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Seattle Welder/Fabricator recommendations (WJ Knuckles)

M

Markos

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Seattle, WA
All:

I'm debating a WJ knuckle swap and need to price out the modifications. I'll need to weld on the JKS spacers, weld on a new trackbar mount, shorten the trackbar, reaming knuckles, welding goferit inserts. I'm looking for a good welder that can safely weld cast steel to plate, etc.
 
Ely does good work and you can trust him to do it right for you if Auburn works for you.

I am also very pleased with the work T&A-XJ (Tim) did for me out in Carnation. I think he normally does mostly tube work... but for attention to detail it might be worth asking him if he would help out.
 
CanMan said:
I can do it down in Auburn. You just weld cast steel to regular steel the same way you would steel to steel FWIW. Its cast iron to steel you have to be careful of.
Click to expand...

Thanks CanMan, I'm going to price out the parts and see if I should go with a WJ knuckle swap or the vanco kit. It's a big plus that you've done this swap. Your rig is much larger than mine. I'm curious to know what you did for steering as well. My main concern is getting this right the first time. That's the big selling point for the vanco kit. I really don't have the time to fiddle with steering angles, ball joints, etc. My XJ sees 99% road, 1% offroad.
 
Markos said:
Thanks CanMan, I'm going to price out the parts and see if I should go with a WJ knuckle swap or the vanco kit. It's a big plus that you've done this swap. Your rig is much larger than mine. I'm curious to know what you did for steering as well. My main concern is getting this right the first time. That's the big selling point for the vanco kit. I really don't have the time to fiddle with steering angles, ball joints, etc. My XJ sees 99% road, 1% offroad.
Click to expand...

Id do the VanCo kit then. No real upgrade to do the WJ swap and having to do alot of 'other' things like redrilling the rotors, spacing out the caliper bracket OR getting Ford rotors, track bar relocation, different steering, ect.. if your rig sees road only. Id spend some money on rear discs. WAY better stopping even with stock front brakes. My steering and track bar are all custom thick wall DOM with rod ends.

2 cents.
 
CanMan said:
Id do the VanCo kit then. No real upgrade to do the WJ swap and having to do alot of 'other' things like redrilling the rotors, spacing out the caliper bracket OR getting Ford rotors, track bar relocation, different steering, ect.. if your rig sees road only. Id spend some money on rear discs. WAY better stopping even with stock front brakes. My steering and track bar are all custom thick wall DOM with rod ends.

2 cents.
Click to expand...

It doesn't see road only, that's just the case right now. I wheeled a lot more when i lived in AZ. New city, new life priorities, etc have kept me on paved roads for the past year. I do plan on getting out more in 2010. My XJ will still be 75% road, 25% trail though. I'm not opposed to running a new steering setup if I can get it right the first time. Also, since I only run 30" tires, some additional tierod protection would be nice.
 
Also with the WJ brakes, you'll have to run different wheels. 15x8 with 3.75 BS barely clear the calipers. Any more backspacing they'd hit. IF you had a 16" or larger wheel, you'd be fine on the backspacing. Thats another thing to consider.
 
CanMan said:
Also with the WJ brakes, you'll have to run different wheels. 15x8 with 3.75 BS barely clear the calipers. Any more backspacing they'd hit. IF you had a 16" or larger wheel, you'd be fine on the backspacing. Thats another thing to consider.
Click to expand...

Hmm, that's good to know. I was under the impression that with Teeves calipers, the OEM 7" wheels would clear. I'm running factory Ecco's and have no desire to change wheels. I'm still trying to figure out if my factory wheels will clear the Vanco setup.
 
Im running 16" sheel wheels with 4" of back spacing and I have 3/8 of clearance all the way around. I tried to run 15" steels. I would have had to do a far amount of grinding.
 
I have WJ knuckles, rotors and calipers on my 30 and I run a 15x10 steely rim with 3.75 BS I think and they fit fine - decent gap nothing too tight
 
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