This is my first attempt at a build thread, and I am looking for comments and advice.

My LJ's first set of mods were a RE 3.5 SF kit and 35" Truxus. I threw on a front cage addition at this point.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0152_2.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/Crozet0307/IMG_0019.jpg

I broke the Dana 30, realized I needed beadlocks and lockers, so I tore it down and built the current version.

She now has a RE 4.5" LA, 37's, ARB's F&R, on a HP30 and a 44.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC03871JPG.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/RCPFA%20Labor%20Day%202008/web-6.jpg

Poser Shot

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/Rausch%20Creek%200208/IMG_0512.jpg

So, now on to the current situation.

I bought this JK to be my camping, dd, mall crawler, so now the LJ is headed for trail only status.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/OBX%202008/IMG_0779.jpg

The next build is being built around these axles that I just picked up.

-79 Ford HP D60 with some upgrades:
Fully rebuilt all the way through with brand new parts
5.13 Yukon gears shaved down re-heat treated and cryo’d
Detroit cryo’d
1350 yoke with u-bolts all cryo’d
Dodge knuckles swapped on so 35 spline outers could be used. This also gets rid of the weak ford knuckles
Warn 35 spline lockouts and Poly performance drive slugs
WMS Diff cover
Inside painted with Glyptal for better oil flow
Whole housing shaved, with a ½” plate tigged on the bottom.
High Clearance TJ/ZJ/XJ Brackets tigged on
Swapped to Chevy rotors and calipers to clear 15” rims
Mad4wd Steering arms
Sniper fab hydraulic ram mount welded on. I can remove this if the buyer wants to run conventional steering

’89 14 bolt rear with a few upgrades:
Fully rebuilt all the way through
Inside painted with Glyptal for better oil flow
5.13 Yukon gears turned down, reheat treated and cryo’d
Detroit Cryo’d
Shafts Cryo’d
Whole housing shaved with a ½” plate tigged on the bottom
Converted to disks via ¾ ton chevy rotors and calipers
1350 yoke
GLO Pinion guard

In addition we are going to pull the cage and put in a real cage.

I am going to be running 39's on 17" Allied Monster Beadlocks.

Steering will be full hydro.

Plans are to work off the RE LA kit, with some mods.

Tenative plan is outboarding the shocks, with an eye on coilovers down the road.

THe 14 bolt is set up for a FT wishbone style 3 link, i haven't decided if I will build something to work with that, or stick with the RE style links.

I will probably stick with the four link front, but have been discussing the idea of a wishbone style 3 link there also.

This will be a slow build as time and $$ allow thee acquisition of the necessary parts.

sounds like its ganna be a badass rig! any plains for the motor?

PA-XJ2

Are you stretching outthe wheel base at all?

I have an unlimited also and I just picked up a 60 front. I am eager to see your build.

No mods to the engine are planned yet, The 4.0 is still under warranty for 5 more years.

I will be stretching the wheelbase, I'm still trying to decide on the right number.

Any advice on coilovers vs airshocks, I think I may be leaning towards airshocks.

Also looking for wheelbase suggestions.

Well, any idea on how far you want to stretch the wheelbase? IIRC the LJ's are "longer", wheelbase wise, than an XJ and shorter than a ZJ? You have a very nice platform with the LA's but it seems like you have some tough decisions to make. Considering its a wheeling only rig the full hydro is acceptable. At roughly 103" wheelbase the LJ is a great platform and it seems the golden number that I have come across is roughly 109". I have stretched my ZJ to about 2.5" over stock with the wheelbase and it does feel better on the road and eventually the trail when time and money permit (I understand your pain man). Keep us posted!

RockZJ

you put iroks on your DD?

Well, any idea on how far you want to stretch the wheelbase? IIRC the LJ's are "longer", wheelbase wise, than an XJ and shorter than a ZJ? You have a very nice platform with the LA's but it seems like you have some tough decisions to make. Considering its a wheeling only rig the full hydro is acceptable. At roughly 103" wheelbase the LJ is a great platform and it seems the golden number that I have come across is roughly 109". I have stretched my ZJ to about 2.5" over stock with the wheelbase and it does feel better on the road and eventually the trail when time and money permit (I understand your pain man). Keep us posted!

RockZJ

The preliminary plan was to stretch it about 7" to about 110", using the Gen-Right tank and stretching the front a little.

you put iroks on your DD?

Yes, I am lucky, I live in a small college town and my commute to work is about 3.5 miles.

They are truly not bad on a dd.

Sweet, cant wait to see more of this.

As for the stretch, with 7" do you plan on cutting the rear as a stretch cut or doing a "comp" cut. I guess you aware of gen rights 4" stretch corners for the LJ?

I still want to wheel Crozet with you. Hopefully some time in Dec when Ill be home for a bit.
Whats the plans for you old parts?

Subscribed...Can't wait to see what you come up with - I've got a d60 rear that I'm toying with for my LJ (out of a 2006 E-350 Van) - Still trying to decide what to put up front.

Looks like a fun build, in! :smokin:

If you'e interested at all, I talked to Adam at Clayton's about some axle bracketry a couple days ago. They've got some high clearance brackets for the front 60 that should work with your RE arms. Costs about 420-460, depending if you're running a high steer or not.

http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l133/Corm2005/Axles/ProRock60%20Front/

I've run into a few financial problems this build, but we are finally making a little progress.

The new plan is to get it moving again by installing the tons using the current RE suspension components.

I will continue to accumulate parts as the budget allows. The goal is still to stretch, link, and run airshocks.

Moving it from the field to the shop turned into an exercise in Murphy's law. We had a flat tire on my tow rig, the dually got stuck in the mud when the hill thawed, Eric's XJ broke a beadlock recovering the dually, then the dually ran out of diesel.

But we finally have it on stands in the shop, and hope to have it moving on its own power in the next week or two.

Some pics...

Recovery
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1276.jpg

HP 60
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1277.jpg

14 Bolt
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1280.jpg

Shop
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1282.jpg

Some new pics...

The front axle is in.

We are waiting on uniball joint from Poly to finish the rear.

Once we get the rear in, we will have to see the clearance issues on the panhard bar. It may hit the oil pan.

We also still have to redo the lower mounts on the rear to fix the binding issues.

But, cross our fingers, we should be able to flex her out next Monday.


Front should come down about 4" more when it comes off jackstands
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0861.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0867.jpg

Rear lowers need tweaked
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0860.jpg

Front Panhard clearance questions
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0857.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0866.jpg

Good to see this build back underway - Subscribed and still watchin!

Progress update...

We got the rear axle in, and the steering orbital mounted. We still need to shorten the front driveshaft, plumb the steering, move the gas tank rearward, and take a sawzall to the body.

She should be moving again by next week. :2thumbsup:

RE uppers converted to wishbone
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1287.jpg

Cutoff wheel to the inner fenders to clearance for the orbital
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1283.jpg

Full width rear
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1285.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1288.jpg

Ride height

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1289.jpg

Looking good man

Nice wheel choice, same ones I'm using for my TJ build :smokin:

Looks good Chris, now ya be like all us cool kids with tons. HAHAHA. J/K man, build looks real good.:smokin:

JOSH

Looks good Chris, now ya be like all us cool kids with tons. HAHAHA. J/K man, build looks real good.:smokin:

JOSH

Thanks, Eric has been helping with a lot of the work. I have been surfing your build thread for inspiration. Theres not a lot of LJ's on tons to reference.

Chris

Finished the steering, driveshafts, and tested the flex today.

Still need to do some trimming, but its very close.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1290.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1292.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1293.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1297.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1303.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1305.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1306.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1307.jpg

Finally got finished moving to the new house, and got back to this project.

I took her out for a test run back in February and broke the rear shocks. The lesson here is measure for bumpstops, don't assume they are OK.

So yesterday, I swapped out the busted shocks and we built some new bumpstops. I gave her a test run at Crozet and loved the performance.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1433.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1436.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1443.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1446.jpg

Next in line is to move the gas tank back, and then start on the cage rebuild.

anymore more progress?

Not much progress in the build, I wheeled it pretty hard yesterday to see what needs attention.

I have a leak in the return line for the steering, I need a cooler for the steering, but overall, I was impressed with the performance.

I really need to work on the cage before pushing it much more.

Couple of pics from yesterday...

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/ROAV/IMG_1505.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/ROAV/IMG_1508.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/ROAV/IMG_1510.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/ROAV/IMG_1525.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/ROAV/IMG_1533.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/ROAV/IMG_1536.jpg

Hey bro, nice job. I dont follow to many build threads, but your rig looks great man!

Chris, you don't happen to own/work at a local university appearel store do you?

Chris, you don't happen to own/work at a local university appearel store do you?

Yes I do.

Do I know you?
:)

I had a couple of vacation days, and got back to working on this project.

This is the old cage, stock cage re-enforced with A to Z kit and Rockhard parts.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1788.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1792.jpg

Stripped down and ready for a new cage.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1789.jpg

Mondays progress was getting th old cage out, and got the tubes bent for the new cage.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1794.jpg

Made some more progress on Tuesday. Got most of the top done and the B pillars done.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1810.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1809.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1812.jpg

Many thanks to Chris and Eric for building the cage.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1800.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1806.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1807.jpg

The easy way to remove Line-X from the torx bolts.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1804.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1801.jpg

I love the cage lines so far.....looks good

More pics...

Nice notches
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC00352.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC00353.jpg

Removing the windshield

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC00358.jpg

Almost done

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC00364.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC00368.jpg

I am just waiting on seats, Corbeau Ultra Wides, perfect for fat asses. Once we get the seats mounted, we can finish up the door bars and side protection.

Has to be better than riding like this.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC00360.jpg

More progress.

Seat Mounts
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC00372.jpg
Frame tie in
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1817.jpg
Seat mockup and headroom
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC00377.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC00394.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1813.jpg

Almost done, just need paint, door bars, and new harnesses.

Thanks for the pics, Chris.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC00403.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC00395.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC00397.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC00404.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC00407.jpg

Looks awesome!

DROOL.

I miss my TJ. and Buggy.

thanks a lot.:smokin:

Yes I do.

Do I know you?
:)

You may remember me, I had a friend that "worked" there once. I picked him up a couple times in the big black yj. :eek:

Made some more progress today.

Got the kids seats mounted and finished up painting the cage.

Just waiting on the new harnesses, and door bars.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1826.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1830.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1832.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1833.jpg

Got the door bars finished, cage is done.

Still waiting on backordered harnesses from Corbeau.


http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1926.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_1927.jpg

Wheeled it a little with my old harness.

I was pretty pleased, but the suspension still unloads at poor times.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/RCPFA%200809/IMG_1885.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/RCPFA%200809/IMG_6343.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/RCPFA%200809/IMG_6350.jpg

Not much time for some of the bigger projects, but have knocked out a couple of little jobs.

12 Volt Guy switch panel.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0005.jpg

and

new sound setup, Pyle Marine amp, Pyle Wakeboard Speakers, and ipod input.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0006.jpg

Suck down point on front steering skid

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0011.jpg

Looks Great!!

Got the airshocks and airbumps installed this weeks.

I'll be testing them this weekend, and get some better pics.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0277-1.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC01092.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC01099.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/DSC01100.jpg

Got to try out the Airshocks today, here are a few pics...

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0550.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0551.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0587.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0593.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e32/chendricks1971/IMG_0574.jpg