The Nail Salon

[TORX]

Just finished reading through this thread from the beginning.

Amazing fab skills and an awesome communicator Torx.

Enjoyed all the tech. It was truly inspiring. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Greenz. It's fun to look back at the journey I've had with this Jeep. It's funny how much the end goal has changed since the beginning. 33's and keep it clean, to now, and lately I've had coil overs and 9's on my mind. It's never ending!

What saddens me is this thread, and all of my trip reports over the years are on limited time with the policy change with PhotoBucket.

Hi Torx. Jeep looks good.

I just wanted to make comment #1000 on this thread.

Hi Ryan. How long have you been waiting to claim that spot? Come camp with us next month for TORXfest.

 

[MJmanche]

What an amazing build. I enjoyed reading through it all. Definitly gives me a ton of good ideas for mine. Mine is an exact replica of yours when you started. Same color year and mileage as well

 

[TORX]

Nail Salon got caged!

Dan called me up today, and said he was wrapping up on the cage build. I picked up the Jeep, and could not be more happy with how it turned out. Dan and I discussed the vision I had for it, and he brought it to life. It's tight to the body, the harness and dash bar are the only tubes that dead head, the rest all connect to a node. Dan also tied the A, C, and D pillars into the body with some tick dimple died plate. It's all 1.5" DOM, as I wanted to keep it light, and have the strength come from the design. I am stoked with how it turned out!

The seats are deceiving when it comes to head room. I actually have plenty of head room, and don't contact any of the tubes under normal driving. I'll add padding to the upper X tubes though.

We discussed a few options for the A-pillar. I was okay with a down bar to the floor, but getting in and out would be a total pain. Dan had an idea to box in the dash, so I let him roll with it. It turned out slick. The front piece is removable via ~17 screws, and in theory the dash should still be removable.

Best of all, the cage doesn't take away the lines of the XJ, which I wanted to preserve. It's all internal, and you almost have to do a double take to notice it.

I need to re-work my dome light situation, and build new CO2 and hi-lift mounts. Also, need to shop for some harnesses. While I love Dan's creation, I can only hope it never gets put to the test.

 

[Greenz]

Really cool! Like how you preserved the body lines.

That Dan feller did a great job! Looks clean.

Does the extra weight make the COG feel any different?

 

[TORX]

Really cool! Like how you preserved the body lines.

That Dan feller did a great job! Looks clean.

Does the extra weight make the COG feel any different?

I didn't notice any change in the COG. I'll have to do some calculations, but it's not that much extra weight.

I did however notice the Jeep feels much more stiffer. It's similar from the change before and after adding frame stiffeners, but more so in the body. I use to be able to hear the body creaking and door seals squeaking, and I didn't hear any driving it back today. Dan did a good job at making it more unibodied-er.

 

[streetpirate]

Dan Fiske? Looks great. Say hi to that guy for me, haven't seen him in a long time.

 

[kndrewa]

did you save your plastics ill take em

 

[TORX]

Dan Fiske? Looks great. Say hi to that guy for me, haven't seen him in a long time.

I will tell Dan, other Dan says hi.

did you save your plastics ill take em

What are you after? I'll probably toss the bottom trim back on around the doors, and try to fit the rear trim pieces back around the wheel wells.

 

[Demonoid369]

Got any more pics of the A pillar? I'm intrigued by this.


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[TORX]

Side shot of the A-Pillar bracket for Larrold. I'm not painting the cage just yet. I want to preserve the bare finish look, or at least try to. Currently wiped down with WD40, and I'm researching using Sharkhide or Mavcoat finishes. Both of which are popular with chassis builders. If I can't keep he rust away, I'll squirt some paint at it.

I worked on the Jeep a bit this weekend. Mostly tidying up the interior. I got some of the interior trim back on, which helped finish the look.

Loaded up, and ready for the next trip out.

Wasn't expecting snow today, so I cruised around for a bit in the Jeep. Had to do a few front dig u-turns.

 

[TORX]

Did some snow wheeling last weekend. The Jeep did good considering the snow conditions. Had the Falcon's at 2psi, and even with the Atlas in low/low, it was still a chore to try and get on top of the snow pack. Fun none-the-less. Next winter I'm planning on picking up a set of dedicated snow tires somewhere in the 38-40" flavor.

Took advantage of the weather today, and washed the Jeep. Last Saturday's end of the day mud bog left the Jeep trashed.

Then I began on wiring in some new dome/interior lights. Used some Amazon 12V LED strips. Wired them into the factory dome light circuit. Turned out great!

Nothing on the Jeep agenda at the moment. I'll probably try and get out for another trip in a few weeks.

 

[TORX]

Nick and I got the Jeeps out to TSF a few weeks ago. It's nice just to be able to cruise at our pace, and cover ground. No issues, we started from the west end, and worked our way back to Rogers. Stick-in-the-Nose, a lap or two on Waterfall, Upper Crushers, and all the little filler trails in between.

I noticed a clunk in my front suspension, and traced it out to a blown front shock (Bilstein 7100). Wasn't too happy, but I haven't been easy on it by any means ( wannabe racecar).

The 7100's are re-buildable, but I chose to go with something different. I wanted to get away from the upper bar pin adapters I've been running, and wanted to switch back to something with a bushing. So, some new remote resi Fox 2.0's arrived this week. The 7100 is toast, no pressure left in it, and oil has been spewing out all over my axle. Not sure exactly the cause of death.

The 7100's will go on the shelf. I'll tear them apart and rebuild them eventually. Maybe put them in the rear with a softer valving.

Meanwhile, I worked on getting the new 2.0's mounted up today.

They fit very close to the short body 7100's, since they don't require the stem adapter. I pulled the front coils, and measured full bump, and full droop. I want to set them up for 5" up, 7" down, so I'll need to drop my axle side brackets down 1". No biggie.

With the new shocks, and new lower heims, I took the Jeep on a quick test run, and wow what a difference. The front end is quiet, and much softer over bumps. I think the 360/80 7100 valving was too much before. The next run out is going to be fun.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

Amazing work as always, Dustin.

 

[TORX]

Swapped in some new heims on the track bar. Existing ones lasted several years, and still only had a minimal amount of play. I'm on a mission to tighten up the front end, so they got changed out.

Hacked off my existing axle side shock brackets, and came up with these critters. Space was minimal for hardware, so I welded a hole saw cut out to one side, and tapped it for 1/2-13.

Glued in place.

Shock in place, 5" up travel, 7" down, bumped and limited.

Night and day difference in the front end, I'm really happy with how it drives now. However, it's now apparent that the rear end could use some work in the tuning dept. We're just never happy with these things are we?

 

[TORX]

Way over due for an update.

Summer hit, work got crazy busy, and all of my free time went to prepping the MJ for Vegas to Reno in August. We got the MJ race prepped, and headed down with the team. It was an amazing experience, report HERE.

Rolled the car, but still pulled off a podium finish in our class. :cheers:

After V2R, it was time to shift gears, and get the Nail Salon ready for the 35th XJ Anniversary even in Moab. Getting ready basically meant making sure it started, paint over some rust, and load it on a trailer. Yes, the Nail Salon has officially become a trailer queen.

Moab trip report, HERE.

Moab was such a good time! Probably one of the best wheeling trips I've ever taken. We wheeled for six days straight, conquered twelve trails, with zero issues. The Nail Salon took it all like a champ, and surpassed all my expectations. I gained a whole new level of confidence with pushing its limit, which is probably a bad things.

Couple minor maintenance things to do after. Noticed some play in my lower ball joint on the driver knuckle. Replaced with some "blue boot" AC-Delco's.

Loaded it on the trailer, and took her out to TSF for Thanksgiving weekend.

TSF was fun, no issues, and we ran pretty much all the usual trails. The Jeep crawls like a champ, is super stable, and maintains a good pace at speed. I honestly can't think of anything that "needs" changed.

However... we're at seven years with the Jeep at this point. The famous "seven year itch". I'm feeling some changes coming, just not sure which route I want to go just yet. Stay tuned I guess.

 

[TORX]

Badass picture Scott got just before dropping White Knuckle Hill on Behind the Rocks. :greensmok

 

[WheelinJR]

Man. I really want another Jeep...

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[Jbh97009]

Those ‘blue boot’ ac delco’s are what I just pulled out.... I’m beginning to wonder if there is a decent d44 balljoint. Mine were new (probably 50 miles and 30 minutes worth of ladee) and they were sloppy AF.
I put the spicers in the same time you did yours so I’m curious to see how both hold up

 

[need-a-bow]

Hey Dustin, what rear springs are you running at the moment? Youre one of the few people Ive seen running BDS leafs, and was curious if you still had em after all this time. Killed my leafs in Moab, and trying not to spend an arm and a leg on Deavers.

 

[TORX]

Hey Dustin, what rear springs are you running at the moment? Youre one of the few people Ive seen running BDS leafs, and was curious if you still had em after all this time. Killed my leafs in Moab, and trying not to spend an arm and a leg on Deavers.

Still the same 5" BDS packs since install, ~4 years ago. :thumbup: