Here is a pic from last night when I got the front axle permanently installed. It turned out awesome, clearances between the big diff and the motor are much better than I expected, I'm thrilled. Still a long way to go but getting there.

Plenty more pics at:
http://www.jeep.org/jeep.org/cjl-tj

Just look in the dated directores in year 2002.

Good job… keep working:D

i like the saw horses, wish i had thought of that. how much will they hold, and where'd ya get em?

Dallas

Cool job man. Give us a run down on what's going on with it.

Did you stretch the frame?
What are your links made from?
What type of engine/tranny?

etc.

SWEET!! :smokin:

You be a picture taken fool!!!!!

Thanks alot its nice to see a frame like that I'm thinking of building something for a CJ-5 in the future. good pictures of the diff clearance too!

SWEET! are those 16" travel coilovers?

-Steve

99 TJ in Progress: Chevy 350/NV4500/Atlas II :flipoff2:


looks good CJ


Hunter

Nice set up....:D

Christopher

How the heck are you going to get it out of the garage when you're done? :D :confused: :D


Looks good :smokin:

Sweet Jesus...your shop floor is cleaner than my kitchen floor!

I like the Lincoln Banner :rasta:

Oh yea...the TJbuggy is ok too :p

Originally posted by BillaVista
Sweet Jesus...your shop floor is cleaner than my kitchen floor!



What's up with that?:D And it's looks like U built a boat in the basement, how do U get it out.....lol:confused:

schwing!!!! what tires are you going to run?

Awesome man, makes me want my coil-overs even more, hehe.

What type of linkage did you use for the front end, i can see the lower arm in that pic, but i am very curious to see how people(other than crapalanche) are mounting control arms to these axles...

good work so far, stay at it!

ok, now mind you, I'm not trying to start something here... but could you send or link to a picture or two of this thing on the trail (before or after the rockwells) I've sen your Jeep a few times in pictures, but never on a trail... I'm sure with the money that you've put into it that you wheel it... I just wanted to see some cool action shots...

again, I'm not trying to start something... just wanna see...:beer:

haha i was thinking the same thing, this thing is always being built and never wheeled. though i have seen some wheeling shots im sure its been in the shop alot longer then on the trail.

Originally posted by yjtj
haha i was thinking the same thing, this thing is always being built and never wheeled. though i have seen some wheeling shots im sure its been in the shop alot longer then on the trail.

remember, some guys like building them more then they do wheelin.....not me:D

http://admotorsports.com/jeep.org/cjl-tj/03-19-02/P1010008.JPG

Hey CJ, in this pic, the weight appears to be on the front end. I see taht the motor is in, but is the tranny?? Are all you accessories on the engine?? The reason i ask is that it appears your spring rate is wayyy too stiff. what rates did you choose??? Am i missing something or do you want it to be 9 feet tall??

Laters-

stinkbug,

I got some $12 metal ones from Lowe's that say they hold 1200lbs, they make me a bit nervous, I built the wooden one in the rear.

attachcurrie,

The links are 1.75 OD with 3/8" wall thickness.

elf,

The front suspension is basically just an upside down triangulated 4 link. The two lowers converge on the diff and the two uppers just are straight from below the frame rail to above the axle. There are two issues with this design. The first is that it gives you a low roll center. I'm not worried about that becuase of the thick swaybars Im gonna use and the angle of the shocks. The other is that it really swings that the compressed side in. My shocks barely clear the frame but the reason I wanted it this way was to make sure that the rockwell cleared the frame rail. If I had the lowers converge on the frame, the axle would move out on compression but I was worried this movement(very similar to a trackbar setup), would cause the diff to get into the frame rail.

As far as the height, yes, it is quite a bit higher than I want. Those shocks are directly off my old Jeep setup. From my calculations there is about 1000lbs on the front end. That is with the whole drivetrain in place, most accessories on the motor(steering pump isn't). I really can't think of what is going to add a whole lot of weight. The springs are 200 over 250, both 14" long. That is somewhat soft compared to what most people run but I love the ride it gives you and with a swaybar the lack of body roll is awesome. I'm not to worried about the ride height until it is all setup. The frame is at the height I want, it's just the axle needs to come up about 3-4".

Oh, I was looking at the steering setup tonight. Im gonna have to run my tie rod in front of the axle under the knuckles. I'll put my ram on top of one of them...I was measuring and I think I'm gonna need a 12" ram, everyone I've talked to said to use an 8" but I haven't spoken with anyone with rockwells either, I need to get on that.

Take care,
CJ

Hey Daniel,

Is 10" enough? I measured tonight and it was definatly a hair less than 12" of travel from lock to lock. Do you have any pics of any setups? I'm trying to figure out how to mount it. I converted the knuckles to 3/4" holes and will have the tie rod underneath it with a heim, I wish I could get an AGR rockram style ram, that'd be perfect.

CJ

Thanks for the info CJ, i am sure you will get it all hammered out. You are doing a bit more radical stuff than i did, all at once. I respect what you are going through. I will have to take into consideration, the carrier/frame issue, as mine is pretty close as well. I am still in favor of the panhard, though. I will have to make it perfectly level at rest, so the carrier moves away from the frame, either way it flexes. I think your design is good too, it is hard to work around the space requirements of these axles.

Good Luck!!

couldnt you raise the upper coilover mounts to give a little less height. kinda like the other coilover tj that was posted with the mounts up through the hood

a pic smal enough for us all to see;)

No I set the shock mounts up to give me the travel I wanted, the problem is the front end is a lot lighter than expected, im not worried about it, gotta wait until everything is on there first.

CJ

the problem is the front end is a lot lighter than expected,

Make a huge custom drum and mount an 8274 with about 500' of 3/8" wire rope??

Sorry - I'm just jealous..."too light" ha ha ha....I can't stop myself building everything from 1/4" and 3/8" steel ....too light???? Never heard of it.

Billa,

I've never heard of it either. My frame is 2x4x3/16, all my brackets are 1/4", tubing is .120 and .134....its no big deal, the ride height gets sorted out later...

CJ

those front D rings look like they are mounted to 3/4"!!!:eek: :eek: :eek:

Seabass,

Oh yeah, I forgot about the d-rings mounts, they're 1" thick.

:usa:

CJ

Originally posted by CJ Lagos
Seabass,

Oh yeah, I forgot about the d-rings mounts, they're 1" thick.

:usa:

CJ
Nice;) U will have so much unsprung weight, it won't be able to roll over! I saw one at calroks Lake Almonor, and it woulkdn't flop, crazzzzzzzy man crazzzzzzzzy:D

Just one question.........how you going to get this beast out of your garage:D I guess you could always break out the sawzall:rasta:

It should end up being about 80-84" tall, which can get in and out of my garage. If not I'll just put a lift on the garage I guess.

Originally posted by CJ Lagos
It should end up being about 80-84" tall, which can get in and out of my garage. If not I'll just put a lift on the garage I guess.

is that with or without tires???? seems to me that once you put wheels and tires on it your screwed..........i like the idea of lifting the garage though:smokin:

Originally posted by apeters89
ok, now mind you, I'm not trying to start something here... but could you send or link to a picture or two of this thing on the trail (before or after the rockwells) I've sen your Jeep a few times in pictures, but never on a trail... I'm sure with the money that you've put into it that you wheel it... I just wanted to see some cool action shots...

again, I'm not trying to start something... just wanna see...:beer:
Anyone else notice he ignored this? I wanna see some pics of that thing wheelin, and wheelin hard enough to warrant rockwells.... I can honestly say, all the pics Ive seen of it wheeling were in places that don't need more than 35's. But thats just my opinion. I guess Im entitled to it right?

No, 80-84" is loaded up and ready to go on the tires of course.

Ketchup Dog,

Yes your right I ignored it, mainly because I'm tired of answering the same question every time I post a picture. Obviously you've never attempted a project like this when you were 20 years old being a full time student at a university 5 hours from home. I put the coilovers on it last summer and missed all the wheeling trips because I was working on it. I didn't have the luxury of being able to work on it over the winter like most people do. I finished the thing right as I was headed back to school in August, so it sat until December when I came back home for winter break. There were a lot of little things I wanted to change on it, mainly because I was working with the stock frame.

I left my old school and am going to one close to home so I am able to work on it much more now. So instead of spending the winter fixing a whole bunch of little things, I decided to just start over with the new frame and build everything how I wanted and be hopefully done once and for all. I'll have plenty of pictures once summer rolls around. We're going to Tennessee Off Road Roundup in May and Tellico for a week after that, we leave May 23rd. Yes of course your entitled to your own opinion but I don't need to justify anything to you so that your happy. Build yours how you want and I'll build mine the same. Hope that clears that up.

CJ

to some, building is better then wheelin
beautiful work

Originally posted by CJ Lagos
No, 80-84" is loaded up and ready to go on the tires of course.

Ketchup Dog,

Yes your right I ignored it, mainly because I'm tired of answering the same question every time I post a picture.

CJ


I was serious... I've not seen pictures of it off road, again, I wasn't trying to start crap, I just wanted to see some cool wheeling pics... Since I too am in college, 8 hours from home, I don't have the time or $$$ to build a nice project. I have to settle with piddly wheeling on my 31's except when I get to "web-wheel" which is why I wanted to see cool action shots... eventually, I too will be able to build MY perfect rig... until then I keep watching what other people build. Your Jeep is sweet... and I know it had 60's on it at one time... I just figured there'd have been some cool shots with those on it.

Originally posted by CJ Lagos
No, 80-84" is loaded up and ready to go on the tires of course.

Ketchup Dog,

Yes your right I ignored it, mainly because I'm tired of answering the same question every time I post a picture. Obviously you've never attempted a project like this when you were 20 years old being a full time student at a university 5 hours from home. I put the coilovers on it last summer and missed all the wheeling trips because I was working on it. I didn't have the luxury of being able to work on it over the winter like most people do. I finished the thing right as I was headed back to school in August, so it sat until December when I came back home for winter break. There were a lot of little things I wanted to change on it, mainly because I was working with the stock frame.

I left my old school and am going to one close to home so I am able to work on it much more now. So instead of spending the winter fixing a whole bunch of little things, I decided to just start over with the new frame and build everything how I wanted and be hopefully done once and for all. I'll have plenty of pictures once summer rolls around. We're going to Tennessee Off Road Roundup in May and Tellico for a week after that, we leave May 23rd. Yes of course your entitled to your own opinion but I don't need to justify anything to you so that your happy. Build yours how you want and I'll build mine the same. Hope that clears that up.

CJ
Nice opinion :) Im not stopping you from building yours just the way you want. Oh and as far as being a fulltime student, I am one, and I work full time 40 + hours a week. so I do know what thats like.
Anyway.. regardless of my opinion, I do think it looks good.
Scott

Looks Good CJ, keep up the good work man