The Tin Can

[JM93LiftedYJ]

Originally Posted by z1u2k3i

awesome thread! makes me wish I still had mine

Yea, I'm loving this thing. I enjoy removing the transmission, carrying around an axle housing, and holding the t/c in one hand all by myself. My friend had to piece together his drivetrain with a backhoe.

Originally Posted by gssfc

Dude, I love pics, but your camera SUCKS! I spend more time trying to figure out what I'm looking at!

Good progress though.

Tim

While waiting for my flywheel machined there was a pawn shop next door. They guy had a camera there for $20. But it was battery powered. If it were rechargeable I would have bought. Just that gun parts and Zuk parts are higher priority for now. My free phone is the only camera I have.

Originally Posted by Hvy_Chevy

if your frame plate is a bit narrower than the frame, it'll be easier to weld. you'll be welding the edge to a flat, not to a corner - and the top will be a whole lot easier as well

Well...how important is it to weld the top? I can't see myself accessing it easy enough. I wasn't even going to bother with the inside of the passenger side. With all the fuel and brake lines, I'd have to replace everything. I was just going to do outside and bottom.

I'm a hurting unit today. I have a decent cut on my right hand. My finger tips are extremely sore. I don't know what that's about. Just going to take it easy today. Kick back at the house with the dog.

[z1u2k3i]

Originally Posted by JM93LiftedYJ

While waiting for my flywheel machined there was a pawn shop next door. They guy had a camera there for $20. But it was battery powered. If it were rechargeable I would have bought. Just that gun parts and Zuk parts are higher priority for now. My free phone is the only camera I have.

why not just go buy rechargeable aa batteries? thats what i do with my xbox controllers and my camera

[Hvy_Chevy]

I wouldn't plate the bottom, or the side for that matter.
I'd make diamond shapes just for where the tubes join the frame.

Course, I'd probably run the tubes straight rather than with a bend - but that's me and it's not my rig.

[JM93LiftedYJ]

Eh, I already have the plates cut.

I'm not certain on the bends either. I thought about it today and still don't know. I just wanted to keep my sliders nice and high for clearance. Its only tacked in. I think I need someone to go to the garage with me and brainstorm a bit.

[JesseA]

Originally Posted by JM93LiftedYJ

Well...how important is it to weld the top?

Important enough. welding big plates on like that is pretty unnessicary at this weight unless youre savagely beating on it.

Cut some 3x3 squares out of that 3/16 and weld them on so that they look like diamonds on the framerails.

FWIW, my cage is based off my rocker bars, and they are bolted to the front body mounts, and the rear main spring hangar boxes. Never been an issue. Four 3/8ths grade 8 bolts per side.

The thread that Hvy_Chevy referenced is a good one. Being the lazy bastard that I am, I just clean the roughness from the dies with a flap wheel and radius the edges of the die so it doesnt shave the pipe. Ive made shoes instead of using the rollers because they dent the pipe.
Bigger pipe like 1 1/4 (1.66 od) and 1 1/2 (1.9 OD) fit the dies much better than the 7/8s pipe that was discussed in that thread. Im assuming that was 3/4 pipe.

[JM93LiftedYJ]

Wow, so I went a little overboard on the plats then huh? Oh well, I rather have too much than too little. Like I said, this was my first attempt at rockers. I tend to over complicate, well, everything that I do. Perhaps I should just skip the bends, use straight pipe. Or even, cut the outside edge at 45º notch it, and run my slider from there.

I've got a week or so to think about it. No idea what to do. hrm

[Hvy_Chevy]

read a lot
keep it simple

[JM93LiftedYJ]

Two things I suck and fail at doing. haha. I'll do a few searches tonight.

What should I search for? What's the technical term? Sliders?

[Hvy_Chevy]

rockers, sliders, cage

or just read a bunch of build threads and get ideas from those

[JesseA]

Originally Posted by JM93LiftedYJ

Wow, so I went a little overboard on the plats then huh? Oh well, I rather have too much than too little. Like I said, this was my first attempt at rockers. I tend to over complicate, well, everything that I do. Perhaps I should just skip the bends, use straight pipe. Or even, cut the outside edge at 45º notch it, and run my slider from there.

I've got a week or so to think about it. No idea what to do. hrm

Its not a problem with going overkill until overkill boxes you out from welding stuff on sufficently. Suddenly overkill is just extra heavy. Im not trying to be an ass

Straight bars from your frame to the sliders would probably be just fine.
Hvy-chevy did some nice square tube sliders that worked nice.

chopsaw notching. use a similar method with a grinder and a cutoff wheel. If you find a crappy table saw you could use that too if you are brave.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...opsaw+notching

i could swear that there was a better one that had more pictures, but i cant find it for the life of me.
the General Metal Fabrication thread is very helpful.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...p+saw+notching

[JM93LiftedYJ]

I may just do the straight tubes. I've seen a few pictures and I think that will be easier. I do want to have some sort of angle to them. I want to bring the bottom of the slider as close to the bottom of the door as I can. Just want to keep stuff as high off the ground as I can.

As for notching, I put a hole saw in my drill press. I don't have the perfect size hole saw, but what I have works fine. The notches came out pretty good. I was happy with them.

[JM93LiftedYJ]

Spent a couple hours in the garage tonight. I left the slider the way I had it. The other side I'm going to use fish plates to the frame for each "arm" that attaches the slider to the frame. What I had here was a pain in the ass to weld as one large piece.

The frame sucked to weld to as well. Glad I didn't go with 1/4". Finding the medium to melt the 3/16" to the what seems 1/16" frame sucked so bad. It was either burn a hole through the frame or not penetrate the 3/16". I ended up welding about 1/2" at a time. Let it cool for a second, then another 1/2". Learned a few things too. One is, don't weld right about your ankles with fairly loose boots. ouch. And when laying on your side cover your ear when welding upside down. Another ouch.

Tomorrow I'll try to get a few pics. Need to start on the other side. My friend also suggested that I replace my fuel lines too while I have this thing pulled apart. Going to be a tad nervous welding that side with the fuel lines there.

Got all the pipe I need too to finish off the cage too.

So yea, making progress here and there. Won't be long until I can drive it around. Can't wait to wheel this year will all the stuff I've done to the Zuk!

[supazuk94]

Originally Posted by JM93LiftedYJ

Yea, I'm loving this thing. I enjoy removing the transmission, carrying around an axle housing, and holding the t/c in one hand all by myself. My friend had to piece together his drivetrain with a backhoe.

I know its so light its awesome to work on one
Before the kicker3 and when i had a stock sami trans i had clutch swap down to 2 hours..

[JesseA]

Originally Posted by JM93LiftedYJ

The frame sucked to weld to as well. Glad I didn't go with 1/4". Finding the medium to melt the 3/16" to the what seems 1/16" frame sucked so bad. It was either burn a hole through the frame or not penetrate the 3/16". I ended up welding about 1/2" at a time. Let it cool for a second, then another 1/2". Learned a few things too. One is, don't weld right about your ankles with fairly loose boots. ouch. And when laying on your side cover your ear when welding upside down. Another ouch.

Try that when you are welding on thin stuff.

It works for me when Im stick welding on mine.

[stricnineracing]

This was my sons first "school vehicle" I went overboard and it ended up getting sold but here are some exo pics. I put tabs on the front and rear bumpers and sliders so when we weren't crawling we would take the exo off to make it a little better on the street.

[JM93LiftedYJ]

Looks good. For right now, I think I'm just going to stick with the cab area. Start at the rear of the slider, over the roof, to the other slider. Then over the door frame and sandwich 3/16's to the top and bottom of the cowl to end the cage there. Then along the top and bottom of the winshield and one down the middle. I'll try to draw up a quick pic.

[JM93LiftedYJ]

Something like that. I was going to do a bar down the middle of the windshield, but MSPaint made it look dumb.

Still not sure if I will do the section that connects the piece from the bottom of the windshield to the front of the slider. If I do, I'll havet o reroute my intake. Probably do something through the firewall or something.

[stricnineracing]

Anything is better than nothing, we tested that cage several times and it was still straight when we sold it. It actually had too much flex so I ended up tacking the missing links together. If I remember right you could lift any tire 34" without the others coming up.

[stricnineracing]

That will keep the top from caving in. I would put the bar across the cowl I didn't on the cherokee and it still had some give up in the front, put in that bar and it wont budge now.

[JM93LiftedYJ]

Across the cowl for sure. But from top to bottom of the center of the windshield I'm not sure is necessary.

[stricnineracing]

I have never put one vertical in the center of the windshield but alot of the builder/fabricators do. I'm sure it makes it stronger but that bar would drive me insane. I would probably add it in a comp rig but not on "my" trail rig.

[NHJeep4x4]

Originally Posted by JM93LiftedYJ

I know one person by the name of Ben in town. Not sure if its you or not.

Yeah, it's me. Black XJ, red Cummins, goes by the name "Ben."

[JM93LiftedYJ]

haha, no shit. we're going to have to do some wheeling together.

[NHJeep4x4]

Sounds good. I only saw you on the trails once last year, and I was just passing through. - That time your buddy lost his exhaust in a big pit, haha.

[JM93LiftedYJ]

Originally Posted by NHJeep4x4

Sounds good. I only saw you on the trails once last year, and I was just passing through. - That time your buddy lost his exhaust in a big pit, haha.

haha, that's right. he found it too! haha

that's why I had no low gear and no clutch left. hoping this year I'm a little better prepared.