The Jeep in my door yard

F

ftwelder

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Rockinham, Vermont
I got my '94 XJ 4dr. about a year ago. It was easy to own at $500 and I figured we could use a 4X4 on our wood lot. We used to van-camp quite a bit and with the kids out of the house, no need for a back seat or extra room. The truck came with a the 4.0/AX15 combo, a 3" OME lift and had been pretty well maintained over it's long life. The bad was severe rust holes and a couple of dicey repairs on the door hinges and blower motor. The truck had been painted OD green and had a DIY bumper/tire carrier and at one point had almost lost it's top to a sawzall as there is a cut about 1/2" long on the rear corner.

I have a little welding shop and specialize in making bicycle frames. I don't know much about jeeps but since getting this one I have been doing a lot of research. I know I have made a lot of mistakes but the road is a long one and it is what it is. On a side note, I know it takes a lot of work to produce a quality thread (not my strong point) and most any quality you do find below will have come from builders before me on NAXJA and also the fine book "the ultimate Jeep cherokee book" by Eric Zappe. Thanks to all of you in other words.

I don't have an indoor spot to keep the vehicle and I don't always have money buy things but I do have lots of machines and materials and as you know there are so many things to be done. Onward

The first thing I did was try to go wheeling. It had 29" tires and stock 3/1 axle ratios and didn't seem to go slow enough and had this weird "rocking" thing when you let the clutch out, it felt like everything in the drive train was loose so I bought some stock motor mounts then woops..

I let go of the wheel for a moment on the way to work (I live on a nasty road) and the vehicle made a hard right and I ended up in a ditch with my headlights touching the ground. I sort of panicked and went WOT and started banging the shifters and some how ended up back on the road. I pulled over and one of my front tires was about 3" too far back. :doh:

I got to work and took a quick look underneath and noted LCA brackets were buckled. the lady across the street was selling her ZJ for $700 so I bought it and and put the XJ on stands with the intent of fabbing a new bracket and moving on.

I worked on offroad cars twenty five years ago and at took a while to grasp the scope of work that had been done since then. I did far too little research and sitting there with the front wheels off I started thinking since the axle would come out to replace the control arms and axle brackets I may as well do some upgrades. I started drawing the basic suspension geometry in autocad to see what was going on. I had seen some hack drop brackets in my searching and noticed I had spacers above my coil springs so opted to relocate the LCA axle brackets higher rather than lowering the rears and about 10 mins later had researching pushing the axle forward to put the spring directly over the axle. After computer foreplay I came to the conclusion that I would need to also relocate everything but It was a nice spring day about a year ago and I felt like welding.

30 161 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

30 162 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

30 160 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr
 
I had decided on a three link and that I would eliminate the rubber spacers above the springs and use a 4X2X1/4 rect. tube as my truss and built aftermarket type spring pads.

I figured I would be replacing most of the floor and plating the frame since I like welding so much I did just that, I plated top/bottom/inside/out in the areas I would be working. I cut out the front cross member and while I was in there installed Brown Dogs and bought a couple more assorted ZJ's for low money and had a big alternator and I could mod the bracket at this point. I had cut into the frame quite a bit and was aware of how the steering box was fixed from the factory. I made a tool using a hole saw mounted on a smooth arbor and bored out all the steering box holes and wavy gussets (only three holes :dunce:) and tubed the inside, slugged the box holes with 1/4" wall tube and plated everything. The new bosses were made extra long to replace the spacer and offer extra room for the exploder box I rebuilt with the help of westtexasoffroad. I drill the box also.

I fabricated a new tubular cross member for the front. cantilevered around the steering box and put my radiator mounts slightly closer to the motor. Before closing the frame off I put four 3/4" coupling nuts "well attached" to the unibody and plating.

30 154 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

I then scored a 8.8 sploder axle and cleaned it up.

30 165 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

I had saved a bit and was ready to pull the trigger on an OX locker when some 'tons showed up on CL from a '89F350 and I pulled the trigger. I know about welding castings and so I "cuffed" the end of the casting on the driver side and fully attached the axle tube to the housing with plating. I cut some of the stock perch and built my brackets connected to everything.

30 188 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

30 186 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

I also installed my control arm mounts to the body. I want to keep the vehicle low and used the pin tube method right through the frame rail. There are additional brackets inside so everything is double shear. The upper takes some space but my wife has little feet so no problem.

30 155 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr



I ended up having to bend my LCA's to be able to tuck without hitting the frame rails. I would rather bend them then tear out the brackets!
 
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I can't find the edit button to add to the post.

You may wonder that is done inside the axles. The answer is "very little" I welded the front spiders. I plan to gear it this coming winter but I hope to have a 231/300 doubler finished and installed before winter. I have a CNC mill and I went ahead and reverse engineered the 231 range box and made the capped the case. I started rebuilding the D300 which will utilize the stock outputs for the time being. The doubler project in in a room that is still below 40 so I just run in there to grab stuff to dip in solvent and run back out.

Untitled by frankthewelder, on Flickr

Untitled by frankthewelder, on Flickr

My power steering pump was leaking and since I am planning a redneck ram upgrade I took the pump out and took it apart to see the condition of the internals. I found a lot of parts in there and tossed it in the trash and grabbed one from a 94 or 96 ZJ limited. I modded the bypass parts and removed the larger ZJ puller and popped on the XJ one. I ported the inlet and pressed in a tube spigot for a 5/8" inlet diameter. I used silicon bronze to TIG the spigot so it couldn't work it's way out taking care not to get it too hot. The pump is not a direct replacement and I had to drill the threads and use long bolts. I installed the pulley after putting in on the motor and used a straight-edge to make sure my alignment was good. The reason for the larger inlet was I was building a remove separator/reservoir for the PS fluid. I also modded an oil cooler from a saab for steering duties.

Untitled by frankthewelder, on Flickr

Untitled by frankthewelder, on Flickr

Untitled by frankthewelder, on Flickr

Untitled by frankthewelder, on Flickr

Untitled by frankthewelder, on Flickr

Next on my list was the brakes. I grabbed the double brake booster from the LTD with the master cylinder. I started measuring again and found like everyone else that the XJ and ZJ boosters have different mounting angles. I looked a bit more and found that they are actually the same angle if you turn one of them upside down. so I did that and found I only had to add a little length to the push rod and switch the end of the push-rod to the XJ one. I didn't need to use the spacer or bash the firewall and it fit right in. I discarded the valving and fabbed a bracket for a Wilwood brake proportioning valve and did the first two lines.

Untitled by frankthewelder, on Flickr

Untitled by frankthewelder, on Flickr

Here is a "sort of" photo of the pump.

Untitled by frankthewelder, on Flickr


Ill be back, thanks for looking.
 
thanks. As you can imagine I have a lot of questions. Should I make permanent steering stops on the steering knuckles or let the box/ ram do the talking? I am thinking about the rear suspension and what it will take to get it working including a stretch. I need 5" of boost and I think some of my leaves are shot. I had planned to fab new spring mounts for the stretch but it's beginning to make a linked rear seem cost effective. I have 4.5" coils for the front which are starting to seem too tall with the 2" of boost at the axle. It would be nice to find a 4" leaf pack for the back.
 
I wouldn't put steering stops in personally, you start to stress the mount point of the ram and the balljoints when you put hydraulics into the mix. With stock steering obviously I would have permanent stops because there isn't that much force exerted. But the point of hydro assist or full hydro is to get more force(you seem to understand, this is for others that might read it). If the knuckles are at a mechanical stop the force is going to be transferred to the next weakest spot...either the TREs, balljoints or ram mounts. Just measure for the right ram length that you need and don't over range your u-joints.
 
Thanks for the reply. When I rebuilt the box I removed a bore spacer and modded the cap to increase the travel to 90 degrees like the original box. I hope I don't have to reverse that! The knuckles got TMR gussets and double shear brackets. I preheated and used a needle scaler on the welds as they were cooling. I don't plan to spend time on the highway and I hope these work out.
rtmd72
qNNuUN
 
Very good work. I like it.
 
I like your Wilwood proportioning valve layout. Question, what fittings are used?
I just ordered mine and would like a heads up on what I'll need.
 
surf2snow said:
I like your Wilwood proportioning valve layout. Question, what fittings are used?
I just ordered mine and would like a heads up on what I'll need.
Click to expand...

The short story is the stock ZJ master cylinder I used has bubble flare ends (re used fittings) and the willwood uses the double flair. I borrowed a POS flaring tool and wasted a lot of tubing and more importantly time. I can't wait to find a Mac tool truck and spend whatever is needed. I also looked at a buying a small tube bender but ended up making one that could bend a .5" radius on the 3/16" tube. I was happy to find the Willwood part so I didn't need to hack in a pressure switch for the brake light. The "primary" brake circuit is the one closest to the firewall. On our vehicles, that would be the front. It took me a while to get that through my head. another thing to make note of is that there are two different fittings on the XJ master cylinder but it's only the nut and nothing else. Don't slip the wrong one on before you crimp the ends. There are a few sets of the fittings on the stock valve block, I wrecked a few before I realized channellock pliers work better than line wrenches on my rustbucket.

Thanks Blondjon, leaf. I have been welding for 45 years and many of you guys are way better than I am. May be not on aluminum TIG lol. I am pretty good at that. :spam:

2014 027 by frankthewelder, on Flickr


Here is the modified saab oil cooler
Saab oil cooler. by frankthewelder, on Flickr


oLmvc5
 
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I ordered $100 worth of hardware and should be able to use all new fasteners for the installation of the front axle. I started thinking about putting it together and realized it would be a lot easier to make something before installing the spring and decided to remove the stock stanchion to see what was in there.

Bump stops by frankthewelder, on Flickr

It turns out it's just a piece of very thin tubing. The inside diameter is close to 1-7/8" so I turned a piece of pipe to fit in there and welded in a 3/4" coupling nut. here is the test fit. My part is about 6" long (so I claim):doh: and all I have to do is drill some plug-holes and remove the paint

Bump stops by frankthewelder, on Flickr

Bump stops by frankthewelder, on Flickr

Bump stops by frankthewelder, on Flickr

I found some sturdy industrial bumpers (shore 80A) with internal 3/4" threads and made some adjustable bumps!

Bump stops by frankthewelder, on Flickr

When I got the oil cooler I also got stubs of tube that go with the fittings. I cut them short and bent some 1/2" .049 DOM tube and spliced them up. I also ran a little bead around the end of the tubes to help the hose clamps do their job. The fittings are the same as used in the A/C system also and may be 12mm tubing.

Bump stops by frankthewelder, on Flickr


it's supposed to snow tomorrow but I am pretty sure I will drag the little wire welder out to install this weeks progress.
 
I had a little while with calm weather today and welded in the adjustable bumps. When it was windy I changed the inner axle seals in the '60. When I had the diff out I noticed a thin shim had broken and was hanging out. I am not sure if the bearing had been spun or if someone with fooling around in there at an earlier time. There was some silicone around the seals so I am thinking it's been apart before.

Bump stop welded by frankthewelder, on Flickr
 
Amazing weld jobs that resivoir is sweet nice job and nice idea on the bump stops
Following this buid keep it up
 
Thanks, the front is ready to go together I think. I have been thinking about the rear suspension. My leaf stack is pretty shot and a good replacement set will cost the same as a link set-up and since a stretch is planned, relocated leaf brackets. My current plan is a 3-link/panhard on JJs or rod ends. I know 4-link has a lot going for it but I like the idea of a long arm 3 made with big tubes and tucked brackets. I am moving the fuel tank so I have room to put the panhard near the top on the rear diff cover with the upper link centered.
 
I scored a nice set of used 15" tires/rims from another NAXJA member and started dry fitting stuff together. I put the chevy calipers on the ebay brackets I bought (in a moment of weakness), dropped them in the rim and found they made heavy contact. I checked the same set-up on the knuckles and had the same issue, heavy contact.

I ground down the gussets on the knuckles a bit and got that sorted. I had read where folks had suggested grinding the calipers to fit and didn't really want to do that. A little more research and I had learned that there is also a "heavy duty" caliper with a larger piston and that was what I had ended up with. I should have taken a photo of the HD caliper but you can tell as there is a "C" shaped dam around the banjo hole.

You can see here how much of the gusset was removed.

I found a 10.5 full floating rear axle (14bolt) and some 37" tires. by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

I found a 10.5 full floating rear axle (14bolt) and some 37" tires. by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

now the lightweight caliper clears by a good 1/4".

I scored a 14 bolt axle that had been in a field for a couple of years for $100. I didn't notice it had new tires till I got it back to the shop. The lift ran out of propane so it sat in the road for a while just like this..

I found a 10.5 full floating rear axle (14bolt) and some 37" tires. by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

it's the older version out of a cab/chassis vehicle. The tubes have some severe rust in a couple of places and will get some cosmetic surgery. I popped it open and found an open diff and 4.1/1 gears. At that point I changed my plan to use 4.5" leaf packs with flipped leaves for some additional wheelbase. With both ends geared the same, I am just going to weld the spiders and stuff it in there and use my meager earnings for pushing the doubler forward. 'hoping Duffy is still at it and I have the right number.

The drums were absolutely rust welded to the axle and I ended up cutting the backing plates into quarters to get it apart.

More jeep stuff by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

The older 14B version has the drums pinned to the back of the hubs as opposed to the newer slip-on version. It's a bit more of a hassle to change the rotor. The good news is the chevy rotors I chose for the front will work on the back also!

I found a 10.5 full floating rear axle (14bolt) and some 37" tires. by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

I rolled one of the wheels out to see what it would look like. After a couple of measurements I found that it will sit just a little lower than this. It's going to be difficult to pay attention to work today!

More jeep stuff by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

It's time to order some 4.5" leaf springs. I am thinking about going with Clayton. Thanks for looking.
 
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