XJ Stretch -->111"

[RockcontrolXJ]

So the shitbox started gettin a little tippy with 37's and somewhere around 7" of lift i decided to bring it down a little.



I also wasn't happy with the Rockcontrol bellyskid and radius arm brackets that hung 4" below the framerails. Even with a smooth belly i got hung up on everything. I was never very happy with my rock sliders either. They survived some brutal beating but they were at least an inch below the stock rocker. The truck rolled into the driveway with these goals:

Lower
Wider
Better departure
Better breakover
Dual cases
Higher rockers

Heres what's happened

I started out cuttin the rear



Then moved the spring mounts back 10" and up about 3"





And slung the rear axle back in

[RockcontrolXJ]

This brought the truck down 3.5" in the rear but my cut wasn't going to be enough. Out came the sawzall and some tube





Time to tub it

Ghetto brake


And because i suck with sheetmetal i kept it all simple





The huge hole in the floor is for the gas tank.



Aside from finish welding the rear is all laid out.

[RockcontrolXJ]

Along the way i chopped the rockers





some simple tube sliders



Up to 25" under the doors

[freerider15]

Holy shit I think you just did exactly what in my not-so-far-future plans. Looks great! I'de like to see some finished up pics at some point.

[RockcontrolXJ]

Now with the new ride height my belly clearance really sucked. Only 17" under the skid and the radius arms were almost parallel with the ground.

Out with the old



Started on a new crossmember





This moved the trans mount up 2.75". The crawer box barely cleared the floor, so i pushed the tunnel up with a floor jack so i had 1/2" clearance.



Then the floor got cut to clear the second case clocked up flat.



From underneath



And then the whole drivetrain was mocked up



I stripped the guts out of a 231 i had on the floor for the mockup. Glad i did cause i had that damn case in and out 6 times today.

Heres the rest of the crossmember i came up with. Hopefully i can pick up the 1/4 steel this week to skin the whole thing.



This is with the whole drivetrain installed......21" at the bottom of the plate.



The new radius arms will mount to the front of the trans crossmember and will transition straight into the skid. I'll post pics later this week when i get the front axle slung under and suspended.

[tweba99]

Really nice work on the rear stretch.

[SWAG MFG]

I dig it

[squirriljeep]

Why didn't you just flip the springs in the rear?

[84rocktoy]

Are you going to strenghten the frame? Ever had any problems with it?

[RockcontrolXJ]

Why didn't you just flip the springs in the rear?

I still would have had the shitty factory shackle angle, the truck wouldn't be as low, and i wanted more than 5" of stretch.

Are you going to strenghten the frame? Ever had any problems with it?

I boxed the "framerails" under the doors a long time ago but my unibody is still twisted like a pretzel. Doors don't close quite right, quarter panels are buckled out. When i tubbed the rear i pulled the quarter panels back in so the hatch closes better now but i should have tied it together with a cage long before i started beatin it.

[ashmanjeepXJ]

Originally Posted by RockcontrolXJ

This is with the whole drivetrain installed......21" at the bottom of the plate.

Are gonna keep the 37s or go bigger?

[sceep]

VERY nice work.

you shouldah just dovetailed and cheromanchee'd it while you were at it.

[Brian1]

That is turning out killer! Keep up the pics.

[andyr354]

Whats holding the tube rocker in place? Is it just welded to the sheetmetal or anchored in to something else?

Looks nice so far. Maybe fill in the area between the door and rear fender tube with some sheet metal.

[Nordic1]

Nice setup

[baseballneal86]

Lookin great so far. Couple questions for ya...

1: What kind of shifter setup are you planning for the 231/231 combo?

2: Is your drivers seat still gonna fit with that much sheet metal covering your tunnel now?

3: What axles are you running? I think I see a HP44 up front, and maybe an 8.8 rear?

Anyway, looks . Gives me a lot of inspiration and new ideas for my own XJ.

[RockcontrolXJ]

Lookin great so far. Couple questions for ya...

1: What kind of shifter setup are you planning for the 231/231 combo?

2: Is your drivers seat still gonna fit with that much sheet metal covering your tunnel now?

3: What axles are you running? I think I see a HP44 up front, and maybe an 8.8 rear?

1. I'm gonna have to figure out shifters once the seat and console go back in. I'd like for them to both come through the original shifter hole, but i don't have enough clearance under the floor to run that. I'll post pics when i get the shifters figured out.

2. The driver's seat mounts got cut out to clear the second case. I'm planning to run the factory seat (i like my power accesories), i'll just have to build new brackets.

3. The Axles are a HP 44 and an 8.8 with 5.13's. The 8.8 has a mini spool in it right now, but i'm not sure if i'm gonna keep it. I should probably just order the c-clip eliminator and a full spool. I want to ARB the front but I have to get the truck a little closer to completion before i know if it will fit in the budget. I'll post some axle buildup pics in a little bit.

Are gonna keep the 37s or go bigger?

Keepin the 37's, don't know if i'll ever go bigger with this truck. My final goal with this one is to have a decently capable trail rig i can comfortably drive (read quiet) 75+ on the freeway with the A/c blastin.

[RockcontrolXJ]

The axles

A friend of mine was parting out a '78 F150 Ext cab (leaf sprung with 5 lug outers) so i picked up the front axle.

I started cleaning up the 44 and cut the knuckles


Rocked the c's back 7* with a BFH



Welded 'em back up



While i had the welder out, i burned the tube into the housing too



8.8's are notorious for spinning tubes so i welded it up too, and ground the lip off the bottom edge



Off to get gears



My old shop partner still had some left over lower mounts from his last run of longarm kits. Picked these up for free, thanks Ty...





Now all thats left to do is everything........

[AZFJ]

Originally Posted by RockcontrolXJ

I still would have had the shitty factory shackle angle, the truck wouldn't be as low, and i wanted more than 5" of stretch.

Pretty cool..but alot of work for 2 more inches!


Flipped rear springs...shackle hanger relocated...4.5" springs..37" tires

[Starboard M]

Is that a full width 8.8?

Are you going to doing another radius arm or something else? How are you going to do the upper drivers side mount? Are you coil buckets the same width as stock even with the leaf sprung 44?

[Nordic1]

Originally Posted by RockcontrolXJ

Now all thats left to do is everything........

Do you or ty have any of these spring mounts left?

[RockcontrolXJ]

Pretty cool..but alot of work for 2 more inches!


Flipped rear springs...shackle hanger relocated...4.5" springs..37" tires

I have seen your rig before, i like it and i got a lot of good ideas from it. The reason i went so crazy on the rear is so i could get my shit lower more than just longer. Just guessing from the pics but i think mine will be 2" maybe 3" lower than yours.

Is that a full width 8.8?

Are you going to doing another radius arm or something else? How are you going to do the upper drivers side mount? Are you coil buckets the same width as stock even with the leaf sprung 44?

Full width 8.8

I'm gonna try to build a 3 link in the front if i can figure out how to package it. However, I don't have a lot of room between my upper control arm mounts and the floor. If not i'll build another radius arm setup.

Coil buckets are the same width as stock.

Do you or ty have any of these spring mounts left?

Last ones....

[ohiozj]

i love the way your rear fender area looks and how it tied into the rockers. ...

got any more progress pics of the sliders? i want to cut my rockers out too and weld in the sliders i had in to that place.
you did a great job

[AprilzWarrior]

Would this be the same Ty, er RockControl that built a Stroker 4.6 and sold it as newish ?

The same motor I had to install all new Crank Shaft Main bearings because 3 of the 6 main caps were installed backwards !

Not even good enough for a flip off...


AW

[Norcaljr]

Originally Posted by AprilzWarrior

Would this be the same Ty, er RockControl that built a Stroker 4.6 and sold it as newish ?

The same motor I had to install all new Crank Shaft Main bearings because 3 of the 6 main caps were installed backwards !

Not even good enough for a flip off...


AW