First Jeep build! Here we go...

My plans are to make the mounts as tall as possible without the tailgate hitting them when lowered and keeping the tire as low as possible...just above the license plate. I have some stainliess cable, i think its 1.4", that I will be putting a clip on either end and running it from the tailgate chain mount, through the carrier and hooked to the other tailgate chain mount. Sort of a "just in case" thing. For the pivot bolts, i was thinking 3/4" which would make my keeper pins smaller. Or do you think just using 2 3/4" bolts for both the keeper and pivot would work better?

 

Ok well my tire carrier will have to wait. went to go pick up the hitch i was going to use and not only is it too short but its fairly flimsey....more so then I would like with a 90 lbs tire hanging off of it. So i worked on a few other items. I got the hole in the frame patched and before anyone says anything...I know its ugly and prob not the "proper" way to repair it but its strong enough to take a massive beating with a 3 lbs sledge and it never budged so im thinkin it will be just fine for now. Once everything else is completed and I am able to get a garage again, I will be looking for another frame to build for the jeep. Also got a front outrigger rewelded. I ground down the old crap welds i originally done and laid nice purdy beads...then I laid another...then another which made it look like crap but yet again, it aint going nowhere. Also got the winch mounted to my plate and sat in place. Need to figure out a way to raise it up a half inch...May try what BKD did on his CJ6. here are a few pics...enjoy.

Here is the hole I started with. The hole ends about 1.5 inchs into the spring hanger.

Used a piece of the front bumper I had cut off earlier as a plate...thick enough?

Stuck the plate in place and started weldin'.



Here is a shot of the outrigger I rewelded. Dont judge me.

Here is the jeep with the new 'stache. (vehicle humor for winch)


and since summer is officially in the valley...I put his top on.


Next issue is to plug up the speed sensor holes in the top of both diffs.

 

Not trying to rush you but August 12th is just 2months and seven days from now. Just kidding. I know you'll be ready.

 

Don't remind me. I have tons of little things to take care of and a wheeling trip the weekend after the 4th of July.

Sent from my LS670

 

IM RUSHING MYSELF!!!! HAha, I do NOT want to miss this run. If i have to use my boat anchor for a brake on the trail then so be it! Here is my bare esential list to be con ready :

Install new clutch fork
buy, install yj brake unit
clutch fan (i have)
finish triple welding everything
fab up some sort of fuel tank skid...or anything. Just the tanks bare behind hangin out from under the jeep.
2 more shocks and mount.

 

Speaking of welding. What kind of welder you using and how much experience you have welding?

 

Your first pass on the weld is the one that counts. If you don't have penetration on it, all the others don't do anything except make grapes. Multi passes work if you have a large gap to fill, but generally don't accomplish much on a regular weld. I know, it was a hard habit for me to break also. I used to be king of the bugger welders. I do most of my welding with shielding gas as I have a hard time seeing the puddle with flux core. I don't by any stretch consider myself a "welder". I just know enough for what I have to do. For critical welds (ie: you're gonna die if they fail) I have a certified welder do the work.That said, if you give the piece a good whack with a BFH and it holds, you are probably good to go.

 

with the outriggers, they are cut flush when they were made so when I put them againest my frome, it caused a deep "V" gap all the way around it. I used my flux welder to originally burn them to the frame but with the outrigger being 3/16ths compared to the thin matel for the frame rail, I didn't want to fill the gaps completely due to the amount of heat the flux was producing. So basically, i just ground down some of the ugly areas, and then re-welded over everything to help finish the welds...if that makes sence. And yes, i took a 3 lbs sledge to it and it never budged.

I used a lincoln 220v mig welder with shielded gas (not flux) for the more recent welding. I started welding when I started the build.

 

On top of my axles is a hole for a toyota speed sensor. i thought about just buying a couple from a scrap yard and bolting them in place to plug the hole...but really dont want them there. I was thinking of placing a large enough nut over the holes and welding them to the top of the diff which i could then thread a short (as in less than an inch long) bolt through the nut and use it as an diff fill hole rather then squirting it in from the face of the diff. Here is a photo of the holes im talking about.

 

How about screwing in a couple of metric bolts? They must be threaded holes, or are they?

 

x2 if they are threaded holes

 

Nope they are a smooth bore. The small hole below the large one is threaded. The speed sensor plugs into the big hole and is held down by a bolt threaded into the small hole. i didn't want to run the sensors as plugs so i plugged them up. I ended up using 2 3/4" shoulder bolts which i cut off right below the shoulder, tapped them down into the hole and tack welded them in place for now. Too many welder burns to keep going for today. Will post pics up in a few hours. I was able to get a few things done today such as:

Installed last fender flare on the rear
patched a small hole and plated the inside of my passenger front solid spring mount (frame).
Also was able to get her to stretch her legs just a little bit but even with the large tow behind cherry picker, i couldn't get it fully cycled. But it was enough to get a good guesstimate on my front shock lengths....going to need a 12" stroke shock for the front hands down and even that might not be enough. I have just shy of 6" up travel (tire bottomed on fender) and 8.5" drop as of my test today. We shall see!

 

Here are some photos as promised.

used this as a plug.



Frame plate had a hole in it at the bottom so used another piece of plate to cover. welded it to the top of the spring mount and then everywhere to the frame.


Got to stretch her legs a little bit today. Was doing so to get a better estimate of front shock length needed.



Didn't want to chase going any higher with just that strap running through the wheel like that. Had plenty more to go....the front fenders aint gonna last too long, i can tell you that right now.

 

Check this rear bumper out..



Kind of what you're looking to do?

 

Yep thats what im wanting to do. But it will be mounted higher up where the rear cross member is and hindged at the bottom to allow it to swing down. I like that color.

 

Alrighty, well i got my front shocks ordered and my yj brake unit ordered as well. Should be here in a week or so. On the brake unit, the prop valve is already plumbed to the MC. Is that going to be a problem in that location or do i need to mount it to a solid place?


also, the yj mc should be perfect since my brake lines on my original mc are on the engine side of the mc also.

 

Should work fine, i do have a Yj booster in my cj5 1975. For the prop valve you can leave it there but you will need yo fab new line or you put it at the place where the oem one is so you could use you're oem line. If i'm correct the Yj MC both hole for the break line are not the same size so if you're using oem line you may need an adaptor. Also you see the two wire on the prop valve seen to be a brake switch but i'm not 100% sure of it.

 

I will probably use adapters from the yj MC to my original lines. I already have to buy adapters that go from the toyota lines to the jeeps original hard lines so a coupe more adapters wont be a big deal. How do you like the yj unit? Does it feel like you have enough stopping power?

 

I like it so much combined to disq brake at the front and drum at the rear, brake pedal is smooth but with strong brake power. You won't ever want to came back to what you use now. With me rear dana 44 (scoot 2 axle) on my coil spring project, they came with rear disq brake on them so i will a 4 disq brake set-up, can't wait to see the différence.

I'm following you project man, you're doing something good. Good to know that i'm not the only crazy man who put all is free time working on the jeep.

But what i told you about the thread size on the Yj's MC you better double check to make sur i'm right, it's been a year since i did this modification.

Did you goes thru a hydroliq cluth set-up? One of the mod i like the most whit a the Yj booster. They change the ride a lot.

Keep on working man!!! :stout:

 

Thanks for the compliment on my build. Yours is coming along nicely and cant wait to see the finished project. As of now, I am running the stock manual clutch and dont know if i will be changing or not. I saw someone on this site use a setup from either novak-adapt or advanced adapters, for their clutch. It is a chain setup that bolts to the frame and uses extra leverage for the clutch. Its not too bad as of now so I will worry about power steering and the other things before messing with my clutch setup.