The Great Eastern Trend Kill

[Deadman 94 xj]

Updates:

I made a bumper. Mmmm fancy lol



Then I put the cross member together the way I wanted it and mounted the leaf springs to get an idea of where everything is going to sit.





Sitting the way it was, I was at 10* positive caster. I'd like to get that number a little lower and I think I did but I have to put the springs back on.



Next I started boxing in the front frame horns.





This one kinda shows the length of the outside plate:



Bumper/cross member welded:




Next are the sliders. I took out a little bit of the frame to correct the caster issue and to keep it low. Welding these was a royal PITA. Its one thing to weld on on a bench or nice flate surface but its quite another twisting and trying to get the gun up under stuff and welding upside down. This is definitly where more experience is nice. But it did turn out good in the end.






Next is getting the springs back on and start making the steering box mount.
Thanks for lookin!

[Deadman 94 xj]

Sooo, exactly how important is up travel?





I knew I was going to run into a compromise here but I was kinda hoping to keep the highsteer setup.

I have couple of options:
1. Run the tie rod down in the stock location.

2. Flip the tie rod to the bottom of the high steer arms and weld in a tappered insert. I'd gain about 2" of up travel but I'd have to clearance the diff cover.

3. Raise the jeep a little with different springs, which goes against my plans.

I don't want to knotch the frame and I'm not sure about bends in the steering.

[gtxracer]

I vote notch.

If you really don't want to, flip the tie rod and clearance the diff cover.

[Deadman 94 xj]

Originally Posted by gtxracer

I vote notch.

If you really don't want to, flip the tie rod and clearance the diff cover.

I'm not dead set against notching it, I'd just really have to do my homework there. I can get a half inch out of that plate I added before I get into the meat of the frame. Still, its not a lot to work with.

Maybe I'll wait and get an idea of how much difference another two inches is going to play into things. I'm burnt out tonight.

[gtxracer]

If you want to save work but sacrifice a little steering clearance just do the flip you mentioned on the tie rod.

Otherwise do it right and notch the frame and I think you'll be much happier in the end. You can use some 3-4" OD tube, 2.5" wide (because that's frame width), cut it in half, and use that as your plating underneath after you cut it out of the frame. Or you can use some bent plate, it's up to you.

For the top of frame just use some 1/4" wall box or something similar and cap both ends. It would help to plate the frame on each side after too.

Or just cut that shit off and put in some toob

Good work

[Deadman 94 xj]

Originally Posted by gtxracer

Or just cut that shit off and put in some toob

Stupid frames

I see what you're saying, thanks. I'll play around with it a bit after work and see. I like a couple of your ideas and I guess I can reinforce any potential weak links from above with more plate or tube tie-ins.

[gtxracer]

Originally Posted by Deadman 94 xj

Stupid frames

I see what you're saying, thanks. I'll play around with it a bit after work and see. I like a couple of your ideas and I guess I can reinforce any potential weak links from above with more plate or tube tie-ins.

Good plan. Let me know if you need any help. There's a few guys that have done the same thing - I think a couple of the builds in the Ultimate Wrangler thread have notched frames.

[Deadman 94 xj]

Update:

I'll save the "I've been too busy routine" and just say I've been too busy..to get alot done. I did finally decide to notch the frame after experimenting with some offset TRE's that didn't work out.

After doing a bit of research I decided to notch the frame this way. There are probably a few dozen different ways I could have gone about this but in the end, this is what made the most sense to me. Put back what you take away... I'll let the pics say the rest.

These are just little button head bumps there for my amusement, nothing more. Two on this side, one for the draglink and one for the tierod, lol







You can probably tell I wasn't shy with how much I removed. The steering shifts as it cycles as it is, then add spring compression shift, and steering while compressed, yada yada yada, I didn't want anything to bind so I widened it a bit.






That's it for now. I still need to box it all in and then move on from this part of the project.

I got my novak adapter today!



Thanks for lookin.

[gtxracer]

That's good job man!

[mk2rocco]

Looks great! I'm in the same exact situation right now, may have to do the same.

[justin'sbig7]

i like the way you did that. nice execution

[Deadman 94 xj]

Thanks guys.

Mk2rocco, let me know if I can help if you decide to go this route. There were a few things I learned along the way.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[mwstudt]

Have you installed your 2+ perches yet? I have been looking into getting these but haven't seen anyone with them yet. What are your thoughts about them?

[Deadman 94 xj]

Originally Posted by mwstudt

Have you installed your 2+ perches yet? I have been looking into getting these but haven't seen anyone with them yet. What are your thoughts about them?

I haven't installed them yet but looking at them, I don't see a down side. They're just an offset spring perch. I've read comments saying that they'll help reduce spring wrap but I can't verify that first hand. A tractionbar should be used no matter what though, IMO.

The reason I'm using them is because my rear slider boxes are going to be stationary back there and they're going to stick out a bit. Unlike a shackle that will move in and out. So with these offset perches, I'll gain some of the departure angle back that I'm losing.

...and get a bit of rear stretch while I'm at it but that's secondary.

[mwstudt]

Originally Posted by Deadman 94 xj

I haven't installed them yet but looking at them, I don't see a down side. They're just an offset spring perch. I've read comments saying that they'll help reduce spring wrap but I can't verify that first hand. A tractionbar should be used no matter what though, IMO.

The reason I'm using them is because my rear slider boxes are going to be stationary back there and they're going to stick out a bit. Unlike a shackle that will move in and out. So with these offset perches, I'll gain some of the departure angle back that I'm losing.

...and get a bit of rear stretch while I'm at it but that's secondary.

I was looking at them for the same reason. I'm wanting a couple inches of strech without having to redo a lot on my Jeep. Thanks

[Deadman 94 xj]

Well I finally made it in the garage today...to clean. But I figured I snap a few pics of where it sits. I bought a truck and that along with a few other things has been keeping me away. I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things now that my evenings are free.

I made my steering mount. Other than being a bit overkill I *think* it'll work out well. I spaced it away from the frame a bit to keep the pitman arm out of the leafspring:







I also finished boxing in the notches:



Next I need to figure out how I'm going to do the winch mount so I can burn that in and finish boxing stuff in. I can either space it to leave room underneath for winch bolts or send the bolts through the front crossmember. I think I'm going to flush mount it and run long bolts through the crossmember but I'm not sure if that's kosher. I'm leaning that way though.



I also sold off my 37" PBRS on H2 wheels for 39.5 Irocs on Trail ready beadlocks. Its not so much that 37's wouldn't have been fine but the PBRs measured kinda small. Plus I didn't feel like messing around with the inner air locks.



Its gonna be wide!



^ (Everything in this last pic is on backwards and reversed, lol. Do not use as a reference)


I've got a metric shit ton ot work to do still. Next is mounting the front tires, then getting the rear axle put in with the rear sliders, and theeeen I can start the belly up/ tranny - tcase instal.

[Deadman 94 xj]

Update:

Made my first milestone in getting the front of the jeep sitting on it's own weight. Yay!
I had a bit of caliper grinding to get the 15" wheels to fit. They're 4.5" backspacing.

74" to top of windshield.



80" wide, outside of tire.



Not bad on the approach angle.



21" to the bottom of the frame:



Front bumper:



It's stitting at 3.75" of uptravel right now, but that will change a bit once the rear is setup. I'm pretty happy with where everything is at the moment.

I need to start looking into a progressive bumpstop. If anyone has any idea's feel free to chime in, thanks.

[Turbos10]

Nice work so far. Subscribed.

[jackb1]

Looking good man. Kept it pretty low too.

[Deadman 94 xj]

Originally Posted by jackb1

Looking good man. Kept it pretty low too.

Thanks. I'm going to have to stop by and measure your 5' for curiosities sake. I forgot to take premeasurments on this before I tore it all apart

I don't think this thing is low by "low rig" standards but its sitting nice I think.

[jackb1]

I can measure it for you anytime. I'll try to be out this weekend. I swear.

[Deadman 94 xj]

I got the T150 and D20 removed:



This is nice.



Then started on the np435. So far this has been the most enjoyable part of the build. I used the NOVAK adapter because its a little shorter than the AA kit and I'm happy with it.

I used a 2x4 with a notch cut into it to remove the shifter. It didn't take too much to get it out of there.





Top cover removed. I don't know what exactly to inspect here but from what i could tell everything seemed to be in good shape.









I then started to install the adapter so I could get the case ready for mock up.

[Deadman 94 xj]

When installing the adapter, there is a bolt supplied with the kit that needs to be shortened because it runs into the reverse gear:







Now with the tranny still empty, I began mock up so I could get the belly nice and flat. I purchased MORE motor mounts from a friend that were repositioned to allow the rear of the engine to sit up higher. I still need to put a nut on the bolts.





Then I started the tranny install:





It's going to be fun getting the D300 up in there. The tranny top cover is going to sit high, up into the tub, but this is ok with me because it'll allow me to shorten the shifter a lot which will shorten it's throw.

I also got my cables from McMastercar in the mail so I can start figuring out how I'm going to mount them.

[Sundowners]

Looks good! Did you happen to bolt up the flat skid yet? Just curious how much modifying needs to be done.

B

[Deadman 94 xj]

Originally Posted by Sundowners

Looks good! Did you happen to bolt up the flat skid yet? Just curious how much modifying needs to be done.

B

Not yet. But the sub frame (that you built) hangs down an inch so taking that into consideration I *shouldn't* have too much trouble. As it sits the lowest part of the sits about 3/8" below the frame rails.

I was able to use the tranny mount because the np435 sits almost flush with it when installed. I'm not sure I like it though because its kinda flimsy.

Other than that, I'm hoping it all just bolts up.