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Build. The General Lee. YJ, tons, 40s, stretch, leaves.

87K views 478 replies 40 participants last post by  92 Green YJ 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey all. I was going to wait until I was a bit further along to start this build thread, but I’m getting to the point where I figure I’ll start forgetting what I’ve done so may as well start now.

The plans: updated 4/4/19 as my ambitions have grown.
YJ with an 18” body and frame stretch
One tons (Chevy 60 front, Ford 70 rear)
40” Bias Ply Trepadors
Atlas 4 speed
SOA with Rubicon Express SOA springs
Full Hydro steering
4.6L stroker
General Lee paint job to piss of the liberals

This will be a slow build. I am fully expecting this to take at least a year to complete. Between working 48 to 50 hours a week, my wife, my almost 4 year old daughter, and working on getting another bun in the oven I have been getting just a few hours a week to get any work done on this.

I have had this YJ since 2001. It was bought to replace my 1991 GMC Jimmy that was stolen my first week of college. As with most around here it has undergone quite a few changes over the years as I got more and more into wheeling so I’ll start with the evolution.

When I first got it. Bone stock.



Iirc this was some eBay 2” lift shackles front and rear and a ghey light bar that I’m not sure what I was thinking when I put it on.



Probably the biggest mistake I made, rough crappy 4” lift kit, 33” all terrains, some home made rock rails, etc



Stepped up to 35” procomp Xterrains



More or less how it currently sits. Swapped to Rubicon Express 4.5” extreme duty springs after having so many issues with the rough country junk over the years, Great Lakes Offroad diy beadlocks, still on 35s. A few armor upgrades over the years, tossed in an 8.8 with an ARB when I blew up the Dana 35, etc.







And the real motivation for doing this rebuild


 
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#31 ·
Ok, so getting time to start ordering some of the larger components for this build. Within the next week or so I am going to place the order for the Atlas 4 speed and the 40s.

So that said looking for a little input on these two buys.

1st the Atlas. I’m having a hard time deciding what ratio to go with. I’m keeping the factory 3 speed auto (though it is going in for a reduced and shift kit install. It’s the one piece on my Yj that’s never been touched and I figure if I’m gonna have it all apart I may as well) sticking with the 5.13s in the axles. I am now planning to drop in a stroker motor while I have this thing blown apart. So all that said, I do a lot of trail running and sand/rock trails. I spend most of my time out at Truckhaven and Ocotillo Wells but I do enjoy the slow technical crawling as well.

So what say the PBB on Atlas ratio choice?
My first thought was the deepest available. 2.72, 4.3, and 11.69 to 1. But the more I think about it, the more I feel like that 11:1 is just downright stupid and I will likely never use it other than to show off and be goofy. However this choice does have the broadest spread of gearing choices. Now I am leaning towards the 2.72, 3.8, 10.34 ratio spread. I know I want something close to a 4:1 for crawling. I am well used to the 2.72 range as that’s what I have now. So this spread makes the most sense to me as again it offers a pretty broad selection. Thoughts?


Second point: tires

Planning to go with Maxxis Trepadors. 40 x 17. I’ve always run radials but I like the look and the side outs on the bias ply treps. And no I am not taking out a second mortgage to go with the sticky treps so don’t even bring it up. How well do the radials hold up? Any sidewall weakness issues? Is the bias side biters worth the extra cost? Stronger sidewalks on the bias ply?

Don’t have much else for updates at the moment. Only thing I got done this weekend was installing some nutserts in a few places on the tub.
 
#32 ·
Great looking work so far dude.

Part of me wishes my daughter enjoyed wheeling with the old man enough to justify something like this but honestly the other part of me is kind of relieved she doesn't! It's all good though, we have plenty other things that we do together

Regarding the t-case - I've never seen the 4sp with 4.3 as the second low. Only 2.72 and 3.8. Unless it's an option buried somewhere on the AA site. But I think you're gonna be relegated to the 10.34:1 option.
 
#35 ·
Oh yeah. My daughter loves going wheeling with daddy.

This one was taken on her first wheeling trip when she was 2. The smile says it all.



And of course as she has gotten a little bigger I had to get her one she could drive herself.



And it appears the case I mentioned with that 4.3 and 11 something to 1 is for the JK only. Didn’t realize that at the time. Was looking at the options in their tech archive not the actual case builder.
 
#34 ·
They offer the 4.3:1 gear ratio in part number Atlas-4sp-jk. According to the site it is for 2007-2011 JK wranglers and is not available for regular 4spd cases.

However, drop Geno Burrell an email (geno@advanceadapters.com) or call him at 1(800)350-2223 x527 and see what he says. He is the salesman that helped me with my 4spd order last July (even got me a hell of a discount).

Joel.
 
#36 ·
So I did a thing.



Pretty damn impressed with 4Wheelparts on this one. Ordered the tires online yesterday around 4 pm. Did ship to my local store in El Cajon to save myself the $300 shipping fee. Got a call from a guy at the local store ten minutes after I placed the order. He tells me I am in luck and they have 4 of them in stock at the Compton warehouse and they will be at the store here by 10 am today. He then begs me to pick them up quickly because they don’t have the space to store them. So I got the call at 10:30 this morning that they were in and again the plea to pick them up today if at all possible. So I cut out of work a little early to get there a half hour before they close and we loaded them up. These things are big! Went with the bias ply.
More pics.













 
#38 ·
It works out pretty good for my general day to day stuff. I like having access from the benches. I also have a small harbor freight service cart so when I am working on a project I will load the cart with the tools and parts I need for the job at hand from the big boxes. Wheel that to what I am working on. Then when I am done out everything back in the big boxes. When I roll the YJ in for the tear down I will probably spin the boxes around though for easier access.
 
#40 ·
Back to work on the tub a little bit today.

So last time I was working on this I tried my hand at a little filler work. As I said I am no body man. Either it was too hot or I used too much hardener. At any rate, I was attempting to smooth out the vowel vent hole that I filled with a piece of plate and was less than happy with the results. So I took a flap disc and knocked a bunch of the filler out so I could try it again.


Started with this




I am using this lightweight filler I picked up from Amazon. This time I used less hardener .



I think I got it applied much better this time around. Now I am not going to bother with the body patches since they will be covered by the armor. But the cowel area will not be. Because of this I want to get it nice and smooth before I paint it. As it sits right now after applying a fresh coat of filler over the area.




Now I am going to let it harden and cure for a couple of hours before I spray a guide coat and attack it with these that I also sourced from amazon along with an assortment of sandpaper

 
#41 ·
Little more body work today. I am about at the point where I am ready to move the tub out of the garage and move the Jeep in for the tear down.

Looking like I am going to need some more filler work on the cowel still.





In preparation for moving the tub out of the garage I blasted all the bare steel with primer. I am going to wait on the undercoating and the Monstaliner for a while yet. Want to wait and see if I will have to do any more body modifications before I do that stuff and that won’t be until I go to drop the body on the frame.









Last thing I did today was go ahead and get the YJ off the trailer. I parked it in the yard for the moment as I am going to pressure wash the hell out of the undercarriage before I roll it into the garage. Also going to pull the roll cage before it goes in. It will fit with the cage installed but I won’t be able to remove it once it’s in there. Since I had it off the trailer I couldn’t resist a better tire size comparison next to my 35s







 
#42 ·
Well the parts train keeps on moving. Made an expensive phone call to Advance Adapters this morning and placed the order for my Atlas 4 speed. Went with the 2.72:1, 3.8:1, 10.34:1 gear ratio set up, passenger drop for the new Chevy 60, 1350 CV yokes front and rear, universal cable shifter set up, etc. estimated ship date is 5/16.

This week on my day off I am hoping to wrap up the tub for now (Atlas tech said I’ll probably have to cut the floor up a bit to flat clock the Atlas with the passenger drop but we shall see. Hoping with the addition of a body lift I won’t have to hack into it too bad) and get the tub out of the garage, get the roll cage out of the YJ and roll it into the garage for the tear down.
 
#44 ·
Thank you! Now if only he would sleep for more than 2 to 3 hours at a time:rolleyes:



In build news nothing major to report today as I was at work. However I did place an order with SWAG this morning for a set of the Bertha high clearance body mounts. I am going to order the stuff for the brake conversion on the 70 tomorrow morning I think then I’m gonna hold off on ordering more parts for a little bit. I don’t have a ton of room to stockpile stuff so I don’t want to go overboard just yet.


My next goal is to get the tub out of the garage then do 1 of 2 things. Either go ahead and get the axles stripped down, cleaned up, and semi built (obviously not welding the perches on yet) then pull the Jeep in for the tear down. Or tear down the Jeep first and then do the axles.

I’m thinking when I do the tear down I want to get down to the frame, but leave the current suspension and axles under it, maybe leave the engine in place so it’s kind of a roller still. Then I will do my frame chop and stretch as well as clean off any factory brackets I no longer need. After that I think would be a good time to mock in the new axles and suspension. Obviously it will be easiest to do all this stuff with the body off. Yes?
 
#45 ·
Well today was fairly productive for the morning. I put my ghetto fabulous hoist system to work again and removed the tub from the table. Dropped it to the floor, wrapped it up in a tarp and strapped it down to some movers dollies and got it the hell out of the garage. Despite a small hiccup of my daughter deciding to chase her ball right as I was maneuvering it down a small step and narrowly avoiding the tub falling on her (my leg took the brunt of it) I got it out of the way.





So for the first time probably since we bought the house I have a ton of open space in my garage.




So now I have the tub out of the way I have decided to focus on some of the smaller stuff before I roll the YJ in for the tear down. First thing I did was lay out all of my Motobilt goodies that need to be welded up.









So I am going to get all these welded up. The go ahead and finish stripping the axles down. Get all the old mounts and such off that I won’t be needing. Finish building them, finish the disc conversion on the 70, etc. I have all the brake parts on order from Summit as well as a set of Yukon flanges for the 60 which should come in Tuesday. Once this stuff is done it’s the YJs time of reckoning.
 
#53 ·
So for the first time probably since we bought the house I have a ton of open space in my garage.

Your idea and my idea of a "ton of space" is differnt. Lol. But I use to be "that guy" that worked out in the street, so I'll shut up.

All the new parts and your fab work is getting exciting.

Carry on.
 
#47 ·
So I started stripping down the 60 a little bit. Haven’t really messed with manual hubs before so it took me a minute to figure out how to blow apart the Warn hubs on it. What a dumb design on that outer snap ring thing!

I had asked my buddy if he remembered what the shafts were in it but he couldn’t remember. They are 35 spline outers that’s for sure. Based on what it takes to change one of these things I think I’m just gonna go for gold right off the bat and order some chromoly shafts and beefy joints for it. I wouldn’t want to have to go thru this much tear down to change a shaft on this thing on the trail.

That said, I am kind of known in my circle for being the guy who eats Dana 30 shafts for breakfast. I break them so often I carry 2 fully assembled spares per side and can usually swap one out in under 10 minutes. I don’t think I’ll be that guy anymore.




 
#48 ·
Nice build/upgrade! Its funny how I use to think D60 was massive stuff, now they just look normal. Definitely nice to not have to bring spare shafts with me anymore... Good luck with the rest of the build!
 
#49 ·
Parts train kept on rolling in today.

Swag Bertha high clearance body mounts





Yukon Drive Flanges for the 60





And about half of the parts I ordered for the rear disc conversion on the 70. Looks like the rotors and wheel studs shipped from Summit racing’s Ohio warehouse, so I won’t see those for a few days yet.

 
#50 ·
Well I came home and found I had the house to myself so I managed to sneak in an hour or so worth of work this afternoon. Nothing major obviously with the limited time I had.

Welded up some more Motobilt goodness. Feel like I may be over doing it by fully welding the joints on both sides of the shackle brackets, but what the hell








Then I laid down the first couple of coats of caliper paint on the rear disc calipers and brackets for the 70.

 
#55 ·
Got a couple of hours in the garage this morning. So I decided to start with assembling the short side chromoly shaft and Super Joint as so far I have only disassembled the short side of the 60.












Not too bad for my first time working with Dana 60 stuff. Had to use my shop press for assembly as my bench vice wasn’t big enough to press in the caps. Also discovered I had to remove the zerks from the cap ends to install the shaft thru the knuckle.
 
#56 ·
Then I switched gears for a little bit and got to work on fitting the 3/4 ton brake rotors to one of the Dana 70 hubs. I had read that either the rotor needs to be opened up, or the ridge on the back of the hub machined down. I decided to do the hub that way I can just use an off the shelf rotor at any time. Since I don’t have a lathe I did it the booty fab way with a grinder and a flap disc.










Then I jumped over to some more painting. Painted the machined wheel hub, one of the front brake calipers, and the front brake bracket and hub that I have removed. Also tossed a few coats of black on the knuckle.







Then started to reassemble the short side on the 60. Waiting for the paint to dry on the hub so I can go install the new bearings and seals, new brake rotor, press the studs back in, install the drive flange, etc.

 
#57 ·
Last update for today. Went ahead and assembled a brake rotor onto the painted 70 hub.





I appear to have misplaced one of the studs for the 70 so I need to root around the garage by the press to see if I can find it for the other side. I still have to machine the other hub down so the rotor will fit and then repaint it orange to match this one. I was originally gonna go black on the hubs but I decided with the black wheels it’s just too much. Saw another build on here where someone had painted the hubs a different color and I liked it. This should break up the black nicely.

I also went ahead and placed another order with ECGS for some chromoly shafts for the 70 just a few minutes ago. Go big or go home as they say. I’m hoping I can get the axles pretty much wrapped up for now next week then roll the YJ in for the long awaited tear down. (I feel like I’ve said this before)
 
#58 ·
So I went ahead and put the 60 hub assembly back together with a new rotor and new bearings and such.



However I hit a little snag. I can’t seem to get the hub seated back on the spindle all the way. I think I drove the seal in too far (it’s not flush with the lip of the hub but set in closer to the bearing.) so near as I can tell, because of this it somehow won’t bottom out on the spindle. And of course I don’t see any way to remove the seal or space it out where it needs to be without destroying it in the process. So I ordered another seal and I will try and seat it flush and see if that makes a difference. Does this sound like it’s my issue? The races are fully seated.
 
#61 ·
My issue is it won’t go on the spindle far enough to even thread the spindle nut on to the outer bearing. I took the other seal from the other kit and tried it by itself and it goes over the base of the spindle just fine, so I know it’s the right seal and size. It’s definitely getting hung up on something and the only thing I can see is the seal being seated too deeply in the hub. I have another seal on order so I’m just going to pop this one out and replace it.


Water horse, the whole Jeep will be orange when it’s done. General Lee theme and paint job. I am also planning to do the beadlock rings in orange. For the diff covers I have something kind of fun in mind. I saw an old school orange blazer on the freeway a few months back and he had painted his rear diff cover orange with a jack o lantern face on it. I thought it was super clever painting the pumpkin cover like a pumpkin. So I kinda want to steal his idea and do an evil looking jack o lantern on the diff covers.
 
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