Mnkyboy
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Sandy,Oregon
7" is what I'm shooting for as well, I had planned to come up through the drivers floor but I may have to go through the passenger side like you did.
The Nail Salon
- Thread starter TORX
- Start date
Bronzewyrm
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Independence,or
if it were me. id find an old "metal" Trany pan. modify it a bit, add gasket, bolt to floor above link cutout...
My .02, Nice work as usual bro. cant wait to see it n the trail again.
Bronze.
My .02, Nice work as usual bro. cant wait to see it n the trail again.
Bronze.
Added some gussets to the upper link mount to prevent any deflection.
With the link mounts all in place, it was time to assemble the links. I chose to leave a half inch of adjustment on all the hiems. Taking into account the width of the jam nut, plus the half inch of adjustment, I then measured from center of the hiem to the start of the beveled edge on the tube adapter. I got 3-5/8", double that for the other side (7-1/4"), and subtract that from your link size.
Once you have your tubing lengths, it's time to cut the material. I'm using 2x.250" DOM for both the lowers and upper. To mark out a square cut line, wrap a piece of paper around the tube making sure the edges line up.
I then made sure to grind a nice bevel into the ends so there's a V between the tube adapter and tubing to get a good weld (thanks for the advice, Adam). I decided against adding plug welds mostly because these tube adapters are only 1/8" thick along the threaded portions, and didn't want to gamble on screwing up the threads. Links tacked together, and ready for mock up.
Installed, and one step closer to getting this jalopy back on the trail.
Last task of the three link is the track bar. Spent most of Monday evening literally staring at the front end. Grabbed some bungees, zip ties, and anything else I could find to mock up the brackets and steering to start brainstorming.
There's three guidelines to consider when setting up your track bar.
The brainstorming then lead to some productivity. For the frame side I plated the bottom of the frame with .250" plate, and captured the factory track bar bracket bolts underneath. I've seen firsthand what happens when you skip this step. The outside was then plated with .188" plate, and also captures the two factory upper bolts as well. This will all get stitch welded on later. With a solid foundation, I then tacked the RuffStuff mount in place. I trimmed about 1/2" off the front top piece, and 3/16" off the other side to account for the plating and to get the bracket to sit parallel with the axle.
Both sides will be gusseted laterally as well.
Next task is tackling the axle side. I have it mocked up and the height established. You can see the wooden dowel set on top of the bolts, the track bar and draglink will have identical angles. Just a matter of attaching it to the axle since it sits about 2.5" off from axle center line.
Starting to get anxious to wrap up this project. The Thanksgiving Run deadline is starting to stress me out.
With the link mounts all in place, it was time to assemble the links. I chose to leave a half inch of adjustment on all the hiems. Taking into account the width of the jam nut, plus the half inch of adjustment, I then measured from center of the hiem to the start of the beveled edge on the tube adapter. I got 3-5/8", double that for the other side (7-1/4"), and subtract that from your link size.
Once you have your tubing lengths, it's time to cut the material. I'm using 2x.250" DOM for both the lowers and upper. To mark out a square cut line, wrap a piece of paper around the tube making sure the edges line up.
I then made sure to grind a nice bevel into the ends so there's a V between the tube adapter and tubing to get a good weld (thanks for the advice, Adam). I decided against adding plug welds mostly because these tube adapters are only 1/8" thick along the threaded portions, and didn't want to gamble on screwing up the threads. Links tacked together, and ready for mock up.
Installed, and one step closer to getting this jalopy back on the trail.
Last task of the three link is the track bar. Spent most of Monday evening literally staring at the front end. Grabbed some bungees, zip ties, and anything else I could find to mock up the brackets and steering to start brainstorming.
There's three guidelines to consider when setting up your track bar.
- Drag link and track bar should have similar angles
- Drag link and track bar should have similar lengths
- Flatter the angles the better
The brainstorming then lead to some productivity. For the frame side I plated the bottom of the frame with .250" plate, and captured the factory track bar bracket bolts underneath. I've seen firsthand what happens when you skip this step. The outside was then plated with .188" plate, and also captures the two factory upper bolts as well. This will all get stitch welded on later. With a solid foundation, I then tacked the RuffStuff mount in place. I trimmed about 1/2" off the front top piece, and 3/16" off the other side to account for the plating and to get the bracket to sit parallel with the axle.
Both sides will be gusseted laterally as well.
Next task is tackling the axle side. I have it mocked up and the height established. You can see the wooden dowel set on top of the bolts, the track bar and draglink will have identical angles. Just a matter of attaching it to the axle since it sits about 2.5" off from axle center line.
Starting to get anxious to wrap up this project. The Thanksgiving Run deadline is starting to stress me out.
- Location
- NE Texas
:lickout:
Managed to get a few hours of work in this evening. I started by butchering the axle side RuffStuff mount to build off of. Basically the axle side track bar bracket will sit plumb off the side of the coil bucket (actually cut in ~3/8"), and have .250" plate "legs" to tie it into the axle tube. The sides will get boxed in, and the back will be gusseted to the coil bucket to help ith the tension/compression forces of the track bar.
Full lock to the passenger side I have about a 1/4" between the bolt and draglink.
Got the track bar built using some 1.5x.250" DOM and 7/8" hiems.
Angles look good. I'll have to put the level on to see how close I got.
Full lock to the passenger side I have about a 1/4" between the bolt and draglink.
Got the track bar built using some 1.5x.250" DOM and 7/8" hiems.
Angles look good. I'll have to put the level on to see how close I got.
- Location
- NE Texas
On the last pic
Where do you measure angle? Middle of TRE or flat surface of the Pitman arm?
Always get confused with that
Where do you measure angle? Middle of TRE or flat surface of the Pitman arm?
Always get confused with that
The angle is from center of joint to center of joint, the pivot points. So on the TRE's the angle will be through the ball-and-socket-thing, which is basically in line with the tube. Don't measure from the taper (pitman arm), or the bolt/nut. It's easier to visualize on hiems since the bolt literally goes through the center of the joint.
I was going to finish up the axle side track bar mount tonight, but then got to thinking that it may need adjusted if I run into clearance issues. So I added some extra tacks on all the mounts, made sure the axle was squared up, and cycled the suspension. Went through all the scenarios, full bump, full droop, droop/bump, bump/droop.
I was very happy to see how smoothly the suspension moved through it's range of travel, zero binding. However... when moving the passenger side up, I ran into clearance issues between the track bar and oil pan around 4" of uptravel. My plan is to run a 12" shock, with 5" up and 7" down (~18" collapsed, 30" extended).
So I sat and stared at it for awhile. Easy fix would have been to just bump stop it accordingly, but I couldn't settle for that. I thought about adding a bend to the track bar, and then running a bushing on one side. The angle would stay the same, but the bend would allow clearance for the pan. The third and best option I saw was lowering the track bar height on both mounts. The axle side would be easy since it has adjustment built into it. The frame side however, would have to be custom. Keeping the frame side as is would result in a two degree difference between the track bar and draglink. Would this be noticeable? No idea, but I can get them to be identical with a little bit of work so why not. Plus I believe a lower trackbar height helps the roll center and stability.
I made a quick cardboard template of the new mount needed, and I think it'll come together quick and be better overall.
Sitting on it's own weight! By the way, Eric if you want your jack stands back let me know.
Aside from the frame side track bar mount, all the other mounts can get burned in and finalized. I'm hoping to make some good progress this weekend.
I was very happy to see how smoothly the suspension moved through it's range of travel, zero binding. However... when moving the passenger side up, I ran into clearance issues between the track bar and oil pan around 4" of uptravel. My plan is to run a 12" shock, with 5" up and 7" down (~18" collapsed, 30" extended).
So I sat and stared at it for awhile. Easy fix would have been to just bump stop it accordingly, but I couldn't settle for that. I thought about adding a bend to the track bar, and then running a bushing on one side. The angle would stay the same, but the bend would allow clearance for the pan. The third and best option I saw was lowering the track bar height on both mounts. The axle side would be easy since it has adjustment built into it. The frame side however, would have to be custom. Keeping the frame side as is would result in a two degree difference between the track bar and draglink. Would this be noticeable? No idea, but I can get them to be identical with a little bit of work so why not. Plus I believe a lower trackbar height helps the roll center and stability.
I made a quick cardboard template of the new mount needed, and I think it'll come together quick and be better overall.
Sitting on it's own weight! By the way, Eric if you want your jack stands back let me know.
Aside from the frame side track bar mount, all the other mounts can get burned in and finalized. I'm hoping to make some good progress this weekend.
RlCHARD CRANlUM
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- GuateMolalla
You do nice work Dustin.
stang65
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- independence oregon
wow looks good
- Location
- NE Texas
Bumper going back on?
or is Version2.0 on paper?
or is Version2.0 on paper?
Bronzewyrm
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Independence,or
I was surprised to see you checking things W/O the tires on. I take it you plan on taking car of tire clearance issues after its all said and done? Its looking good, the quality and haste of the build makes me think all of your research and thinking is paying off.
Looks great man. you will be back out there in no time flat.
Bronze.
Looks great man. you will be back out there in no time flat.
Bronze.
Thanks, Ken. It's good to see you post up. It would be fun to catch up, let me know if you guys venture out this winter.
Winch bumper is off for good. Won't fit over the frame with the front end plating, and I'm not motivated to try and make it work. It'll be for sale soon. A new winch bumper is on the winter agenda, but likely won't happen before Thanksgiving.
Still going back and forth on mounting the winch behind the cross-member. Approach angle would be nice, but I also use the crap out of my winch and ease of use / visibility is a concern. We'll see what happens, it'll probably be impulsive.
It's been tough having the Jeep down this long, but it's all slowly coming together. I thought about tossing a tire on, but it's kind of a pain to cycle with a floor jack and one person. I know I'll likely have some sheet metal interference under the fenders, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. What's a little more cutting. :dunno:
Jbh97009
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Damascus, Oregon
How soon will said bumper be for sale? 
Demonoid369
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Salem, OR
I want to know when said bead locks will be forsale lol
Started today off by tackling the new frame side track bar mount. Made two identical pieces out of some .250" plate. I built some adjustability in for any future changes.
Tacked the brackets on, and cycled the suspension again. We're golden now.
Draglink runs at a 5.7 degree angle, and the track bar runs at a 5.9 degree angle. I can live with that. The coils appear to be bowed because the top isn't seated right. I've noticed the PAC coils are picky about how they sit. I need to rig up some retainers to keep them seated right.
With the suspension pretty much complete I spent the rest of the day finalizing all the bracketry. Finished off the track bar bracket by boxing it in, and adding some gussets. Also boxed in the front of the coil bucket to finish it off.
Boxed in the frame side mount and gusseted. I inboarded the mount a half inch, so I gained some room between the coil and bracket.
Got a lot of welding ahead of me in the next few days, but we're on the home stretch now.
Tacked the brackets on, and cycled the suspension again. We're golden now.
Draglink runs at a 5.7 degree angle, and the track bar runs at a 5.9 degree angle. I can live with that. The coils appear to be bowed because the top isn't seated right. I've noticed the PAC coils are picky about how they sit. I need to rig up some retainers to keep them seated right.
With the suspension pretty much complete I spent the rest of the day finalizing all the bracketry. Finished off the track bar bracket by boxing it in, and adding some gussets. Also boxed in the front of the coil bucket to finish it off.
Boxed in the frame side mount and gusseted. I inboarded the mount a half inch, so I gained some room between the coil and bracket.
Got a lot of welding ahead of me in the next few days, but we're on the home stretch now.
Jbh97009
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Damascus, Oregon
You do some amazingly nice work! This is the nicest late model build I've seen in a while, and your knocking it out pretty quickly too! Nice work
- Location
- NE Texas
Best part!! I love that feeling..
Thanks, man. I use to not enjoy fab work, and only made my own parts because I was cheap. While I still am cheap, I now find myself thoroughly enjoying the work. I look forward to the time I can nerd out on the Jeep in the garage.
I got about two hours of welding done tonight on all the frame side mounts. So much more enjoyable welding actual plate steel rather than sheetmetal!
I'll get the 44 bracketry and links welded up in the next day or two.
First task today was welding up all the links. I got some great advice from SpecFab on welding them up, which settled my nerves about the job. I chose to leave the heims installed during welding to prevent any warpage of the threads. To make sure I could remove them after I coated the threads in a high temp never-seez. Also, be sure to cover the ball during welding to prevent any splatter from damaging it.
The plan was to hold the welder stationary while I rotated the tubing, which would control the speed. I tack welded some scrap pieces of tubing to the table so the tubing could sit ontop, and spin freely.
It ended up working great. By rotating the tubing I could control the puddle and heat. The bevel on the tubing helped lay the bead in nice and flat.
I didn't mess with the heims until the links were fully cooled to prevent gulling the hot threads. I was pleased to find every heim spun just as easy as before.
Through some primer at the frame.
Murdered out the frame.
Spent some time welding up the front axle. I made sure to skip around and spread out the heat to not warp the tube.
Shot some paint at the axle and the links. The next time I get over to the shop, The Nail Salon should be driving out under it's own power!
I still need to fab up some axle side shock mounts. I believe the current version on the axle was set up for a bar pin eliminator. I won't be running BPE's so I need to modify them a bit. Pretty sure I got my new shocks picked out too, so I can dial in there mounting height. While pretty much most of the work is complete I still have a growing list of small details to take care of. Thanksgiving is in 23 days, no sweat.
The plan was to hold the welder stationary while I rotated the tubing, which would control the speed. I tack welded some scrap pieces of tubing to the table so the tubing could sit ontop, and spin freely.
It ended up working great. By rotating the tubing I could control the puddle and heat. The bevel on the tubing helped lay the bead in nice and flat.
I didn't mess with the heims until the links were fully cooled to prevent gulling the hot threads. I was pleased to find every heim spun just as easy as before.
Through some primer at the frame.
Murdered out the frame.
Spent some time welding up the front axle. I made sure to skip around and spread out the heat to not warp the tube.
Shot some paint at the axle and the links. The next time I get over to the shop, The Nail Salon should be driving out under it's own power!
I still need to fab up some axle side shock mounts. I believe the current version on the axle was set up for a bar pin eliminator. I won't be running BPE's so I need to modify them a bit. Pretty sure I got my new shocks picked out too, so I can dial in there mounting height. While pretty much most of the work is complete I still have a growing list of small details to take care of. Thanksgiving is in 23 days, no sweat.
