- Location
- NE Texas
Are you sure a Tera-60 will hold up to 35s?
The Nail Salon
- Thread starter TORX
- Start date
hards91xj
NAXJA Member #790
- Location
- Tacoma Wa.
I`ve never seen Calipers on the bottom. Seems like they would have a chance of damage and being drug .
mojojojo
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Gresham, Oregon
That's some sexy sheet mang !!!
Thanks, guys. This has only been a year in the making, so it's nice to finally see it all come together.
For the time being, yes. Ground clearance isn't even a worry with the Tera housing. In fact it'll be better than the 8.8 and 33's. Plus it should be a pretty bulletproof setup.
They're actually a stock 8.8 disc setup. They are a bit lower though, and I think that just has to do with the way the outer flanges were welded on. If they're an issue, I'll just go to a weld on caliper mount and clock them up.
Jbh97009
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Damascus, Oregon
Is that an off the shelf gas tank skid? Or did you make it?
Post #474.
- Location
- WA state
Nice work.
paddlernate
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Portland, OR
I like your setup, but have a question about the lower shock mounts. They're raised up 3-4 inches above what they could be mounted on the lower half of the axle tube. It seems like you'll have to run a short body shock if you keep the upper mounts in the stock location. Is this your plan? Or are you gonna put the shocks up through the floor?
blondejoncherokee
NAXJA Member
- Location
- sacramento
Good work duderino. I dig it. Is that a HP60 or just a tilted up lp60?
On my 8.8, I made some custom mounts to basically mount the shocks flush with the bottom of the axle tubes. I knew this would cut into my uptravel, but I was willing to sacrifice it for clearance (I've seen so many people get hung up on the boat anchor stock mounts). It was a tradeoff, and with 10" travel shocks in the rear I only had maybe 2" of uptravel.
I wasn't willing to give up any clearance on the 60, and at the same time I wasn't willing to sacrifice uptravel. My plan is to go through the rear floor to find a happy medium with the new suspension.
High pinion, 19" to the bottom of the rear yoke. The driveline isn't even visible from a side profile.
Got the Jeep flipped around, and tore down a bit. Should be diving into this mess later this week.
kndrewa
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Vancouver British Columbia
Good! I can dig that you suggest reading post 474 right before post 747.
98CherokeeSport
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Bonney Lake, WA
Glad to see you finally stepping up! I was wondering when I was going to see you build something with some heavier axles! you are doing some great work dustin I look forward to wheeling with you again once I get my junk finished!
Here's a little update from the past few days.
The dirty 30, and all the old suspension was removed after work one evening.
I took Caleb's advice from this thread, and picked up one of these abrasive wheels for removing the factory undercoating and paint. Thanks, bud!
Little while later I had a prepped frame rail.
I've been dealing with an ongoing crack issue below the steering box. I decided to plate this area with .134" plate, and tie it into the three factory bolt holes. I also skip welded around the factory track-bar reinforcement plate as well, and then added a fishplate between the two.
I didn't like the thought of bare on bare metal on the frame so I picked up some weld through primer. I'll give my review now, this stuff sucks. Makes for a very splattery contaminated weld. I feel like I could have used regular primer, and gotten the same result.
Apply the not-so-weld-through primer to both surfaces.
It never dawned on me just how much the factory frame curves until I tried fitting a flat piece of steel to it. I found it helpful to tighten down all the bolts, and then work backward with the clamps, slowly contouring the plate to the frame.
I was pleased with the fitment, pretty tight fit. I only had to modify the plates in a few spots, which was nice. I'll probably plate a small section of the underside for a future track-bar brace.
Kick on the welder, and start burning it all in. I fully welded all the "speed holes" and then stitched around the perimeter.
With the front plating complete, my next chore was removing the factory LCA mounts in preparation for the mid stiffeners. I started by center punching all the spot welds. I then drilled them out to 3/16, and then to 3/8. There's a few small stitch welds you need to grind out as well. I cut the side braces free, and removed them seperatly.
Once the drilling and grinding is complete give it a few hits with the BFH, and it should come off semi-easily. My reinforcement on the drivers side was a chore to get off.
Current status. I'm hoping to have the rails prepped for the mid stiffeners by the end of the week, and hopefully have them burned in shortly after.
The plating and bracket removal was the part I was least looking forward to on this project, so I'll be glad once it's all complete.
The dirty 30, and all the old suspension was removed after work one evening.
I took Caleb's advice from this thread, and picked up one of these abrasive wheels for removing the factory undercoating and paint. Thanks, bud!
Little while later I had a prepped frame rail.
I've been dealing with an ongoing crack issue below the steering box. I decided to plate this area with .134" plate, and tie it into the three factory bolt holes. I also skip welded around the factory track-bar reinforcement plate as well, and then added a fishplate between the two.
I didn't like the thought of bare on bare metal on the frame so I picked up some weld through primer. I'll give my review now, this stuff sucks. Makes for a very splattery contaminated weld. I feel like I could have used regular primer, and gotten the same result.
Apply the not-so-weld-through primer to both surfaces.
It never dawned on me just how much the factory frame curves until I tried fitting a flat piece of steel to it. I found it helpful to tighten down all the bolts, and then work backward with the clamps, slowly contouring the plate to the frame.
I was pleased with the fitment, pretty tight fit. I only had to modify the plates in a few spots, which was nice. I'll probably plate a small section of the underside for a future track-bar brace.
Kick on the welder, and start burning it all in. I fully welded all the "speed holes" and then stitched around the perimeter.
With the front plating complete, my next chore was removing the factory LCA mounts in preparation for the mid stiffeners. I started by center punching all the spot welds. I then drilled them out to 3/16, and then to 3/8. There's a few small stitch welds you need to grind out as well. I cut the side braces free, and removed them seperatly.
Once the drilling and grinding is complete give it a few hits with the BFH, and it should come off semi-easily. My reinforcement on the drivers side was a chore to get off.
Current status. I'm hoping to have the rails prepped for the mid stiffeners by the end of the week, and hopefully have them burned in shortly after.
The plating and bracket removal was the part I was least looking forward to on this project, so I'll be glad once it's all complete.
bmikes
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- portland or
Looks good so far dustin! I'm really digging how those front stiffeners came out. Are you building your own for the middle or buying them?
- Location
- NE Texas
Are you new here?
I've been sitting on a pair from RuffStuff for the last year. These were one item I had zero interest in trying to build. In my opinion Dan sells the best set out there, so it was a no brainer. I just hope they fit my beat up factory rails.
Demonoid369
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Salem, OR
they are super stout, im glad I got the ruffstuff ones on mine. that ledge at funny rocks I went over and scraped at nwfest didnt do a thing to them
- Location
- Murrieta
Missed you in Moab this year Dustin, but I can understand why with all those sweet parts waiting to be installed. The new build looks good, I am envious of your patience and attention to detail to crank out clean work.
Good to hear from you, Parker. Looked through the pics from Fall Fling this year, and it looks like you guys had some carnage on Pritchett. Fun times!
I got to work on prepping the unibody for the mid-stiffeners. What a dirty, disgusting chore. No matter how much you prep, this stuff gets everywhere. I think I must have swept the floor seven times.
After priming both the stiffeners and frame with the not-so-weld- through primer I began fitment. I needed to modify the front piece a bit to work with the front stiffener, and notch a section to fit around the rear leaf spring brackets. I was pleased that even with some pretty good sized dents in my unibody, there were no major gaps. With a block of wood on the floor jack, and some clamps, I worked my way down tacking as I went.
After about three hours of welding in awkward positions I had both sides glued on. I ground the plug welds flush, and then decided to slap some body filler on them just because. However, looking back now I probably just created more work for myself in the future when I go to weld on my boatside legs.
I trimmed the sides off the front portion of the RuffStuff stiffeners to fit around my front frame plates. I then heated up the remaining lip, and formed it to meet the front plating. The two blended well together.
With the frame plating complete, I can now move onto the final chapter of this phase, 3-link/44 install. I moved the 44 into position under the rig, and set it to ride height, which is 17.5" to center of the hubs (35" tire). I wanted to set the wheelbase at 102" to see if it was doable. Using plumb-bobs off the insides of both axle tubes I then measured the distance between them, and then accounted for tube diameter.
With wheelbase set, I then wanted to make sure the axle was centered side to side. With plumb-bobs off the frame I then measured to each top ball joint, and adjusted the axle until it was centered (8-3/8" per side).
I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do, now it's just a matter of making it happen, and more importantly making it all play nice together.
ruger81
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Battle Ground WA
102" is what the all the cool kids with Dana 44's run :scottm:
