Project: Big Blue

[JMO4yaXJ]

Specs: 98/ 4.0/ AW4/ 231 SYE(for now)
narrowed 92 BJ Dana 60 front, 4340 inner shafts, welded, 5.38s, Modified ruffstuff diff cover, custom truss
79 Dana 60 rear, machined for 35 spline 4340 shafts, 5.38s, spooled, disk brakes, Rockcrusher cover, custom truss
Redneck Ram hydro assist
38x12.50x16.5 TSL on H1s with Coppehead Fab rock ring

3-link front w/ Ballistic joints, 4.5" coil spring w/ inch spacer
custom rear leaf moved back about 3 inch w/ traction bar
Fox remote resi up front 90/60 valving, swayaway piggybacks on rear
1-5/8 x .134" wall EWS interior custom cage
wb @ 106"
Jeep height is just a hair over 6 ft tall
27" to the rockers
21" to the belly
and lots more.
On to the build..... I have had this Jeep for 8 years(bought it stock) and went through many stages with it, every one making it preform better offroad, but also showed it limitations of the the stock axles and suspension design. This last stage has taken almost two years to finish(this is why I didn't start a build page then) It will never be done if you know what I mean but here it is for now.
8 years ago just put a 3 in lift, 31x10.5s, bumper and waxed her up it was my DD(someday I wished i would have left it this way:shaking

8 years later (posers shot measuring for my rear bumps)

I wanted to keep this looking like a cherokee hence the reason for not cutting it at the firewall and building a buggy (that will be down the road with a real chassis)

started with this rustbucket

cut it to fit a 78-79 shaft(was not fun getting the tube out of the innner c)

starting trussing it and mocking up all my mounts, I used Ballistic mounts for the coils and lower arm mounts everything else I made.

kept builiding and ended up with this

 

[JMO4yaXJ]

boxed the frame with 3/16's

also redid the inner front fender for tire clearance

had the make a new batt mount because of this

 

[JMO4yaXJ]

a-pillar legs going through the floor tying into rockers and body( b-pillar also does this)

b-pillar doing the same

seat mounts

notches for the x behind seats:smokin:

made the dash bar removable and added a grab handle

coming toghether in the front

rear seats

 

[JMO4yaXJ]

some of the cage finished

rear shock mounts

crossmember started as a rusty's offroad I had on it, I cut it up so it would sit higher between the unibody rails and added the lower link mounts and boxed them in.

all tucked up

then I made 2nd crossmember that is removeable and serves as the traction bar mount. I tied the crossmember to the traction bar mount with a piece of dimpled die 1/8" to form the belly skid that will be skinned with uhmw.

as you can see I made some dimpled boatside they will also get sking with uhmw

 

[JMO4yaXJ]

some fun in the snow
Fun in the snow 11/23/11 - YouTube

This isn't really up to date but it will be soon. Iv'e been working on it a bit this winter but with having our first baby boy in December, I have been a little preoccupied with the little guy :yelclap:

 

[beakie]

really great work done there. some original ideas too.
congrats on the little guy, my first just turned 9 months... they do occupy a lot of time, but worth every moment.

 

[Ghost]

Nice. Did you recenter the H1's? What BS you running?

 

[XJLI]

nice build dude. built up full body cherokees are my fave.

 

[Boostwerks.com]

nice build dude. built up full body cherokees are my fave.

X2. Looks Fantastic! :yelclap:

 

[whitexj98]

Looks good! Shoulder belt mounts are a bit low but I guess your not really goin fast in it!

 

[JMO4yaXJ]

Looks good! Shoulder belt mounts are a bit low but I guess your not really goin fast in it!

look closer, I have tubing that supports the belts so they can't compress all the way down to the mounts, end up being about an inch below my shoulders.
oh yeah I am going fast, hence the cage and harnesses.

 

[JMO4yaXJ]

Nice. Did you recenter the H1's? What BS you running?

Thanks, the H1's are stock, I'm running 1-1/2" spacers and it just clears. new centers are on the list to do, probably go with 4.5" bs.

 

[rweaver138]

nice work

 

[Vanimal]

looks great man. what lake is that?

 

[FlexdXJ]

Nice rig dude. Good to see more built gunmetal blue rigs popping up!

 

[Vanimal]

Nice rig dude. Good to see more built gunmetal blue rigs popping up!

i love that color. best xj color IMO.

 

[techno1154]

I like the way you did the unirail stiffners,....alot less holes but larger to ensure a good weld. Those with a thousand + mini holes are a turn off.

Very good build.

 

[Vanimal]

I like the way you did the unirail stiffners,....alot less holes but larger to ensure a good weld. Those with a thousand + mini holes are a turn off.

Very good build.

the heat from welding anneals the unibody in that area, so the smaller the welds the better. the heat zone spreads farther than the weld, so if you do a hole in the center of the frame rail that has a diameter of about 1/3 of the height of the rail, that heat probably softened the steel from top to bottom, causing a signifigant weak point.
and also think of it this way, if you were using screws to fasten the stiffener to the thin sheetmetal, would it make more sense to use a few giant screws, or a bunch of small screws? there's only so much holding 20ga sheetmetal can do in one concentrated area, it's much better to spread that load throughout.

 

[JMO4yaXJ]

Got the engine skid done and then skined it with some uhmw, the is crossmember skid and engine skid bolt to one another and are both removable, I bought a Fumoto Oil Drain Valve W/ Nipple so I could do oil changes with out dropping the uhmw and engine skid :smokin:
started with 1/8 stainless that had laying around and added bacing to it.

then dimpled it and welded nuts to it so the uhmw could be bolted to it

all on the jeep before the uhmw

then with the uhmw cut, beveled,routed,bent and holes countersunk I bolted it on with 5/16 ss tapered allen bolts

 

[MoparManiac]

Nice job dude, I like it.