Jes said:uke:
Don't worry Jes, I'm sure there is room for you too. Rick and I know your pretty skinny and would like that big burley man to snuggle with.
Jes said:uke:
Rick XTRM XJ said:As many of you have, I've gotten tired of leaf spring issues in the rear of my XJ. It's time for something new.
I picked up a pair of 12" Sway-a-way air shocks for a pretty good price from a friend, and here's what it lead to......
Inside:
![]()
The rear bar of the "ladder" is the upper control arm mounting point. The arms will come through the floor and mount to it. The forward bar supports the lower control arm brackets here:
![]()
The shocks will come up through the floor outside of the framerails:
![]()
The shock on the left is at ride height.
The axle truss is a Rockrawler part.
So far, so good.....the only possible issue I see is the length of the uppers. They are probably only 75% of the lowers. I could rework the "ladder" a bit if I need to lengthen them.
More pics to come once I have the links built.
Rick
Edit: BTW, the rear seat will be fully functional as I have 2 kids that go with me from time to time.
ROBERTK said:What size tire and about how much lift do you think you did in the rear? Also what size air shock is it? I see 12" but what diameter?
ArcticXJ said:I like your design. That's original and looks like it will/does work quite well.
However, Im pondering the propensity for your rear UCA's to violate your rear seat passengers should those modest link tabs decide to give up the ghost.
Pinion drops, UCAs go up and forward, and ..... :shocked: :confused1
kid4lyf said:Any updates?
Pics?
How'd it do in Moab?
Nice, I just revalved the shocks (more compression dampening) and moved my upper mnts up to allow about 30 PSI more air pressure (220PSI now). That had a dramatic effect.Rick XTRM XJ said:Did great in Moab. Very stable off camber. Not scary at all dropping off big ledges. Mounting them outboard of the framerails is the ticket.
Punched in my numbers into the 4 link calc. Came up with 89% AS and a roll axis of 7 degrees. Rear steer so far has been a non-issue. Had to jockey around a bit in the Escalator to get the right rear tire on the wall, but so did everybody.
Driving to the trail can be a bit noisy due to all the heims on the jeep. 17 total, now. It soaks up the bumps nice, just noisy. The cage has started creaking a bit while crawling, since the rear suspension is now hanging off of it. I added a couple more frame tie-ins at the back, and it helped a little.
I think I am at about the max weight of the airshocks, though. Going up from 250 psi to 315 psi, really didn't gain me much lift. They'll still stuff no problem when flexin on the trail.
I just tried downloading to Webshots a couple pics from Moab, down in Area BFE, flexin it up, but couldn't. I'll try again later.
Rick
kid4lyf said:Nice, I just revalved the shocks (more compression dampening) and moved my upper mnts up to allow about 30 PSI more air pressure (220PSI now). That had a dramatic effect.
I took it out and did a couple donuts to move everything around and it felt much more solid.
The heims were a close second to the shocks in the largest expense race.
14 RE superflex joints at $40 each.
8 for rear links, 5 for URF 3 link front (plus one 1" heim), and one on the trackbar.XJ_ranger said:what did you use 14 joints for?
8 for the links...
2 on each airshock?
thats only 12...
kid4lyf said:8 for rear links, 5 for URF 3 link front (plus one 1" heim), and one on the trackbar.
Rick XTRM XJ said:as promised, poser flex pic from Area BFE, Moab:
Rick
lugie said:lookin good Rick, looking forward to seeing it in person.
Rick XTRM XJ said:BOTW '06???
I'm planning on it. Can't wait to wheel Colorado.
Rick