# Ben's Cherokee



## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

I guess this is a "build thread" of sorts, if you look through it, you may be disappointed to find it more of a "maintenance & BS thread" though. It's been 5 years, but after 4 straight days of wrenching, I want to get all the crap I've posted over the years into 1 spot. I'm already getting ahead of myself, lets start at the beginning. 

In 2006 I decided I needed a winter vehicle, mainly to be used for winter daily driving, and going snowboarding. I drove a bunch of vehicles, Mitsubishi Montero, Isuzu Trooper, Toyota 4Runner SR5, and also a Jeep Cherokee. Before you ask about the Jimmy and Explorer, a good friend owned the GMC, and I'd had the Ford, so they were ruled out because I wanted something different. I narrowed it down to 2 SUV's, and set out to find a cheap 10 year old Toyota. I looked for months. I was no where near the 8-10 thousand they were getting, and did not want to settle on condition. I then set out to find a Jeep Cherokee, a month later, a woman I worked with posted a for sale bulletin, listing a 1996 4.0L HO with just under 100k, with 3 pedals and crank windows for $3000. I bought it 3 days after Christmas, on 12/28/2006.

1996 Jeep Cherokee SE
4.0L, 5 speed, np231, 3.07 gears, manual locks & windows.










One of the earliest pictures I have of it. 
Mine came without a roof rack, so one of the first things I did was build gutter mounted roof rack brackets.


























In it's early days, it had this shifter. After a couple years, and with the porcelain starting to crack I got tired of babying it though, and carved a cedar knob. 










And on my honeymoon at Stowe VT.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

That brings us to 4 years ago. Shortly after I got mine, my brother picked up a Cherokee too, we picked a bunch of stuff from the Quadratec catalog for his, because he had more disposable income than I did at the time. I put the lift kit on for him, and within 2 weeks this happened:










*R.I.P Lil Mule* you were loved, by the guy that owned you before my brother...

I was more than happy to relieve him of the brand new tires, and a few other usable pieces of the lift. He swore they had bad juju, I was happy to pay the discounted juju price. We tore a bunch of other parts off, and sent it to the scrap yard. I bought a shock, a tire, and a new leaf pack, and had "stage 1" of my Cherokee build under way. 



















At this point it had 2" of lift, and 31" all terrains. 
It worked great for this:










Problem was, I started to graduate from illegal power line trails, to regular trips to actual legal trails. The more trail riding I did, the less my budget boost worked, and the more cut up my tires and fenders got.



















Realized my inadiquacies quickly at '07 or '08 NAC fest.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

So to give my Mall Terrains a little room to breathe, I took care of some issues. I changed out the stock springs & spacers for 3" rough country coils. I added a leaf to my replacement spring pack and shackle combo. I did the longer front brake lines, I got JKS quick disconnects for the sway bar. I probably did some other things I'm forgetting right now, but I made the advance to 3" of lift. 

Here's the add a leaf, before switching out the coils:










Here's what replaced the Guiness tap:










Moral high, the beatings continue.





































Doin work on Trail 23 at Rausch:



















built these D rings:










replaced this thingy:










welded this cause it made loud noises:










painted this pink because my wife said I wouldn't:
(added a slip yoke eliminator to the transfer case)










It worked, and it worked well.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Ok, almost up to speed here. 
I had 40k on the all terrains, and a couple of those miles weren't asphalt, so it was time for new rubber. I somehow ended up with 3 cheap mud terrains, off of a new wrangler rubicon. So I set out looking for steel that would fit them on my hubs, and come to find out, Dodge Magnum was the answer. 

Wait. 

That didn't happen yet. This did. Super cheap 33" mud terrains on Ford Explorer wheels. 



















Also, my dad owned this for 2 years.
"lil blackie":










Well, it was time for that to go, so he got this:
"lil ******":










...and within 2 months, ordered the 3" full rough country kit, and commissioned me as "lead bitch" on the install. 










Why other Cherokee's in my thread? Well, I built them. I'm not gonna include every XJ in south east PA that I've touched, which through the Jeep Fiend Club is quite a few. Just feel that Cherokee's in the family are worth posting here, especially when they die and get parted to upgrade old blue. Again, I digress.

Onto the magnums...


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Ok damn the 33" mud terrains were bald as hell, so I traded the wheel/tire combo for a Remington 03-A3, but again I digress... Magnums. Big rubbers for big wheels. I was real hesitant to go 17", when I had been 15" for so long, I wanted to keep sidewall, because most of the fun driving I do is between 10-15psi. I did the math though, and going up in tire size at the same time as wheel size, I kept basically the same amount of sidewall. 










^ :heart: I f'n love that picture...

The tires work, and work well for where I live. Having the thinner profile cuts real well through soupy stuff, and wheeling this spring was fun, but the horrible sound of rubbing tire was back. 



















Works fine here though:










Also, I added these to keep what's left of my rocker panels.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Ok, so now I can post in real time, in the closest thing that I have to a build thread...
Thursday was my birthday, so I took a long weekend. I switched 2 axles out in just under 4 days. Now if you think maybe that's taking too long, I have a lovely wife, 2 year old, and a newborn, and my 2 year old's birthday is the day after mine. So we had other fun to contend with. I had a few favors owed to me, and tried pulling them, but somehow I still ended up flying solo this weekend. Forever Alone. Seriously, my friends are all nerds with silly putty for hands. Which is rough when you're trying to line up control arms and schlep axles around. I did have quite a bit of help from D.G. Yuengling himself though. 

I had spent the better part of a year locating cheap axles, I have the amazingly high 3.07 gear ratio, and was not about to spend the money on a gear change. I wanted 4.10 rears. I looked into doing the install myself, but decided against it, and just went for complete axles. I got the rear in York PA, I got the front in Virginia, coincidentally both from different 96's, for my 96, even though a nearly 2 decade range would have worked. 

I cut an inch of the bottom of the Chrysler 8.25, I'm picking up another carrier & axle shafts so I can upgrade to the stronger 29 spline axles. That's still to come though.










I did some bracing on the front link mounts.



















New ball joints, axle U joints, and hubs.










Which finally brings us to 9AM friday. I spent Thursday setting up the jackstands, disconnecting crap, and boozing. Dropped the 3.07 30 out first thing Friday morning. 










I switched my Riddler cover over, new royal purple, new Iron Rock Offroad lower control arms...










old stock uppers still, new bushings though.










Added a cut coil spacer in for an extra inch. Hopefully this keeps the new(to me) rubber out of the fenders. 










new clutch master & slave while it was in the air.










Bilstien 5125s, 8" travel, I have to limit the drop, I can almost get 9" of travel, but I'll stop it at 7.5" droppped, to be nice to the steering rod ends, their binding is what limits travel. I think I have old seatbelts somewhere










Custom leaf pack for the rear to gain the same inch back there. Hopefully it sits level at 4"










New plates to raise the bumpstop point from the axle tube up to the U bolt plate, again, to keep the rubber off the body.










Spent way too long making spring clamps.










...and that's where it sits. On jackstands! *Worst ending ever!*

I'm not finished a few loose ends from the weekend. I need another emergency brake cable, I had one to reuse, but the $20 is worth it for a new line before I button it all back up. Also, still need to mount the front shocks. I put it back together without them so I could cycle the axle and see what the lengths are, before mounting them. Also, I had spares on the front, because they don't have center caps, so I could lock in the axle nuts. Last thing, I'll throw the driveshafts back in. 

I am really close to finished this version. It will probably be +4" and 4.10 for a while now, because it seemed to handle blue trails very well at 3", yet still maintain streetability. I just can't wait to drive it with the new ratio. I'll have more pictures once I'm done, and I guess I'll update this if/when version 5 comes along...


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## USN_JeepWK (Sep 1, 2009)

I've always loved your XJ! Nice build, keep up the good work.


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## Heffernan (Apr 17, 2006)

Keep up the good work:thumbup::beer:


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## Quinn1.8t (Oct 8, 2006)

:thumbup:

Coincidentally, I too just did the 3.07 to 4.10 swap. Needless to say, it is MUCH more pleasurable to drive both on the street and on the trails. You will definitley enjoy them. Oh, and my name is Ben too


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

heh, sup Ben...
yeah, I can't wait to drive it with the 4.10s. 
It's back on pavement sitting on 4 wheels. 
I'm right at 4½" in the rear, and an even 4" in the front. I think the rear could settle that ½" though.
Before I put the driveshafts back, I have 1 more project to finish up...










It was too wet yesterday to do the cable work underneath though.


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## boostmonster (Feb 1, 2005)

deucestudios said:


> I have 1 more project to finish up...


That Looks like some farm tractor engineering right there. E-brake steer? Interesting...

Great thread... Keep up the good work.:thumbup:


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

So my old shocks couldn't hang. Apparently they gave up the ghost a while ago. 
I had them sitting off to the side during the axle swap, and noticed a large puddle of fluid formed around them. What seals...
So I drove around shockless yesterday, and ran over some rocks & took some measurements.
17" compressed, 25" dropped, 20½" at ride height. 
A buddy of mine had these 5125's: BE5-6253-H5 8.60 255/70 N/A 22.50 14.06 14mm eye/eye.
Using a stud top conversion (1") and pin bottom conversion (½") kit puts me in the right range for them. I should strap though, because I could barely bottom them out as my steering binds, so it'd be better to have a seatbelt catch that load than steering joints or bilsteins...

edit. Looking at this, it pisses me off that I didn't shoot off a black rattle can in the wheel well when I had all that stuff out. oh well.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Got into the biggest stuck I've been in. 
I knew I was taking a bad line for the winch pull, but thought I could steer against the winch a bit more than I could.
I'm real happy with my front tow hooks though, they held like champs. 










You can see the line I took, but the winch rig was too far up the hill and not straight on. We should have repositioned, we saw it coming, but we were running out of daylight.



















This pic shows a little better the rocks I was caught up in. I couldn't get up the line I took down, so I tried a line to the left, ended up sliding right into the middle of it, and damn near pulled the TJ down the hill trying to get up and over. 










Overall an awesome day though:


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## Heffernan (Apr 17, 2006)

:thumbup: Lookin' good.

What are the specs on the wheels? I've been looking around for some 17" steelies for my Subie.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Heffernan said:


> :thumbup: Lookin' good.
> 
> What are the specs on the wheels? I've been looking around for some 17" steelies for my Subie.


17x7, bolt pattern = 5x4.5, centerbore = 71.5mm, backspacing = 4ish. 
Check this link, I bet it gives you options you didn't know you had...
http://www.roadkillcustoms.com/hot-rods-rat-rods/Wheel-Bolt-Pattern-Cross-Reference-Database.asp

couple more pics from the weekend, D rings doin work. 
There's a jacket just out of this shot draped over that line btw.


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## geofftii2002 (Nov 6, 2001)

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::beer::beer::beer::beer:


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## glorentz (Feb 14, 2009)

XJ looks great man, Nice seeing it cruising down the road couple days ago. When you going to let me ride shotgun to rausch


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Next project in the works...


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## tip (Aug 8, 2008)

^ tease!


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## dubjager (Dec 9, 2004)

So I know this is way down... 

but I LOVE your cherokee. The color and the work you have done are amazing! 

I really hope to see more updates, although I realize it is winter... 
:thumbup:


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Thanks man. 

Well, this thread is taking a turn now. 
I've been wanting a dedicated trail jeep for a while now, something that I can not worry about keeping so pretty. 
A 1998 TJ Wrangler found it's way home with me, which has been lovingly named "Pond Scum" (swamp thing sounds too badass for a 4 banger). 
So, the '96 XJ will be staying, and maintain it's awesome road manners & light duty camping/trail riding. It's great for what I use it for, and will hopefully continue for a while. 
In the mean time, rim stiffners, and other seriously offroad only type things won't be going on the XJ. I'll be saving that coin for the TJ. 
The plan is 39s on H2 17s, 3-4" lift, ~100" wheelbase, 60s, range box. 
Hopefully this will be about 2 years in the making, and hopefully my XJ serves me well in the meanwhile. 

This will be a thread for both of them. Should be pretty simple to keep straight. One is blue. The other is green. :wave: 

So the passing of the guard, changing of the torch if you will. 



















For all intents & purposes, it's been abandon for 2 years. Might be a theft recovery, might be a flood, could be a cousin on meth... who knows/cares. Technically, I'm the 2nd owner. 
The 2.5L 4 squirrels of fury "didn't run" when I got it. 
Pulled some aftermarket alarm system. 



















Cleaned the Pond Scum and other assorted growies out. 
Yes, the tape measure, football, keys to an infinity, ipod, and deodorant came with it. 



















The aforementioned meth smoking infinity driving, ipod listening, dove deodorant user must have also tried changing the wiper motor with a crowbar and C4. 
So I replaced the cowl panel & motor assembly & linkage with junkyard parts. 










...but I've yet to find a replacement tailgate for anything other than triple digits. So dented will be fine for now.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

With a few other things out of the way, I turned my attention to getting it running. 
It hadn't been run in 2 years, and the old battery wouldn't take a charge. 
I pulled the plugs, they looked great. 
Turned it over with no plugs, no horrible sounds, and a free spinning crank. A frozen tensioner pulley got heated and lubed and freed right up. 
New plugs, new battery, old oil, old gas... Fired right up. Without even a smoke show, she's a runner. 

Then I needed something to sit on that wouldn't give me aids, green algae, ghonoreah, and a penchant for meth. Scored these Sahara seats. 










Then addressed the fact that the tire hit bumper if you turned the wheel too far. 




























and with it's new piece of 3/8" plate hanging from the front, it's motor running decent, and someplace nice to sit, I promply got it stuck on a log in my yard. :banghead: 










Brought in the blue one to help. 



















And here it sits now. 
Needs tires to pass inspection. 
So I only run it around the neighborhood for now.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Found an awesome deal on a x8000i, so I cut up the bumper I just made. 










turned up the front frame point, seemed like the thing to do. 










and reworked the piece of steel I had just built. 
I must say I like version 2 better than the first.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Which brings me to the rear sitting next to it. 
It's a D60-ISU from an early 90s E350 van. 
3.5" tubes, big bore spindles, smoothed pumpkin, been sitting in my yard for 2 years... 



















Bracketry for a TJ 8.8 swap. Which was the plan for about a week. I can knock a little off to make the radius work on the 60 though. 










Built my axle bridge this weekend. 
If you drink guiness while Jigsawing a 3.5" radius into 3/8" plate, you will have half a load on before you're done. 










flux core, outside. 3/8" riser, 1/4" bridge. 1 pass across the outside, 3 across the inside corner. lincoln 3200HD. 
The top is 1/4" bar 4"x24" bent with guiness strength, a vice, 2 pieces of angle iron, and a 10lb hammer. 










Still playing with the link calculator, as numbers get locked in I keep having to tweak others. 
Shooting for 100% antisquat, with the frame side uppers having 3 positions with 1/2" of seperation each. 100% being the center hole, so I can dial 10% up or down. 
Need to knock these speed sensor ears off a little more so the bridge sits neutral at the correct pinion angle.


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## Quinn1.8t (Oct 8, 2006)

Looking good so far, definitely will be following this build :thumbup:


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## VolksAddict (Aug 9, 2004)

Good work going on in here. :thumbup:


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## dubjager (Dec 9, 2004)

I like the cherokee how it is  

Looking forward to seeing what you do with the wrangler... I really like how you mounted the winch!! 


:beer::beer::beer: to more work!


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## rpmk4 (Jan 24, 2008)

looking good. glad to see a build with normal home tools and not a "budget plasma" or some crap. how long did it take to make those cuts with the jigsaw?


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## silvermannn (Feb 6, 2009)

Just got very bummed when I got to the end of this! MORE UPDATES! good **** so far:thumbup:


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## g60vwr (Apr 9, 2000)

Great thread....

I just got a YJ to make a trail/beach rig because all I ever do is bash my TJ up when I take it out.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Thanks guys. You will def see more grunt & ignorance than fancy tools. Hopefully the finished product doesn't show that though. This is my 2nd $40 jig saw. They quit when you really push them...



silvermannn said:


> Just got very bummed when I got to the end of this! MORE UPDATES! good **** so far:thumbup:


The XJ ain't going anywhere. I put 800 miles on it this weekend. This wrangler is going to take a long time. Realistically, I won't be posting finished pics in this thread for 2 years. So, stay tuned...

If anyone wants to move things along, I have an 8kW Dayton Generator I'm looking to sell, to help fund the (14) $40 link ends... 

Got a few more 32" tires and station wagon wheels. 32" tires don't really fit on stock suspension TJs, should be good enough to get inspection. Goes in next weekend. Figure I might as well start with fresh stickers on the off chance I do get it rolling by the time the next one comes around. . 
"stage 1" parts are coming in. 1" body & motor mount lift, low profile trans mount, ultra high clearance skid. That way I can have all that set in the right spot for mounting links, checking oil pan clearance, and all that fun stuff.


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## wrigh003 (Mar 21, 2003)

I like it- what’s a 14-year-old non-runner clapped-out semi-wrecked methbuggy 4-banger Wrangler go for?

Now that I have said that- did they pay YOU to take it? 

The XJ looks real nice, too. Good work on both, looking forward to seeing what else happens.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

too many pics on 1 page.



deucestudios said:


> If anyone wants to move things along, I have an 8kW Dayton Generator I'm looking to sell, to help fund the (14) $40 link ends...


Sold. 

_*buy all the parts!*_


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

wrigh003 said:


> I like it- what’s a 14-year-old non-runner clapped-out semi-wrecked methbuggy 4-banger Wrangler go for?
> 
> Now that I have said that- did they pay YOU to take it?
> 
> The XJ looks real nice, too. Good work on both, looking forward to seeing what else happens.


Cheap. Reeeal cheap. 3 digits cheap.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

page 2 is next.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Got this.










tested some of the welds with my 10lb hammer. Some failed. Maybe they were just tacked on I guess. But I went over all of them. Not that my flux core snot rockets are amazing. But I'd rather it be my welding that fails...










Not amazing looking, but good penetration. Hopefully strong enough. If not I have a buddy with a TIG. But, I'll run this till it breaks. 










Started taking stuff off.
This is 87 lbs of stuff gone, and that's only 1 side, and didn't count the tie rod. 
(rotor, caliper, shafts, spindle, hub in a rubbermaid container = almost 90lbs)










boring cleaning and painting BS. got some parts piling up though. Picked up 8 used heims, 2 used small body JJ's, some steering tubes, and some other crap. Also scooped up 20' of 2"x2"x1/4" at the local mennonite machine shop.




























60 stub shaft vs. 30 stub shaft.










And as I finish rebuilding the front, and piling up parts, in the late evenings I crack a beer and seriously over think this...


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## amish_matt (Jul 17, 2001)

Haven't posted in months (years?) and never in 4x4, but I just have to say, being from Lancaster, there's nothing like a Mennonite machine shop! Or tire shop, or exhaust shop... how do these guys stay in business?

Nice Jeep, BTW, I'm enjoying your build.


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## therichisgood (Mar 7, 2004)

Awesome x3! In for more.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Matt - white horse machine shop. Awesome place for just about anything. 

caught my left thumb between the sledge hammer and the rotor, beating the hub out.
tough to see that it was almost completely severed in the Xray, even though I had gloves on... 
nails gone, 5 stitches. just saw the specialist yesterday, there's no necrosis in the flappy piece yet, so they think I'll have a full thumb when alls said & done. 
:banghead:


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## Heffernan (Apr 17, 2006)

ouch!


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## VapedTalon (Jan 17, 2008)

That definately leaves a mark .


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Picture time.










still rockin the flux core.



















Spent some quality time with a wire wheel. Got the front one all cleaned up. Everything stripped off the outers, except the king pin on the good side. As much of a pain in the dick the first one was, no way I'm changing the good one. 



















The. Worst.
Its kinda galled, so I figured might as well change it I'm here, nows the time. 
Well then it became personal, couldn't get it out of my head that I couldn't turn the thing. 
Ended up with a case hardened 1/2" coupling nut, which is 7/8" on the outside. Dropped that in the pin, and used a 7/8" x 3/4" drive impact socket on a 6' breaker bar. 



















And. My thumb is healing nicely. 
Here's where I'm at:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f231/bburckha/86ca2958.jpg


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Lame "I took 1 bolt out" update. 
Well I've broken just about everything I've thrown at the other kingpin. 
Finally borrowed a 3' pipe wrench from a friend of a friend, and put it with a 6' piece of pipe. 
Took all 200lbs of me bouncing 7' from the fulcrum. 
Got'im! 










Also sold the inspection tire & wheel set, and picked up a d300 with twin sticks and a clocking ring, and a set of H1s that came with a free set of 36" swampers. 
I got an expensive PartsMike order brewin, which is kinda holding me up at the moment. 
That's all.


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## geofftii2002 (Nov 6, 2001)

deucestudios said:


> Lame "I took 1 bolt out" update.
> Well I've broken just about everything I've thrown at the other kingpin.
> Finally borrowed a 3' pipe wrench from a friend of a friend, and put it with a 6' piece of pipe.
> Took all 200lbs of me bouncing 7' from the fulcrum.
> ...


 It's the small victories that can be the most meaningful! :laugh::thumbup:


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## Smarty_Kirkland (Oct 23, 2011)

I'm from the Philadelphia Area, did I just see this jeep on CL?!


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Smarty_Kirkland said:


> I'm from the Philadelphia Area, did I just see this jeep on CL?!


You tryin to buy it or what Smarty? 
The tub/body/motor is only a part. If I can get what I'm askin, it'd make for a pretty cheap & simple 4.0L swap.


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## MCTB (Dec 30, 2005)

Did you run that set up through the link calculator on Pirate? Its pretty damn easy to use.



Im really thinking about doing something like this when I get back.


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## Smarty_Kirkland (Oct 23, 2011)

deucestudios said:


> You tryin to buy it or what Smarty?
> The tub/body/motor is only a part. If I can get what I'm askin, it'd make for a pretty cheap & simple 4.0L swap.


I wish, but I'm only 16 and still have yet to buy my first car, let alone the time/money for a project.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

morecarsthanbrains said:


> Did you run that set up through the link calculator on Pirate? Its pretty damn easy to use.
> 
> 
> 
> Im really thinking about doing something like this when I get back.


I have a few times. Every time I save it I end up changing it. At this point, I probably won't go back to it until I'm done, and do kinda like an as-built. A buddy of mine just built a single triangulated rear in a TJ for an 8.8, helping with that got me to see what numbers I have in the calculator that'll work and what's nowhere near working. 
I have like an arms length understanding of all those numbers. I'm kinda just moving forward at this point, once it's driveable, if it's horrible I'll make changes. If I nail what the plan is, the body side upper will have 3 mounting positions, which put the AS at 105, 100, and 95. Reality is, stick the **** where it fits...


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## cyclegrip (Dec 3, 2006)

I went a bought the Mac 7/8 Allen socket for 3/4 drive cause you have to torque them back to 600 ft lbs haha

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## wheeltowheel (Jun 19, 2007)

Awesome job! 

Reminds me of my Cherokee. But it's 2wd  
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wheeltowheel/5910174478/


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Not much happening lately. Got the hubs back last night though, gonna mock up the rear caliper setup tonight hopefully. 










Also, had this cut. They effed it up. But gave me the parts anyway for test fitting.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

the rear 72" from the wheel outside - outside. my XJ is 68, 69ish. 
need more parts before I figure out the front...


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Well axle work has got boring & expensive, so that's on hold while I do some work that comes with me on wheeling trips this summer. 
Gonna do some cage work here soon, so I started prep work. 










patch panels where the heater box came out. 










mounted my spare inside, got some rear tailgate hinges that work, got rid of the factory airbox, cut out a bunch of the factory wiring harness that's for options this will never have, been out driving it on weekends mostly though, instead of tinkering in the driveway...


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## tip (Aug 8, 2008)

deucestudios said:


>


 hot


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## G_Lader_91 (Dec 28, 2006)

Ben, 

Jeep is looking great. I have the same problem with owning too many jeeps :laugh: Hope you don't mind me keeping this photo, its one of my favs. 

Question, I saw these steelies on a cherokee in the local salvage yard. Problem is there were only 3. Can you tell me what they are off of? Thinking of these with some intercos:thumbup:


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## Heffernan (Apr 17, 2006)

I could be wrong, but I thought he mentioned they were 17" steelies off of a Dodge Magnum.


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## G_Lader_91 (Dec 28, 2006)

> I could be wrong, but I thought he mentioned they were 17" steelies off of a Dodge Magnum.


 Dang it. I searched magnum and found it when you posted. I was too caught up in the photos to see that Thank you:thumbup:


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## Heffernan (Apr 17, 2006)

coatofarms said:


> Dang it. I searched magnum and found it when you posted. I was too caught up in the photos to see that Thank you:thumbup:


 :thumbup:


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

coatofarms said:


> Dang it. I searched magnum and found it when you posted. I was too caught up in the photos to see that Thank you:thumbup:


 Yep Heff is right, 17x7" steel wheels from a dodge magnum, or a chrysler 300.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Started the cage work. 










did a 1.5" body lift. 



















putting this on tonight.


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## Heffernan (Apr 17, 2006)

lookin' good :thumbup:


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

God damn torx bolts 
Got the cage all tacked together, but broke my T50 bit on the family bar, so I can't take it out to burn it the rest of the way in. 
Pisser. 

Welp. 
Did the 1.5" body lift, motor mount lift, and trans lift/belly-up skid plate saturday. 
Then welder fun sunday. 
Fubar'd my seats cause I'm a douche and didn't take them out before welding spatter went everywhere. 










stock: 









UCF ultra high clearance aluminum


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

I'm all over the place.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

cage is done.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

XJ Update


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## silvermannn (Feb 6, 2009)

Whaaaa???? Whats up with that?


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## 02vwgolf (Oct 6, 2009)

[/QUOTE]

Sorry to ask, because I know alot of people arent willing to give away info, but im semi-local to you and was wondering where this picture was taken at? looks like a cool little trail section... and my lifter 4runner and my buddies XJ would love to go exploring:thumbup: Pm me if necessary


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

silvermannn said:


> Whaaaa???? Whats up with that?


Unibody rust... the drivers side leaf mounts were all but gone, the whole jeep was leaning it was so bad. The rear cargo area floor was gone, the drivers & passenger floor pans were patched 5 years ago, and the whole thing was going to hell. shocks were popping through the tub... It needed to be completely rebuilt, and I have a good friend that spent the past 2 years doing all the floor metal work in an XJ, and I just didn't want to go there. It looked pretty with the wheels & tires & lift, but it wasn't good on the inside. 
I sold the motor & trans to a friend, sold the np231 on craigslist, and the front HP30 will go in the TJ here shortly, with the LS 8.8 I just picked up. The rear 4.10 27 spline 8.25 will go with the TJ's LP30 in another friends daily driver. The unibody will be cut up and scrapped. 
I'm still working towards the d60s, but the TJ is fun as-is right now, but I'm pushing my luck spinning 33s on a d35. So, I figure set up an 8.8 that'll bolt in, keeping the body side mounts, then I have something very sellable in the future, when I swich over to the full width axles. I wanted a rear axle swap that costs a few hundred to cover me for the next couple years - If I go straight to the tons, I'm not gonna have anything to drive in the short term. An $80 limited slip 8.8 that's geared right, and I already have most of the brackets... most of the cost of the swap is gonna be the SYE and new driveshaft. Plus I know a couple people running the ford rear in TJs and it seems to work well. 
Closing the chapter on the XJ sucks, but a lot of the parts are living on in either my Wrangler or some other locals. 



02vwgolf said:


> Sorry to ask, because I know alot of people arent willing to give away info, but im semi-local to you and was wondering where this picture was taken at? looks like a cool little trail section... and my lifter 4runner and my buddies XJ would love to go exploring:thumbup: Pm me if necessary


I've tried helping guys find wheeling spots before, but I get a lot of nasty PMs about it. 
Sorry - good luck.


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## Louie Bricants (Jun 10, 2009)

Pretty cool project. :thumbup:


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Welp.
I made a pretty good size excel sheet on the cost of what these 2 axles need.
At the same time, I parted out my old XJ. Sold off a bunch of stuff, but still have the 4.10 hp30 and 8.25. I had done a bunch of new brake hardware, boxed all the CA mounts, and a few other random things on the hp30.
I'm bailing on the 60s. For now. I moved them up to my other shed, and just tucked them away. There's a lot of other work that should go into this thing before I try to just slide tons under it. I want to build a complete package. I can't see squeezing a hp60 under the 4 banger, when I know the 4 is on borrowed time.
So I'm following the herd and throwing a 4.10 8.8 in the back.
I picked up a LS 4.10 8.8 from a buddy for $80, and just ordered the artec TJ swap truss.
Gonna keep it 5 link for now. Short term axle work, DS and SYE will hurt the wallet enough. Plan is to 4 link eventually, but when I really get into the frame side work, I'll use that time to do some gas tank clearancing, coil bucket relocation, shock towers and possibly sway bar relocation. So that's down the line sometime. It won't be too hard to chop off the axle uppers and the truss should make it fairly easy to convert to triangulation. 

Oh. I'm also hand digging a bigger driveway. :sly:


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Cut the brackets off the 8.8. 
The bracket kit from artec still hasn't arrived.










Bolted these things on.
rugged ridge rockers 3/16" steel.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

the artec 8.8 kit is a cool and very well designed system. 
I gotta knock the ears off the abs sender so the pinion angle can be set right.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

get an 8.8 they said.
it's a heavy duty axle they said.

retaining bolt snapped in the crosspin. Fun.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Went with this kit, cause I can bolt it up to all the stock locations now, then down the line chop the 2 upper mounts & trackbar off and 4 link it, relatively easy. 
But I don't want to get into all the body end modifications now, so this should be fairly close to bolt in.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

started building adjustable control arms.
these are 2" wide uppers 7/16ths bolt holes, 1" threads (I had the male JJ, just ordered the weld in ends)


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

More of this.
I know there's guys that do a lot better, but these are some of my beads.
Still rockin .035 flux core, and a 120v/140A wire feed with no gas.



















I'm now done putting brackets on the rear.



















And I got the high pinion 30 out of the front of my Cherokee.










...and the rear upper control arms both built.










So I threw the slip yoke eliminator kit in yesterday.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

rear's in. 

To do:
tighten LCA bolts
intall e-brake cables
bleed brakes
connect vent tube
tighten control arm jam nuts
get front coils...

Pretty sure the pinion angle is wrong. 
I just guessed at the arm lengths, made the lowers match stock, made the uppers a little longer than stock. Probably should shorten the uppers I guess. It is a mystery. 




























got rake?


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

I cut a Cherokee front driveshaft down, welded it back together, after spinning it with my drill to try to balance/straighten it. 
With that in, I shortened the lower control arms and lengthened the uppers. 
Must have the pinion angle close, it's about 13* to match the driveshaft, had it to 60mph with no new crazy vibes (that could be heard over the symphony of other vibes). So the rear shaft must be relatively straight too. 
The only issue I saw was that at full droop on the passenger side, the e-brake cable is the limiting strap. 
It's getting a lot better axle movement though. Maybe just because of the lack of sway bar but whatever. 
Pretty happy with how it turned out. 
Jeep body, Ford axle... now it needs a GM small block to really complete the bastardization.


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## tip (Aug 8, 2008)

lookin good :thumbup:


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## EnIgMa '06 (May 13, 2004)

This little Jeep is an absolute inspiration for me. I have a 1998 2.5L in the same color and I dream of the same mods. I've actually asked you about the UCF UHC skid on JeepForum before and if I recall correctly, you stated that you only had a body lift and motor mount lift. Did the skid require you to relocate any exhaust components? I'd love to get one but I'm scared of snowballing too far out of control.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

EnIgMa '06 said:


> This little Jeep is an absolute inspiration for me. I have a 1998 2.5L in the same color and I dream of the same mods. I've actually asked you about the UCF UHC skid on JeepForum before and if I recall correctly, you stated that you only had a body lift and motor mount lift. Did the skid require you to relocate any exhaust components? I'd love to get one but I'm scared of snowballing too far out of control.


 Other than the 4WD shifter not lining up anymore, I had no issues. To really "work" in a full interior jeep, you may want to do the novak cable shifter, because I just chopped the shifter gate off completely, which made my shifter kinda spring toward the driver side, and I just have a little block there now as a stop. I have no console or anything at all on the interior, so it's no matter to me. It still shifts, if anything, a little tough to get into 4LO, but I never even adjusted the linkage. 
There's a relief in the skid where the exhaust comes through, so if I had to guess, I'd say early UCF skids might have exhaust issues, but they've taken care of that issue. 
Also, worst case scenario, you would put some spacers between the frame and the skid, bumping it down a little bit, until you can clearance whatever you'd need.


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## Heffernan (Apr 17, 2006)

Your thread/Jeep makes me want one so damn bad. 

Keep up the good work :thumbup:


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## Cousin Eddie (Dec 17, 2005)

As a Jeep nut I enjoyed browsing this thread. 

BTW, your welds are really good. No shame in how those turned out at all. :beer:


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## geofftii2002 (Nov 6, 2001)

deucestudios said:


>


 Nice graffiti. :laugh::laugh:


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## Cabin Pics (Mar 20, 2008)

Your Cherokee is inspiration for the 98 XJ I just got. 

Can't wait to get busy. I'm going for a 3" lift with some 31" tires once the current tires wear out. I'm not real hard on the trails, but I'm curious as to what I should worry about breaking first... I've got the Chrysler 8.25 rear end w/ limited slip, but it's got the "auto" 4x4 system, it works well, but I'm thinking eventually a locker would be nice, at least in the rear. 

Anyways, :beer: 

I'm amazed at where these things can go stock, I'm coming from lifted 4x4 trucks, this is a completely different animal. :thumbup:


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Thanks guys. 
It's come a long way in a year. 
I still haven't changed the oil since I bought it. 
Really need this 2.5 to die so I can justify a motor swap with the old lady... 

But the steering gear started leaking. I might do a plow option durango box since they're ported for hydro assist. 
And I should swap in this high pinion 30 I got so I can stop tripping over it in my driveway. 

I need a damn garage.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Got new wheels for it. 
17x9 Mickey Thompsons, with 34.5x12.5x17 BFG all terrains (stock H2 tires).










And they don't fit at all. 
Turns out 1.5" body lift doesn't clear an almost 35" tire. :laugh:
This is with the front sway connected, and no rear sway.



















So I went to change the front springs, and got a little carried away.










While taking the axle out, the axle end track bar torx head was being a whore. 
So I burned a lug nut onto it. 
Might have got this a little too warm. 
Oh well. It came out...











There's no room for uptravel with an aftermarket differential cover & the stock track bar bracket.



















So I cut it off. 










The front left shock was bent to hell. Not sure when this happened.










What I'm left with is a blank slate.
I have some steering linkage coming in the mail, in the works is the high pinion 30 swap, WJ crossover steering with 1/2 ton chevy rod ends over the knuckle and a heim track bar which hopefully won't have to have any bends to clear the diff. 
This will all magically fall into place, nice & high out of the way of rocks, and there will be no bump steer, death wobble, or steering vibration. Yeah. Right.


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## EnIgMa '06 (May 13, 2004)

deucestudios said:


> What I'm left with is a blank slate.
> I have some steering linkage coming in the mail, in the works is the high pinion 30 swap, WJ crossover steering with 1/2 ton chevy rod ends over the knuckle and a heim track bar which hopefully won't have to have any bends to clear the diff.
> This will all magically fall into place, nice & high out of the way of rocks, and there will be no bump steer, death wobble, or steering vibration. Yeah. Right.


Why not just buy the Currie kit? I know it's not high steer but you'll never break it.

It's ridiculous that you don't have any rust and still have issues getting bolts out. I can't wait to start tearing into mine  I still need to buy a welder and learn how to weld too. Dang.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

EnIgMa '06 said:


> Why not just buy the Currie kit? I know it's not high steer but you'll never break it.
> 
> It's ridiculous that you don't have any rust and still have issues getting bolts out. I can't wait to start tearing into mine  I still need to buy a welder and learn how to weld too. Dang.


Yeah, I've never had a track bar be this much of a pain in the ass. I do hate torx bolts though, that's for certain. 

The issue isn't the tie rod & drag link. The issue is the track bar. The Currie track bar recommends 2" of increased bumpstop, to keep the differential cover off the rod end. A $300 track bar that steals 2" of suspension travel isn't a great solution, in my opinion. There's similiar issues with JKS, Rusty's, RE, and others. Through no fault of their own, simply because they retain the stock mount, but stick a bigger joint on it. The most clearance seems to be from the Clayton kit, but it requires you to weld to the stock mount, which pushes the frame end down and forward... not the direction I need to go with mine. 

The main reason for me, for going WJ knuckles, is the brakes - I already had some of the parts from 2 years ago when I almost did this on my Cherokee. With the amount of relocations necessary, and a rusty frame to start on, I bailed, and just ran the stock brake setup on the XJ. 
Crossover steering is the bonus. With already running 17" wheels (not by accident) I'll have no clearance problem running GM offset rod ends and a thick straight tie rod above the knuckle.


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## EnIgMa '06 (May 13, 2004)

Ooooh, duh. I didn't see that you were planning to run WJ knuckles. I looked into the conversion myself but I just don't want to deal with all the additional things required to do it right. I'll probably just go with the Vanco kit sometime in the future. My front brakes wear really quickly and are not exactly confidence inspiring (plus I have those grooves on the knuckle from the pads).

The track bar issue is something that I have been struggling with myself. I don't intend to build my Jeep up to be anything crazy (just 33x10.5s, no lift, relocated rear shock mounts and spring buckets, and a locker/LSD or two) but I don't know what I'll do about the track bar. The "aftermarket track bar" thread on JeepForum doesn't make me very confident that I'll find a good solution.

I guess I need to teach myself man up and fabricate things.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

new front control arms, $60.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

cleaned & grease the johnny joint, then painted those:










So I cut the sway bar link mounts off the axle. Then had to notch the spring bucket for control arm clearance. Then I had to cut the track bar mount off, so it could move up relative to the drag link. Then I cut the shock mount part off, cause I wanted to lower them. Then I looked at what was left of the spring perch, and just cut the rest of the damn thing off. 
Here's what got put back.




























Also added Iron Rock Offroad's inner C gussets.










I didn't come up with the idea to locate the trackbar on the C, but I got no shame copying a good idea. Here's my unorthodox track bar mount. It'll get boxed in when I put the sway bar link mounts back on.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

With that, I was ready for steering.
Here is the setup at what should be close to ride height. 
14" from the top of the coil to the bottom of the perch, 7" of clearance between bumpstops, which I'll need to limit to 3". 



















Here's full compression.
Subtract the same 4" of added bumpstop, and this will be sitting on the stops.
It looks like there's more room than there is, once you turn the wheel to the right, it raises the drag link a bit, if I go much higher it'd hit. I might bend the drag link a bit, I can get a bit more uptravel if I do. 



















Here's what might be full drop, but the awesome PVC pipes pulled apart, so it might bind a little before this...
I dunno.
Almost 12" between the stops, subtract the same 4", and it looks like 8" of travel.


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## Heffernan (Apr 17, 2006)

Very impressive build.

If only I knew how to do half the stuff in this thread.


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## Albertkvw (Aug 19, 2010)

loving this thread so far doin work, how did this end up on vortex:laugh:. 
am fairly new to jeeps and if i could ask you the proper name for the wheels you had on page 1 before you went to the explorer 3 wheels.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Heffernan said:


> If only I knew how to do half the stuff in this thread.


Dude - get a welder and a sawzall. There's nothing special in here that can't be done in your driveway. 



Albertkvw said:


> am fairly new to jeeps and if i could ask you the proper name for the wheels you had on page 1 before you went to the explorer 3 wheels.


Cragar V5

I notched the frame so the drag link doesn't hit it when the axle moves.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

I put a notch in the frame this weeked, so the drag link has room for uptravel. 
I'm just about finished the latest round of curmudgeoning. 
I need a power steering hose, and brake rotors (from a 2003 ford explorer sport trac) then I can button it all up. 

dodge durango steering box 
2004 grand cherokee pitman arm 
custom cut 1.5" OD 1" ID (1/4" wall) with Ruff Stuff weld in bungs & jam nuts 
2004 grand cherokee steering knuckle 
2001 cherokee unit bearings 
1996 cherokee axle 
1985 chevy blazer tie rod ends 

track bar - 35" 
drag link - 34" 
as close as I could get them. 1" off ain't bad, take a look at other full crossover setups, tell me they're only an inch off... 










It takes 3" of bumpstopping so the track bar doesnt hit the frame. 
Which works perfect with the tires I have, just barely keeps them off the fenders. 










I'm waiting on 2 more jam nuts, a 6" 9/16ths bolt, and some power steering hoses, then I can button it all back up and go test it out.


----------



## rpmk4 (Jan 24, 2008)

:thumbup:


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## tip (Aug 8, 2008)

deucestudios said:


> I need a power steering hose, and brake rotors (from a 2003 ford explorer sport trac) then I can button it all up.
> 
> dodge durango steering box
> 2004 grand cherokee pitman arm
> ...


 Damn impressive list of parts used :thumbup: 

I'm assuming the tie rod ends are from a K5 Blazer?


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

tip said:


> Damn impressive list of parts used :thumbup:
> 
> I'm assuming the tie rod ends are from a K5 Blazer?


 Thanks. 
I think so, I ordered them from RuffStuff. ES2234R, and their offset TRE pair. 

I threw the stock springs in, so I could put tires on & do a driveway alignment. 

hub to flare: 
21.5" rear 
18" front 
so Currie 3" it is. should give me 1/2" of rake for toolboxes & a cooler. 
this is about 1" from bumpstops. so hopefully 4" of uptravel, a little under 6" of down. 
95-1/2" wheelbase.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Got the Currie 3" springs, and a pair of 10" travel edelbrocks bnib from a friend.
I've got 4.5" up, and 5" down.
The shock stops the axle right as the spring starts to get loose. 










tried to get the same angle as the one above, but I sold the hardtop so it's not exact...
This is with both my toolboxes in the back.
The only weight not in it is a cooler of beverages and 190lbs of dude. 










The steering wheel is a hair off, but I've got a buddy who can get it on a rack and tell me if my alignment is spot on or not. "close enough" for now. 










Did a little higher speed testing down one of our local washed out gravel roads. 
It seems that it doesn't return to center as good as it once was, which made me realize I didn't do a final check on caster at ride height. 

But I did test the flex, I'm very happy with my (only) 10" travel shocks. 
This was light enough in the left rear that with a little push I could lift the tire off the ground.



















The right rear just barely touches the back of the flare, but that bumpstop was more compressed than the front right shown.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

It's nice to spend a lot of time working on something, then have it all come together in a pretty decent package. 
I beat the piss outta this yesterday at Rausch Creek and it just kept going. Climbed up everything I pointed it at, except one line in the comp course. It was late in the day, and real tippy so I didn't push my luck, and ended up backing into a rock and bashing the quarter panel anyway. 
Good times. 














































Shoulda stayed in it. Although, I'd take a smashed corner over a roll anyday...


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## cramerica (Oct 8, 2004)

^ hell yeah, a battle scar

Great build thread man :thumbup:


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## wrigh003 (Mar 21, 2003)

It's come a long, long way. Love it.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)




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## Quinn1.8t (Oct 8, 2006)

Nice. Is that at RC?


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Quinn1.8t said:


> Nice. Is that at RC?


Yep. Going back in 2 weeks. 

Ideally I'll have a rear bumper by then, but we'll see.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Reading Anthracite Company land. 




























I broke the passenger side axle shafts. Not sure if the U joint cap walked out or what. 










We had enough tools and parts between the 3 of us to fix it, and I drove it home.


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## cramerica (Oct 8, 2004)

:thumbup: for a successful repair on the trail


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## 02vwgolf (Oct 6, 2009)

Do you need a permit to use the reading anthracite land? its pretty close to my school and would love to take my 4runner out there to mess around


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

02vwgolf said:


> Do you need a permit to use the reading anthracite land? its pretty close to my school and would love to take my 4runner out there to mess around


 Yes. 
http://www.readinganthracite.com/access-permits/


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## mikes96GTI (Jan 22, 2003)

Forgot about this until I saw the WK thread. Looks awesome and subscribed.


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

^thanks!

I got some stuff in the works, prepping for a trip to Badlands ORV park in Attica IN on June 12th. 

I got 1 35" MTR and a 5th 17" pro comp wheel. I will get the other 3 MTRs at some point, but I needed a full size spare, and can't afford all 4 right now. 
Ordered JCR's new Dagger rear bumper and a steering box skid. 
Got some 12 gauge steel corner armor down at Quadratec. 
Still need to hit the junkyard for some spare axle shafts. 
Oh. Also. got a pair of 3/4" coil spacers, gonna put them in the rear, hopefully that levels things out.


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## mikes96GTI (Jan 22, 2003)

all in good time. Fullsize spare is a necessity. A lot of the JK guys for some reason leave them at home. I mean if someone has to have one they can borrow someones worst case but thats only good for local stuff. Look into a plug kit on Amazon. I have seen guys shove 10 plugs in a sidewall and it hold them off the trail. Janky as hell but its another option if your spare goes too. I have one I take with me. 

She seems to be getting you out plenty though for lots of fun. Do make a pad for that high lift. A chill went up my spine and the hair on my arms stood up looking at that pic of you changing your axle shaft! Maybe I'm just a wuss.


----------



## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Yea, I just got a new plug kit too, cause my other one looked like dried up beef jerky. 



mikes96GTI said:


> She seems to be getting you out plenty though for lots of fun. Do make a pad for that high lift. A chill went up my spine and the hair on my arms stood up looking at that pic of you changing your axle shaft! Maybe I'm just a wuss.


The bottle jack is holding the axle up, the high lift is just there for a little added safety. The pic does no justice to how steep that spot was, but unfortunately that's where it broke. That's also why the tire is under the front axle. 
And yea, I did make a pad. I ditched the brick from the driveway pics from however long ago...
It's 3/8" plate with 2 little tabs and bolts onto the bottom hole. Made it last year cause I lost the original one in some deep snow trying to get unstuck.


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## cramerica (Oct 8, 2004)

I'm loving this. Where do you guys like to buy your off-road wheels and tires?


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

cramerica said:


> I'm loving this. Where do you guys like to buy your off-road wheels and tires?


 craigslist. 
I also have a buddy that works at a Goodyear tire & auto shop. 

Well I drug this pig out to Attica IN this past weekend. Had a blast. Got some repair work I gotta do now. This is the driveshaft I made, the welds must have been good enough, I guess stock XJ front shafts aren't up for duty with a rear 8.8 though. At least it was an easy removal and extraction. 










this was the one that did me in. 
the TJ & his 36" iroks & rcv shafts in the background couldn't make the climb the little 4 banger did. this is where I got a little too bull headed and wailed it for a bit until the rear shaft quit. 










but it made it up a lot of other fun stuff.


----------



## cramerica (Oct 8, 2004)

deucestudios said:


>


 I bet this was fun :laugh:


----------



## rpmk4 (Jan 24, 2008)

deucestudios said:


> Well I drug this pig out to Attica IN this past weekend. Had a blast.


 :thumbup: I ride my dirtbike there quite often, it is a fun place.


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## mikes96GTI (Jan 22, 2003)

looks good!


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## Gitcha Sum (May 27, 2008)

Had a mini meltdown in this, I guess one of the front UCA bolts backed out, I had a panic stop, and I guess at that point I lost the other. The front driveshaft seperated when the axle rolled forward, both shocks broke. Laying in route 202 I took this picture.










Got some 5100's to fix the broken shock issue.
The front yoke for the DS had one of those 5/16ths broke off in it, so it got drilled out and replaced with the U bolt straps.
I replaced all the UCA hardware with 7/16-20 grade 8 bolts & nylock nuts. Hopefully no more issues there.
One of the rear UCAs that I had built, well I guess the snap ring wasn't in all the way, so it had kinda came apart (you can see it in post #47), all the parts were still there but it was wobbling on the bolt. The right rear. With the muffler all up in the way. Repacking a johnny joint with the arm still installed without their special tool is interesting. It's done though.










With that, I moved on to finally creating a dashboard. This was last weekend's project.
I had some sheet metal, and I had a CJ dash. I opted to start with the CJ dash, in hindsight, I probably should have started with sheetmetal. There's a few patches, like where the speedo was, and they look like *** cause I didn't bondo or anything. But oh well. It came out better than it was (which was a CD player electrical taped to a CB radio hanging off the cage).





































The grab handle I had from the CJ was all jacked up. So I made one. I had shock brakets left over from the Artec truss, a pair of C gussets for a JK 30, and a piece of .75 OD 3/16ths wall. Hopefully it doesn't do any impromptu dental work for the passenger, it's stoudt as hell. Should have got a picture of the little tabs I made off the windshield spreader bar, but it bolts through the dash to the cage, so it's in there damn good. 










Also. Started this. 










Because.










Today, I got this on an alignment rack finally.
Thrust angle was dead nuts.
Toe was a hair off.
Caster was 5*, gonna shorten the uppers a bit, get it to like 6 or 7.

Clutch line blew on the way home. It had been dripping, it's gushing and I got no pedal left. Piss ants. 

Oh well. Got new meats. 35x12.5x17 MTR Kevlar.


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