Project "Constructive Deconstruction"

[VAhasnoWAVES]

I built the crossmember on my old zj and built it like the claytons crossmember. That's what I will be doing on mine with an upper link mount for the 3 link like what your planning. Will stay tuned to your build

:thumbup:

Keep your crossmember and use Brian's 3 link kit?

thought about it... i really dont want the giant plate inside the cab. which looks like it does a lot to support the link mounts.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

typical saturday in the garage. never looks like i get a lot done, but in actuality a lot gets done with more tan 2-4 hours at my disposal. first order of business...

a 15mm impact socket was lost in the frame rail when i was removing the one of my UCAs. needed to retrieve that....i used the big magnet to locate it, grab it, and roll it to the bend in the frame rail. then i scooped it with the telescoping magnet... success!

knowing that my steering arm will work, i decided to pull the steering box. i plan to replace it. aside from the sector shaft having play... i originally bought my bumper from wheeler. when installing it, i stripped out one of the mounting holes. which lead to it getting drilled out, some of the casting ground, and a through bolt/nut being installed. that would the the forward/bottom hole.

when removing the box... i couldnt get the return line to spin freely from the fitting. i might have kinked it a little. :gee: luckily its a cheap part.

thought this was interesting... the internet makes it sound like these things explode. mine is fine. i have some steering pops, thats one likely culprit weeded out.

got the front completely stripped and all fitted up. but this is one thing i needed to address. my bumper (supposedly a JCR prototype) uses these tie in brackets. they are considerably thicker than that stiffeners. i decided to cut the stiffeners to accommodate, and i will weld on the tie in bracket. should have access to an iron worker next week to punch holes into it for rosette welds, if not... ill buy a step drill to do the trick.

 

[kmanxj5050]

I've never had a steering box spacer survive.

But I've never worked on a jeep that lived most it's life in the South

 

[podm98c]

Funny thing is I just put a front bumper on my rust posted and of all things I'd figured would break was that spacer and mine didnt... how I got that lucky idk but I upgraded to one from ironrock anyways.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

cut my hunting weekend short to come home and make some money, i sold my 9, time to rip it out of the ass end of the jeep and start looking to stick the new 9 in... that sounded bad.

but i was able to pick up material for my new long arms and crossmember along the way. being an alum and staying in touch with students as a resource/reference has its perks. one of my buddies works at alro and got me a heck of a deal on steel. $100 later...

4' sticks, 2 @ 2x.25 (lowers), 1 @ 1.75x.120 (upper), 1 @ 1.5x.25 (trackbar). and ~30" of 2x6x.25 box for the middle section, and 2x6x.200 C channel for the ends. ive got all the plate i need and know ill have scrap... the gump misread my texts, so i had to get more C channel cut on the spot, but it was worth the wait. when i got home... i also had a heavy ass box from barnes waiting for me thanks to brian from HDOffroad.

when big isnt big enough...

ive got 1.25s for the lowers, and .875s for the upper and trackbar. also got their frame mounts, brackets, and trackbar brackets.



i should be set for a while.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

i am very close to being 100% construction phase, as all of the deconstruction is about done. the last thing left is to pull the hitch and relocation brackets in order to fab a new rear bumper. id also like to stitch the relocation brackets on...

but i am going to wait on the relocation brackets until i decide what i am going to do with leafs... i have a pretty hard gangster lean, and my suspicions were correct... the passenger side sees a lot more torque load, and its worn. REs response was to simply swap them side to side. which is what i was going to do, but i am entertaining the idea of new leafs before i weld on the relocation brackets. decisions decisions.

but for now... the mids are done and im going to focus on the front stiffeners. by the time i am done with all of the stiffeners and 3 link, im pretty sure ill have a little more funding. so we will see what happens.

for now,i am officially full hover jeep mode.

disregard the 38... i just want the wheel out of it. lol.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

now that ive got all my 3 link parts, i wanted to double check some things... so i did a little basic 2D modeling. may be a little hard to see whats going on, but through the range of motion (and then some) the pinion angle never goes into the danger zone, and the shaft compression is basically negligible. now i see why those who have built 3 links boast, "follow these basic rules and you cant really go wrong." despite the space constraints, it kind of builds itself.

stiffener welding continues...

how i addressed the bumper tie ins. you can spy the holes i punched for plug welds. the iron worker worked so well, i may make and mark my plates for the crossmember, and take them to school again. im heading home for thanksgiving. putting miles on the lease. lol.

and all done... on one side. tackling the other this wekend.

i will likely go back and add a fish plate between the front stiffener and bumper tie in, and the front stiffener and mid stiffener before i paint... but for now its primed.



ive also started making lists... because ive been trying to remember a lot lately.

 

[Fore Wheeler]

You need a whiteboard

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

im still in poor college kid mindset...

 

[Fore Wheeler]

$30

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001...whiteboard&dpPl=1&dpID=31ZkvaPKd2L&ref=plSrch

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

but then you gotta buy markers... and an eraser...

thats how they freakin get ya.





christmas is around the corner.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

Actually... Black Friday is around the corner. There are a few things that I am hoping to capitalize on.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

took my baby to the cleaner today... got a few odd looks at the coin wash as i pulled the engine hoist out of the bed and wrestled the axle off the truck. i found a cracked weld in the truss, so i wanted the axle squeaky clean so that i can go over it with a fine tooth comb to further inspect all the welds.

for some reason the hubs were not working after i got back from the coin wash. this was the first time ive really played with the 44, so i will have to investigate (and had planned to go through it anyways). the locking mechanism turns easy, but it simply is not engaging the shaft. doesnt make any noise, and doesnt add any resistance when i turn the rotor... idk. if there is any consolation, the differential works as advertised and the backlash feels nice and tight. so there is that. more on the 44 later.

i am going to put off the rear stiffeners and axle for a little. so with the front stiffeners finished the next order of business is a crossmember. the iron worker at school worked so well, i said "screw drilling holes, im going to use it again." so i marked everything. and accounted for the width of a cut off wheel between the plates. i left it all as one plate instead of 4 little ones, as it is easier to use the iron worker that way.

i might have messed up once. lol. but it should leave plenty of room for a socket even after a weld.

probably wont get a lot done next weekend other than order more goodies.





HAPPY THANKSGIVING MWC.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

there were a few small items that i knew i would be needing, but with black friday around the corner, i waited. i didnt go crazy, lol. but manage to pick up a few things that ill need for the build... a new steering box spacer (JCR), as well as shock mounts for the rear axle and a tapered insert (both ruff stuff) for my pitman arm.

these arrived after i realized i was an idiot and marked my plates wrong. 10 points to whoever can spot the problem. lol.

oil pan gasket, rear main, and crossmember fabbing is on the docket for this weekend.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

got most of what i wanted to do done...

oil pan dropped.

rear main out...

everything installed without an issue. fingers crossed for no leaks. lol.

got one side done on the crossmember. im pretty happy with how it turned out. once i get both sides done and the trans supported, ill start placing the upper.

in semi-related news... in less than 9 weeks ill be on the lake bed in johnson valley for KOH.

 

[John D]

Needs more cylinders...

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

so... progress was slow today because i spent a good portion of it modifying the one control arm mount that i already had hung. it was pretty close to the exhaust, so i shortened it up a good bit. then started fabbing the drivers side.

welds arent anything to write home about, but im sure itll hold, considering i never drive the piece of junk.

so... with both control arm mounts hung, the exhaust clear, and the driveshaft clear, its time to start the crossmember. with the manual trans i need to drop the crossmember a little, which i built into my design. but the more i look at it, the more i think i want to sump the trans mount into the crossmember, instead of dropping the crossmember... considering itll be 2" thick.

also... got renewed my registration on the jeep. fire up chips!

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

decided to sump the crossmember.... after moving the crossmember back up one position the crossmember nets about a 3/4" drop. since the exhaust and trans are fixed to each other, i just havent moved the plates yet. lol. it has additional structure inside the notch, and enough room to protect the studs. not completely happy with it yet, so no pictures of the specifics, but its getting close.

met a local guy today to do some dealing. his jeep had the clayton 3 link and rear coil conversion... so of course i was all over it. also... picked up some 5125s for the rear. barely used, at BOGO pricing.

 

[XJ-ARNIE]

I'm sure someone else already said something but those jackstands are pretty crafty. Nice build by the way. I can dig it. What modeling program are you using?

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

im on NX9 now.

but i went through college using mostly catiaV5.