time.
 
I have considered them and iron man fab too. Long arms will be on hold until later this year unless I come up on some extra money. I have the old RE short arm 4.5 kit off my old rig that I plan to run until I can afford something better. It worked out ok with me.

I already picked up a hp 30 with 4.88s so I'll be going with that ratio it looks like. If I ever bump up to 35s I think I made the right choice. Now I need to find a rear end with gears installed or drag my old 8.25 off of my sisters lawn and see if it was a 27 or 29 spline. It held up fine with 33s for about 3 years so I'm hoping it's 29 so I can just get it geared. Also grabbed currie steering when I bought the front end so that's on less thing to upgrade later on. It also came with what looks like kevins off road track bar, which I may run in favor of the re1600 one I have.
 
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