Project: Hellride. A 1978 J-10

I like the sounds of the the 465/241/205. Seems to be cheap,easy, and reliable.
 
i welded some metal around to make a spare tire mount.

forgot to put that lil update in

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i plan on making the crossbar from shock hoop to shock hoop removable, so i can still actually use by bed as a bed. between the fuel cell, shocks, and spare tire, there isnt much room back there. Also going to gusset it in some key areas. but it gets the job done and looks cool.
 
i figure im gonna list the order of mods ima gonna do.

it will help me remember.

step 1: new wheels, rear suspension. i need lesser backspaced wheels that arent bent, and new leaves, probably a beefed up jeep yj leaf pack, or small lift yj pack, and get rid of some of my bumpstop and shorten my shackles a little.

step 2: gears. right now i have a np465 going to a np205. i want to stick a 241 inbetween them and twinstick it at the same time. will also build a belly pan for my new extended drivetrain.

step 3: bumpers and plated rocker panels. going to probably weld some 3/16" straight to my rocker panels, and tie them into the frame using some generic sleeved bushings ( so i can still isolate the cab from the frame and remove the cab if needed)

future steps are too far down the road, but include horsepower, and cages. I don't plan on doing much rockcrawling this season, but its nice to have a truck that drives decent, and can get me on the trails.
 
Just bough a pair of brand new military wrap leaf springs. Fabtech 3.5" lift yj rears. For 56 bucks each with free shipping. Amazon.com is awesome. Did some research and the yj guys love them. Will definately be an upgrade over my temporary yj leaves in back. If i had known these were so cheap i would have tried them from the start.
 
put in those leaf springs.

Before I was running stock yj rears with an xj main tossed in. now i'm running fabtech 3.5" yj rears. I am sitting about 5" taller than before. I really hope they settle at least an inch and a half, or else i'm gonna have to cut my shackles down. the butt sits tall.

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I also parked next to a small car to make me feel like a monster truck

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started working on it again.

Drivetrain time.

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Going with a sm465 from an 87 one ton chevy, 241 from an unknown 92 chevy in the middle, and at the end a np205 from an 86 chevy. all are 32 spline.

Going to go with Trail Tech Fab for my doubler kit and twinstick kit, as mike has been a huge help when i was trying to track down all the drivetrain parts I needed, and he is pretty local to me.

Over the weekend i just put a new clutch in it and swapped in a hydraulic clutch bellhousing. still using the mechanical linkage with it for now (just needed a little modification) Going to put all the hydro goodies in there this week.

bellhousing and release fork comparison

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as you can tell I have a rear main seal leak, hopefully will tackle that sometime this week too.

also made my traction bar crossmember removable. Might have to chop it all out and shorten the traction bar a little bit though when i do the doubler. I might be able to clock the 205 high enough to clear it, but its gonna be close.

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that traction bar really help? Didn't you run one on your XJ(s) too?
 
that traction bar really help? Didn't you run one on your XJ(s) too?

never had one on an xj.

If you dont have one, you don't know what you are missing.

I NEEDED one with the supple yj leaf springs and the big ol' pinion of the 14 bolt. just giving it a little gas would bind up the rear u joint.

But now I can bring it up to 5k rpms, dump the clutch and it will just spin em' for a bit then hook up. no bad noises, no axle wrap, no axle hop, its pretty awesome. Same goes for wheeling, it feels real solid back there and just plain works. no hop, no wrap, no noise.
 
mmm been contemplating putting one on mine. My packs are only 4 leaf packs and if I really rip on it i can feel it binding a bit in the rear. Just wanted your opinion on it thanks.
 
yea I did quite a bit of damage to my leaf packs at nacfest. and that was only one weekend. once you go big tires/axles/lead feet, its pretty important.

you lose the carburetor yet?
 
Still got the carb, just havent been very motivated all summer, now that the weather is getting more comfortable i find myself wanting to work on it more. I needed a break from the nonstop month of wrenching prior to nacfest
 
heres a boring update.

Converted my truck to hydraulic clutch. used everything from a 1987 chevy k30

worked out pretty good if i must say so myself.

Here is the brackettry i had to make to get the master cylinder pushrod mounted at the right angle for my existing pedal setup. Length was about perfect. Used a remote resivoir setup. Works mint.

The firewall got sandwiched between the 2 fabricated pieces.

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Had to shorten the fluid line a little bit too, no big deal with a bubble flaring tool.

Heres all the stuff

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Heres it all mounted (sorry for the bigass blurry pics, get over it)

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got some wider hubs on the back. I should now be at 71" wms-wms back there. (still running the wheel spacers too)

this allowed me to lower it a bit and still have good suspension travel because my tires arent smashing into my bed floor anymore.

So i put the old stock yj leaves with the xj main wrapped over them in. got rid of about 2-2.5" of bumpstop. and In the front I simply took out the bottom leaf in the pack.

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Handles better and rides nicer, I feel like less of a redneck now.
 
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