Well i am pretty ready to post my build here. This all started three years ago when i bought the damn thing and paid way to much and over the past three years its transformed it from my d.d. to not my d.d. like the title says this is a college kid build. i am not going to tell you i am a broke college kid and then turn around and dump 5k into my axles. i know there will be room for improvement on a lot of things but as it breaks ill upgrade it. i know i have a good base to start from and i can upgrade as i go along so feel free not to tell me that i should upgrade this or that i know what i will eventually need to make this rig bullet proof:flipoff2: here's what the specs are going to be for now

stock 4.0 - 124k
NP435 - Completely rebuilt with the Novak adapter
NP231/dana 300 - was already in the jeep just blew the transmission
dana 60's front and rear - out of an 88 dodge w250 rear getting a disk brake upgrade and eventually 35 spline shafts w/ detroit.
37" goodyears on 12 bolt h1 double bead-locks
all brackets and heims from ballastic fab heims are chromoly 7/8 x 3/4 bore.
rear double triangulated 4 link
front 3 link
uppers are 1.5" by .250 wall
lowers are 2.0" by .250 wall
also reusing half of my skyjacker lift kit. staying coils on all four corners.

now we all now this thread is useless without pictures and no one is even reading this anymore so here we go:

no fuel cell. recessed gas tank.

even though i am broke i need a little bling bling

reusing the lower control arm bushings from the skyjacker kit

lookin good. dont you love ballistics self jigging brackets?

60's got the rims and tires looking at that pic keeps me motivated i am looking at 100-101"

jeez you guys are vultures i didn't even finish posting pics lol. yea i am not crazy about the coil bucket, control arm, shock jig just cause its a little bit of a pain to set up but other than that they are really great brackets.

now onto the trans and transfercase.

more of the old trans and the doubler thats going back in

my homemade (updated duffy twinsticks) helper and the new trans painted and empty

more empty case all clean. my massive one car garage. and novaks adapter

more adapter and in the kit i got from bronco graveyard i thought was cool i went from worrying about losing a needle to just pressing in the new cup

going back together she thought her hands were really dirty and my helper, helping.

the welds on them arms will never work .. you will need a little more practice ....:flipoff2:

And for f en sake put some safty glasses on when grinding ... one hit and your off to the hospital ....

other than that cool build

that damn cover was a pain to put back together and the completed case.

p.s. boobage or it didnt happen .... :flipoff2:

realy have a welder redo them. they have zero penatration and will fail. your life and the pretty blonde are at risk ... all joking aside ...

a guy i work with son is an iron worker so ill end up taking anything i feel needs redoing or dont feel sure about to him no worries

cool build, where ya at in nj? grind those welds down and turn up the heat. you could have a problem with the welder. what are you using?

p.s. boobage or it didnt happen .... :flipoff2:

realy have a welder redo them. they have zero penatration and will fail. your life and the pretty blonde are at risk ... all joking aside ...

x2 yikes..:eek: :skull:

.. theres a caterpillar on that control arm

Luke

Let me guess - 110V welder?

looks like TIG welds, BAD TIG welds, or it could be MIG:confused:. eather way please have them redone. one link fails while your driving down the street or the trail, bad times ahead. if they are TIG do some more practice and then do it again i prefer to tig all my links, you just cant trust a MIG it may look great but unless you X-ray it you just dont know.

it was mentioned before but, put some damn safety glasses on! your girlfriend is pretty, i'm sure you would like to enjoy looking at her more. safety glasses are also cheaper than eye implants so consider it part of your budget build. other than that things are lookin good.

yea its a 110 welder i know they are shit i have never welded tube before so like mentioned i will take to a buddy's who has a stick welder and reweld them. i can stick weld well i am a self taught mig welder so by no means an expert. i do think it would be better if i could use a 220 to get more heat as mentioned. in my defense i do wear my sunglasses when i grind for safety. those were just the final cuts and my g/f took the pics. ok we got the basics down bad welds and safety glasses which i will fix. i would like for you guys though to keep me posted on any other welds i would like this to be safe so if something looks bad let me know

yea its a 110 welder i know they are shit i have never welded tube before so like mentioned i will take to a buddy's who has a stick welder and reweld them. i can stick weld well i am a self taught mig welder so by no means an expert. i do think it would be better if i could use a 220 to get more heat as mentioned. in my defense i do wear my sunglasses when i grind for safety. those were just the final cuts and my g/f took the pics. ok we got the basics down bad welds and safety glasses which i will fix. i would like for you guys though to keep me posted on any other welds i would like this to be safe so if something looks bad let me know


Next time bevel the tube so you actually have something to weld. Laying a bead on the surface of where the 2 pieces meet isn't strong no matter what you do it with.

grind the welds, break apart the two pieces, bevel them, tack them back together. If you really need to use your 110 welder just turn up the heat to the highest setting lower your wire speed as much as possible. if it's wanting to burn the wire up to the tip before melting the base metal it's probably too slow. Also this might sound stupid but make sure if your using .030 wire you have a .030 tip not a .035. You would probably be better off using a smaller wire diameter if you can anyways. Position the tube so you can due vertical up welds on it. Vertical up will burn deeper and allows you to focus your heat in one area for longer than flat position. just my opinion. If that makes sense.

Also if you can stick weld good, you should be able to mig weld pretty good. walk in the park comparison.

grind the welds, break apart the two pieces, bevel them, tack them back together. If you really need to use your 110 welder just turn up the heat to the highest setting lower your wire speed as much as possible. if it's wanting to burn the wire up to the tip before melting the base metal it's probably too slow. Also this might sound stupid but make sure if your using .030 wire you have a .030 tip not a .035. You would probably be better off using a smaller wire diameter if you can anyways. Position the tube so you can due vertical up welds on it. Vertical up will burn deeper and allows you to focus your heat in one area for longer than flat position. just my opinion. If that makes sense.

Also if you can stick weld good, you should be able to mig weld pretty good. walk in the park comparison.

i know the issue is definatly heat i was welding them flat on the ground. ill try slowing my wire speed more and go in the vertical up position. i didn't even think of that cause you are right it gets better penetration. i am using .035 flux core. the welder i have a crappy farm hand 110. got it from tractor supply. i think its a combination of welding position, welder, and the fact i haven't welded tube yet. its much easier welding butt welds or two pieces on a 45 but my gun position is constanty changing and i am not used to it i have class all week (taking 17 credits:shaking:)so i won't get to it till this weekend. also just so you guys know i did bevel the edges a lot there was about a 1/8" to 1/4" bevel on the tube at about a 45 degree angle. i have taken welding classes but like i said i am not a pro and i do appreciate your guys input.

barden .... your a smart cookie :D ... you didnt just get all defensive and give us the :flipoff2: ... IMHO your links are not the place to be learning your welding. get them welded by a pro. practice on bumpers ect .. Im betting the welder your using just isnt going to cut it. I would practice on the same type tube and try turning the power up to full and the wire speed about 1/4. My father taught me to weld and told me a thing I will never forget. when welding act like you are turning a key/ignition switch on and off slowly. thats the motion your hand makes while welding. good luck ..

P.s. If your in a bind I will weld them FREE of charge if you ship them and even send a pair of safty glasses back with it ...

you can make a 110 work fine welding those joints. I welded most my whole jeep together with a 125 hobart flux core, been beating the shit out of it for over 3 years with no weld breakage.

kirb ive seen alot of 110 welders. some work ok some dont .. with out standing there watching or welding it myself its just guessing ...

I had a cheap Clarke 110 mig that I built my CJ with (the first go around). It was slow going and the duty cycle sucked by I just turned the heat all the way up and set the speed low. Its more difficult and annoying, but I think if you can do it with the 110 it will make you a better welder because you really have to know what kind of penetration you're getting and pay more attention. Never had a weld break from that welder.

Couple years ago, I went in with some friends on a Lincoln 215 and its just ridiculous the difference. I can run faster beads with great penetration and the duty cycle is no issue at all.

But like others have said, I wouldn't "practice" on links or the cage.

I'm not trying to be a dick and criticize every weld you have. But I was checking out these brackets and they obviously do not have enough weld on them. You should clean all the ugly ass slag off them and run another weld on top. If flat position do two more passes or you could probably get away with running only one more if you again position them for a vertical up. Remember that the legs of your weld should be the same size as the thickest plate your welding together. say you have two 1/4" plates, the legs should go out a 1/4"
like this.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a135/Casperj/2.jpg

and you should weld over these again.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a135/Casperj/piratepic.jpg

i wasn't sure if i was done with them or not. i know some of those passes don't have enough weld on them ill get to it though. there are some welds ill take pictures of that have enough welds on them and they fill that entire section like on the top. ps i like those angry/sad faces. ok though i am being cool about this and know my welds need work but enough now i know they gotta get fixed we have discussed, re-discussed, and discussed about our discussing. lets move onto the build questions comments concerns?

Alright, updates and more questions. So as of yesterday i've never seen a kingpin in person i hear what's involved in replacing them. So i got to ask what do you guys think of these things? also i have been roughly measuring where my coil buckets are going to go and it looks right at the edge of the spring perch. anybody have pics or some ideas of how to go about this? i was thinking taking a little off the housing and modifying the bracket a ton. any ideas or pics would be great. now discuss.:flipoff2:

heres the pics for reference. pictures of king pins are both sides

How do you like the 231/300? I've been debating on whether or not to go that route behind a 32rh...

change out those kingpins now,while you have it apart. i just picked up a huge 7/8 allen and a 4 ft piece of pipe. a little heat if you have to,and they will come right off

How do you like the 231/300? I've been debating on whether or not to go that route behind a 32rh...

i love it it was the perfect combo with 4.56's and the ax-15. its going to be very slow when i install the np435.

change out those kingpins now,while you have it apart. i just picked up a huge 7/8 allen and a 4 ft piece of pipe. a little heat if you have to,and they will come right off

yea thats what i was thinking too. how did you tourque them to spec though? cause i don't know anyone with a 600 ft/pd drive socket.

How's the gas tank coming? I've been considering that idea.

Those welds aren't good. I do it for a living. More heat, less wire. Control arms are important. Especially if I'm driving next to you on the freeway.......

well i was bored today not much to report. i started tearing into the rear 60. it's confirmed i have the baby spindles, so a couple calls later i found a local machine shop that will drill out my spindles for $200. so i am going that route for now i am just going to do it and run 30 splines but like i said when i break it i''l upgrade. it just seems better now while the axle is out of the truck and easy to move. i only tore down one side before i got a little grinder happy and gave my 60 a haircut:D i measured before and after i took off 1/2" to 5/8" of an inch and smoothed down all the rough edges so there is nothing to hang up anymore. well onto the few pics i have

Im currently running the soon to be combo your installing. Its kinda weird knowing my front axle is stronger then my rear axle. but the front axle sees much more stress and abuse then the rear axle. Im still the stock 1.31 30 spline rear shafts. You would be surprised what a FF60 can handle. So im just running it till mine breaks as well.

Build is looking good. Oh BTW, My modifications on my pig was using a Lincoln weld pak 3200 on .035" wire. Its all in the metal prep work.;)

I'm not trying to be a dick and criticize every weld you have. But I was checking out these brackets and they obviously do not have enough weld on them. You should clean all the ugly ass slag off them and run another weld on top. If flat position do two more passes or you could probably get away with running only one more if you again position them for a vertical up. Remember that the legs of your weld should be the same size as the thickest plate your welding together. say you have two 1/4" plates, the legs should go out a 1/4"
like this.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a135/Casperj/2.jpg

and you should weld over these again.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a135/Casperj/piratepic.jpg

yea, definately nowhere near hot enough...need to crank the machine all the way up, and slow down the travel speed to let it build up a little more heat....especially on load bearing stuff, definately needs to be a multipass also...just my .02....those WILL NOT cut it...dont want anyone getting hurt...

yea, definately nowhere near hot enough...need to crank the machine all the way up, and slow down the travel speed to let it build up a little more heat....especially on load bearing stuff, definately needs to be a multipass also...just my .02....those WILL NOT cut it...dont want anyone getting hurt...

X2
You need to put the scald on them dudes

ok look i appreciate your two cents and all but this is all just reiteration. i don't have pics but i went back and followed yous guys advice and i did three vertical up passes so the next words out of your mouths better be over kill. the links i decided to weld the sht out of them until i can grind em down to look like one molded piece and all those welds are vertical up with the wire speed so slow i fall asleep during welds:flipoff2:. like i said i appreciate all of your guys input i want this rig to be safe, but from here on out if its been said don't repeat it, i am being cool and listening to all of your advice so far so don't be dicks about it ok its 2:30 i'm buzzing off of evan williams ill talk to u guys lata

Just been following your build. I saw the picture of your garage, its just nice to see that not everyone is building in a two car garage or a fu&King airplane hangar with every auto amenity known to man. Don't let everyone's comments get to you, we are all building and learning as we go. Even your critics messed up a few times before they knew what was right. Keep the pictures coming, looking forward to seeing the project progress.
:smokin:

ok look i appreciate your two cents and all but this is all just reiteration. i don't have pics but i went back and followed yous guys advice and i did three vertical up passes so the next words out of your mouths better be over kill. the links i decided to weld the sht out of them until i can grind em down to look like one molded piece and all those welds are vertical up with the wire speed so slow i fall asleep during welds:flipoff2:. like i said i appreciate all of your guys input i want this rig to be safe, but from here on out if its been said don't repeat it, i am being cool and listening to all of your advice so far so don't be dicks about it ok its 2:30 i'm buzzing off of evan williams ill talk to u guys lata

not our fault you weld like shit and are putting you and your girls life at risk :flipoff2:

Nice Build,

I have learned more about welding in this build,

Oh course I didn't know anything to begin with.

quick ? where did you get your joints and "slugs"

ballistic fab

I know your tired of the welding hits.But I like to .030 wire with a 110v welder.Seems to work alot better then the .035.Everything else is looking good.

where in NJ are you. If you need some welding done I can help. I have both stick and mig (hobart betamig 251) and have some time with both of them.

They are at my mothers in central NJ, and for the price of some beer I will weld them for you (provided you grind them down clean)

Dan

alright well its been a bit time for updates. got the frame notched rear coil bucket burned it and spring loaded. finished removing the rear crossmember. started getting the front axle setup. the coils are two inches wider on either side which i dont think is going to be a huge deal. got some new pics of my welds which i think some of you will be happy to see. and cleaned and painted my knuckles.

more

last

has anyone heard any good things about this welder i think i might be able to get a deal locally and i have a 220 dryer outlet and run an extension cord. the 110v is crapping out and i might be able to get my money back from ts and put it towards a better welder

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001I424MO/ref=asc_df_B001I424MO736967?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=yahoo-tools06-20&linkCode=asn

for that price ya could go to tractor supply company or to their website and get a hobart handler 187 for 599 with and they normally have a 10- 15 percent off coupon as well... so thatd bring th eprice dow to the 540 buck level

yea but i am going to only pay $12 lol i just got off the phone with them and i found it for $200 - the price i payed for mine - power plus fee = $12:flipoff2:. i think its worth it

my god, it's like looking into a mirror

pretty much the only different is I'm running a 5.2

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=675472&highlight=
http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=656198&highlight=

and no doubler for me

god damn that just goes to show ya. i go to every length to try and customize my jeep and someone has done it before lol you literally have the same jeep as me post up some pics of the finished product i wanna see what mine might look like

god damn that just goes to show ya. i go to every length to try and customize my jeep and someone has done it before lol you literally have the same jeep as me post up some pics of the finished product i wanna see what mine might look like

I know, same lift, same color. being unique anymore is hard to do. but not many people running the NP435.

that's the sad part, still not done yet. should be soon. took the summer off last year and now getting back into this year.

traded the hardtop plus $200 cash for an almost brand new bestop soft top with tinted windows. threw the axle under the jeep just to check to see how angled my springs are going to be, since my coils buckets are 4" wider than stock. and finally no more shit about my welds:flipoff2:

one more weld. i gotta say after going to a 220 mig i can't figure out how i ever thought i was going to make this work with a p.o.s. 110 now i am confident in every weld. the $10.75 welder:flipoff2:and just cause i wired it and it took me a whole day and i fell off my work bench onto the concrete floor (long story) my new 220 garage outlet

more updates. today was alright broke two grinders and it was raining but got the coils and lower link brackets welded on and threw the lower links on and threw the axle under to get an idea what my final wheel base will look like. i am kind of concerned that my lower links might hit the frame at full bump but i think/hope i might get lucky.

I think that the Ballistic Fabrication -"Combination Lower control arm, Spring pad, Shock mount Bracket" for the front axle that you have welded on is out too far on the tube. You have placed it right up against the C on the far outside edge of the axle tube. I just did mine on my TJ and placed mine in 3" fron the "C" on each side.

I am running full widths but it looks like you are too.

You may want to throw a tape measure on your frame and figure out the distance (width) of your coil springs before you burn in those welds.

I've done quite a few things twice on my build too.:eek:.............. don't loose hope.

well i have been punching in some #'s on the four link calculator and this is what i am getting a little input as to whether its good or no good would be appricated

Anti-Squat 87 %
Roll Center Height 24 in
Roll Axis Angle 0 degrees (Roll Oversteer)
Instant Center X-Axis 90 in
Instant Center Z-Axis 26 in

pics for reference:

I think that the Ballistic Fabrication -"Combination Lower control arm, Spring pad, Shock mount Bracket" for the front axle that you have welded on is out too far on the tube. You have placed it right up against the C on the far outside edge of the axle tube. I just did mine on my TJ and placed mine in 3" fron the "C" on each side.

I am running full widths but it looks like you are too.

You may want to throw a tape measure on your frame and figure out the distance (width) of your coil springs before you burn in those welds.

I've done quite a few things twice on my build too.:eek:.............. don't loose hope.

i purposely made them 2" wider on either side to hopfully give me a little more stability on the road. i figure it shouldn't be an issue if my springs are angled a little i have lower retainers on the front too. also i didn't use those little guide tabs to weld on the spring pad. i ground them off anf offset the spring about an 1" or 1 1/2" can't remember

They may work. Depends on the backset you run on your rims. I am running 5" total backset (7" backset H1's and 2" spacers). If you are 3" or 3.5" it may work.

You could also inboard mount your control arms on the frame.

What I am refering to that you should be planning for is clearance from your tires to your control arms when turning full lock. If you don't plan for clearance you will rub the lower control arms before getting to the stops and loose some turning radius.

Heard it somewhere on Pirate 4x4 on a build......"It's easy to fabricate and make stuff fit together, but it is difficult to fabricate and make parts just barely clear each other" (writers perogative :flipoff2:)

Keep that in mind as you try to make the
1. drag link,
2.tie rod,
3. sway bar links,
4.and track bar
all fit into the little bit of space that you have in front of you axle and steering box.:eek:

yea i know i figure worst case scenario i recenter the h1's and run spacers at the abosolute worst case

only had about an hour or so to work on it today. got the drivetrain mocked together. the np435 doesn't want to shift for some reason. i made sure it was lined up perfectly and lubed up with a quart of lucas oil stabilizer and half a quart of gear oil. any tricks you guys know about for those running 435s?

I like the simplicity of the build. I plan on running CUCV axles in my Jeep along with the 231-300 doubler. When you get it all back together I'd like to see some interior/shifter setup and under carriage shots. Keep up the good work.

the only reason its simple is i'm poor lol. but any one thats curious my drivetrain is 40" long which is shorter than the original drive train but goddamn this train weighs twice as much. i am kinda concerned about the front driveshaft and how i am going to clear i hope i don't have to run a two piece. that would seriously ruin the platform I'm trying to build for a bulletproof drivetrain. i mean eventually i hope this thing will be chromo'd all around and either arb'd or detroit locked front and rear. upgrade the 300 with 32 spline shafts. 1410 driveshafts drive flanges up front 35 spline shafts out back full hydro and 14" coil-overs up front. basically it'll eventually end up being like kirby's jeep, started out with a good platform and went all out. and basically after i finish this build i am halfway there lol... damn... this sucks:shaking:

the only reason its simple is i'm poor lol. but any one thats curious my drivetrain is 40" long which is shorter than the original drive train but goddamn this train weighs twice as much. i am kinda concerned about the front driveshaft and how i am going to clear i hope i don't have to run a two piece. that would seriously ruin the platform I'm trying to build for a bulletproof drivetrain. i mean eventually i hope this thing will be chromo'd all around and either arb'd or detroit locked front and rear. upgrade the 300 with 32 spline shafts. 1410 driveshafts drive flanges up front 35 spline shafts out back full hydro and 14" coil-overs up front. basically it'll eventually end up being like kirby's jeep, started out with a good platform and went all out. and basically after i finish this build i am halfway there lol... damn... this sucks:shaking:

you gotta watch out, its a slippery slope haha

you gotta watch out, its a slippery slope haha

dude i already know i'm hooked to this like bobby brown is crack and beating whitney haha:laughing:.

I'm not saying it because you're poor. I just like the fact that you're using off the shelf parts and using a pass. drop 60 in a TJ.

Keep it up and remember those undercarriage shots and shifter shots when you get to that point in the build.

I'm not saying it because you're poor. I just like the fact that you're using off the shelf parts and using a pass. drop 60 in a TJ.

Keep it up and remember those undercarriage shots and shifter shots when you get to that point in the build.

will do

didnt do much of anything played around with the rear fender cut i am going to do. i think i like it but some opinions would be appreciated anybody like or hate this?

well i went a head and made the cut i cut a half inch too high so now i have to tack weld the inner fender bcak to the tub but i think it looks good im thunking im gonna take some tube and follow the body line and make some fenders. to match the front.

updates got a decent amount done these past couple of days. the electrolysis is my new best friend. got the parts painted (all the painting credit goes to the helper:grinpimp:) trans is in gas tank is in pilot bushing from hell out the trans requires a little more cutting then i first thought and is a lot heavier than i thought to muscle into position. the gas tank is way clear of anything which i am very happy about. one thing i gotta say i am impressed with is i went to see if the jeep would turn over after i hooked up the trans and sure enough it turned over (i just gotta hook up my gas lines) good old 4.0's:flipoff2: enough blabbering picture time

clean axles and gas tank clearance. also another shot of the filler neck side filled in and the tub tacked back together to the inner fender

the pilot bushing from hell. if anyone wants to here the story behind it ill tell it but other than that use your imagination (note: no goats were harmed in the removal of my pilot bushing:flipoff2:) pics of the trans installed. also a pic of how flat i am going to be adle to get the belly not perfect but i would say it hangs down an 3"- 4" if i did a BL and MML i would be able to get a flat skid but i am deeply against body lifts. also a look of my trans tunnel i might lower it an inch or i might just cut everything in the way out of the way

and lastly a cool little trick that you guys are either gonna say yea no shit or think its pretty cool. i am a jew and i will save money anywhere i can (hence the name of the build) my inner seals on my hubs still seemed good but i needed to remove the bearings but didnt want to buy new seals ($14.95 a piece at autozone) so i came up with the idea that you lay out sometthing relatively soft lay your rotor down and your hub on top and take a piece of metal 12" or longer (all i had was some angle iron) and you hit the bearing (make sure you hit the cup and not the bearings themselves) rotating from opposite sides till you pop both the bearing and the seal out. they both come out unharmed and reusable. i figure this would be at least a good trick for you guys who gotta repack your bearings and the seals are still good. anyways heres some pics showing how its done.

How are u going to shift the tranny? :eek:

bend the shifter at 90 and either drop the tranny an inch or two or notch my dash (what i'll most likely end up doing.)

fyi thought i never hear cheep and jeep i the same scentence because jeep stands for just empty every pocket. thats why i drive a zuk.,

its only expensive for the jeep fags. cheap jeeps are home built.

ok heres the numbers

sold old axles - $1800
sold tires - $600
traded my cracked hardtop for new soft top plus $200
sold old trans - $75

total cash i made - $2,675

fully rebuilt trans w/everything needed - $900
dana 60's - $500
37's with 12bolts - $600 and change
brackets - and heims - $600
links - $300 (got ripped off should have bought a full stick)
various shit - $250

im into my one ton build just about $500 bucks and i still haven't sold some shit i got laying around. i consider that a cheep jeep build:flipoff2:. and plus it wouldn't matter if it was a jeep zuk yota or whatever i am cheap and could figure out a way to build it for next to nothing.

got the t-cases in and the high low range shifter in even though i labeled the positioning range wrong. i didnt have to do much cutting which i was very suprised. the 300 is almost clocked flat. i have lots of pics as per request.

pics of driveshaft clearance its gonna be tight. but if i get the whole setup an inch or two higher ill be good

updates finished the transmission cross member only to finally look at the finished product and realize that the front output is now blocked. so i will have to go back and and notch out the cross member but for now its onto the next thing. also pics of the g/f grinding and wearing the proper (yet stylish) eye wear:flipoff2: my rear drive shaft angle. and my duffys flipped twinsticks flipped and the final shifter setup

last pics and passenger coil bucket finished

looks good,

Man that shifter is going to be tight, I assuming in the pics the tranny shifter is as close as it has to get to the dash, How's it feel shifting?

Edit:

You have nice help :smokin:

You have nice help :smokin:

..with steel toe sneakers.

...and the bottoms of her pants are invisible too. crazy.

looks good,

Man that shifter is going to be tight, I assuming in the pics the tranny shifter is as close as it has to get to the dash, How's it feel shifting?

Edit:

You have nice help :smokin:


actually thats neutral. first gear hits the dash (not too bad) and i don't know if i wanna notch it because down the road i plan on doing a home made version of crazy horse's gear jammer.

..with steel toe sneakers.

...and the bottoms of her pants are invisible too. crazy.

she insisted on looking stylish:flipoff2: i did tell her to put on some boots and jeans

updates got the tranny crossmember completely plated. i have never welded upside down and know the lower weld blows but whatever. also a pic of where it blocks the front output. i am going to get a piece of 1/4" flat bar bent to go up and around it. finished the rear crossmember for the most part just gotta drill the holes for the upper links. got my lowers cut theyre 33" long. also figured out how i am going to build my trackbar truss and made the mounting plate. i did weld to the cast but its not structural its more for keeping the plate from flexing on the spring perch. i used the two bolts that were in the housing and welded to them and then ground them down and rewelded and ground them down again. also i gave my neighbor my 1/2" flatbar and he took it to work and used the pirhanna to cut it and i started welding it tonight and figure out where i am going to put my upper links. the upper brackets are 1/2" by 6" high and if they hit my gas tank i will move them down i drilled two holes. in hindsight i wish i had designed my truss to sit a little lower but whatever it worksonto pics

before and after pics of truss mounting plate

truss and my welds yes its uneven width but i was more worried about penetration then making them look pretty.

i have been working on the jeep lately just dont have pics started exhausted and just about done with the rear. but in my boredom not really having time this week i wanted to see what you guys thought of this (pics below) i have been wanting to do it for a while now and figured id get some opinions. i have never seen it done so id think i was the first plus ill have a lower COG:flipoff2:

pics got the rear in place. going to have to take the axle back out again to paint everything and notch the tub for upper control arm clearance and cut down the upper link brackets on the axle. started working on the front made my upper link and burned it on and my track bar mount axle side(not pictured) burned on my track bar mount frame side and painted it. clearance for the upper link bracket frame side is tight. i still gotta fit my slave cylinder in there and supposidly run an exhaust through there:laughing:

also im worried about clearance for the front driveshaft and lower link bracket. on the driver side the lower link is getting welded to the upper link bracket. on the passenger side i started making a wedge type plate to weld to the inner frame and then to the lower link bracket. i need my lowers in for my roll center numbers on the 3 link calc. well see im running out of room fast.

First off, the Rig is looking good, Glad to see your making progress.

Are you planing to tie the rear truss into the diff in anyway? There will be a ton of force on the top
with the double mounts, That puts allot of the welds at the tube.


Are you welding to the frame as is or are you plating it? The frame rail gets thin on the sides, the top and bottom aren't to bad. The rails have a tendency to buckle or wrap. The frame is like 1/8 thick.

Also I don't understand what your doing with the brown line above your jeep (post 96)? Not sure what to give an opinion on? Is that a rack of some sort?

First off, the Rig is looking good, Glad to see your making progress.

Are you planing to tie the rear truss into the diff in anyway? There will be a ton of force on the top
with the double mounts, That puts allot of the welds at the tube.


Are you welding to the frame as is or are you plating it? The frame rail gets thin on the sides, the top and bottom aren't to bad. The rails have a tendency to buckle or wrap. The frame is like 1/8 thick.

Also I don't understand what your doing with the brown line above your jeep (post 96)? Not sure what to give an opinion on? Is that a rack of some sort?


yes i plan on doing some type of tie into the thew diff i understand the large amount of force on the tubes. no i didnt't really think about plating anything im welding to the frame because my only logic is is boxed and boxed and apparently theyre supposed to be strong well find out i can always add the beef. and finally post 96 look real close at the top. im thinking about chopinng 4"s off the jeep to give it a meaner stance.

Oh I get now (The chopped look), and your up early today.

For the truss you looking to a Diff cover with the truss tie in and weld a flat tab on the bottom of the truss to bolt the cover to, That should be a faily easy solution.

I agree with ya on the frame, That just what I got told when I started mine.

updates got the front done and tried getting sitting on its own weight only to realize the steering knuckle hits the rim. so on to re-centering the h1's. i stretched the front probably 3 inches or so everything is pretty tight. i still gotta make a run for some more dom for the track bar and steering but for now i gotta sit and wait to get some cash together for the h1's. overall all wheelbase is roughly 101"

more pics

before and after pics of truss mounting plate

Chief, I hate to burst your bubble, but you cant MIG weld steel to cast, it just doesn't work that way. You might have melted the edges together into what looks like a weld, but it is by no means fused properly, you could probably remove that plate with a 3 lb hammer.

When you weld steel to cast IE the plug welds they use to hold the steel tubes into the cast housing, they use a specially formulated welding rod, and they preheat the metal IAW Engineering specifications.

You really need to step back and examine your welds because you are building a time bomb, I can guarantee you that some of them are going to break, if it happens at 65 mph, or in a bad position on the trail, you or your lady friend could wind up dead.

Also seeing these pics of you and your girl...

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=417726&stc=1&d=1233027957

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=438990&stc=1&d=1240885645

I want to point something out...

YOU NEED TO BUY A VICE AND A PROPER FACE SHIELD!!!

If you don't this is what can happen.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=30340&stc=1&d=1247550845

That leads to this.


And nothing sucks your build budget dry like trips to the ER, and with the way your girl is holding that grinder, it wouldn't take much for it to hop up and slice her leg badly, chewing up tendons, muscle, bone, anything the blade hits. She could have easily cut the end of her foot off.

As well, the way you are using the grinder is just begging to lose an eye.

thanks for the heads up man but the grinder has been covered we both have glasses and wear gloves and yea i use a vise from time to time:flipoff2:. yea that gash on your arm looks like it sucks but it looks like to me the culpret of that injury the good old one handed grinding technique which im smart enough to at least hold it with my feet or a vice. also if you read my welds are not meant to be structural to the cast. i clearly stated that i merely welded to it to keep the plate from flexing more like stuffing a filler in there. i have the plate welded to the two big ass spring bolts and to my coil bucket. as for me not being able to weld i had a 110 in the beginning and traded it in for a 220 believe me i can weld and also all original 110 welds were went over with 220v. so please before you want to criticize my build please read all the info and get your shit straight:flipoff2:

edit and please remove the pic of you busted arm cause i dont feel like seeing your mistakes in my build.

Chief, I hate to burst your bubble, but you cant MIG weld steel to cast, it just doesn't work that way. You might have melted the edges together into what looks like a weld, but it is by no means fused properly, you could probably remove that plate with a 3 lb hammer.


I've mig'ed steel to cast a few times successfully and even did it on a scrap center section so I could cut it apart with a bandsaw to check it. I found that it needs to be pre-heated around 400-500 degrees (IR temp gun) with a torch then you need to wrap it in a welding blanket or post-heat it so the cast doesn't cool too rapidly. The nickel rod is probably the better way but mig works just fine as well.

But you're right he needs to increase the tool budget and buy a vice.

That hole in your arm looks nasty but I can't stop looking at it. Cut-off wheels suck, quit being cheap and buy a plasma cutter :flipoff2:

IMO this "build" should be how not to build a TJ. I believe there is a right way to build on the cheap and a wrong way. Most of this build appears to be the wrong way.

I feel my rig is/was built on the cheap, I, like most of us spent the money in the right places. But like most of the builds on here, this is in a completely different class.

Starting with the TJ, 60's, Trans/T case, tires, and H1's is fine. Making you own links and brackets are fine. But you need to spend more time on the welds or bribe someone who knows what they are doing. The quality of workmanship needs to be take up a notch. The truss and most suspension brackets are nothing short of disappointing.

I'm not the kind of guy who busts balls, but I cannot believe this is the quality of build that is being done here.

thanks for the heads up man but the grinder has been covered we both have glasses and wear gloves and yea i use a vise from time to time:flipoff2:. yea that gash on your arm looks like it sucks but it looks like to me the culpret of that injury the good old one handed grinding technique which im smart enough to at least hold it with my feet or a vice. also if you read my welds are not meant to be structural to the cast. i clearly stated that i merely welded to it to keep the plate from flexing more like stuffing a filler in there. i have the plate welded to the two big ass spring bolts and to my coil bucket. as for me not being able to weld i had a 110 in the beginning and traded it in for a 220 believe me i can weld and also all original 110 welds were went over with 220v. so please before you want to criticize my build please read all the info and get your shit straight:flipoff2:

edit and please remove the pic of you busted arm cause i dont feel like seeing your mistakes in my build.

IT isnt my Arm, I borrowed it from here (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29362) he was cutting on the neck of a trailer that was completly stationary.

Oh, and BTW, I know these things because I used to be a professional ship fitter and a welder, and have been to school for welding. So I do have my shit straight, Also capping a bad weld doesn't repair it, you have to grind it out.

But fuck, what do I know, I'm only a professional. :homer:

IMO this "build" should be how not to build a TJ. I believe there is a right way to build on the cheap and a wrong way. Most of this build appears to be the wrong way.

I feel my rig is/was built on the cheap, I, like most of us spent the money in the right places. But like most of the builds on here, this is in a completely different class.

Starting with the TJ, 60's, Trans/T case, tires, and H1's is fine. Making you own links and brackets are fine. But you need to spend more time on the welds or bribe someone who knows what they are doing. The quality of workmanship needs to be take up a notch. The truss and most suspension brackets are nothing short of disappointing.

I'm not the kind of guy who busts balls, but I cannot believe this is the quality of build that is being done here.

It isn't my arm thankfully, I always wear my leathers and gauntlets when grinding or cutting with a wafer disc.

Although I did learn the hard way why you don't grab for pieces of hot steel when they fall a couple of years ago, got lucky and only got a mild burn from that one.

I will agree with you though, his workmanship is not up to par and that is why I said something.

IT isnt my Arm, I borrowed it from here (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29362) he was cutting on the neck of a trailer that was completly stationary.

Oh, and BTW, I know these things because I used to be a professional ship fitter and a welder, and have been to school for welding. So I do have my shit straight, Also capping a bad weld doesn't repair it, you have to grind it out.

But fuck, what do I know, I'm only a professional. :homer:

ok well heres what this doushe did wrong that i didn't if you want to go all OSHA on me. first he didn't support the touge and was cutting from bottom to top and any genius knows that gravity pulls down not up. second he didn't have a shield on his grinder (i do on all of mine) and 3rd he's got goggles on but they don't help much covering his forehead. so look if you want to correct me and pick out some gross cut to show me at least make sure the person was following the same saftey precautions your lecturing me on. granted she should have been using a vise and i should have been wearing goggles but since then i have purchased two vises and two pairs of safety goggles (noted in post 23 if you can read) also i always wear some type of long sleeved shirt or hoody. also for the record i have since got my hands on a saw zaw and no longer make many of my cuts with the grinder. as for the welds your telling me the welds i have done since i bought my 220 are not good? i have good penetration relatively even bead and i can stay on track so tell me whats wrong with my welds? i have already owned up to my initial welds and have since gone back ground them down and rewelded them. i have too gone to school and taken some basic welding classes i aint no pro and don't claim to be one but i do know the proper way to prep and weld steel. again for the cast it is only welded to the cast for filler i don't care if it cracks. its butt welded to my coil bucket and i drilled holes and welded it to the spring perch bolts cut them off ground them down and re-welded. that is not being held on by the cast for the last time.

IMO this "build" should be how not to build a TJ. I believe there is a right way to build on the cheap and a wrong way. Most of this build appears to be the wrong way.

I feel my rig is/was built on the cheap, I, like most of us spent the money in the right places. But like most of the builds on here, this is in a completely different class.

Starting with the TJ, 60's, Trans/T case, tires, and H1's is fine. Making you own links and brackets are fine. But you need to spend more time on the welds or bribe someone who knows what they are doing. The quality of workmanship needs to be take up a notch. The truss and most suspension brackets are nothing short of disappointing.

I'm not the kind of guy who busts balls, but I cannot believe this is the quality of build that is being done here.

again read above about the welds. as for my brackets they were all made out of 2 1/2" boxed tube 1/4" thick. tell me what's unsafe about that. the truss will be tied into the pumkin via 1/4" diff ring later on (previously mentoned in post #100) the front upper control arm bracket will be braced on either side for further support. and for your info half of the suspension brackets are ballistic so i don't see where you think one of the top off roading companies is building crap. also i just glanced at your jeep you have for sale your serioucly going to critisize my welds when your air shocks are held on with booger welds like below. i seriously hope thats alot of paint runoff in there lets compare the two pictures below and you choose which welds you would rather have.




honestly both of you need to get your shit straight before you start making comments learn to read and don't just look at the pretty pictures, don't worry though i find myself victim of that sometimes too its just so hard to read sometimes isnt it?:flipoff2:

I think I have my shit straight, here's a couple of examples of my work.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e215/DigitalTA/weldedout.jpg
Bumper for 01 Dodge Ram 3500, 1/4" steel plate, 1/4x2" angle, and light buckets are 6" sch 40.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e215/DigitalTA/metalstar.jpg
22" Dia metal star, 1/8" plate, welded with 3/32 E6010

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e215/DigitalTA/stevegateAFTER1.jpg
Gate constructed from .120 wall 2x2 & .75" box tubing.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e215/DigitalTA/xmember1.jpg
Transmission cross member for my 72 Chevy C-30

Oh, and I think I can run a decent bead.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e215/DigitalTA/weldbead.jpg
3 Passes 3/32" E7018

Is this a welding pissing contest :shaking:

Breast -- He's not saying that you can't weld and that what your saying is not relevant. Its been brought up before, and with out all the info your quick to judge. So quit posting shit that has nothing to do with the build, If you don't like what your seeing then move on. You made your point its clear you feel he is not building a safe rig. So don't come off like your trying to save him and his family's life by posting. It seems to me your just showing us how great you are. You said your piece.

IMO he's is doing what he can with what he has.

I have seen FAR Worst rigs.

So less bitching and more building :flipoff2:



And BTW I can't weld and I know that. I have my shit welded for me. :flipoff2:

where in any of those pics do you prove i don't know how to weld. please delete those pics you have nothing positive to contribute to the thread any longer. like i said i do not claim to be a pro i guess you are i made my point because all you can do is post of pics of shit that doesnt pertain to this build

I think I have my shit straight, here's a couple of examples of my work.

OH! so you can build a bumper and grind down the ugly? pipe fiting work is very diffrent then building a suspension or chassis. so dont be a dick and keep your coments to yourself.

yeah some stuff in this thread may not be the best, but we all had to start somewhere. i do not see anything that is unsafe.

bardenk1, keep the faith we are here watching.

BEASTUS-

Not to be a dick but you have undercut the weld on your so proudly displayed sample weld about 3/4 to the right side on the bottom. Hahaha.

sold the h1's and bought these:smokin: thinking about running them but in the meantime they're up for sale. 2k obo these are over ($2600 new). they're 5 44x18.5 r15 super swamper tsl's the spare is brand new with the nips still on it and the other four gotta have less than 100 miles on them. heres some pics of them of course the helper had to model and a pic of them next to my moms mdx. the front of my jeep still has to go up 3 more inches but the rear is about ride height.

heres the link from the for sale section:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=808910

more

Making your thoughts clear about safety and so on is one thing, not even a bad thing. And critiquing welds is nothing new on PBB, so be it. But posting up a bunch of irrelevant pics in the guys build thread is not cool.
Keep in mind, these threads are around for years and thousands of folks view them.
Do the right thing, I'm not saying you should delete your post but you should edit out the pics. :smokin:

Your still "building", stretch that wheelbase a little more and run those 44's, dont be scared.

Your still "building", stretch that wheelbase a little more and run those 44's, dont be scared.

i think the wheelbase is fine i might go out in the rear a couple more inches. did you sell your jeep yet so you can be an "official" e-wheeler?:flipoff2:

i think the wheelbase is fine i might go out in the rear a couple more inches. did you sell your jeep yet so you can be an "official" e-wheeler?:flipoff2:

Cant honestly say i know what an "e-wheeler" is?

But, i get bored. I have built, sold more rigs in the last 10 years than most wheelers will in a lifetime.

I get tired of looking at the same heep every day. By doing this i inadvertently created a monster in my wife. She has been changing cars more than i have lately. If anybody is interested she wants to sell her hummer.:flipoff2:

[QUOTE=JeepNatzi#2;10141614]But, i get bored. I have built, sold more rigs in the last 10 years than most wheelers will in a lifetime.
QUOTE]

This I can vouch for. :laughing:

Needs more WB for the 44's.

Cant honestly say i know what an "e-wheeler" is?

But, i get bored. I have built, sold more rigs in the last 10 years than most wheelers will in a lifetime.

I get tired of looking at the same heep every day. By doing this i inadvertently created a monster in my wife. She has been changing cars more than i have lately. If anybody is interested she wants to sell her hummer.:flipoff2:
Soooooooooooooooo.how much does the wife sell a hummer for???:D

did you get the transmission shifting?? You said it had a problem shifting through gears.

the np435 is much easier than the sm465 as far as putting on the top cover, but if your having issues shifting it...you might not have the reverse shift fork sitting on the collar. Which would/can cause a bind.

If you haven't fixed this, it will be an ultimate pain in your ass trying to set the cover back on from inside your jeep with the tight fit you have.

As far as the welding critique, regardless of the way it came across just remember that criticism can be used positively and you are certainly not the first to build a jeep or fabricate...knowing that will ultimately improve the quality of your jeep build and builds to come.

as for me not being able to weld i had a 110 in the beginning and traded it in for a 220 believe me i can weld and also all original 110 welds were went over with 220v.

The fact that you switched from a 110 to a 220 welder doesn't bring uber welding skills with it, ya know?

All I see is that your welds look like crap. Going over them to make them pretty doesn't make them strong. Maybe you don't give a shit because I'm not a professional - but honestly, that certainly isn't needed to tell that your welds are gonna break eventually. Even the beads I run with my stick welder look better than yours, and yet I have the important stuff on my truck welded by a guy who knows what he's doing. For the sake of you and your girl, you should do the same.

This should go in the "fail" thread to let the chit chat crowd have a good laugh at it. :shaking:

Oh, do you know who Dawin is?

Oh, do you know who Dawin is?

Would you like to enlighten us on just who Dawin is? :garfield:

Meh I knew I would fuck something up in that post... :shaking:

did you get the transmission shifting?? You said it had a problem shifting through gears.

the np435 is much easier than the sm465 as far as putting on the top cover, but if your having issues shifting it...you might not have the reverse shift fork sitting on the collar. Which would/can cause a bind.

If you haven't fixed this, it will be an ultimate pain in your ass trying to set the cover back on from inside your jeep with the tight fit you have.

As far as the welding critique, regardless of the way it came across just remember that criticism can be used positively and you are certainly not the first to build a jeep or fabricate...knowing that will ultimately improve the quality of your jeep build and builds to come.


got the np435 shifting fine it was a major pain to get the little plastic things on the forks to line up and stay in but i got it working my issue was actually not enough lube on the main shaft i went back and put some more grease where the gears slide on the shaft and then dumped 2 quarts of gear oil all gears and the main shaft before putting the cover on and everything is much nicer. i understand the welding critiques as i have heard them before from lots of you guys. but it almost seems like its monkey see monkey do. oh he said your welds suck so i'm going to also.

The fact that you switched from a 110 to a 220 welder doesn't bring uber welding skills with it, ya know?

All I see is that your welds look like crap. Going over them to make them pretty doesn't make them strong. Maybe you don't give a shit because I'm not a professional - but honestly, that certainly isn't needed to tell that your welds are gonna break eventually. Even the beads I run with my stick welder look better than yours, and yet I have the important stuff on my truck welded by a guy who knows what he's doing. For the sake of you and your girl, you should do the same.

This should go in the "fail" thread to let the chit chat crowd have a good laugh at it. :shaking:

Oh, do you know who Dawin is?

is Dawin your gay blondie nazi b/f? you couldn't have taken shit any more out of context, do you work in the media? here is a quote from post number #110. "i have already owned up to my initial welds and have since gone back ground them down and rewelded them" do i honestly have to explain myself to each and everyone of you retards? maybe if you took the time to read instead of thinking of the whitty things to say to me about my build you'd look a lot smarter. i think about 5 times minimum i have clearly stated i am not a pro but i know i have good even heat penetration. my bead is pretty damn even and for flux core its not a bad weld. honestly i don't give a shit what any of you guys are thinking about my welds anymore because none of you take the time to go look at my welds and say here see this one it doesn't have enough penetration or you have too much undercut. so if you want to critique my welds make sure you have the knowledge to back your shit up and specifically point out my flaws other wise STFU & GTFO. and i don't want you retards going back and showing me my 110 welds because for the 5th time they have been ground down and re-welded. oh and don't pull a "beastus" and post a whole bunch of your shitty ground down welds.

its been a while started buying a little more bling. did some research and saw found some ator drive flanges for dirt. the internal drive flanges seemed to have problems but couldn't find anything wrong with the external drive flanges. also ordered some chevy tierod ends and heims from ballistic i got the high steer arm from their ebay store used for $60 :eek: also started messing with the slave cylinder and clutch master cylinder. i replaced the rod for the cmc with a cj7 rod and am using the tj rod for my slave cylinder and cutting and threading it and using a coupler so i can adjust my clutch throw out. it was a PITA to take apart the whole pedal assem. just for one stupud hole.:shaking: also did some body work for the first time (nothing some grinding and bondo can't fix:flipoff2:) also i took out 12" of my frnt bumper since im commiting to the 44's and there was a neighborhood garage sale and got all those tools for $10 which i thought is pretty good.

rest of pics

maybe some day everyone will back off on the weld thing at one point and time they were not any better than the rest of us when they built there first rig so dont bother listening to there crap i tought my self to weld never took a class or anything like that and not to toot my own horn but my whole town confides in my welding so give it some time you have to learn and the only way to do so is get er done. any way nice build keep it up.

man the welding on this thing sucks :flipoff2:

hurry up and get it done so we can see if it holds up. MAYBE you can prove everyone wrong :homer:

more updates... welded on d shackle mounts and boxed them in with 3/16" plate left over from the bumper sectioning. started work on my version on the crazy horse shifter for the NP435. also got the threaded coupler for my slave cylinder so now i don't have to buy novak's $170ish kit to make my slave work i ordered another slave from auto-zone with the ears in a different location as this one is the wrong one and wont bolt up to the bell-housing. and in my boredom i flexed it out and threw my helper in there for size comparison. :flipoff2:

rest

ok so were past the weld thing. and some guys trying to show they are better, but seriously i think some of what they were trying to say was why go with some ugly ass square tube brackets when you could have got those from ballistic also? and i know your gonna be quick to quote some posts and talk some shit, but IMO that tranny/t-case mount looks extremely ghetto! all of your bracing was setup for front to back shear with no thought about up and down. how thick is that? 1 1/2"? im not just posting to talk crap, so dont get all defensive, i just dont see that being very strong. unless i missed something.

ok so were past the weld thing. and some guys trying to show they are better, but seriously i think some of what they were trying to say was why go with some ugly ass square tube brackets when you could have got those from ballistic also? and i know your gonna be quick to quote some posts and talk some shit, but IMO that tranny/t-case mount looks extremely ghetto! all of your bracing was setup for front to back shear with no thought about up and down. how thick is that? 1 1/2"? im not just posting to talk crap, so dont get all defensive, i just dont see that being very strong. unless i missed something.

i understand what your saying. but this is "cheep jeep" build so another $300+ bucks or so for a ballistic truss and the rest of my various brackets. i paid i think $30 bucks for the 1/2 thick flat bar and $75 for 14' of 2 1/2" square tubing. i've made my mounts and crossmember out of that stuff. i know its ugly as shit but in all honestly its to the standard (material thickness etc.) i really don't give a shit about looks. this isn't ever going to be a show jeep i jut plan on beating it when i'm done. i break a bracket i can cut and make one in about 20 minutes. as for the tranny crossmember i really didn't know any other way of doing it in hind sight i should probably go back and build better frame mounts and use bigger poly bushings. i have to redo it anyway seeing as my dumbass built it right in front of the front output. maybe you can suggest a stronger way of building brackets for my crossmember?

I am running at 435 and 4.O. i am having problems with the clutch. its wont seem to engage. can you tell me your set up?

what did everything come out of.

clutch disk?
pressure plate?
throwout bearing?
slave cylinder?

or did you use all of your stock 4.0 clutch parts??

did you change your master cylinder?

if you have conquered this, any help would be greatly appreiciated!

Pegleg

I am running at 435 and 4.O. i am having problems with the clutch. its wont seem to engage. can you tell me your set up?

what did everything come out of.

clutch disk?

clutch disk is for a cj7 with a t-150, t-176.

pressure plate?

pressure plate is a centerforce stage 2 from my previous setup (97-02 tj)

throwout bearing?

throwout bearing is for a cj7 i think i got the one with the four cylinder. and apparently that one is smaller than the six cylinder or vis versus i cant remember. anyway that could be your issuse why the clutch doesnt engage. i solved that by using threaded coupler on the slave to make up for the distance so i should be fine.

slave cylinder?

slave cylinder is cj7 with a 6 cylinder. i think i used 83 at autozone for the year

or did you use all of your stock 4.0 clutch parts??

on stock parts you can reuse are the pressure plate and flywheel.

did you change your master cylinder?

i kept my tj master cylinder and bought an adapter from novak to use a brake line down to the slave. in hind sight the adapter is the same price as a cj7 master but i dont know about bolting right in. i still havent bled the system so i don't know if it will work. but when i do (hopefully this week) ill get back to you

if you have conquered this, any help would be greatly appreiciated!

my only suggestions are to check for air in your system bleed bleed and bleed the system. check the rod on the slave see how much play you have and if it's only 1/2 way into the the slave make a coupler and extend it.
Pegleg

good luck

Just want to chime in and say awesome build. Can't wait to see some action pics on this rig.

more stuff done. got my shocks mounted on the lower CA's rotated the front axle back more because it was rotated too high and gained a lot of track bar clearance. took my rear out and welded studs for my lower bucket retainers, cut off the excess upper brackets(would've hit my gas tank) used the extra pieces to brace the brackets better

also painted my CA's. also question in picture 2 would it be enough support (or would i fawk up my bearings etc internally) if i were to weld a piece from the truss to the housing using the pre-dicussed steel to cast process? put it all back together at full droop. new gas tank upper CA bracket clearance (bad pic) and i had to cut strips out of the tub to clear upper CA's for when they flex and @ full bump. its looking like im going to have quite a bit of up travel in the rear

worked the jeep sat got off to a bad start was trying to raise the front up to drop the front axle and the block slipped out and the whole fucking thing came crashing down. little spooked as i've already had this thing fall on me once before (man i can't wait for my 2 bay garage with lift.) anyway got it back up got the front axle out did final welding and little misc b.s. got the carrier in coated with a thin layer of oil till i can get some gear oil. braced upper track bar painted shit and burned home my lower CA brackets frame side

I am not gonna comment on your welds. I am from jersey also, where do you wheel mostly? I am hoping my rig is together in a month or two and it'd be nice to have someone to hang with my truck. shoot me a pm if you need help with any of those welds!

i agree with most that the stuff you purchased for this build are great but please never drive this thing to tennessee. i dont want to see an innocent family get hurt. you really need to lend the jeep to someone who knows how to weld. Ive welded with a cheap ass 110 welder before and it turned out about 1000 times better than what you have going on. it was also just flux core. it can be done but it takes a lot of practice.

hey man, first of all sweet build, links front and rear, 60's, 44 inch TSL's and enough crawl ratio to pull a train is freakin sweet. I feel your pain of building on a budget because like you my jeep addiction is sapping every paycheck I get.
But one thing to add, the second pic on post 141, on the drivers side part of that truss you are going to want to wrap the weld all the way around that plate because if it begins to crack that's where it will start. Also 15 minutes with an angle grinder rounding the edges of those upper control arm mounts will make it look a to better IMHO. But like you said it's not a show rig so keep building your gettin close!

im sure that people have already said this but your welds dont like like they are hot enough, is it a 110 still?

from which of the pics from my past two posts can you tell my welds aren't hot enough? one of them isn't cleaned off and the other two are spray painted. the upper link braces were purple almost all the way thru and welded inside and out. and you shouldn't post if you cant read see picsture and tons of mentioning im using 220.

I am not gonna comment on your welds. I am from jersey also, where do you wheel mostly? I am hoping my rig is together in a month or two and it'd be nice to have someone to hang with my truck. shoot me a pm if you need help with any of those welds!

pm sent

i agree with most that the stuff you purchased for this build are great but please never drive this thing to tennessee. i dont want to see an innocent family get hurt. you really need to lend the jeep to someone who knows how to weld. Ive welded with a cheap ass 110 welder before and it turned out about 1000 times better than what you have going on. it was also just flux core. it can be done but it takes a lot of practice.

im using 220v .035 flux core and the thickest thing i've welded was the truss which is 1/2" and two passes. out of the three pics below(only pics with welds involved in my last two posts) tell me whats unsafe about my welds besides the fact that there not perty little dimes the whole way. if you honestly learned to read i stopped using a 110v about 8 months ago and have the 220 also i'd love to see you weld 1/2" with a 110 and get good penetration. hell i'd even love for you to post some of your best welds and well compare em to my best welds i mean i don't want you to ever drive your bone stock yj to nj if it doesn't have excellent welds everywhere

hey man, first of all sweet build, links front and rear, 60's, 44 inch TSL's and enough crawl ratio to pull a train is freakin sweet. I feel your pain of building on a budget because like you my jeep addiction is sapping every paycheck I get.
But one thing to add, the second pic on post 141, on the drivers side part of that truss you are going to want to wrap the weld all the way around that plate because if it begins to crack that's where it will start. Also 15 minutes with an angle grinder rounding the edges of those upper control arm mounts will make it look a to better IMHO. But like you said it's not a show rig so keep building your gettin close!

will do didnt even see that till you mentioned it.

I just think it would look a million times better on 39.5 Iroks :D

I just think it would look a million times better on 39.5 Iroks :D

figure out a way to get up here right before the holidays and they're yours:flipoff2:

Just been following your build. I saw the picture of your garage, its just nice to see that not everyone is building in a two car garage or a fu&King airplane hangar with every auto amenity known to man. Don't let everyone's comments get to you, we are all building and learning as we go. Even your critics messed up a few times before they knew what was right. Keep the pictures coming, looking forward to seeing the project progress.
:smokin:

Man no shit. Don't worry about everyone, they are just trying to help. Remember advice is just that. It's meant to help you so you don't go and break expensive parts. And practice, practice, practice. But it's looking really nice.

Chief, I hate to burst your bubble, but you cant MIG weld steel to cast, it just doesn't work that way. You might have melted the edges together into what looks like a weld, but it is by no means fused properly, you could probably remove that plate with a 3 lb hammer.

When you weld steel to cast IE the plug welds they use to hold the steel tubes into the cast housing, they use a specially formulated welding rod, and they preheat the metal IAW Engineering specifications.

You really need to step back and examine your welds because you are building a time bomb, I can guarantee you that some of them are going to break, if it happens at 65 mph, or in a bad position on the trail, you or your lady friend could wind up dead.

Also seeing these pics of you and your girl...

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=417726&stc=1&d=1233027957

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=438990&stc=1&d=1240885645

I want to point something out...

YOU NEED TO BUY A VICE AND A PROPER FACE SHIELD!!!

If you don't this is what can happen.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=30340&stc=1&d=1247550845



And nothing sucks your build budget dry like trips to the ER, and with the way your girl is holding that grinder, it wouldn't take much for it to hop up and slice her leg badly, chewing up tendons, muscle, bone, anything the blade hits. She could have easily cut the end of her foot off.

As well, the way you are using the grinder is just begging to lose an eye.


HOLY SHIT MAN THAT's GASH!!!!! :o

^^^Quit Bumping this shit and Just let this guy build.

^^^Quit Bumping this shit and Just let this guy build.

X2... Indy needs to delete this crap. :mr-t:

All you weld nazis fuck off already and let this guy do his thing.

Jesus :shaking:

two more pics just got my high-steer arm back from my neighbor had to drill them out a little bit more. and i forgot to add from last time i did the good old washer trick to protect my zerk fitting on my lower kingpins. i do have one question about my highsteer arm, how tight are my kingpins supposed to be as far as ease of turning goes? should i match my otherside which is still a spring? or a little looser or tighter? also about how hard in general should it be to turn my knuckle? 1. very easy(they flop around on their own) 2. medium (they stay in one place but can easily be turned by one hand) or 3. hard (they stay in place and take some effort to turn by hand)

I like the washer trick around the Zerk fitting.

Chief, I hate to burst your bubble, but you cant MIG weld steel to cast, it just doesn't work that way. You might have melted the edges together into what looks like a weld, but it is by no means fused properly, you could probably remove that plate with a 3 lb hammer.

When you weld steel to cast IE the plug welds they use to hold the steel tubes into the cast housing, they use a specially formulated welding rod, and they preheat the metal IAW Engineering specifications.

You really need to step back and examine your welds because you are building a time bomb, I can guarantee you that some of them are going to break, if it happens at 65 mph, or in a bad position on the trail, you or your lady friend could wind up dead.

Also seeing these pics of you and your girl...

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=417726&stc=1&d=1233027957

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=438990&stc=1&d=1240885645

I want to point something out...

YOU NEED TO BUY A VICE AND A PROPER FACE SHIELD!!!

If you don't this is what can happen.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=30340&stc=1&d=1247550845



And nothing sucks your build budget dry like trips to the ER, and with the way your girl is holding that grinder, it wouldn't take much for it to hop up and slice her leg badly, chewing up tendons, muscle, bone, anything the blade hits. She could have easily cut the end of her foot off.

As well, the way you are using the grinder is just begging to lose an eye.

Dude...........that last picture!!! I've got a pair of gloves just like those one's. I love em!

Dude...........that last picture!!! I've got a pair of gloves just like those one's. I love em!

I pretty sure that qualifies as trolling :shaking:

All you weld nazis fuck off already and let this guy do his thing.

Jesus :shaking:

Just wait until the grade 8 hardware guys see the grade 5 bolts on the high steer. That should add at least a page of ...dude i've been wrenching since i was 3 and i never use gr. 5, it is shit,...- just in various accents from around the country.:flipoff2:

The build looks great!

Why do you feel the need to f-up this guy's thread? :mr-t: Quit being an ass:shaking:

Knock it the fuck off. Next one that posts stupid shit gets a vacation.

Christ. :rolleyes:

Knock it the fuck off. Next one that posts stupid shit gets a vacation.

Christ. :rolleyes:


where we going? lol thanks for backing me up a little i know all my shit isn't the most bling but im just trying to do what a lot you did when you first started. also i gotta say overall how many 22 year olds do you guys know that does this shit just for a hobby and has no automotive history except being self taught.

two more pics just got my high-steer arm back from my neighbor had to drill them out a little bit more. and i forgot to add from last time i did the good old washer trick to protect my zerk fitting on my lower kingpins. i do have one question about my highsteer arm, how tight are my kingpins supposed to be as far as ease of turning goes? should i match my otherside which is still a spring? or a little looser or tighter? also about how hard in general should it be to turn my knuckle? 1. very easy(they flop around on their own) 2. medium (they stay in one place but can easily be turned by one hand) or 3. hard (they stay in place and take some effort to turn by hand)
It seems like there are different opinions on this but put a fish scale on your high steer using your steering hole and it should be 10 to 25 lbs. Seems like most people say 15 is the magic number

good idea i didn't even think of a way to measure it .

well didn't get much of anything done today... winter decided to show up. last night i welded up a 1/4" plate over my diff for protection and am going to do the same to the rear and then tie the truss into the plate. not bullet proof but i got around 3/8'' covering my ring gear for protection now. also i got my knuckles drilled out to 3/4" all the way thru. also the other day i worked on my "gear jammer" style shifter and figured i'd post some pics of it mocked up. i am an idiot and didn't check when i notched the dash for clearance and ended up sawzawing threw some wires... one more thing to add to the list.

last one

Props for working in this shit weather. I have some stuff to do to my buggy but I just couldn't be bothered.

well this thing has to be done by feb. thats when i get my license back. i haven't mentioned it till now but i got a dwi on an atv in the woods two years ago and was fighting in court for a long time and in march of this year they fucked me and said too bad. basically the whole story is this. i was at a woods party in some local trails by me. a kid i was sorta friends with had his 400ex and his g/f's 300 ex back there. so he asked if i wanted to go riding and of course i did. so we went way back into the woods on some fire trails and when we got back to camp a girl i was friends with from preschool asked if i could take her for a ride (this is at 1 am in the middle of the woods btw). so we started down this one trail that heads out to a local highway by me and i saw two flash lights about 100 yds. away. i leaned back and said to her maybe we should go. so i tried to turn around but of course i picked the tighest part of the trail to turn around so it stalled (not easy to do tight turns with someone on the back of a 300 ex) so i started it again (thank god for electric start) and stalled again (side note ive only driven 4 atvs in my life and 2 were semi automatics) so getting pissed again i started it and reved the piss outta the motor and as soon as i did that i was ripped from the quad by a cop which caused me to dump the clutch and accidentaly hit the other cop. they threw me to the ground gave me 2nd degree illuding 3rd degree assault on a police officer dui under age dui (i was 20 when this happened) and wreckless driving (go figure on a fucking quad in the woods) in the police report the cop said he grabbed me and i gunned it and his leg got stuck in between the peg and the back tire (couldnt happen because the owner had nerf bars from the front tire to back tire so that couldn't happen) and when i went to court they told me they had all these hospital injury reports of him getting hurt dicked me around for 1 1/2 years and finally i got off on p.t.i (pre trial intervention) which got me 100 hours of community service 2 years probation and a pending plea of 4th degree alluding. the 100 hrs are done the probation should be done after christmas and everything should just go away. but the dui they wouldn't drop (nj is hell bent on giving you a dui even if your walking on a road for christs sake) so they gave me 9 months because the prosocutor told the judge i hurt a cop (was supposed to get 6) anyways figured i'd finally share this witht the pbb community lol. there is a law out there though that says if you are operating an atv or snow mobile on golf courses lakes public lands your exempt from a dui and only get a $200 fine but apparently i was on the border of private property and deemed i wasn't on public lands. anyway hence the reason this is project cheep jeep and i am busting my ass to be done by feb.

Just wait until the grade 8 hardware guys see the grade 5 bolts on the high steer. That should add at least a page of ...dude i've been wrenching since i was 3 and i never use gr. 5, it is shit,...- just in various accents from around the country.:flipoff2:

The build looks great!

just rereading thru this shit and realized that every bolt i'm using is either 1. original or 2. a 1/2" lug nut that holds your tires on the vehicle i don't care if they're grade 3 they work with some lock tight. i know you aint busting my balls but i'm not that dumb that ill skip on my steering and braking. all the oher shit might fall apart but at leat ill steer out of your way and brake before i rear end and kill you :flipoff2:

I know you said your drivetrain was 40" long at some point... was that just a roundabout number or was that 40.0" even? And was that including the bellhousing?

I'm considering ditching my NV3550 so I can fit a doubler in front of my D300. There aren't any super-easy automatics I can easily swap into my 03 TJ I'm also going to be looking at a Ford NP435.

Could you break down how much length each part of your drivetrain takes up? Primarily the adapters for NP435-231 and the 231 doubler assembly. I'm having a hard time finding super short adapters. Also not sure of what kind of doubler would be shortest(231 or 203).

Keep up the good work!

i got a ton of my info on the swap from novak-adapt.com they make a top notch product and have excellent customer service. i can still call them with questions for the help. as for the drive train measurements i can pm you it tommorrow the np435 is super short 10" IIRC even with the adapter and bellhousing its still shorter than an ax-15. look at my pics of where my shifter pops up and that should give you an idea how short this thing really is. the np231/dana300 doubler is i think 1" longer than a 231 with out the sye. i ran the doubler without my wheelbase stretched and ax-15 for a while and it fit. with your wheelbase and setup you should have excellent driveline angle and it should tuck under there nice. as for the 203 adapters i have seen the are pretty long where as my adapter is 1" thick. pm d.d. machine for the 231/300 doubler kit. has holes drilled for fluid site, 360 degree clocking ring built in and over top notch work a good price but his only down fall is the wait time. i had to wait a couple months to get my stuff. so if you plan on doing it in a couple months order now. the other thing i think over a 203/205 is the crawl ratio depending on what you have in your axles you'll be in the 200 range. will you ever need that probably not but its nice to know have it it. if i were you i would do the np435/300 first and if you feel you need the doubler order that later. remember the 435's first gear is 6.68:1 with good gears in the axle that will give you a 100ish crawl ratio which i think is pretty good. let me know what other questions you have

i got a ton of my info on the swap from novak-adapt.com they make a top notch product and have excellent customer service. i can still call them with questions for the help. as for the drive train measurements i can pm you it tommorrow the np435 is super short 10" IIRC even with the adapter and bellhousing its still shorter than an ax-15. look at my pics of where my shifter pops up and that should give you an idea how short this thing really is. the np231/dana300 doubler is i think 1" longer than a 231 with out the sye. i ran the doubler without my wheelbase stretched and ax-15 for a while and it fit. with your wheelbase and setup you should have excellent driveline angle and it should tuck under there nice. as for the 203 adapters i have seen the are pretty long where as my adapter is 1" thick. pm d.d. machine for the 231/300 doubler kit. has holes drilled for fluid site, 360 degree clocking ring built in and over top notch work a good price but his only down fall is the wait time. i had to wait a couple months to get my stuff. so if you plan on doing it in a couple months order now. the other thing i think over a 203/205 is the crawl ratio depending on what you have in your axles you'll be in the 200 range. will you ever need that probably not but its nice to know have it it. if i were you i would do the np435/300 first and if you feel you need the doubler order that later. remember the 435's first gear is 6.68:1 with good gears in the axle that will give you a 100ish crawl ratio which i think is pretty good. let me know what other questions you have



I really do not want to redo my spring perches on my rear axle... that would mean the traction bar bracket too :laughing:

I think I will try the 435/300 because I can push them super high for a flat belly(another question in a minute...) and keep the same angle at the diff(but need driveshaft lengthened of course).

How far down does the NP435 hang? Any way to get it close to the same height as the frame rails?

I really do not want to redo my spring perches on my rear axle... that would mean the traction bar bracket too :laughing:

I think I will try the 435/300 because I can push them super high for a flat belly(another question in a minute...) and keep the same angle at the diff(but need driveshaft lengthened of course).

How far down does the NP435 hang? Any way to get it close to the same height as the frame rails?

for reference on how low it hangs see posts #79 (http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9683473&postcount=79) and #86 (http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9713303&postcount=86) it all depends on how much floor you feel like cutting out and refabbing and how much dash you wanna loose. i think mine hangs downs about 2-3" give or take and the 300 hangs down about 1-2" and thats guestimating from the frame rails. my idea is for flat skid with those two sections having boxed out. over all think i think it's a fair compromise seeing how much is chopped on the tub. like i said you could remove your feet heating ducts do a 1"mm lift and cut out your floor and rebuild it and have a complete flat belly but is that much work worth a 6x10" box hanging down 2-3"? i think not. i would definatly look into fabbing the type of shifter im doing. the idea came from wild horses and its call the np435 "gear jammer" it greatly reduces the throw going from 1st to second is like trying to start a lawn mower:laughing:. i went with chain which you obviously can't now or you'd be a copy cat :flipoff2: lol but you get the idea also kirby has an np435 and he went a different way with his shifter incorporating it into his center console.

well i finally have some more updates besides helping flatfucker figure out how to build a jeep:flipoff2: j/k scored a 14 bolt with matching 4.10's a set of rollers delivered to my door for a hundo:smokin: removed my inner fenders due to the fact i sold my flat fenders and have a slick idea on some fenders pics in the next post. relocated my evap shit and reoworked my harness since some stuff got move around looks like shit but i'll post some pics up tommorrow as i just finished cleaning it up some more today and forgot to take pics.

also got what my helper calls the shiniest/nicest part of my jeep ($25 autozone intake) pics of where i went a little too saw zaw happy and starting to patch up the mess. pics of where i am going to cut my hood to clearance the 44's and my new fender idea. and the second pic is to show all black tape will eventually be tube.

and finally i know i'm not re-inventing the wheel alot of guys run these fenders, but i do think im making the wheel look sexy again. a sneak peak of the idea i'm shooting for on my new fenders. think 250 chopper fender on a jeep made from tube and skinned. mounted just like you would on a plymouth prowler:smokin:

Thanks for the help doucher:flipoff2:

Looking forward to those goofy fenders... I was considering something similar but I'm working on just moving to another state that doesn't give a shit:laughing:

Thanks for the help doucher:flipoff2:

Looking forward to those goofy fenders... I was considering something similar but I'm working on just moving to another state that doesn't give a shit:laughing:


yea but i don't know about you but running no fender at all gets pretty annoying. anytime you have wheel spin you have shit getting thrown everywhere. i would rather design something i like that i can leave on when wheeling and driving on the road. you'll find out first time you poke your head out your window trying to spot your next move and your front tire spins that maybe fenders aren't a bad idea :laughing: that and the fact of one mud hole = 3 hours of cleaning mud from everywhere inside and out. (i'm a neat freak)

First off I want to say that I only want you to take these words as constructive criticism from an outsiders point of view and I don't want you to get offended at all when reading this. I'm sorry for beating a dead horse but,

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/7356/weld.png

The weld highlighted in this picture is what I am pretty sure everyone is concerned with in talking about welding to cast iron. I am assuming that this is the mount for your track bar. If so, please, please redesign a different style that does not at all incorporate the bracket by welding to the cast iron housing. Now I am trying to be nice about this because I don't want you to immediately get offended and say "yeah it might break but oh well." No matter how pretty the bead is, or how much penetration you think you have, welding to cast iron in the manner that you did is very prone to failure. And a track (panhard) bar is not the first place that you want to have a failure...

Even if the brakes and steering are not harmed in a failure, it could cause an accident. I am not saying that I am saving anyones lives by posting, however I am sure that your girlfriend means a lot to you, and I am sure that if she (or even a stranger) got hurt, or worse, you would have so many sleepless nights and feeling remorseful.

In the pictures it appears that she loves to get dirty and help you work on your jeep, this is a quality that you don't find in many women (well at least ones who don't look like men) and so you should consider yourself one lucky guy. However, addressing the pictures of her grinding parts in capris holding the part with her feet, stylish or not you should make her safety #1 priority. If she gets hurt working on your Jeep, she won't enjoy working on it with you any more and you won't have a pretty little helper by your side anymore.

I myself am a victim of trackbar failure, due to a poor design, that I said "meh its just mock-up, I'll fix it later," but I didn't change it. However in my circumstance noone got hurt and I am so very thankful for that. But it sure did bring the suck having to limp my Jeep off the trail. This was my first Jeep that I had ever built, and my fabrication skills were not wonderful. This was a few years ago.

Picture of limping my Jeep off the trail (http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/3758/wheelintrip92708014.jpg)

I did what you did, and posted my fab pictures online. The same thing happened, everyone flamed me about how sucky the welds were, and how it was not safe (even though at the time, I said the same thing you did and said I was confident in my fabrication for my safety.) Now looking back at the pictures, I almost get sick to my stomach knowing what could have happened to me. Luckily it was a trailer queen where it wouldn't have ever been driven on public roads.

I too am not loaded with cash and have to build things on somewhat of a budget, but if there ever is a place to spend money, (please take these words in religiously,) its in parts that are going to make your rig safe. But after I had been flamed on the forums for my fab skills, I did the right thing, and I took time to learn to do it properly and I increased my attention to detail dramatically. Never again will I make a part, or do something that is of poor fabrication quality. If it doesn't look like it came out of a legitimate fab shop, it won't go on my rig. Because I know that it could be better and I could have spent more time on it. I am not saying I am the worlds greatest welder, but I took the time to learn how, and practiced religiously, and now lay a good, solid, strong bead that people can be impressed with. I hope you do the same.

-----------------------------

My issue with using the square tubing on your axles for link brackets, is that it does not have much surface area on the tube. If you look at brackets that you can buy (say from ballistic, or similar) they will wrap around almost half of the axle. (refer to picture) You'll notice that the brackets on the right have a larger surface area by coming almost completely half-way around the axle tube, while your square tubing is practically just sitting on top of the tube. Believe me this makes a huge difference in strength.

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9559/weld2.png

So there are a few suggested options. Option A: Cut off and toss that link mount. Replace with a pre-fabbed bracket or you could replace it with a larger diameter square tubing (say 3" square tubing.) You will have to use spacers between your flex joint and the bracket, but thats cheap and easy. Or Option C: You could truss the h*ll out of the bracket that you already have on there. Whichever option you choose, with the bracket being this long you absolutely need some sort of trussing system no matter what (even if you have really good welds on there with good strong penetration, which to be honest, right now you don't have that weld strength), give it support both forwards/backwards (front-rear) and sideways (passenger-driver).

Whichever option you choose, have material here (encircled in red in the picture)
http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/9757/weld3.png
If you are keeping this bracket, box in as much as you can with some plate. Or if you are going to remake the bracket, leave this uncut. It will add lots of strength to the bracket itself, and it will give you another side to weld on. (another side to weld on is more important than welding the inside of the bracket)

---------------------------

I am glad to see that you have a new rear axle, this gives a new opportunity for a new truss system. Saying this as nice as I can, but with your current welding skills you really need a 1 peice truss. I am sure that there has to be some sort of a shop near you that has a brake and I bet they wouldn't charge more than $30 to throw a few bends in a peice of steel for you. It will increase the strength of your truss ten-fold. No matter how good your brakes are, you cant stop safely if your links don't stay attached to your axle.

---------------------------

I know that you said you don't have much practice welding upside down, but it really is something that you should learn to do well when safety becomes an issue, I know that you said you ground down your welds on the control arms etc and rewelded them, please do the same for the bottom of your link brackets on the frame end.

---------------------------

With this picture below, I spot 2 issues. First, you should always complete the weld from end to end (encircled in red.) As stated before, because it is not completely welded, this area is highly likely to start cracking and causing failure. Issue #2 (encircled in green) this should be close to your axle and welded. There should be no gap here. If it is due to poor fitment of the bracket, make the bracket fit better. Welding is 75% prep, (this includes fitment) and 25% weld quality. And just to also state with that, make sure it is ground down to bare metal and is clean from anything that can contaminate the weld. I see that you have been pretty good about grinding your material first :thumbsup:
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/7221/weld4.png

-----------------------------

To be honest, I also have an issue with your D-link recovery tabs. Again trying to be nice about it, but you aren't that great of a welder yet. Depending on how stuck you are, this could be under a lot of force, and more than likely you probably don't have enough penetration for this bracket. Did you bevel the edges before you stacked your weld beads? If that breaks off, you could be replacing a rear window of whoever is pulling you out. Do some searching and find some different ways to mount the tab other than just butt welding it to the surface. Also bevel your edges before you start, and crank up your welder, or have a larger welder which would be more capable of producing a safe weld for this thickness of material.

--------------------------

Also, I may have missed it if you said, but did you take in the advice of replacing your kingpins? They are seriously trashed and need replacing. I sure hope that you replaced them before putting on your knuckles and stuff. You took the time to take the pictures and ask if they should be replaced, I hope you took the time as well to listen to the advice.

--------------------------

All this being said, I really hope these words sink in and you address the issues that need to be addressed. (Without going into detail, the transmission crossmember is another safety issue that I strongly feel you should redesign.) Again, please don't take a drop of offense to this in any way, I'm only trying to help. I took the time to write all this, please return the favor and take the time to make your Jeep safer.


In your quest for becoming a better welder, I strongly suggest becoming a member of OFN forums and posting pictures of your welds. Here they can give you a clear scope and some helpful hints to better your welds. They will tell you what adjustments you should make. Also on here are great people with good ideas and with many pictures of good fabrication for inspiration.

www.offroadfabnet.com

wow, I think you put more effort into making that post than I have put into getting through college

wow, I think you put more effort into making that post than I have put into getting through college

My thoughts exactly.

:homer:

wow, I think you put more effort into making that post than I have put into getting through college

My thoughts exactly.

:homer:

Well when it comes down to it there are some serious safety issues with this build and I figure if I spend some time to explain them and how to fix them, maybe it will save him, his gf or a stranger from getting hurt or worse.

yea destroyed :shaking:

.... so getting pissed again i started it and reved the piss outta the motor and as soon as i did that i was ripped from the quad by a cop which caused me to dump the clutch and accidentally hit the other cop. .....

That's some funny shit right there.

Keep up the build. It looks like you're learning.

First off I want to say that I only want you to take these words as constructive criticism from an outsiders point of view and I don't want you to get offended at all when reading this. I'm sorry for beating a dead horse but,

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/7356/weld.png

The weld highlighted in this picture is what I am pretty sure everyone is concerned with in talking about welding to cast iron. I am assuming that this is the mount for your track bar. If so, please, please redesign a different style that does not at all incorporate the bracket by welding to the cast iron housing. Now I am trying to be nice about this because I don't want you to immediately get offended and say "yeah it might break but oh well." No matter how pretty the bead is, or how much penetration you think you have, welding to cast iron in the manner that you did is very prone to failure. And a track (panhard) bar is not the first place that you want to have a failure...

Even if the brakes and steering are not harmed in a failure, it could cause an accident. I am not saying that I am saving anyones lives by posting, however I am sure that your girlfriend means a lot to you, and I am sure that if she (or even a stranger) got hurt, or worse, you would have so many sleepless nights and feeling remorseful.

In the pictures it appears that she loves to get dirty and help you work on your jeep, this is a quality that you don't find in many women (well at least ones who don't look like men) and so you should consider yourself one lucky guy. However, addressing the pictures of her grinding parts in capris holding the part with her feet, stylish or not you should make her safety #1 priority. If she gets hurt working on your Jeep, she won't enjoy working on it with you any more and you won't have a pretty little helper by your side anymore.

I myself am a victim of trackbar failure, due to a poor design, that I said "meh its just mock-up, I'll fix it later," but I didn't change it. However in my circumstance noone got hurt and I am so very thankful for that. But it sure did bring the suck having to limp my Jeep off the trail. This was my first Jeep that I had ever built, and my fabrication skills were not wonderful. This was a few years ago.

Picture of limping my Jeep off the trail (http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/3758/wheelintrip92708014.jpg)

I did what you did, and posted my fab pictures online. The same thing happened, everyone flamed me about how sucky the welds were, and how it was not safe (even though at the time, I said the same thing you did and said I was confident in my fabrication for my safety.) Now looking back at the pictures, I almost get sick to my stomach knowing what could have happened to me. Luckily it was a trailer queen where it wouldn't have ever been driven on public roads.

I too am not loaded with cash and have to build things on somewhat of a budget, but if there ever is a place to spend money, (please take these words in religiously,) its in parts that are going to make your rig safe. But after I had been flamed on the forums for my fab skills, I did the right thing, and I took time to learn to do it properly and I increased my attention to detail dramatically. Never again will I make a part, or do something that is of poor fabrication quality. If it doesn't look like it came out of a legitimate fab shop, it won't go on my rig. Because I know that it could be better and I could have spent more time on it. I am not saying I am the worlds greatest welder, but I took the time to learn how, and practiced religiously, and now lay a good, solid, strong bead that people can be impressed with. I hope you do the same.

-----------------------------

My issue with using the square tubing on your axles for link brackets, is that it does not have much surface area on the tube. If you look at brackets that you can buy (say from ballistic, or similar) they will wrap around almost half of the axle. (refer to picture) You'll notice that the brackets on the right have a larger surface area by coming almost completely half-way around the axle tube, while your square tubing is practically just sitting on top of the tube. Believe me this makes a huge difference in strength.

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9559/weld2.png

So there are a few suggested options. Option A: Cut off and toss that link mount. Replace with a pre-fabbed bracket or you could replace it with a larger diameter square tubing (say 3" square tubing.) You will have to use spacers between your flex joint and the bracket, but thats cheap and easy. Or Option C: You could truss the h*ll out of the bracket that you already have on there. Whichever option you choose, with the bracket being this long you absolutely need some sort of trussing system no matter what (even if you have really good welds on there with good strong penetration, which to be honest, right now you don't have that weld strength), give it support both forwards/backwards (front-rear) and sideways (passenger-driver).

Whichever option you choose, have material here (encircled in red in the picture)
http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/9757/weld3.png
If you are keeping this bracket, box in as much as you can with some plate. Or if you are going to remake the bracket, leave this uncut. It will add lots of strength to the bracket itself, and it will give you another side to weld on. (another side to weld on is more important than welding the inside of the bracket)

---------------------------

I am glad to see that you have a new rear axle, this gives a new opportunity for a new truss system. Saying this as nice as I can, but with your current welding skills you really need a 1 peice truss. I am sure that there has to be some sort of a shop near you that has a brake and I bet they wouldn't charge more than $30 to throw a few bends in a peice of steel for you. It will increase the strength of your truss ten-fold. No matter how good your brakes are, you cant stop safely if your links don't stay attached to your axle.

---------------------------

I know that you said you don't have much practice welding upside down, but it really is something that you should learn to do well when safety becomes an issue, I know that you said you ground down your welds on the control arms etc and rewelded them, please do the same for the bottom of your link brackets on the frame end.

---------------------------

With this picture below, I spot 2 issues. First, you should always complete the weld from end to end (encircled in red.) As stated before, because it is not completely welded, this area is highly likely to start cracking and causing failure. Issue #2 (encircled in green) this should be close to your axle and welded. There should be no gap here. If it is due to poor fitment of the bracket, make the bracket fit better. Welding is 75% prep, (this includes fitment) and 25% weld quality. And just to also state with that, make sure it is ground down to bare metal and is clean from anything that can contaminate the weld. I see that you have been pretty good about grinding your material first :thumbsup:
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/7221/weld4.png

-----------------------------

To be honest, I also have an issue with your D-link recovery tabs. Again trying to be nice about it, but you aren't that great of a welder yet. Depending on how stuck you are, this could be under a lot of force, and more than likely you probably don't have enough penetration for this bracket. Did you bevel the edges before you stacked your weld beads? If that breaks off, you could be replacing a rear window of whoever is pulling you out. Do some searching and find some different ways to mount the tab other than just butt welding it to the surface. Also bevel your edges before you start, and crank up your welder, or have a larger welder which would be more capable of producing a safe weld for this thickness of material.

--------------------------

Also, I may have missed it if you said, but did you take in the advice of replacing your kingpins? They are seriously trashed and need replacing. I sure hope that you replaced them before putting on your knuckles and stuff. You took the time to take the pictures and ask if they should be replaced, I hope you took the time as well to listen to the advice.

--------------------------

All this being said, I really hope these words sink in and you address the issues that need to be addressed. (Without going into detail, the transmission crossmember is another safety issue that I strongly feel you should redesign.) Again, please don't take a drop of offense to this in any way, I'm only trying to help. I took the time to write all this, please return the favor and take the time to make your Jeep safer.


In your quest for becoming a better welder, I strongly suggest becoming a member of OFN forums and posting pictures of your welds. Here they can give you a clear scope and some helpful hints to better your welds. They will tell you what adjustments you should make. Also on here are great people with good ideas and with many pictures of good fabrication for inspiration.

www.offroadfabnet.com



yea none of that will ever be fixed run it as is till it breaks good story though

yea none of that will ever be fixed run it as is till it breaks good story though


You're a douch...he made lots of good observations, that a normal person would heed, and fix. Hope you crash

wow....

yea none of that will ever be fixed run it as is till it breaks good story though

Dude you're a fawking IDIOT, everything in his post was spot on, and I dont' know if you're just to stupid or to fucking arogant to heed his warning. If you're going to post a build thread here, you better have some thick skin, but you also better be willing to take the advice of others, trust me, i've reworked plenty of my shit once i got some input on a flawed design i came up with. I'm glad i live NO WHERE NEAR YOU, cause i sure as hell don't want to be on a trail with the cobbled together contraption:shaking:

Wow that was a waste of my time then.. To be honest I really don't give a sh!t if you crash and get hurt or worse.. I won't lose any sleep over it.. As long as you don't take anyone with you.. and another reason to be honest, I really hope that your gf sees this and says "I will never ever get in your jeep ever or help you ever again"

yes i plan on doing some type of tie into the thew diff i understand the large amount of force on the tubes. no i didnt't really think about plating anything im welding to the frame because my only logic is is boxed and boxed and apparently theyre supposed to be strong well find out i can always add the beef. and finally post 96 look real close at the top. im thinking about chopinng 4"s off the jeep to give it a meaner stance.

You're a douch...he made lots of good observations, that a normal person would heed, and fix. Hope you crash

wow....

Dude you're a fawking IDIOT, everything in his post was spot on, and I dont' know if you're just to stupid or to fucking arogant to heed his warning. If you're going to post a build thread here, you better have some thick skin, but you also better be willing to take the advice of others, trust me, i've reworked plenty of my shit once i got some input on a flawed design i came up with. I'm glad i live NO WHERE NEAR YOU, cause i sure as hell don't want to be on a trail with the cobbled together contraption:shaking:

Wow that was a waste of my time then.. To be honest I really don't give a sh!t if you crash and get hurt or worse.. I won't lose any sleep over it.. As long as you don't take anyone with you.. and another reason to be honest, I really hope that your gf sees this and says "I will never ever get in your jeep ever or help you ever again"


first off i don't give a shit what any of you chime in to say about cocklips post because just like him you fawkers cant read. now with that said my girlfriend will gladly ride in it with me and i am confident enough in my work to take her in it. first off about the damn track bar bracket you need to go back and reread what was said. the two bolts that hold the spring on were cut down welded too ground smooth welded again and ground down one last time. the other side is butt welded to the coil bucket. the reason i welded to the cast is to keep any slight flex there would be down. it's basically a filler to keep the plate solid. i did that last after the metal cooled so it would be a tight fit against the spring mount. IT IS NOT STRUCTURAL pics below not as interweb savy as you.

--------------------------------------------------------------


next the upper link mount agreed think it could use some more plating oh... wait i did that post #142 triangulated plates 4 of em 3/16" thick on all four corners. not going any where again pic below

----------------------------------------------------


as for the truss not finished and again was mentioned it will be tied either into the housing by preheating the housing of the new diff to 500 degrees and using nickle rod to weld it followed by some post heat and blankets of some sort to let it cool slow as possible and/or tied into the diff cover some way. yea its welded and not bent i don't think that is the part that will see the most force the welds aren't bad two passes both sides and i gotta go touch up the one end i didn't see i missed. also didn't want to finish the truss on the dana 60 because i had been trying to find a 14 bolt ever since i wanted bigger tires and realized it was to much money to have a little bit better than a dana 44 turned into the capabilities of a 14 bolt


------------------------------------------------


as for the front lower CA's agreed i think that they are unsafe and need to be redone completely i think i am going to tear off the passenger side completely and build a new mounting point and weld it all together then weld to the frame as for the driver side it will be ground down and redone.


------------------------------------------------


as for the issue with my link brackets that is the way they are designed they have grooves on both ends for the the plate to sit into since the other side of that bracket was bent into a C and then the plate is added to completely box it it. i don't see any reason why that weld would start cracking considering i have a poly bushing that is going in between with a sleeve that will be "pinched" or "crushed" against either side of the bracket along with the welded "boxed" in plate. as for them not connecting completely to the frame I'm not changing that. it's they're design and it seems to work fine. plus i have seen guys weld link brackets on with just two tabs sticking out and no boxing and they work fine. not saying that that is right but these are designed better and already boxed on top and bottom.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------


as for the d-link mounts yes they are welded on top of the the bumper but also plated and boxed in with 1/4" i think that they are welded to enough surface area that they will not suddenly be torn from my bumper unless the hole bumper decides to tear off in which case it would suck any ideas on how to prevent that from happening? should i duct tape it on twice?



----------------------------------



as for the kingpins go if i have the cash i'll do it i don't see what it would do if i don't replace them because they look bad this thing used to be a DD but not anymore so what's the logic behind that?

------------------------------------------------

as for the transmission crossmember i think the bottom welds are shit but everywhere else is welded fine i am redesigning it and to be honest its only gotta hold some of the weight of the transmission because the dana 300 will be getting its own truss to support the pressure put on the 231 crawl box. so i will have two truss for my transmission and t-cases.


-----------------------------------------------


thanks for the website i'll look into it maybe they can give me some advice on how to improve my upside down welding. again all pictures are below in order of which i discuss them

Your welds will get better in time, I used to weld like that, it just takes time and practice. Your on the right track, i think alot of your problem is the welder.

I've been lurking here for a long time and finally decided to wade in on my first post so here goes.....
bardenk1 you are an absolute asshat. Your welding and fabrication skills are worse than a grade 9 shop students. If someone could be banned for life from fabricating anything more serious that a deck chair it should be you. :flipoff2:

fuck you very much please post up some of what you got.

also gotta say i love the irony that you "happen" to be a cop. wanna go play chicken in the woods this time it won't be an accident:flipoff2:

gotta say i enjoy you clogging up my thread with shit seeing as youve only been here 5 days (pretty long time) calling me out in the first place makes YOU mister e-tough... oh look at me i can weld better than you but i don't have any pictures to show it im a fucking master fabricator you suck blah blah blah GTFO.

Oh and I know enough to keep my Jeep out of the "hardcore" section because it is pretty normal compared to the caliber of most of the rigs in this section. With the exception of your no-skill, uneducated, grossly un-safe, welded by a blind person so called "Jeep". In fact I think that a blind person could be taught better design and fabrication skills than you posses. Since you posses neither design and welding ability, nor the ability to take criticism from people who clearly have more fabrication skills in their little finger than you can ever hope to have in your whole body. Should be moved from "hardcore" to "garbage" just like your account here.

so how do you personally know my jeep is unsafe did you have a scary experiance on your massive bolt on built jeep where you almost rolled over over the walmart curbs? to justify mine was not fit to be wheeled? hey i heard a guy on here say you suck dick so it must be true because he said it. notice how everyone that critiques me is either listened to or my point justified now please troll go back to the non harcore section where theyll tell you your "it's a jeep thing" sticker over your windshield is awesome

Lol

I've been lurking here for a long time and finally decided to wade in on my first post so here goes.....
bardenk1 you are an absolute asshat. Your welding and fabrication skills are worse than a grade 9 shop students. If someone could be banned for life from fabricating anything more serious that a deck chair it should be you. :flipoff2:

Nice first post... :homer:

:mad3:officer_vince is an official asshat. :mad3:

Bardenk1,
Though your fab isn't all that pretty, it looks strong enough. wheel it til it breaks and learn a lot. Just be easy on the throttle until it's been thoroughly tested. :smokin:

Someone delete this thread.

No one is learning anything from you. When constructive criticism is given you blow it off - so you're not learning anything either.

Totally worthless.

please dont ever come wheeling on any trail that I wheel on. I dont want to be stuck behind you. thanks.

this thread is like a soap opera

typical pirate couple people disagree because its not the "standard" $40k jeep and everyone has to throw in their two cents. im not deleting this and will continue to build this just like i have been i said it before and ill say it again if if i feel it really is constructive i will fix it like choc flips post yea i busted his balls but there were points he made that i have not disagreed to fixing. just because someone says fix it doesn't mean im going to run out to my garage and fix it right there. i am a full time student and work 30+ hours a week and do like to travel so if i said it will be fixed it will. plus im waiting on uncle sams tax return to buy some steel to redo stuff. i don't feel like i need to explain my life story or stop building my jeep just because some guys on the interweb said fix it. if you feel like being an asshat resist the urge i know its hard but youll get threw it little buddy. i know this jeep will be road worthy eventually and YES THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT NEED TO BE REDONE. but i dont have to go rebuild the hole fucking jeep. so anyone else who has something to say i will say in advance.... fuck you very much.


Someone delete this thread.

No one is learning anything from you. When constructive criticism is given you blow it off - so you're not learning anything either.

Totally worthless.

not happening even though if you had somthing constructive to say i would probably listen considering your fab skills are "acceptable"

please dont ever come wheeling on any trail that I wheel on. I dont want to be stuck behind you. thanks.

says the ass clown who thought these were good questions:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=803133&highlight=

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=782647&highlight=

this thread is like a soap opera

wish it wasn't just trying to build on a real budget with what i got ain't gonna be the best but it will do

dude the idea is a good one but the way you are going about and your welds just scare the crap out of me. I just dont want to see anyone get hurt. its a safety thing. didn't meen to come off as a dick. oh and those questions I asked one was for a friend and one was just a question. as soon as I get the rest of my parts for my build I will put my build on here and if you want to try to call me a tool, give it your best shot. i dont care.

dude the idea is a good one but the way you are going about and your welds just scare the crap out of me. I just dont want to see anyone get hurt. its a safety thing.


I think this sums up what a lot of people are trying to say. I can weld and I do on less important areas of my jeep. But when it comes more important areas i.e. roll cage, suspension, brackets I leave that up people who better at it like my brother and friends.

I think the Board will agree with me when I say “there is no shame in getting help on your project especially in areas where others are more qualified than yourself”


Has it ever occurred to you that when this many people tell you that you are doing something wrong or an area on your build needs to be addressed that they might be right? Think about it.

typical pirate couple people disagree because its not the "standard" $40k jeep and everyone has to throw in their two cents.

This is not what is being argued. People disagree because you are not spending the extra TIME to get a closer fit on mockup, then not taking the TIME to get a quality weld on the pieces. I haven't seen any posts that require you to buy something very expensive to fix a problem....

any updates?

this thread is like a soap opera


seriously this is the only reason i ever check out this thread.

All these people are doin nothing but tryin to help you out man, i think we can all tell your frustrated but just try and remember that. No matter how good you think you are at anything there is always someone who is a little better. And if that persons willing to help you out by giving advice, then take it.

I liked the np435 and doubler junk, alot like what I have in the works. I was just re-readin one of my crawls the otherday and saw the wildhorses advertisement and thought thatd be cool to fab somethin like that up.

jack of all trades master of none. that about sums me up (i can do all levels on construction fabrication teach kids how to swim and cook lol) i have updates and a list of things i need to redo i just found out im not getting the fat return from uncle sam. i am going to take my time and listen to these fawkers now:flipoff2:

I'm only following this thread because I am waiting for more pics of the g/f. Then mix in a few pic's of the build progress.

I'm a cop,,, I weld awesome welds, my dad is bigger than your dad, my wife works at Hooters, and I've stayed at plenty of Holiday Inn's.

Thanks,,, please leave the light on:flipoff2:

Enjoying the build

My dad can bend a horseshoe with one hand!

I'm only following this thread because I am waiting for more pics of the g/f. Then mix in a few pic's of the build progress.

I'm a cop,,, I weld awesome welds, my dad is bigger than your dad, my wife works at Hooters, and I've stayed at plenty of Holiday Inn's.

Thanks,,, please leave the light on:flipoff2:

Enjoying the build

My dad can bend a horseshoe with one hand!


heehaw you sooo funnnay

Done yet?

I'm going to Jersey in april and if i see your jeep i'm getting the fawk out of the way!!! Just kidding, keep at least reading the comments from those with lots of posts and wheel it man. Looking pretty good for a first build. Just please keep the speed low on the first few runs...

I can appreciate a "cheap" build, but that doesn't mean you cut corners everywhere, especially where it's important

ok well i've been pondering how i want to shave my 14 bolt. since its all the rage these days. the idea is to cut the marked 4" off and put a dana 35 ring gear in it. :flipoff2:

Thank God they're cheap. :laughing:

j/k i thought about this because of the tomahawk kits for the rockwell axles (apparently someone beat me to it thread is out there somewhere) but anyway i am going to incorporate kirbys idea of the lip on the bottom to prevent peel back and i plan to have 2 screws on either side (two on either side of the flat section and one on either side of carrier. if this goes well and the way i have it mocked up works i might make a kit for it what does pbb say? lol who needs 15 cad drawings and shop testing and also i do not plan on machining the ring gear a 1/4" 1/2" etc i bought a 14 bolt because it has a 10.5" ring gear why do i wanna make it comparible in size to my dana 60 i have now? also i have a question. i wanted to use 1/2" plate for the flat sections and over the ring gear and 1/4" for the sides structuraly is that strong enough?

I'm grabbin the popcorn for this little project...

Personally, just my opinion, I'd go with the 1/2" all the way and just be happy with overkill instead of possibly not enough. Never know how hard you're going to slam it on something.

I am interested in seeing how well it holds up to a beating. I've never seen any design quite like that before.

Also, again just in my opinion, I'd make a few changes to that, if you're going with that design.

In picture "A" in the red circle, this little jog is so small, that I don't personally see the benefit of the amount of extra time that it will take to do that. I would just make it one straight piece all the way to the edge, like in picture "B"..

And also, it looks like your cardboard is really close to your ring gear. I would keep a little bit larger gap between your ring gear and your steel. Whereas you are having a multiple piece design with those angles, I'd say it is more likely to bend easier if you smack it on something, so I'd leave just a little bigger gap for some breathing room if you do smack it hard enough to bend it, but, these are just suggestions.

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/4162/weld13.png

i planned on doing exactly what your talking about and bringing that bend on the left side over a bit and pushing it away from the ring gear its going to have to be because in order to get bolts in there im going to use a 3/4"x3/4" "sleeve chunk" drilled out and burned in. i still gotta rework it but i want it so the thing could be couple out in 3 or 4 pieces that are easy to jig and weld together. also i was wondering for those that are running spools arbs etc is there any size difference between stock case and these lockers? bigger smaller?

well more updates i bought rims $326 for 5 to my door:eek: and finally got them mounted $100 bucks. the jeep is sitting on its own weight :eek::eek::D then i used my helpers dads pickup to flip it around and started checking out steering and in "trying" to listen to you guys i realized that if i moved my track bar bracket to the front diff cover and it would clear my steering so could that be strong enough? (and make you guys will shut up about my track bar bracket?:flipoff2:)

also the helper and i discussed some wheelbase issues and decided (she gave me the ok to take longer) to move the rear axle back another 6 inches which will be done when im swapping in the 14 bolt.

looking great, what is teh frame to floor height right now (measuring frame under doors)?

Fist pump here!!!!!

Thank God they're cheap. :laughing:

Thank You! I needed a good laugh today.:laughing:


This build is interesting, I can't wait to see how it turns out in the end.

Good luck with the 14b shave, wait no, thats more like a chop than a shave.:flipoff2:

I may have missed it earlier but what's the belly height with the 44's?

looking great, what is teh frame to floor height right now (measuring frame under doors)?

gotta get wont be able to till friday

Fist pump here!!!!!

im not guito and jersey shore killed a little bit of me

Thank You! I needed a good laugh today.:laughing:


This build is interesting, I can't wait to see how it turns out in the end.

Good luck with the 14b shave, wait no, thats more like a chop than a shave.:flipoff2:

I may have missed it earlier but what's the belly height with the 44's?

ill get that friday all i know is i can rest my chin on my cowl standing up and i have to hop into it by steeping onto the lugs and then into the jeep. its a big bitch.

looking great, what is teh frame to floor height right now (measuring frame under doors)?

I may have missed it earlier but what's the belly height with the 44's?

27.5" to the frame 37.5" to the bottom of the door and 36" to the front bumper

also what does pbb say if i welded my tracbar bracket to my diff cover instead? would it be stronger? because that kills two birds with one stone. 1. it clearances my harmonic balancer/crank pulley and two it mounts it more inline with my steering setup

just like in days of our lives the drama continues.... i chopped the hood with plans to lower it to stock height. i got a set of stock 2 door jk coils and probably the only tech in this thread is that they are exactly the same as tj coils down the the same height as stock springs. since i am lowering it the outboarded coil buckets on the axle side had to be moved in and the trackbar bracket cut off (its getting moved to the diff cover) two things i learned when i removed the coil buckets/trackbar bracket. the coil buckets were still 110 welded and i could hammer them off (i admit it they weren't safe and thats why i switched to 220. the coil buckets were the only thing left that was 110 on the jeep.) the trackbar was on there pretty damn good. it took me a ton of grinding/hammering/beating/prying to get it off. so all you haters the track bard bracket was on there pretty good. any ways the coil buckets are getting move in 2 1/2 inches on both sides. im hoping to have the front sitting on its own weight by the end of the weekend as i can unbolt the diff cover to do the trackbar. i need to get a stock pitman arm and most likely notch the passenger side frame to clear my drag link.

heres some more pics along with a photo chop of how the jeep will look stock height. and how bad my 110 booger welds were

some more pics the stripped down the 14 bolt got my 1.5" spacers(the only real bling i have:flipoff2:) for the front axle to clear my caliper brackets and my fuel line hookup for the gas tank thanks to nalin400m. again thanks to him info you need is below. still waiting for my disk brake brackets in the rear and got the passenger side bucket 75% done except i ran out of welding wire.

just to make life a little easier for some people:

http://www.jegs.com/images/photos/700/799/799-632100.jpg
Russell #799-632050 (http://www.jegs.com/i/Russell/799/632050/10002/-1)

http://www.jegs.com/images/photos/700/799/799-610020.jpg
Russell #799-610020 (http://www.jegs.com/i/Russell/799/610020/10002/-1) you will need 2 of these

http://www.jegs.com/images/photos/700/799/799-640860_2.jpg
Russell #799-640860 (http://www.jegs.com/i/Russell/799/640860/10002/-1)

http://www.jegs.com/images/photos/700/799/799-640850.jpg
Russell #799-640850 (http://www.jegs.com/i/Russell/799/640850/10002/-1)

rest

well got the coil buckets relocated and threw the jk springs on and for now its a no go. for reference my front bumper was 36" with 4" springs with the jk springs it was 30" so for those of you looking to lower you jeep lol jk springs give you 2" drop. they are just to soft. so its back to the 4" springs til i can find 2.5" spring or stock tj springs or coilovers. i gotta admit it looked awesome but i had 0" of uptravel and no possible of getting more without major hacking full hydro etc etc.

Why are you having such issues with a 110 welder. I weld with one and never have shit fall apart, and I believe flatfender757 also did most of his with a 110. I welded up everything on my old cherokee with fluxcore 110 and never broke anything due to my welds.

Just wondering, not bashing you or anything.

-Andrew

27.5" to the frame 37.5" to the bottom of the door and 36" to the front bumper

also what does pbb say if i welded my tracbar bracket to my diff cover instead? would it be stronger? because that kills two birds with one stone. 1. it clearances my harmonic balancer/crank pulley and two it mounts it more inline with my steering setup

I think your main problem will be that it will be too short... under droop your axle will swing wildly to the driver's side. Longer track bar the better... preferably the same length as your drag link.

Definitely don't weld it to the cast centersection with a 110v welder though...

well got the coil buckets relocated and threw the jk springs on and for now its a no go. for reference my front bumper was 36" with 4" springs with the jk springs it was 30" so for those of you looking to lower you jeep lol jk springs give you 2" drop. they are just to soft. so its back to the 4" springs til i can find 2.5" spring or stock tj springs or coilovers. i gotta admit it looked awesome but i had 0" of uptravel and no possible of getting more without major hacking full hydro etc etc.

I think I've still got all my OEM TJ springs with 30k miles on them sitting out back of my parents' house... come to VB and they're yours.

You can also take a look at my Jeep, since we're in the club of like 5 people who have swapped Chevy 60s into TJs:homer:


I'll also show you how to weld :p


Had to say it:flipoff2:

But seriously my welding didn't really improve until recently when I just sat down in the garage for about 6 hours straight and just stuck a ton of shit together and ground it down and did it over and over practicing vertical welding and different patterns and stuff and playing with wire speed. It helped a lot and I can make my flux core welds look pretty damn good now.

But seriously PM me if you want to make a trip to VB, talk Jeep shit and grab some wings and beer:smokin:

Why are you having such issues with a 110 welder. I weld with one and never have shit fall apart, and I believe flatfender757 also did most of his with a 110. I welded up everything on my old cherokee with fluxcore 110 and never broke anything due to my welds.

Just wondering, not bashing you or anything.

-Andrew

I did all mine with 110, only thing on my rig that is 220v are the D-ring shackles on the bumper and the reciever hitch in the bumper. Mounts and everything else was me.

Bump, Is it done yet?

unfortunatly no. life is getting in the way. im trying to sell it cause the girlfriend needs one of those shiny sparkle tools she can use on her ring finger and i been helping my parents work on their property and boating lol. this is what i've gotten done this week. fuckin pita but looks good done

looks purty!

i know it appears that i have given up on this build but i havent. i sold my tires making an $1100 profit including what i paid for rims and mounting locally and bought an engagement ring. i feel it was the right choice and im very happy :D. the other good thing is that i know am allowed to dedicate paychecks to the jeep and live off the fiances cash for a bit to get this damn thing finished. a couple things have changed and i have some stuff i need to fix. list still includes swapping in 14 bolt. fixing front lower link brackets diff cover/track bar bracket combo. steering, brakes and a bunch of other little misc stuff. i decided im most likely going to go for a tire in the 37"-38" flavor to keep it street friendly. i will be going back and fixing this guys have suggested fixing and making safe enough for my now future wife. so i guess with a little twist this becomes the second "get that heep done before our wedding build" as she wants to drive it to the wedding and pictures yada yada:flipoff2: anyway shes happy im happy and within my next paycheck i will be back to work ordering stuff anf fabbing. the good news under no circumstances am i allowed to sell this (according to her) she cried last time she found out it was for sale and i cant break her heart:D anyways this jibber jabber is useless without at least a pic for you fawkers to oogle at

Congratulations! Nice to find a lady who insists on you keeping that heep. My GF hates my projects :smokin:

Ya, congrats, good find there. My wife refers to my jeep as "The Red Bitch". Good luck and get back to workin on it.

On a side note, back when I was in college still, I told my girlfriend I had a couple grand saved for a new car, well she responded saying "That'd be enough for an engagement ring." Well I never got a new car, she did, but I have been happily married for five years now. Back to you build thread...

Don't forget I didn't make my deadline... good luck fawker:flipoff2:

And don't for one second thing that your wife is awesome because she's encouraging you with the Jeep... mine did the same thing and I am reminded at least once every week or two that she allowed me to keep it so I need to buy her something for whatever reason:flipoff2:


:laughing:

FWIW I'd do it again though... my woman is pretty awesome :smokin:

I feel bad for the guys who have women that hate their rigs.I gotta love the fact that my women was more excited about my jeep being "done" then i was,or that when i rolled it over backwards she was laughing afterwards and said "that was the most fun i've ever had in a car accident"

just like i said everything was going to get started soon. well it did:smokin: i have less than $500 worth of parts i gotta get. i wasn't gonna post till everything was done but i've been trapped sick at home all day starring at the jeep.

well first off i figured if i was going to get it done quickly i needed to update some tools. got a new mini drill press for $70 from tractor supply which is ok but sure as hell beats drilling shit by hand and a new torch setup. which i don't know how i ever lived without. cutting shit out takes two seconds and i can cut anything thing i want. i decided to move the track bar bracket to the diff cover and built one all out of .25 plate there is a plate with two bolts going thru it that will be welded to a bracket attaching it to the housing to prevent the cover from flexing as much.

next i got my pitman arm drilled and track bar bent up from a local fab shop and got my entire steering setup finished and painted. i had to sleeve my drag link because i was an idiot and was a foot short on my order. its 1.5" .25 dom sleeved with 2" x.25 dom. it doesn't look great but its plenty strong.

next was the case of shaving the 14 bolt. i had an idea in my head mentioned earlier and i went with it. i didn't save as much ground clearance over all as i thought because i was nervous about the ring gear being to close. but if i went another .75 of an inch closer i would have save almost 2" just by the ring gear. on the sides i saved about 3-4". i reheated the house and did a single pass post heated a little then did a second ass followed by another post heat and a third pass on the inside followed by just letting it cool. no cracks and i got good penetration all the way around. doesnt look super pretty but there are no cracks anywhere. i did weld the tubes to the housing first for practice which helped. i used nr211 which is standard flux core wire. the truss will be welded to the housing itself since ive figured out that its not so bad to weld to cast iron.

next is the nice visits i've been getting from brown santa on almost a daily visit. i have all my brakes except the rear lines. which i gotta order from jegs. i got stainless steel front lines with the fittings for the jeep side to my dodge calipers. i also got all my fluids for the diffs trans t-case etc. a motor mount from a chevy s10 which will be used in my new cross member i'm going to build. and some rear bump stops. also got my rear yukon grizzly locker and my front anti-rock sway bar. i'm ordering a rear one in a week or two.

also i ordered some 8 bolts with pressed centers and rock rings and mag runflats on the stock h1 tires which should be in in the next week or two from trail worthy. also waiting on my 4140 35 spline stubs from mile high jeepers. figured they'd be fine since im running stock inners and only 37's. some other thing im waiting for is my led lights from super bright leds so i can make this thing road worthy.

final things i got done were the interior mostly back to gether the wiring i cut u by accident back together and the new battery in. the jeep fired right up which ut a huge:D on my face. more shit to come as im trying to have this thing on the road for thanksgiving.

moar

moar moar

moar moar moar

oh yea a vid of it running
YouTube - jeep start (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caA4BQXCTnc)





a cool lil project i've been working on in school
YouTube - single cylinder steam engine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWkoBTss0I8)

wat is that bar with the chain on it

wat is that bar with the chain on it

that would be my shifter

Please get a proper stand for those oxy/acet bottles. That is some scary shit right there. At least strap them to the wall or a bench or something. But that is asking for a disaster. :shaking:

If you ever need any help I am right in newton. Always looking for more people to wrench and wheel with.