Figured I should post here so I can get some extra tips and pointers as I go along...
Decided to take my TJ and retire the body as well as most of the frame. Going to build it for a dual purpose trail rig but something that may also get my foot in the door with comps as well.
Here she sits right now:
Pile of tubing waiting to be bent up:
Axles. HP60 and 14 bolt. May get rid of the HP60 though in favor of a chevy 60 thats passenger drop.
This was idea number 1 for the start of the chassis, but I am still trying to decide how much of the frame I want to keep.
Rear suspension will be a double triangulated 4 link with air shocks. Front will be a 3 link w/ pan hard and air shocks.
Better question--Did you have the foresight to chain the front of that thing up with the crane beforehand...or did you have to change your shorts when that thing started to teeter forward right when you finished chopping the back off?:flipoff2:
Actually thats over 300 feet of various sizes, but it is just a big stock order for the shop. Enough for my buggy, 1 cage, some steering kits, and suspension stuff...
Capped off the frame rails today. And then put the body back on to get final measurements for the chassis. Also played around with the D300, def going to need a clocking ring. Tomorrow I am going to start bending most likely!
Here was what I have for the chassis so far. Going to be adding more on the rear, plus will have tubes running up front too. There is going to be a rock rail running along the bottom side of the tub as well.
Didn't get bending today because I was tyring to mess with getting a tranny mount done.
The plan was to do a tube mount straight across with two bushings are the end (maybe a U on the driveshaft side). Got to messing around with it today and it looks like unless I get a flip kit for the D300 is going to be real difficult to make a mount and have it sit flush with the frame.
I am going to weight my options right now. Buy a flip kit, run a pass drop D60, or get an Atlas or Stak case.
I will be following this build....my Jeep looks almost exactly like yours does right now....:laughing:. Can you PM me the dimensions and measurements of your cage/backhalf that you came up with ?
Spent some time today trying to figure out what to do with this D300. I broke out the bandsaw and cut down the old shifter crap:
Ok so now that made a little more clearance for the mount. But the next problem... The driveshaft and shifters. Looks like I am going to need a 2 piece shaft to fit around the transmission. Also may run into some trouble with clearance for the shifter but I may be able to work around that...
Also while I had the D300 apart, I decided to grind the shift rail to allow me to use 2wd High in the Front with the rear in N.
Before (Marker is where you grind to):
Afer:
Also bent the first tubes for the chassis... The slider pieces to weld on the frame that will run right along the tub line.
Ok so I need some help on the 2 piece shaft. Never done one before...
I figure if I set it up like this it should solve my problem...
I plan to use 1350 joints, and a CV on the second section. Going to mount the bearing on a bushing as well so I want need a slip in the first section.
I figure if I can build the shaft fairly cheap then I am going to stick with the D300 for a year or two. Then replace it with an Atlas or Stak when I rework the engine. If the 2 piece shaft is going to be alot, then I don't know if it is worth it to sink the money into the D300 setup and may just spring for a Stak or Atlas now...
Was sitting here thinking about other solutions as well. I remembered I have a front half of a 231 left over from a teralow swap. I may do a D&D crawl box with it. That would give me the shifter clearance and it is possible that I could get away with not needing a 2 piece shaft.
Got a little but of time today work on it. Got the side rocker tubes burned in. Added two gussests, one of which will be the A pillar tie in. Also got the tranny mount burned in. Then laid the whats left of the tub back on for the last time. Tomorrow going to start bending some tube of the chassis.
I like the idea of the tube nerf style bars. I may just use your design but instead of leaving the stock body mounts use tube instead and then cover the bottom with some UHMW to slide better over rocks.
Looking good so far mike! I like the looks of this new cage compared to the last one no offense it looked like a basketball hoop. But nice to see some good progress more than most of us are getting done lately. Keep it up
Yeah, I was waiting to retire the old one. It was fine for basic trail riding, but after two flops and getting into some harder trails it was time for some that will withstand hard rolls.
My front D60 has a truss with TJ brackets on it (decided to change plans and build the buggy) so I was hoping I could knock off one upper and reposition the other to make it work but it seems the truss is just too big for the front right now. At ride height I want the axle about 3" higher than it is now and you can see I will have clearance issues with the belts trac-bar...
Belt
Tomorrow I am selling the HP60 I have. It made it easier to just sell it to someone with a TJ rather than cut the truss off an waste it and my time. Going to pick up another 60, not sure if I am going to stay driver drop or go passenger drop.
It is short compared to most guys that back half TJ. Going for about 107" WB but most of that will be up front to get the wheels in front of the frame.
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