Project Tech Snob

Had a Tech Support day a while back and everyone pitched in to help. Unfortunately ... I had to take a few steps backwards to undo some of the help that was given to me. A weak spring in the transmission was letting the trans slip into reverse without using the shifter gates. After taking the transmission out and disassembling ... a new spring and extra poppet ball hold reverse firmly in place and gives it a little extra snap. The 2nd poppet ball is smaller than the OE one, so the increased pressure is not as great as you might think. :cheers:



Vetteboy was one of the folks who came over to help in the Tech day. He cut out side plates (following a pre-made template) so that I could continue boxing in the frame rail. Also visible is the patch I made for the rotted out metal behind the front spring mount. The light grey paint is the Zinc Primer that I've been using.



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Another friend of mine (Jim K.) was the man who made the side & lower templates (out of cereal box) for me some time prior to the tech day. I do not remember who cut these out for me. My apologies!



260.jpg





Like all other welding .... these are perimter & plug welded to ensure stiffness and maximum rigidity. By tying 2 sides together (outside & bottom) the structure is stiffer than a simple outside plate.


Still no substitute for a real frame. :sad1:




*edit* Finally able to load the last picture ... Bitch thing !!
 
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A lot of everything I had hanging around the shop.



Some include:

Aircraft Stripper
Putty knife
Wire wheels (on grinder & pneumatic grinder)
Sandpaper
Paint Removal disc (the black one with the weird overlapping weave)
Scotchbrite pads (hand held and grinder powered ones).
D/A Sander


They all had a limited area to work in ... but with that many options, I was able to get it all.
 
Jeepers cats! I just finished reading though *most* of this entire thread, I did skim over some of the suspension geometry as it was over my head to begin with . . .

That being said, Joe you are doing a fantastic job, and I wouldn't expect anything less from you. I had my 98 XJ up to your shop in a December a few years back, '07 or '08 maybe? Anyways, you did my gears for me, and let me hang around for the work. I remember your blown XJ sitting in that left bay waiting for it's turn on the lift. Good to see that it's getting it's chance, hope you get her done before the snow flies. Can't wait to see how it turns out, no matter what month that happens to be. :)

Anybody who needs work done on their Jeep, no matter the scope - from steering lifts, bumpers, gears, to a custom 4-link, coil over, grocery getter, needs to talk to Joe! Can't find a better fab guy or a better man to work on your Jeep! Joe, I know you can't toot your own horn, but I sure as hell can!
 
Josh ... thanks for the plug. :thumbup:




My last post was showing the start of the remainder of the stiffer work to be done.




Pass side stiffener connecting main frame piece to coil spring mount (tying into the seat bracket)


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Showing the underside plate where the coil spring mount bolts. Welded up and ground smooth.


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The area right in front of the leaf spring mount presented a minor time waste. Mainly because the frame rail transitions from a "boatsided" corner to a regular "sharp" corner. I had to make a transition piece to effectively bridge between the two shapes and make it look half decent.



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Completed photos of the offending corners (both sides) ....



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At this point here ... the outside of the frame rail has been plated from the rear crossmember all the way foward to the front crossmember. With the exception of a small area by the original front LCA mount .... the entire bottom of my frame rail has also been beefed up. The only spot remaining is the already mentioned patch where the LCA used to sit.

That will be in next post .....
 
Closest thing I have for you at the moment ... taken earlier in the spring, after I just finished the rear coils .....



SneakPeak.jpg





The rear is sitting low in this picture because it has about 300 lbs of bricks in the back to simulate the weight of the bumper, tire carrier, tire, and a full tank of gas. I had some weight up front too, to represent the winch & front bumper ... but that is not on the front crossmember in this picture.



I think I have pretty decent arm angles and a good breakover angle. :D And I'm pleased with how relatively streamlined the undercarriage is (no joints or LCA mounting points sticking out, waiting to be caught by a rock).
 
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Once I fully trim the rear wheelwell opening ... I'll have a good idea how much room I really have.


I suspect I'll be doing 35s after these tires wear out ... but in the mean time, I may look into cutting a loop out of the rear coils (to drop the height). And taking out the coil spacer up front to make it all level again.
 
lowrange2 said:
All of that looks great! It'll look awesome when you're done.

One question though... I don't understand the purpose of the torque mount on your cross member. Prevent torque from the engine? To prevent the cross members from torquing?
Click to expand...




The UCA mount is on the removable portion of the crossmember. I wanted to reduce movement transmitted by suspension oscillation. By adding that extra extension, I was further stiffening up the middle section from movement. The skid plate (that has yet to be installed) will tie all three pieces of the crosssmember together with bolts on the bottom. That will further limit any potential movement.




Joe
 
EndlessMtnFab said:
The UCA mount is on the removable portion of the crossmember. I wanted to reduce movement transmitted by suspension oscillation. By adding that extra extension, I was further stiffening up the middle section from movement. The skid plate (that has yet to be installed) will tie all three pieces of the crosssmember together with bolts on the bottom. That will further limit any potential movement.




Joe
Click to expand...


I got ya. It certainly looks stout.
 
Stout is an understatement. You should try helping him push it into the garage. :laugh:

Honestly the pics don't do justice to how detailed it really is. I got a chance to really look at it up close and I am impressed. Now if Joe would just quit goofing off and get it done already......
 
Eyes hurt, huh?


Just from thinking about all the welding? i.e. the perceived welding flash? ;)



I'm surprised your head doesn't hurt from all the techno BS.




Hey Matt/Wheeling .....


Quit playing huh? All those nice things I said about you & the help you gave last night .... I take it back. :twak:



:laugh3:
 
Joe I was looking back at some of the earlier posts again and noticed that the oil pan has that return fitting tapped into the passenger side. It that for some kind of oil cooler setup?
 
Matt,



That oil pan came from a ZJ that had the oil level sensor option. While a neat feature, it failed miserably "in the field."



I decided it would be a good place to put the return line for my bypass filter setup. Since I am an Amsoil dealer ... I picked up a single bypass unit for cheap and figured I'd get creative with a mount for it. If I didn't have access to that ZJ pan .... I probably would have integrated the return line into the oil filler cap.



Joe
 
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