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Pahl McAllister's Pre-runner/Rock Crawler

PahlMc

PahlMc

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Scripps Ranch (San Diego)
After 9 years of desert racing starting as a broke college kid (4 of those in a class 5 bug I built) I decided my wallet needed a break. However off-roading was still required! The solution was a TJ! Then after owning it for 4 months I realized I am way too big for that tiny thing...and the real solution is an XJ!

So last July I found a mostly built well maintained XJ with power everything and working AC. I sold every other thing I owned with wheels and the Jeep became my toy and daily driver (I worked 6 miles from home).

The first picture below is when I bought it. RE 6" drop bracket lift, XJ Dana 44 with Detroit, HP Dana 30 LSD, geared to 4.56:1 on 35" KM2s.

The plan and the reason I'm posting in the Jeepspeed section: Keep it very rock crawl ready, but build it for pre-running. 2.5" shocks front and rear, Deavers, long arms, and more than likely coilovers in the front. Custom steering, cage, race radio/intercom/GPS.

The goal: Use the Jeep at least 6 times per year either 4x4 or pre-running/Chase Jeep.

This thread is mostly for me to keep tabs on this project and my 4x4 "career". I had a similar one with my bug and its so amazing to re-read and see how much it went through the 5 years I owned it. Below will be some updates and stories from year 1 as well as picture.

I will explain what decisions I made and why specifically about the go-fast(ish) part of the thread. The rock crawl stuff is pretty basic I think. All comments welcome, I have thick skin and ignore idiots really well. Again, this thead is for me mostly.
 
Okay now for the first few trips and upgrades. The weekend after I bought it I decided Big Bear was in order. Asked my friend to go up with me and found a hill to get a little flexy. ABSOLUTELY nothing special, but I hadn't been wheeling in a while.



We ran Holcomb Creek and had a blast. The Jeep is a little tippy and stock steering with 35" tires was sketch.

 
So the steering was a week link and flopping was a possible outcome but my friend asked to run John Bull a few weeks later...I'm in! Never ran it, what could go wrong?

Okay only the steering thing happened on this trip, I flopped it in Pismo two trips later, no pictures though. Parts inspired by my old race car....and afternoon later and I had the steering I wanted.




Oh did I mention my wife actually broke the steering? Yeah she gets after it more than me, here she is before the stock steering looked like a U

 
And a side note before I end tonight, my friend did this right after my wife got where she got:

More on year one of this Jeep tomorrow and the upgrades to date. I'm still fighting with photobucket and my new phone. Before I sign off I wanted to list the trips this jeep went on in Year one.

1) Big Bear (Holcomb Creek and some random stuff)
2) Big Bear (John Bull)
3) Big Bear (Dishpan Springs so I guess Arrow Head)
4) Pismo Beach
5) Ocotillo Wells and the 4x4 proving grounds
6) Rowher Reservoir
7) Johnson Valley
8) Big Bear (John Bull round two)
9) Miller Jeep Trail in Gorman
10) Missed a trip last weekend, more on that later....not good!

So after owning it for 12 months I went on 9 trips. I'm hitting my target of at least once every two months so far! I just moved to San Diego so time for so southern 4x4 trails!
 
nice dude. Since you're in San Diego, you need to come wheel Lawrence Welk with some of us. It's right up in Escondido.
 
When did you come to Pismo, your heep looks familiar?
As I am sure most do the same, I always notice XJ's when they are around town.
 
Well after three says of trying to figure it out I seem to have lost most of the pics from the trips listed above. However I do have the pics of upgrades and some damage so I'll start to list what I've done and why so far....then get into the current status of my Jeep (it's at Jeep right now :()

So the second trip out the wife put a bend in the ZJ steering. I didn't actually fix it until after the Luecern trip...I just put the spare steering I had on and ran it a few more trips. I did however require a diff cover upgrade. We were getting some stock-ish XJ's up the waterfall on Dishpan springs when a SAS Xterra showed up and wanted to go by. I ran down the hill and backed my Jeep out of the way so he could take the fun line on the right....I backed up right into a huge rock

I got lucky and it didn't leak or hinder the ring gear from spinning! But some 1/4" weld it yourself diff covers front and rear were needed!
. $100 for both shipped to the house and I got to pull out the squirt gun. I painted them up and headed to Pismo the following month. Not exactly a place to test them out, it just happened to be my next trip.
 
No pictures but I also added a B&M Transmission cooler and two converted HID hella 500's I saved from my old race car. The HID's were enough in Pismo but not as much light as I was used to (I had 8 HIDs on the car). The solution? Buy an new axle for the front of the Jeep (don't worry, it will all make sense in a minute).

So after the wife didn't like how hard we had to push the front of the jeep over certain things with the LSD front, and watching our friends wife driver her dual ARB 4-runner over even harder lines with ease, I decided a front locker was needed. I came across an HP dana 30 with ARB and chromo axles for $1100. It was 100% bolt in and I knew I could sell my LSD/4.56 HP axle with HD diff cover

Did this (its always an odd feeling when your daily driver has NO front axle or springs, or shocks under it)

Then mounted this
Had to really tuck it in there. If you haven't seen the ARB conpressor it swivels and turns and rotates a million ways and I needed every one of those.
Then I connected this guy

So with the locker I knew there would be even more force on the steering so it brings me back to the steering upgrade. you can see the new ARB diff cover in this pic.
. The first test was J/V for a shooting trip with a little off-roading on the side. No pics of that trip anymore sadly.
 
So I mentioned the solution to my light problem was to buy a new front axle. What I ended up doing was selling my old front axle for $200 and a 30" LED light bar. Currently I have both the bar and the HID's on the roof rack but the bar is more than enough for the speed my jeep will see. I'll most likely sell the HIDs.

So now that we had a locker in the front we decided to try John Bull again. OMG it was amazing. Driving up the line you want instead of pivoting or sliding was great. And I'm pretty sure since the tire climbs up the rocks we are putting less stress on the steering most of the time. Bottom line the crawl portion of this build was done. Time to focus on the go-fast plan and parts purchasing!
 
The go-fast plan: Review suspension geometry and make changes as needed. Purchase 4 high end shocks (brand doesn't matter, just needs to be one of the quality companies). Budget for hydro-assist steering (Lower priority). Figure out what to do about the cage. My Avcomm intercom is portable so that just goes in a padded bag, so mount the race radio and enjoy! My goal is to have the basics done by year two (4 shocks and basic suspension figured out).
 
First thing I did was buy rear shackle relocators. The spring/shackle combo on the Jeep had the angle all wrong. Now I not only have what I want for now, but I just found some used Deavers and when I swap them in I can pick the best angle once again! No rear shock plans yet, it may have to wait for a cage. My plan was a neat little cantilever shock set u under the XJ. But OMG there is no room at all. So, through the cargo area they will go, but down the read.

The front took me some time to come to terms with. Of course long arms were on top of my list, and I have all of the parts/material all priced out and ready to go if I choose to. But for now I'm sticking with the drop bracket kit and here's why:

At this point i am limited to 9" of front travel. I get spring separation on droop and I can't get any more up travel unless I cut/trip the fenders and sheet metal a bunch (well without going down to 33" tires). For now, lets call this phase 1, I'm trying to keep the body mostly in tact. I will say I HATE coil buckets so I know coilovers will be on this beast eventually.

So here was the answer for now. T&J Uppers and I built the lowers making sure the shock cycles without any issues. I did leave room for more up travel if I do take a puck out of the bumps.




So basically I have 9" of travel damped by 2.5" SAW shocks with 3.0 reservoirs and the hose coming off the bottom! If you know shocks and hate cavitation this is the right set up. Bought these from another NAXJA member!
 
So thats basically where it is now. I've done a ton if fixing and maintaining but thats no fun to post. Here is a picture of some trip to big bear with my usual team. I'm really looking forward to wheeling in San Diego now that I'm down here! This Jeep basically stays prepped 100% of the time.







 
I have no clue where to host and then how to post a video but I do have one of me almost rolling on a not so hard rock. I'll try to figure that out and then update this thread. For now I'll leave all you with a question about what you would do about a cage. Ultimately I need to make a decision that works for me, but other's input never hurt.

The way i see it there are four options:
1) Bolt in cage
2) Pre-bent/notched cage
3) Full blown race style pro-fabbed cage
4) Exo (either I build or pay someone)

The bolt in cage has three advantages. Cheap, I don't have to take the entire jeep apart to save the interior from weld and fab damage, and I could have it sooner/longer. The massive downside is its on the weak side and not up to a high speed roll without some added fab.

The pre-bent cage is at the top of my list. Like the next three options the jeep will have to be taken apart a ton and then I'll have to do a lot of adding to it. The benefit is it's on the cheap side so I could get the basics in now and add to it later. But do I really want to take the Jeep apart again down the road?

I have a plethora of fabricator friends having raced for so long. I can have them build me a race inspired cage. The big advantage is its freaking awesome. The downside is not only cost but space. That many tubes makes getting you and your stuff in and out tougher. Since this is mostly a crawler i don't know if I want to do that.

An exo/hybrid cage is high on my list right now as well. You have to make a few small compromises on strenth, but this isn't going to be a jeep speed where I push the limits at 60 MPH. The exo has the added benefit of pretection on the outside and a lot less welding on the interior. A-pilar is basicaly outside as well as the halo. C-pilar and a B-pilar can be brought into the Jeep with much less invation of my space and with minimal damage to the interior. Downside is it looks WAY less street friendly to cops and others, takes the sleeper look away.

So...what am I missing? Any re-sale market for the bolt in cage? Get that now and save for another option later but have some protection for the time being? THANKS!
 
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