yet another V8 stretched one ton TJ build (copied from my build thread on pirate4x4)
- Thread starter knobby97
- Start date
Bill,
Don't have final front specs yet but the rear are 14" fox 2.0 emulsion coilovers and valving is poly's spec TJ valving set for crawling. As for the springs rates I started with 200lb tenders over 250lb mains with triple rate kits to deal with the spring dropout at full droop. This set up left me with 4.75"s of up travel with the adjusters zeroed out, and was a bit tall for my liking. So I switched the mains with 200lb springs which dropped me about an inch and still left me with over 3"s of up travel. I haven't finished messing with the slider stops yet and still have to hang the fox 2.0 2" air bumps to finish the rear up.
As for the fronts I'll be using the same coilovers as the rear and will be starting the springs rates around 250/300-350ish to account for the extra weight of the 5.2 and front fenders. Will post up results once I get everything dialed in.
Edit:
Starting front rates are 200 over 250 as per Alex's recommedation.
Don't have final front specs yet but the rear are 14" fox 2.0 emulsion coilovers and valving is poly's spec TJ valving set for crawling. As for the springs rates I started with 200lb tenders over 250lb mains with triple rate kits to deal with the spring dropout at full droop. This set up left me with 4.75"s of up travel with the adjusters zeroed out, and was a bit tall for my liking. So I switched the mains with 200lb springs which dropped me about an inch and still left me with over 3"s of up travel. I haven't finished messing with the slider stops yet and still have to hang the fox 2.0 2" air bumps to finish the rear up.
As for the fronts I'll be using the same coilovers as the rear and will be starting the springs rates around 250/300-350ish to account for the extra weight of the 5.2 and front fenders. Will post up results once I get everything dialed in.
Edit:
Starting front rates are 200 over 250 as per Alex's recommedation.
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Here are some crappy BB pics then this evening.
Heres one from when the rear end was going back in:
I don't have any pics of the axle side mount but here is a link to the kit I have:
http://www.genright.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=RSM1001
and here is poly's version, which I believe is shorter than the genright kit:
http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/Synergy-Suspension-TJ-LJ-Rear-Coilover-Bracket-Kit-p-650.html
Heres one from when the rear end was going back in:
I don't have any pics of the axle side mount but here is a link to the kit I have:
http://www.genright.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=RSM1001
and here is poly's version, which I believe is shorter than the genright kit:
http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/Synergy-Suspension-TJ-LJ-Rear-Coilover-Bracket-Kit-p-650.html
Slightly behind it, would have to run 12's if I had mounted to the top of the axle. Ended up having to rotate the mounts slightly downwards in order to keep the coilover heims neutral. Probably could have been avoided if I would have been mounting the coilovers when I burnt the mounts in, so you should be good to go in that department.
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Well Finally got the jeep back on its on weight again after daylight and weather delays.
Now I just have to finish cleaning up the inners after cutting them, finally finish the body work on the front fenders, and finally paint the front fenders and the rear corners. Also still have to move around the limit strap mounts and mount the air bumps.
Oh, and make so new goodies with this:
Now I just have to finish cleaning up the inners after cutting them, finally finish the body work on the front fenders, and finally paint the front fenders and the rear corners. Also still have to move around the limit strap mounts and mount the air bumps.
Oh, and make so new goodies with this:
Well I guess its time to get this thread up to date considering spring semester of grad school is over, I'm done screwing with the JKU for the moment, and I actually have a little time to turn a wrench and burn some metal now.
So I got the front coilovers finished, painter the corners and front fenders to match the tub, and then got everything put back together so I could figure out what to do next. A few issues that I needed to address were the steering geometry, ram mounts, bumpstops, and ditch the super tall TNT front truss.
During this time I was still accumulating parts such as 2 pairs of fox 2.0 2.5" travel air bumps (thanks to Alex at Carolina Truggies), offset chevy 1 ton TREs (RuffStuff), some new tabs and tie rod clamp from PSC, and an new front truss, lower and upper link mounts, and trace bar bracket from artec.
So I started with the steering by redoing my ram mounts and switching from the standard chevy 1 ton TREs to the offset units, so my tie rod now has much better clearance from the front diff cover and I don't think I'll have to cut up the cover or grind the crap out of it anymore. After getting this all wrapped up and cycled, I started getting a little irritated with stock ford kp knuckles and ballistic chevy OTK TRE inserts that I had welded in a while back. After a few PMs to some vendors on pirate4x4, a phone call to Chase at ECGS, I had a set of Reid ford kp outer knuckles sitting on my doorstep. I seriously wish that reid would have color options for their knuckles other than orange.
So I got the front air bump cans and limit straps finished up in a day, but still have to fab the landing pads for the bumps once I switch the trusses out in the next few days.
Then I moved to the rear air bumps today, got them burnt in but then the welder ran out of wire. So after a trip to airgas, northern tool, or tractor supply tomorrow for more wire, I should have the gussets cut and burnt in. Then only thing left for the rear is to fab the landing pads, which will be super easy on the rear artec truss, and get the rear put back together until at least the end of the season.
So I got the front coilovers finished, painter the corners and front fenders to match the tub, and then got everything put back together so I could figure out what to do next. A few issues that I needed to address were the steering geometry, ram mounts, bumpstops, and ditch the super tall TNT front truss.
During this time I was still accumulating parts such as 2 pairs of fox 2.0 2.5" travel air bumps (thanks to Alex at Carolina Truggies), offset chevy 1 ton TREs (RuffStuff), some new tabs and tie rod clamp from PSC, and an new front truss, lower and upper link mounts, and trace bar bracket from artec.
So I started with the steering by redoing my ram mounts and switching from the standard chevy 1 ton TREs to the offset units, so my tie rod now has much better clearance from the front diff cover and I don't think I'll have to cut up the cover or grind the crap out of it anymore. After getting this all wrapped up and cycled, I started getting a little irritated with stock ford kp knuckles and ballistic chevy OTK TRE inserts that I had welded in a while back. After a few PMs to some vendors on pirate4x4, a phone call to Chase at ECGS, I had a set of Reid ford kp outer knuckles sitting on my doorstep. I seriously wish that reid would have color options for their knuckles other than orange.
So I got the front air bump cans and limit straps finished up in a day, but still have to fab the landing pads for the bumps once I switch the trusses out in the next few days.
Then I moved to the rear air bumps today, got them burnt in but then the welder ran out of wire. So after a trip to airgas, northern tool, or tractor supply tomorrow for more wire, I should have the gussets cut and burnt in. Then only thing left for the rear is to fab the landing pads, which will be super easy on the rear artec truss, and get the rear put back together until at least the end of the season.
Been able to get some more crap done on the TJ after finishing 2 classes in the Summer I session and installing the raceline beadlocks and genright tube flares on the JKU.
So this brings me to where I currently sit, and will hopefully be complete within the next week. Especially considering that grad school cranks back up for me on 13 Aug 12, which pretty much blows.
After swapping the genright EXT tank for a RCI 2161A, I went ahead and comp cut the back of the TJ, welded on some 3" tube flares to match the front, installed a modified swap offroad drop down tail gate conversion, reconfigured my drop down rear tire carrier mounts, and a bunch of other misc stuff.
After most of the rear body and fuel system stuff was complete, I went ahead and pulled the front end and took the plasma cutter to it. Removed the TNT truss system, trac bar and mounts, installed the reid knuckles, fit and welded up the new artec truss, bent up some tube for a radiator hoop and winch hoop, and bent up a new coilover hoop cross over bar.
Things left to do this weekend and early next week:
Build new rear upper and lower links
Install new axle side link brackets
Fab front and rear lower coilover mounts and make decision on running either the 12" or 14" foxes in the rear
Remove the rear frame crossmember where the fuel tank used to mount to and retool the rear body mounts that are contained in the crossmember.
Figure out new front trac bar placement and bend up the trac bar as needed
Fab new front upper link
Reinstall hydro ram and decided between the offset or standard TREs on the tie rod, which results from the differences between the reid knuckles that use chevy castings and the factory ford kp knuckles.
Fab up front and rear air bump landing pads
Have Fred retube my rear driveshaft for the 3rd time to add length for the increased stretch.
I'm sure I'm missing some things, but that is the majority of them as of the moment. I'm considering cutting up the floorboard of the tub some more in order to make more clearance for the stak d300, with the hopes of getting it closer to flat in order to cure the clearance issues with the side of the 44re's pan and front driveshaft. Still working with Maxxis to try and get a grassroots sponsorship in order to get a set of comp treps and order another set of racelines to mount them on. Then it will be off for another shake down run to try everything out and fine tune the coilover springs rates and valving. If all goes well I might throw my name in the hat for next years ECORS class B series, but more to follow on that endeavor.
So this brings me to where I currently sit, and will hopefully be complete within the next week. Especially considering that grad school cranks back up for me on 13 Aug 12, which pretty much blows.
After swapping the genright EXT tank for a RCI 2161A, I went ahead and comp cut the back of the TJ, welded on some 3" tube flares to match the front, installed a modified swap offroad drop down tail gate conversion, reconfigured my drop down rear tire carrier mounts, and a bunch of other misc stuff.
After most of the rear body and fuel system stuff was complete, I went ahead and pulled the front end and took the plasma cutter to it. Removed the TNT truss system, trac bar and mounts, installed the reid knuckles, fit and welded up the new artec truss, bent up some tube for a radiator hoop and winch hoop, and bent up a new coilover hoop cross over bar.
Things left to do this weekend and early next week:
Build new rear upper and lower links
Install new axle side link brackets
Fab front and rear lower coilover mounts and make decision on running either the 12" or 14" foxes in the rear
Remove the rear frame crossmember where the fuel tank used to mount to and retool the rear body mounts that are contained in the crossmember.
Figure out new front trac bar placement and bend up the trac bar as needed
Fab new front upper link
Reinstall hydro ram and decided between the offset or standard TREs on the tie rod, which results from the differences between the reid knuckles that use chevy castings and the factory ford kp knuckles.
Fab up front and rear air bump landing pads
Have Fred retube my rear driveshaft for the 3rd time to add length for the increased stretch.
I'm sure I'm missing some things, but that is the majority of them as of the moment. I'm considering cutting up the floorboard of the tub some more in order to make more clearance for the stak d300, with the hopes of getting it closer to flat in order to cure the clearance issues with the side of the 44re's pan and front driveshaft. Still working with Maxxis to try and get a grassroots sponsorship in order to get a set of comp treps and order another set of racelines to mount them on. Then it will be off for another shake down run to try everything out and fine tune the coilover springs rates and valving. If all goes well I might throw my name in the hat for next years ECORS class B series, but more to follow on that endeavor.
Looking very good! Give that concrete driveway a huge kiss next chance you get and don't take it for granted, ya lucky bahstard! :la: 
:
If the Reid knuckels are anything like the Chevy's then you'll probably have to use the offset TRE's for the tie rod just to clear the thick diff cover at full lock. Or at least that's what I came up with for mine. That Artec 60 truss looks sexy!
:If the Reid knuckels are anything like the Chevy's then you'll probably have to use the offset TRE's for the tie rod just to clear the thick diff cover at full lock. Or at least that's what I came up with for mine. That Artec 60 truss looks sexy!
The reid ford kp knuckles are the same as the chevy kp knuckles, with the exception of the 5 bolt spindle mount versus the 6 bolt chevy. This did lower the tie rod a few inches, despite the reid knuckle being set up for OTK. When I flipped the tie rod on the stock ford knuckles, the tie rod ended up right at the start of the slope on the upper portion of the cover. So, since the diff cover is fabbed from 3/8s steel, I had to grind a good amount of material off of the top of the cover to clear the tie rod with stock TREs at full lock. With the reid knuckles the tie rod sits at about dead center of the cover and appears to be further away from the cover than the ford knuckles. So I figured I'd slap the stock TREs on there once its back together to see where that gets me. I would love to be able to run the tie rod on my high steer arms, but i would have to loose the front 12"s or so of the frame to do that and not really in the mood to do that quite yet.
Got some more work done over the weekend. Got the rear uppers and lowers cut and tacked along with the new front upper, and burnt in the new rear upper axle side brackets and tacked in the front upper axle side bracket after some test fitting and shoe horning. After the rear links were set I started cycling the rear suspension without the coilovers installed and the 40's on the axle.
These pics were taken at full stuff, after this was removed due to the upper axle side link brackets hitting it:
Guess since the fuel tank is gone I don't really need it anyway. I left the portion of the crossmember that included the rear tub body mounts and where the factory rear upper shock mounts are located.
After getting the rear adjusted and trimmed, I then moved on to the front end. Played around with which hole in the hi steer arm the was mounted and found that I could stretch the front end about another inch and some change. Still have the finish cleaning off the remnants of the TNT trac bar bracket off the frame the plasma cutter didn't get all of the way off in order to finalize the bracketry and see what bends are going to need to be made in the trac bar tubing. So here is how the TJ sits this evening at around 105"s or so. Ride height will probably be about 3 to 4 inches taller in the rear, mainly depending of if I run the 12" or 14" coilovers.
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These pics were taken at full stuff, after this was removed due to the upper axle side link brackets hitting it:
Guess since the fuel tank is gone I don't really need it anyway. I left the portion of the crossmember that included the rear tub body mounts and where the factory rear upper shock mounts are located.
After getting the rear adjusted and trimmed, I then moved on to the front end. Played around with which hole in the hi steer arm the was mounted and found that I could stretch the front end about another inch and some change. Still have the finish cleaning off the remnants of the TNT trac bar bracket off the frame the plasma cutter didn't get all of the way off in order to finalize the bracketry and see what bends are going to need to be made in the trac bar tubing. So here is how the TJ sits this evening at around 105"s or so. Ride height will probably be about 3 to 4 inches taller in the rear, mainly depending of if I run the 12" or 14" coilovers.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
