My Jeep MJ, Waggy44 front, Toyota 8" rear, leafs up front, etc

[BrettM]

I get numerous questions about my truck between the Waggy D44 up front, the leafs up front, the rear spring over, the Toyota 8" out back... etc.

so I decided to start a thread with a bunch of pictures of my junk to link people to when they ask questions.

It's very much a work in progress, hydro-assist and crossover steering are in the works, 35" MTRs and 2.5" backspaced wheels are waiting at home in California, 14" 5100s should be coming before summer.... the list goes on....

[BrettM]

here's the front crossmember I built for the leafs, it's 4x4x1/4 angle iron accross the front, tied into the bumper bolts, swaybar mount bolts, and steering box bolts, I think it was 13 bolts in all. You'll also notice in later pictures it has been changed a little for different mounting points.

[BrettM]

I also did OBA with a stock Sanden compressor. Oiler and compressor here, air filter on the input not pictured

[BrettM]

here's the pressure switch and guage, the rear bumper I made as an airtank, about 2-3 gallons.

[BrettM]

gettin rid of the D30 and starting on front crossmember!

[BrettM]

i did most of all this with a ReadyWelder! worked great, but on a big project it was a pain to stop every once in a while to recharge the batteries. but hey, I've got a sweet trail welder now too!

this is a weld on the tranny crossmember I made

[BrettM]

got some 7 leaf Waggys from JCWhitney

[BrettM]

they came out perfect height or maybe a little on the low side, 6 or 7" lift, but since they might sag a little over time I'm looking for some 44044s. let me know if you got any, or if you want some brand new Waggys

[BrettM]

I made this bumper, it was really easy, it's just 4x4x1/4 angle for the main part

[BrettM]

i moved 2 batteries to the back in a "rocket box" from SurplusCenter. I did it for better weight distribution and easier fit of 2 batteries.

[BrettM]

threw a shaved Toyota 8" in the rear, matches the Waggy bolt patter up front. I reflared the brakelines with metric ends, got a driveshaft adapter from Jesse at High Angle Driveline, got u-bolts and plates off something at Pick n Pull, and haven't hooked up the e-brake.

[BrettM]

I raised the back side of the hood 3/4" for better cooling in the summer

[BrettM]

another

[BrettM]

YJ slipyoke is the only modification needed for rear driveshaft, also, the Toyota 8" pushed the slipyoke back into the case about an inch. YJ on the left, XJ on the right.

[BrettM]

ZJ pitman arm has about 1" more drop than XJ arm. This helped the steering issues a bit, but I have a flat-top knuckle sitting here waiting to go in with a steering arm for crossover steering

[BrettM]

4.88 D44 gears

[BrettM]

AW4 tranny swapped in to get rid of the POS Peugeot (even though it NEVER gave me any trouble)

[BrettM]

15x10, 6 lug, 2.5" backspaced, black steel wheels from 4wheelparts. need to mount the 35" MTRs up to em and put them on this summer when I get back to California. they were $55 each, $40 each for the 15x8.

[BrettM]

well, that's all for now. here's an overall picture of it, in the shop of course, that's all it's been doing all winter since I'm in Michigan with no wheeling and going to school. Ahh, California, Rubicon, Fordyce... just 2 months away...

[JS-Economos]

It's comming along nicely my man.

[jeep94xj]

Just to give you a comparison pic, 44044's on the front.

[JS-Economos]

Brett, did you cut out the stock front crossmember when you built a new one out of angle iron or did you just build over it?

[BrettM]

i cut the bottom of it off, about 1 inch, so that it was flat across between the frame

[mntbkrguy]

very nice work!
how did the lift on the hood work?
and are you planning to beef up the mount for the steering box?

[BrettM]

Originally posted by mntbkrguy
very nice work!
how did the lift on the hood work?
and are you planning to beef up the mount for the steering box?

the little hood lift works great, in the summer when I'm crawlin along I can see the heat coming out. I can also lift the hood up and not get that wave of heat that flies in your face normally. I use my electric fan less now too.

the steering box has 2 of the 3 bolts mounted through the bumper/crossmember bracket, so that helps a little. but I'm also doing hydro-assist, which takes a LOT of the force off the steering box.