Ok so I'm stuck in Iraq at the moment and I stand alot of 6 hours posts by alone, in betwen screaming rocketman and hillbilly deluxe at the top of my lungs trying to stay sane, I think alot about my xj sitting comfortably under a large tarp in my dads backyard. I am going to put a few of ideas here so i can finally getthem out of my head. Flame, comment, and give immput as you like but i would really like some feedback from ya'll.
basis: '91 4door 6" re superflex, 8.8 spooled and a non-disco 30 with lunchbox and 4.56 about it./ half doors on all four doors/ fourpoint belts all around

dreams
I have a 44/9 in out of my dads old 74/75 ford plan on radiums arms up front and re leaves in the rea. coil over up front.
*boatside/ chop/ dove tail/ tube fenders/ vented hood/ 35 or 37 krawlers/ full hydro stear (snaged it complete out of a broken ditch witch at my old work)/ spool rear/ ox or arb up front/ 5.13 gears/ internal cage/ tank through floor in rear/ tnt tube bumper front and a chopped down bumper in the rear with some type of pre runner looking tire gate-esk rear bumper./ roof rack
my idea for the chop is instead of the usual cheromanche i was thinking of and integrated roll bar hood that is seam welded to the roof and sides then building a bulk head and filling in the top with a peice of 1/2" plexiglass.
i was also hoping to do the radius arms in the front making for minimal work on the 44. weld the 9" and reuse my re leaves in the rear.
this is by no means impossible and i hope that my fab skills are up to it all. anyhow... thats it for now

chris

How's the weather?:flipoff2:

Your suspension setup sounds alot like what i'm going to go with. HP 44 and extended radius arms on the front, but i'm going to try some BII or ranger rears for the stretch and length of the leaves. The rest sounds pretty feasible. Lookin forward to a build thread when you come back to good soil.

Your suspension setup sounds alot like what i'm going to go with. HP 44


I have a 44/9 in out of my dads old 74/75 ford

74/75 Ford 44 is not Hi-pinion

74/75 Ford 44 is not Hi-pinion

he didint say it was:flipoff2:

he didint say it was:flipoff2:
X2:flipoff2:
Two different people posted. I happen to have an HP which is why his setup sounds "alot like" mine.:flipoff2:
I thought you were gonna change your ways GW? More poductive and so and so......

X2:flipoff2:
Two different people posted. I happen to have an HP which is why his setup sounds "alot like" mine.:flipoff2:
I thought you were gonna change your ways GW? More poductive and so and so......

Oh cheesh....just one post and I was playin anyways. Both of you setups sound nice and I look forward to seeing them both. :smokin::flipoff2:

Lodi....plans sound good. If your fabbing all this though, take a little extra time and do a 3 link front. You'll be much happier in the long run. Also are you fabing the cage? If so why not fab the bumber? Just thinking of ways to save you money....the economy sucks...we all need help.

Oh cheesh....just one post and I was playin anyways. Both of you setups sound nice and I look forward to seeing them both. :smokin::flipoff2:

Lodi....plans sound good. If your fabbing all this though, take a little extra time and do a 3 link front. You'll be much happier in the long run. Also are you fabing the cage? If so why not fab the bumber? Just thinking of ways to save you money....the economy sucks...we all need help.

Just fuggin with ya:flipoff2:

That is a lot of work you have planned. Just do what my Squad leader and my buddy do. Buy the parts while youre in theatre, have them shipped to you girl/buddy/mom's house and come home to a garage full of go slow stuff.

HAAHA ya I have been doing a little saving so I'll have about 8k in my pocket when i get home to blow on the heep. im considering doing the bumper too i just dont have a way to notch tube, so im going to buy one of those put-me-together cage kits for like 600$ figure ill be money ahead. maybe not though? Im not sure

Yeah, sure. If you can't bend or notch, buy from someone who can right?

What cage are you lookin at specifically? 600 sounds good for a complete cage, provided it serves its purpose if required. If you dont have tube working skills then your prolly better buying the kit.

Notching wouldnt be a big deal for ya, theres a ton of ways around that, but I see many a newbie tube guy make wrong bends or make halo's too narrow. Just gets real exspesive real quick if you dont have a good understanding of it all. I was just to assume your fab knowledge was handling the cage, leading to my confusion as to why you were buying a tube bumper.

Anyways 8k huh....can uhhh I have a loan:flipoff2:

Im looking at the cage from T&J performance... theyll even do the install and custom peices if i need it. I talked to the Owner when I was home. I am actually pretty good with tubing. I was heavily involved in SAE Baja in college and learned alot about all that stuff there. I just bought a little hobart handler 135 for some of the small stuff I just dont have access to most of the tools I need like a bender and a bigger welder.

chris

So a little more pondering on top of my last post...

best freind (lodimoparmudder) is liquidating a bunch of project stuff. and i am looking at picking up his 302 sbf for my xj. what is your guys' opinion of this swap? it carborated and out of like a 74 ford pickup. i was thinking propane? the engine was dyno'd at 403hp so its pretty built.

second i think i abandoned the back half idea and am just going to focus on doing a exo cage instead. but i need a bender.

last. i sold my 14b to a buddy of mine so im stuck in my old shell of a 8.8 and d30. Im thinking about either selling those two and going to the 9" and 44 i have or trying to sell it all and do the d60-14b idea again. im only looking to run 35" krawlers so i think i would actually be ok leaving the 8.8 and just swapping in the 44 up front. any opinons?

im looking for options here so im going to list everything i have, maybe you guys can come up with a better solution...

d44 (74 ford f-100) 9" (same)
d30 non-disco w/cromo shafts and 4.56 locked
8.8 with 4.56 spooled (98 xploder)
302 sbf
4.0l ho
aw4
c4 2wd
205&203 (dodge)
getrag g56(?) 86' w250 4wd
350 sbc no transmission to go with it but 365hp and camero tbi

this is just the stuff i have laying around soooo, i need ideas!!

d44 (74 ford f-100)
8.8 with 4.56 spooled (98 xploder)
aw4
205&203 (dodge)
350 sbc no transmission to go with it but 365hp and camero tbi
my opinion :grinpimp:

That D44 will most likely have drum brakes as well.

thought I'd update on what I have purchased as of late. Got a screamin deal of a set of km2's 35 12.5 15 from 4wparts 195$ a peice out the door "(gota love military discount). a 79 ford HP44 with discs (yaaa) a superior super88 kit from machinewave (thanks scott) and some ruff stuff chassis stiffeners. so whats left...
probender.com pro3 (500$)
stuff to fab radius arms (200$)
air shocks for the front (400$)
cross over steering stuff (no idea yet)
tube (no idea yet)
new chop saw (dad killed my other hf one looking to step up to a new dewalt)
wheel spacers/adapters to make my 8.8 the same width as my 44 with 5x5.5
get home and start cutting, lots of cutting, then some welding, and more cutting:shaking:

http://photos-a.pe.facebook.com/photos-pe-sf2p/v199/87/66/637582100/n637582100_704824_5544.jpg

http://photos-h.pe.facebook.com/photos-pe-sf2p/v199/87/66/637582100/n637582100_704815_3071.jpg

what im working with.
never mind the green rhino horn, it was a last minute attempt to make a bumper so i could at least protect my radiator when wheeling that weekend. (turned out to be tough as hell though:barf:)

Looks like you have a good start man, ill tell ya this, thanks for serving the country. I have several good friends in the service that've been to Iraq and getting ready to go to the Stan, takes some balls man, and I for one appreciate it! :beer:

very good start. i have a milwakee chop saw and after going to the metal place and seeing there low rpm dewalt with a metal carbide blade or whatever i DEFINATELY WANT ONE.

Just a couple of boredum inspired designs for my exo cage plans. let me know what you think, oh and a couple more pics of the heep running the tank trap at hollister, i only had to winch once:smokin:, but fawk'd some stuff up doing it:shaking:, again disregard the green rhino, very makshift im-home-on-leave- and-my-new-bumper-hasn't-come -in-yet, bumper.:flipoff2: