Project Evil Monkey

[BENNY87]

Looks nice, looks similar to my build.. Keep it going.

[BozoWise]

I started so early this am that I need the light to see what was going on. Lots of thanks have to go out to Tiffani. She was a major part in all the work that got done today. We got both frame sides notched and plated. I cut the notch and welded in ¼” backing plates on the inside of the frame rail and used the same box tubing from the front and rear bumpers to make a C notch so the air shocks can be mounted inwards and rearwards at about 10 degrees both directions.

We installed two more corner bars on the rear of the cage and cut holes in the upper wheel wells for the top mounts to protrude into the well. The top of the shock is right in the upper pocket with just enough clearance to get the Nitrogen chuck on the shocks. I got both lower mounts installed on the axle and the gusset for the lower control arm mounts will tie into both the CA mounts and the air shock mounts.

We got all the bumpstops mocked up and I've got them installed as far out on the axle as possible. The length is perfect to keep the shocks from bottoming out under full compression.

[BozoWise]

Everything is going to stay tacked until final teardown.

[blk87K5]

2.5" shocks?

If so, lets hear how they work. Definately easier than keeping coils.

[BozoWise]

Originally Posted by blk87K5

2.5" shocks?

If so, lets hear how they work. Definately easier than keeping coils.

Fox 2.0.... they were the right price. Under $100.00 each

[jpfrk2001]

Originally Posted by BozoWise

Fox 2.0.... they were the right price. Under $100.00 each

Where you find that deal?! Im in the process of getting some emulsions for a good price. The exact same shocks! Please do tell

[offroadjunkie]

lol you know how the story goes he "found them" Very nice build i always enjoy all the picture you post up.

[BozoWise]

Originally Posted by jpfrk2001

Where you find that deal?! Im in the process of getting some emulsions for a good price. The exact same shocks! Please do tell

Originally Posted by offroadjunkie

lol you know how the story goes he "found them" Very nice build i always enjoy all the picture you post up.

The forsale forum here. Got the shocks and a brand new Poly Perf nitrogen fill kit and some misc goodies for $750.00

[itchy]

Very cool build. You have the coolest girlfreind in the univerese. Women with power tools; that brings a tear to my eye. Builds like these give me motivation to shut the comuter off and go out to the garage.

[BozoWise]

Got the three link mocked up in the front less the panhard bar. Fixed lowers and adjustable upper; I’ve got adjustment to go from about 40-100% anti-dive. I cut down the upper mount as much as possible to gain some uptravel before hitting the radiator. I still have a bit over 6” of separation between the upper and lower. I will add some gussets to the mounts since this is about the min separation I would be willing to run with 40” tires.

Tomorrow I am going to start the design work on Bendtech for the front air shock hoops, engine cross bar, and the rear suck-down winch mounting brackets.

Stuck a mild stinger on the front to protect the rope and fairlead just for kicks and notched it to mount on the 90deg leading edge of the bumper which turned out to be more work then I thought to eyeball. Next time I will stick it in Bendtech and print a template, that program has made me lazy.

[cjcustomx]

Originally Posted by BozoWise

Put some trailer LEDs in the factory body locations, stuck some reverse lights on the back and added the LED third brake light to the rim which to date has been the most noticed thing on the Jeep and makes me shake my head every time someone comments.

Picked up an explorer 8.8 and installed lockrights and 4.56 front and rear. Still on the Dana 30 front axle.

Added interior winch controls, brown dog motor mounts and a JKS 1.25 body lift.

The high-lift has been mounted all over the Jeep at one point or another and there was time when the reverse a bars went from frame mount to body mount to rocker mount getting cut up more each time, a Bestop tire carrier was used on the rear with the addition of the 35’s t and 4” springs. RE adjustable uppers and track bars etc. etc.

Where did you find a winch switch like that one if you dont mind me asking?

[BozoWise]

Originally Posted by cjcustomx

Where did you find a winch switch like that one if you dont mind me asking?

http://www.12voltguy.com/web/

[mjw4669]

This thing looks awesome! keep the pics comin

[BozoWise]

Originally Posted by mjw4669

This thing looks awesome! keep the pics comin

Thanks, here are some more. If you want more specific pictures on any part of the project just ask. I have tons of detailed photos of this build. I just do not want 30 pages of pictures that people do not care about.

The middle and lower mounting points on the upper arm just clear the starter. If I was going to use the upper position I would have to remove the starter to install the bolt. I think that the upper position would have too much anti dive anyways so I will start with the middle position for now.

When I remove the brackets for final welding I will have to drill the frame to clear the bolt ends as they hit the frame. That or I will cut the bolts down until they just kiss the frame. There is enough room to have the threads just protrude through the nut so the strength would still remain the same. I just do not want to get shorter bolts as the current ones have the shoulders touching both sides of the mounts so there is no load on the threads.

[mrdiameter™]

yer ujoint's growing fuzzies.
Kill it.

[BozoWise]

Originally Posted by mrdiameter™

yer ujoint's growing fuzzies.
Kill it.

I was waiting for the shroomies to start growing. I think they come shortly after the fuzzies.

I'm killing the entire shaft No more 1310 joints.

[BozoWise]

I had some much appreciated help again last night as we attempted to mock up the front shock hoops. I had to bend 4 pieces and then sleeve the inside and weld them together to get the bend radius as sharp as I wanted it.

Took a few tries on figuring out how we wanted the mounts but overall I am super happy with it. They are set at 12deg back and 12deg in with the lower mounts gusseting between the tube and the inner C.

I figured I would roll the 39.5” Iroks up there just for a teaser photo. I'm waiting on the new centers so I can mock up some different backspacing options and keep the tires under the rig as much as possible while still allowing the low ride height and full flex. I do not think cutting the hood anymore is going to gain much clearance with as much front stretch as I have because the grill appears like it might come into contact with the tire before the hood at full lock.

The 1/2" large eye bolts really make it easy for mockup because I can hand tighten the bolts and remove them without a wrench as I mock up the air shocks.

[Nomercy]

[QUOTE=BozoWise;8806261]I had some much appreciated help again last night...
[QUOTE]


...Lucky Bastard!

[51 Jeep Willys]

[QUOTE=Nomercy;8811197][QUOTE=BozoWise;8806261]I had some much appreciated help again last night...

...Lucky Bastard!

thats what i was thinking

[davidt]

I see your van all over town and I have always wonder what you do. I live on the south end of town and if you ever need an extra set of hands give me a holler. I get bored not having a project

[BozoWise]

My centers came in from MRW while I was gone so I quickly got on the phone and borrowed my buddy’s plasma and cut out the old centers. The centers drop in well and fully seated they give about 3.25” backspacing. Just about what I had wanted so they turned out being an easy project. There was no need to make a jig to set the backspacing I wanted with the pressed centers. I just took a flap wheel to the inside of the rims and cleaned them down to shiny metal before welding.

I had picked up a new 220volt 210 Ironman welder before I had left and it made short work of the centers. And a few hours with the flap wheel on the cuts cleaned everything up nicely.

Broke out some degreaser and the power washer and cleaned everything up in preparation for paint. Then setup the redneck paint booth and shot all the rims with the same flat black I used on the cage (it looks shiny in the pictures because it is not dry). After looking at them all black I figured I needed some accent color on the Jeep and decided I’ll be using John Deere green for that so I taped up the centers and gave them a nice shot of color. I figure I’ll do the diff covers and the link arms the same also. Goes along with the fact that my grandfather owned a JD dealership when I was growing up and since I’m color blind it looks good to me. Amazingly enough the wind stayed calm and the painting went down without a hitch.

I took a sawzaw with a 10tpi blade and removed most of the run flat portion of the bead lock inserts. A bit of time with a 40 grit flap disk on a 7” grinder smoothed them out nicely. I am unsure why everyone seems to thing it is such a pain to remove these, it was a bit timely but not really that bad. I’m glad I did it for now as it saved me from spending the cash on the PVC inserts.

I dropped in 4,000 airsoft BB’s into each of the tires and we’ll see if that helps at all with the balancing since I still want to be able to go to Sonic and run a few errands in the Jeep from time to time.

Calling it good for the night but I’ve only got 2 of the tires complete and mounted. I did coat the O rings with RTV so hopefully tom when I put air in them they will hold. I would hate to have to break these things apart on a regular basis.

On tap for tom is mounting the other tires and checking for clearance on the rear with them installed and everything flexed out. If it all looks good I’ll be pulling the rear apart and finish welding and painting that part by the weekend.

[BozoWise]

Last night I aired up the tires and checked all the clearances on the rear and everything looks up to par. We pulled the rear axle and all the links and I fully welded everything on the axle and added the stiffening plates to the lower mounts. The 5.38 gears are in route from PORC and should go in next week.

Tiffani is taking a liking to the new welder and her welds are really showing some great improvement. Hopefully she’ll keep up the practice and in the near future I can sit and drink beer while she welds everything up. She also knocked out the disassembly of the link arms so I can fully weld all those tonight and get them and the axle ready for final paint shortly. I am very impressed as she has taken so quickly to welding and the welds are turning out much better then I did with the same amount of experience.

[Dookey]

I'm glad you started a build thread here. Now I never have to go back to JF!!

[bluedragon436]

You got yourself a very nice setup, and it is getting better and better with every upgrade you do to it... You also have yourself a very nice assistant there. My wife has said she would help me build my rig when I start on it, but I don't think it will be anything like yours!! Def. a keeper!!! LOL!! I think she has earned the right for any body damage it incurs while she is driving it when you take it out again!!!

[peccavi18]

really like this build, the green rims look sweet and I am Jealous as hell of your girl. mine will barely ride in my Jeep let alone wrench on it.