The Black Pearl

[Nates2000XJ]

Picked up some 1.5” 0.120 wall DOM from Ruffstuff last weekend and bent them for my sliders.

Cut the extra and made some supports out of the drops to go between the tube and the 2x6. I started notching with a grinder but got frustrated and set up a hole saw in the drill press.

Got the bent tube tacked in place on the 2x6

Final product

This way rocks and trees are an additional 3 or so inches away from my doors.

Now the front plate bumper looks out of place with the tube rear bumper and tubes on the sliders!


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[89Mock]

89mock, search “Adams Driveshaft Forged Front 26 Spline 1350 Half Round CV Transfer Case Yoke for a 231, 231J, NP231 fit's TJ, XJ, YJ, LJ”. This was the only CV 1350 yoke I could find for the 231. Seal was the same as the stock yoke. Rear yoke needs a bigger seal.

Doc, I would make a more accurate alignment square to get the axles as close to centered and square under the Jeep. Measure the width of the axle and mark the center line, get an accurate centerline on the chassis and line the axle up beneath the chassis. My upper control arm heim is all the way bottomed out at the cross member so I’m adjusting caster with the lowers. Kinda ghetto since the upper should be where you adjust caster/pinion angle. Lowers should set wheelbase.

I am glad, however, with my choice of putting the upper on the passenger side. Leaves lots of room for a larger driveline.


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Apparently the yoke from a Dana 30/44/300 are all 26 spline and SHOULD fit the NP231. i think Denny’s Driveshaft shows one so I wanted to be certain you had the same transfer case.

 

[89Mock]

https://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/p3..._1x_transfer_case_yoke_dana_300_with_26_.html

1350 series
26 SPLINE
SPLINE OD = 1.146
D = 1.188
E = 3.625
Q = 1.500
R = 1.562
S = 3.000

https://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/app/webroot/img/Image/End Yoke with tabs.jpg



https://www.adamsdriveshaftoffroad....e-yoke-for-a-231-231j-np231-fits-tj-xj-yj-lj/

Specs:

Spline Count: 26
Spline Diameter: 1.146
Hub Diameter: 1.562
Thru Hole: 1.500
Centerline To End: 3.500
U-joint Series: 1350

 

[Nates2000XJ]

It looks like that Denny's yoke takes straps as opposed to the Adams yoke that uses u bolts. I went u bolt for robustness. A little extra metal around the four fastener holes and no risk of snapping a fastener and getting threads stuck in the yoke.

 

[Nates2000XJ]

Progress has been creeping along, I’ve been eyeing some shock towers for the rear of the Jeep but the ones I wanted have been out of stock so I got some artec towers, bilstein reservoirs, and front stiffeners. I also stacked some pucks on the front for bump stops. Once I do the stiffeners I’ll order limit straps.

It’s looking to be a hot weekend so we’ll see how motivated I am to get either one of these thinks glued to the Jeep.


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[twinhauler]

Looking good...

 

[DocTremp]

Those front frame stiffeners are super nice


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[SlowXj]

Where did the front stiffys come from?

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[Nates2000XJ]

Thank you all. Front stiffeners are from King Offroad. Took a while to show up so we'll see how well they fit up.

 

[Nates2000XJ]

Got these 37s balanced at no cost after wheel works scuffed one of the new wheels on the Chevy. What a difference balanced wheels so. I should have done this sooner because when you think about it, an unbalanced 37 is throwing a lot of weight around.

Got started on measuring and getting a game plan together for the rear shock towers. Although it won’t be in the cards for a bit longer, I’m basically getting this thing ready for a linked rear so I want these shock towers to be robust enough to handle coilovers or ORIs. Now that I look at the photos, I might be able to package hydro bumps inboard of the main “frame” rail. There will plenty of time to brainstorm later.

These units are the small and uncut version of the universal towers. From bottom of tower to center of shock mounting hole is about 14.5” and I’m mounting the bottom eye of the shock to the leaf spring plate.

Carefully trimmed the excess unibody to get accurate measurements

The red rectangle will be the appropriate location of a home brew frame outrigger/stiffener for the towers. I’ll plan on notching the towers to fit up the unibody through the floor and inner fender. I also want to rotate the towers back towards the rear instead of standing straight up so they clear the rear seat. In theory, it’ll also maximize shock length versus axle movement since the shock isn’t mounted at a 1:1 ratio to wheel travel. I’m pushing relatively hard to get ready for Sierra fest or at least the slick rock/deer valley portion. This thing is so close to bearing ready for some rocks.


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[Nates2000XJ]

Made the first cuts to the inner fender and got the tower fitted. I’ll need to clearance a bit of the floor to get the shocks to not rub on the unibody. I want to do the passenger side a bit differently. This set up will give me about 6.5” of up travel and 6.5” down travel.

Undecided on whether to mount the reservoirs inside or next to the shock body in the tower.

 

[DocTremp]

Man that looks pretty sweet. Your build is inspiration for me for sure.


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[Nates2000XJ]

Thanks doc.

Got the driver side fully welded this evening. Made outriggers from 1.5” .120 wall DOM. She’s sturdy.

Just need to fully weld the lower shock bracket to the leaf spring perch and the shock can be mounted. I test fitted the shock while the tower was tacked in place before I burned the tube outriggers in. No room for reservoir in the tower, it’ll have to be mounted in the cargo area.



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[89Mock]

With how much space you have why not mount the reservoirs on the back side of the shock tower?
If you’re going to bridge the two shock towers inside the cab I’d mount the reservoirs there because that’s Baja in my eyes and Baja is cool.

 

[Nates2000XJ]

The reservoir is the same diameter as the shock body and they'll rub on the tower unless they get mounted in the cargo area. I'd like to bend a piece of DOM that'll bridge the two towers. I'm thinking I'll mount them to that tube, Baja style

 

[Nates2000XJ]

She was a hot one today. Got an 8.8 from pick and pull north with XJMayhem and since I was already sweaty I decided to finish the shock towers. Same process as shown before but I also got the lower shock mounts welded to the leaf spring plates. Going to grab paint and hardware before mounting the rear shock.

Next will be front frame stiffeners + limit straps or should that wait until after a trip to deer valley?? Hm


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[Nates2000XJ]

Got the interior trimmed and back together. Got a few ideas for a cross bar, let’s hear some feedback!

1) Weld a piece of DOM under the observation hole in the towers. This would keep the tube low and out of the way. The tube could be in the way if I put the rear seat down for storage or needed to sleep in the back

2) weld a piece of DOM over the observation hole in the towers. This gets the tube up and out of the way if I needed to store things n in the back. May be used as a rear harness bar in the future?

3) weld the tube above the observation hole but utilize flanges and make the tube removable if I needed to store stuff. The circles show where the flanges may end up going. This idea stems from seeing removable tubes in chassis cages around the motor.

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[89Mock]

I’ve only ever seen the bar welded high. I think it’s so people can fit stuff under it. I’m not sure why you’d want to remove the bar.

 

[Phil]

Load up your gear like you are going to Sierrafest for a week, then layout the tube?

Like ten-15 years ago some dude on the east coast did a full interior cage in an CJ and put a tube inside the hatch like at the bottom of the window. Trash was talked about trying to fill a cooler then lift it inside the cage.

 

[XJ-Mayhem]

She was a hot one today. Got an 8.8 from pick and pull north with XJMayhem and since I was already sweaty I decided to finish the shock towers. Same process as shown before but I also got the lower shock mounts welded to the leaf spring plates. Going to grab paint and hardware before mounting the rear shock.

Next will be front frame stiffeners + limit straps or should that wait until after a trip to deer valley?? Hm


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Thanks again Nate!