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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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#204 ·
So today most of my time was spent working on the front end. I finished welding in the passenger side upper front shocks tower then turned my attention to the front axle and steering set up.

First I went ahead and burned in the drivers side spring perch. I needed that in place as well as the u-bolts before I could start messing with the Artec ram mount. I knew they designed this for the Chevy 60, but for people running links. So I knew I would have to make some modifications to accommodate installation and removal of the u-bolts. Once I had made the appropriate notches to clear them, I went ahead and mocked in the mount with the ram. With the mount as high as I could get it I was not happy with the clearance between the clevis bolt and the bottom of the spring. I had about a half an inch on each side.





As you can see, way too close for comfort. So I stared at it for a little bit and decided to compromise and tip the Artec mount down a bit to give me more room beneath the spring. I also went ahead and clearances the lower area of the mount. I used my plasma to cut the arc out a bit larger and smoothed it out with a flap disc. Much better. I know have an inch of clearance on each side.



With that taken care of I went ahead and started burning the mount to the axle. I overheated my welder twice during this process so I still have more welding to do on it. I have to finish the braces and the top side stuff. When I pull the axle out for paint I will flip it over and finish welding the bottom to the tubes.







I also realized I need to get some bolts or studs for the cast spring perch holes as I don’t have anything the correct size in house. I think they are a 5/8” coarse thread but I am not positive. And my thread checker only goes up to 1/2”. Hopefully tomorrow I can finish welding the ram mount up and actually mount up the ram and mock up my steering links.
 
#205 ·
Did a bit of searching on here and confirmed the holes in the 60 cast perch are indeed 5/8”. A little more google work found that WFO concepts sells stud kits with a single stud, a washer, and nut for $10 so I went ahead and ordered 3 of them. Factory has two holes, but the Ruffstuff top plate is already drilled and set up for 3. I’ve read a bit that people have had issues with just two bolts or studs working loose on these so I am going to go ahead and drill and tap the cast housing for the third stud just for extra strength and security.

I also placed another order with Roark supply as I am running low on flap discs and cut off wheels.

Also, can’t believe I didn’t mention this, but for anyone curious it looks like my wheelbase is going to be around 118”s as of right now based on a quick measurement with no weight on it and both axles hanging at full droop.
 
#206 ·
Ok so I didn’t get a whole hell of a lot done today. Spent a fair bit of time prepping the house for the weekend as the wife and I are leaving the kids with the grandmas here and heading up to Big Bear to celebrate our ten year wedding anniversary and get a bit of alone time without the kids.

However I did finish welding the braces and such in place on the Artec ram mount. That was where I hit another snag. I went to go lock down the clevises to the ram to start mocking up my steering links and discovered I do not have an Allen wrench anywhere near the correct size to tighten them in with. Anyone know offhand what size these things are? I tried a variety of different bolt heads and nothing really fit right. 3/8” was close but too loose. 7/16” is too big. Guessing it’s metric. So instead I went ahead and installed the passenger side Sky Manufacturing high steer arm and stud. Old vs. new. No idea who made the original arms but I wanted the knuckle tie in style.





For anyone curious I painted these with some orange Duplicolor Metalcast paint. It’s basically a candy clear coat. The more coats you lay the darker the color. They almost have a copper hue to them, couple minor runs but I like how they came out. I painted the Ram mount clamps the same way.

Wife and I will be occupied the next few days so I’ll get back on this sometime next week.
 
#208 ·
After you get the 3rd hole drilled in the cast perch, you might want to add spacers between the perch and spring plate. I used thick wall tubing for spacers for the 3 bolts.

I stripped one of my bolts and did some searching. The u-bolt can stretch causing the spring plate loosen and have play, causing broken perch bolts or stripped holes. The spacers will help eliminate the spring plate movement on the perch bolts.
 
#209 ·
Yeah I was looking at that during mock up. Definitely a decent gap between the top plate and the cast area where the studs go in due to the thickness of the spring. I was debating whether or not to do exactly as you suggest. You just answered that question for me before I even asked it.
 
#211 ·
Thanks for that! I ordered a socket and Allen wrench that size that came in yesterday. I also have received a big old box of flap discs and cut off wheels from Roark supply and the WFO studs I ordered for the 60 cast perch and appropriate tap and drill bit for same.

I also managed to convince the wife to make a brief stop at PRP in Temecula on our way up to Big Bear for our anniversary getaway to butt test some seats to narrow down the choices for the new front seats. I found the Comp Pro wide seats to be the most comfortable for me so that is what I am planning to go with. They will be the same color scheme as the rear bench I got from them a while back so all the seats will match. Also saw they had some really nice orange harnesses that I will likely go with as well.
 
#213 ·
I did try the Enduro. They didn’t have a wide version on the floor, if they did I must have missed it. I found the standard width daily driver to be a bit too snug for my tastes. In fact most of the standard width seats I sat in were that way. I am 6’1” and 220 lbs with broad shoulders. In all honesty comfort and cushion wise they all felt pretty similar to me. It was the standard widths that I had issue with due to my size.
 
#214 ·
Well this was one of those weeks where life got on the way of the build. We wound up getting a new loft bed for my daughter with a desk built in beneath it so that consumed most of my day. About all I had time to do was install the clevises to the ram and mount the ram up on the Artec mount. Was really hoping to get the mini tie rods knocked out and wrap up the steering this week.

 
#215 ·
Managed to sneak in a little time this morning to start mocking up the steering links. Got my knuckle bolt sleeves cut down to length to set the link heim joint about centered on the 3/4” grade 8 knuckle bolt. Then I went ahead and loosely mocked in the mini tie rod. I am thinking I am going to cut about a half inch off of each of these to give me a bit of adjustment room to dial in my toe in. In this shot my well calibrated eyeball says it is toed in a little bit, but both joints are bottomed out in the tube adapters which means if I burn them in like they sit I can’t adjust the toe in any further than it is right now. A 1/2” cut off each will give me a total of one inch that I could turn them in. Thoughts on this from the peanut gallery before I go and knock these out tomorrow?

 
#217 ·
Yeah I’m kind of in the air on it. I do have a bit of toe in as it sits with the links at the full length of 10”s and the ends bottomed out on the bungs. I’m just not sure if it’s enough toe in. If I don’t cut them I don’t have a whole lot of room to dial it inwards anymore than it is now. If I nip them down a touch I will have a bit more room to adjust the toe further in, but then I will also have a couple threads showing on the rod ends. Won’t be much though so I don’t see it hurting the strength too much.
 
#219 ·
Ok so I decided to go ahead and cut the links down a 1/2” each so I have some toe adjustability. So I got the mini tie rods done and welded up.



The. I went ahead and dropped the front axle back out with the help of my cherry picker. I also used it to go ahead and flip the axle upside down so I could finish welding up the Artec hydro mount along the bottom to the tubes.





After that I wrapped up from the inner C out with some masking paper and tape in preparation for some paint.



My first coat of choice was Chassis Saver by Magnet Paints, the makers of Monstaliner. It is similar to POR 15 except that this stuff is UV stable and does not need to be topcoated. (I will be topcoating it anyway as I won’t be doing the boring black axle look)

 
#220 ·
For the Chassis Saver I went ahead and put down three thick heavy coats on the bottom of the axle. Tube, diff, and the Artec mount all. I figured this area is going to see the most abuse against the rocks so I went heavy with it. I will also be laying down multiple layers of my topcoat on the bottom when I do that next week.



After that cured and dried for a while I rotated the axle back upright and laid down two coats on the top side as well.



Also did a fair bit of painting of other bits and pieces for the front axle. The Rubicon Express boomerang shackles for the front, the mini tie rods for the Hydro steer, the sleeves for the knuckle bolts, and the front spring plates. Oh and the Ruffstuff diff cover for the front.



That was about all I managed to get done before I had to go pick up my daughter from school. Next week I plan to drill and tap for the third stud on the spring perch, topcoat the front axle, finish burning in the lower shock mounts on the rear axle and pull it out for the same paint treatment the front got.
 
#221 ·
Well I was hoping to get the front axle wrapped up today and get the rear out and get a couple of coats of Chassis Saver on it, however I only managed to get halfway to my goal. I had a hell of a time manhandling the 60 back up under the Jeep and getting it all lined up by myself. However the 60 is now done and permanently installed under the front of the Jeep!

I started with installing the new Ruffstuff Diff cover and a Lubelocker gasket.



Cover is installed with 1” long 3/8” grade 8 bolts and lock washers. Then I filled it with fresh gear oil as I realized this would be way more a hassle to do once the ram is installed. Also as you can see, for the top coat I went with a grey Hammered finish.



Once the diff was topped up I started getting the Ram in place.



Then installed the links, knuckle bolts and sleeves, chopped down the knuckle bolts and u bolts and hit the tops with a flap disc to smooth them out.







And lastly I installed the front air bumps and put jack stands under the axle so the front is now sitting on its suspension instead of stands on the frame.



I did remove the rear axle and get it in position to start painting it as well but ran out of time for the day.
 
#222 ·
Well I don’t want you all to think I haven’t been working. My image hosting site of choice appears to be down for maintenance still so I haven’t been able to upload the pictures from yesterday yet. I did manage to get the rear 70 pretty well buttoned up and installed. Two coats of Chassis Saver and about 4 coats of the rustoleum grey Hammered paint I used on the front. Painted the perches, shackles, etc. slapped a LubeLocker gasket and the Ruffstuff diff cover on it and got it installed. I also made a start roughing out my belly up skid plate out of a big ass plate of 3/16” steel. I will upload progress pictures and update when Supermotors is back up.
 
#223 ·
Ok so Supermotors is back up so as promised, here are the pictures from Monday’s work. As I mentioned I went ahead and painted the rear 70 the same way I did the front 60.



2 coats of Chassis Saver making sure the bottom of the massive diff got some extra coverage.



Followed up by several top coats of Rustoleum Hammered Grey spray paint with the bottom getting a few extra coats to protect from the rock rash.



Then I went ahead and got it positioned and bolted back in for good.









And reconnected the Anti Wrap Bar

 
#224 ·
The other project I got to work on this week while I was waiting for paint to dry was to start work on my flat belly skid plate. I have had this big chunk of 3/16” cold rolled steel sitting in my side alley for about 6 years now. It is leftover from when I built my welding table top. I bought a full sheet at the time with the intention to use the leftover for this exact purpose. Didn’t think it would take me this long to do it, but there you are. Little surface rust on it but I’ll get it cleaned up.



First thing was to cut it roughly down to size. I used a scrap piece of angle iron and some C clamps to make a guide rail for the plasma to keep my cuts straight.



Once I had it roughly the size I needed it I used my aluminum ATV jack and some stacked up scrap 4x4s to raise it up to the bottom of the frame rails so I can sharpie up where I still need to trim along the frame rails. It will basically run from the front of the trans pan to the back of the atlas and the frame bends along this area.



I will cut it close to flush with the outside of the frame rails and then weld maybe a 2” wide strip of 3/16” the length of it on both sides and drill thru and sleeve the frame and secure it with 1/2” grade 8 bolts thru the side of the frame keeping the belly completely flat. Maybe 4 to 6 bolts per side. I am also going to bend the forward and rearward edges up for some rigidity and I have some ribbing to add to stiffen the whole thing up. My goal for next week is to hopefully make a good dent in the fabrication of this skid. I also will cut a large channel for the front driveshaft. In the meantime, here are some more images of the rough in and clearances.



 
#225 ·
Consider using weld nuts on the frame.
Only need 1 hole....and a small circular weld.
Perfect for what you are needing to do.
The bolts will take all the load after the skid is installed.




3 of them on each side in the 1/2"x13 size should be enough.
Do 4 on each side for total overkill.

Mcmaster has 10 of them for like $7

Here's the link to mcmaster.

Something like this, but with just the neck inserted into a smaller hole.
And then welding the base to the outside of your frame rail.





_
 
#226 ·
Nice Todd! Makes me wish I hadn’t grabbed a chunk of 1;2” ID DOM to sleeve the frame with already but I’m sure I can find another use for that. I’ll have to order some of those.


Btw, you need to update your location. :flipoff2:
 
#231 ·
Alright well today was fairly productive despite some family stuff chewing up some time today.

First task of the day was to install and set up the cable and linkages on the transmission for the Winters shifter as this won’t be accessible once the skid goes on. What I have read in the past was correct and I did have to slightly modify the bracket for the cable that attaches to the bottom of the transmission pan. There are a couple of reenforcement ridges on the tailhousing of the transmission that the bracket hits on. Wasn’t overly difficult to do. I just cut a little extra material off of the bracket where the cable retainer bolts to and it bolted right in.



Blue loctite was used on all of the various linkage hardware. I do not want this stuff to vibrate loose on me.




After that I went on to working on the belly up skid. First thing I did was take the plasma to it to trim the area that overhung the outside of the frame, make my cut out for the front driveshaft, and clearance areas for the anti wrap bar and rear driveshaft.



With that all done I took a cut off wheel and scored a deep channel 2”s in from the front and rear edges and bent that 2”s up and then welded it back together to give the skid some rigidity.

 
#232 ·
Then I started working up the support skeleton. I picked up a bunch of cut off pieces in various lengths of 1/2”x1/2” x 1/8” thick angle iron from the drop pile at IMS a few weeks ago for a couple of bucks to use for this purpose.















So I basically framed out the area beneath the atlas to make sure that area of the skid is nice and rigid. I also cut a hole below where the Atlas drain plug is so I can change the fluid in the Atlas without dropping the skid. I still have a fair bit of welding to do on the rib cage of the skid and I still have to do the side panels that will actually attach it to the frame. I think this should make for a nice, rigid, strong skid the way I did it. Hopefully I can get it finished up and painted next week then it will be on to the exhaust, fuel and brake lines and Atlas cable shifters. Then when all that’s done it will be time to start test fitting the tub back onto the frame.
 
#234 ·
Back to work on the skid plate today. Lost a bit of time as I managed to run thru the 40 CF tank of MiG mix I just got 2 months ago (a new record, a tank usually lasts me a couple of years) so I had to make a run to West Air for a refill. While I was there I also grabbed a 20 CF tank of Nitrogen as I will need that to fill my bumps and shocks at some point so I figured I may as well grab one since I was there.

So for the skid the first thing I did was sling it back up under the frame and get it all lined back up.





Once I was happy with where it sat and I rechecked all my clearances I ripped some more 3/16” steel to 2.5” wide strips to use for the side mounts. Got them all mocked up, made a few cut outs to go around the Swag body mounts, tack welded them on good and measured up and marked my mounting holes in the side plates and the frame. Gonna be some serious overkill as I will end up with 6 bolts per side holding this thing on. Three 1/2” bolts and three 3/8” bolts per side to be exact.



Then I dropped it back out and manhandled it up onto the sawhorses again to finish welding in the side plates and smooth out all the remaining rough edges from the plasma cutter.





Had just enough time to get the top side painted before I had to call it a day to go get my daughter from school. I was going to paint it black, but I still have a couple of cans of Hammered Grey leftover from the axles. So I am painting the skid the same way I did the axles. Couple coats of Chassis Saver making it extra thick on the business side of the skid, and a couple of coats of Hammered Grey. I actually think this will be better long term because it will be easier to spot any fluid leaks on the lighter color.



Next work day should see me finish painting and installing the skid and finishing up the Atlas cable shifters hopefully. (I started messing with them a bit today while waiting for the welder to cool down when I overheated it and waiting for paint to dry)
 
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