First Jeep build! Here we go...

You should wory about that, i had the same problem with my cv joint, too much angle i had to drop the transmission about 1.5 inch to reduce as much as possible the angle on the Cv joint.

 

Im already running a 2 inch drop for my tranny and I really dont want to have to go any lower than that. I see people all the time running flush cross members with no spacers at all with more lift than I have...but they also dont have as short of a rear shaft.

 

Hum i know what you're talking about i have 19 inch center to center on the u-joint....

cannot be worse than mine!!!

 

I have 18" even from transfer case flange to axle flange. Drive shaft was cut down to 17" full collapsed so once installed, i would have an inch of compression for splines. here is mine:


I will bolt it up tomorrow and take a few pictures to show my angle. Dont have all the bolts for the shafts yet but I have enough lying around to at least fit it up there for some pictures and measurments.

 

Did you made an anti-axle warp bar for the rear?

 

Nope not yet. Will test it out soon as its driveable. If it needs one then i will make one up.

 

While off-roading see what can happen to rear spring when you have a Soa suspension...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv6HZVv4GUo

 

Oh yes im fully aware of the affect of axle wrap which is why I will test it before I go play with the jeep. I will test it just like we tested my buddies CJ7, which is by chaining the jeep to one of our trucks, putting the jeep in low range and giving her a tug while another one of us watches the axle. I initially intended to remove the factory over load spring on the toyota leaf springs, but ended up leaving them on just for this purpose...to reduce the amount of axle wrap. If axle wrap occurs during my test, then I will be making a home-brew wrap bar.

 

Got a couple more things crossed of the list today. got the tcase filled with fresh fluid and the twin sticks installed. My tranny cover does not come close to fitting so will have to fab one up one of these days. Not a bit priority at this moment.



Also here is a little drive way carnage. Since i dont have a fairlead for my winch, I just used it as a sort of security. Chained the tranny to an engine hoist and then had the winch run up and over the rollcage and down to the chain for one of those "just in case" moments. Didn't turn out like i thought it would.

 

Ouch!!!!!!!! Only work i can say. Did you broke the windsheild to or the damage are only on the hood?

 

Ouch ,I suppose thats my fault. where did it go wrong ? it did not even hurt my paint and that was a T-18/d300 combo hanging on my then steel line.

 

Aint nobodys fault but my own. I was thinking bought that steve and figured when you did it, everything turned out ok because your tub (winch to rollcage) is shorter than my intermediate, you have a fairlead to push your cable out a bit more and maybe your winch is sticking out further than mine. Its cool though, I can get that fixed fairly easy...or leave it as a reminder.

 

Meh, that should but right out...


On a more serious note. It may be difficult to get behind that with a hammer. I guess you could use a slide hammer from the outside, and pull.

 

Well I aint messed with it yet but my brother in law is an auto body guy for the past 12 years and has all kinds of fancy re-bending type tools so Im sure I can get it popped back out. Lesson learned, for sure. Now just trying to find the bolts for my drive shafts.

 

Going tomorrow morning to barter with the toyota guy whom i purchased my axles and leaf springs from for some drive shaft bolts. My list is REALLY getting short by now and Im so excited that I will be able to wheel the jeep here soon. bowed out of the rubicon trip this year becuase not only are funds really really tight right now and its just not fair to take the money to go when I have bills to pay, but I would like more running time on the jeep before a big trip like the rubicon. A simple lift or somthing like that would be one thing but not with as much fabrication and new crap I have added to the jeep. All that is left is to button up the brakes and bleed the system, install fan clutch, fill up diffs and put in drive shafts then I'll be ready to try him out for the first time in over 2 years.

 

Well, did some bartering today...traded 2 stock yota steering arms, stock yota tie rod, drop yota pitman arm and 2 unused spring plates for all 16 of my drive shaft bolts and a set of yota lug nuts (my GM ones are just a smidge too big and have some wiggle to them). Got my drive lines bolted up and found a way to save my original tranny cover with some slight modifying (those pics to come). Next is to replace the rest of my spring bushings, rig up my ebrake and pack my birfs with grease and then I will be ready to roll...soon as my brakes are completed which I beleive he is starting on them tonight. Here are a few pics.

 

sweet, your getting close.
That sucks about the hood, I had to pop my hood apart just to get access to pop out the dents.

 

I wont put that much effort into it. With my brother in law being an auto body expert guy, he has these cool little tools for tight areas such as that. He looked at it today and said that he could get it back just fine...will need some puddy of course to make it nice and smooth again.

 

Got a few more hours put in today with the jeep. Got the ebrake set up and started working on the brake system and tranny cover. Figure I can use the stock tranny cover with some cutting and then patch to open areas of the cover. Will also need to make an axle wrap bar. Once i set the ebrake tight, i was trying to move the jeep back and forth to check the tightness of the brake and was hearing a clunk sound either way i moved the jeep. Looked down at the spring and just with me pushing on the jeep like i was, i was moving the spring enough to compress on one end and tap the over load spring on the bottom of the pack...not too good. Will test it out anyways before I build one, just chain jeep to my truck and low ran 2wd and see how far I can get the axle to wrap. If its too bad (more than an inch) i will slap a wrap bar on it. Here are some pics:

Trashed original idea for ebrake bracket so this is what I made. 2 nuts welded together with a small nut welded to the opening of the larger nut, one on either side.

Then gave it a quick spray job

Used one of the original ebrake cable brackets, filed the opening down to fit the yota cable and sinched it down.


All bolted together.

Here are some pics of the brake stuff. Got the fitting in the intake and the new hose ran and started running my new lines to the jeeps original lines.




And one of the cut tranny cover. Had to cut more off and need to make the new opening a little longer. Will post pics later on.

 

Sorry to hear you are not going to make the trip. But you are probably right about not having enough time to thoroughly test everything out. There's always next year.