Trick XJ on 38s 60/70 and cage

I've been working on this thing for the last three years, and have gained a number of scars, and probably boosted Aspirin's stock value by a few dollars at the same time. I nabbed a hp60 out of a 79 f-350, and a 70u out of an 85 E-350 van. I rebuilt both and had Jim Schiele do the gear and locker work. Both have 5.13 gears, the rear has a detroit and the front will be locked shortly. I had bracketed both axles myself, but ran into problems with the front, as i was working with an angle finder and tape measure in my front yard. I kept ripping the driver side control arm mount off the axle tube, and after the third time, I tried swapping leafs into the front. I hadn't quite finished the front crossmember, but decided to take it out for a quick run anyway. I ended up bending the unibody where the crossmember attached, as i failed to reinforce it enough for my driving habit I finally decided to swallow my pride and take it to a buddy of mine's shop, Asshogger Off Road www.asshogger.com I had them bracket the front end using a jig, and truss it up, and also figured it was time to have a cage built too. I came up with a few rough sketches and a few pics of similar cages, and Tony went crazy with the rest. I also ended up putting on a set of BTF highsteer arms which definently helped tighten up the steering alot, along with using the .125" spacers ontop of the kingpin springs to counteract DW and the sloppiness in the knuckle caused by running such heavy tire/wheel combo. Its not done yet as i still need to cut my front driveshaft down and finish up my tierod, but its getting close. I'll keep everyone up to date. If you have any questions, comments or flames post away.

Finally i feel like i have to mention Grant Barclay is partly responsible for this build (even though he probably doesnt remember me), as it was him who had pointed out the ridiclulousness of trying to run 38s on factory axles and attend the 1st BOTW tour. He made his comments in a way that weren't discouraging or ignorant, instead of the usual "you stupid newbie" response. I was then spurred on to read and search about the different aspects of running bigger axles etc., and even to start my welding and autocad certification. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that the way you comment to someone can make a difference in the future of their attitude towards jeeping in general, and to think about what you say before you post it as it could make a difference.

Ok, I'm done now heres the link http://client.webshots.com/album/221792485ZCPUCq

Damn! Looks good!

looks good,

i am wondering though if this thing is going on the highway at all or just offroad?
i ask this because it looks like you will have terrible bumpsteer judging by the angle of your drag link to track bar

just wondering if youd experienced any problems due to this??

adam

Looks like you are doing things the right way.

You better look at the angle of the track bar comapred to the drag link. You will have some wicked bump steer. When I fliped my tie rod over the knuckles, I didnt think the bump steer would be very bad but it ended up being horrable and I didnt have half the angle you have. This is just something to check.

AARON

D70XJ said:

I had them bracket the front end using a jig, and truss it up, and also figured it was time to have a cage built too. I came up with a few rough sketches and a few pics of similar cages, and Tony went crazy with the rest. [/URL]

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I like the X-brace on the B-hoop. What is that 2in? 1.5in would have fit alot better. What is up with the bend in the middle of the roof, B-hoop and c-hoop?

Does the cage tie into the fame at all? All i see are some plates bolted to the floor boards. You said they "trussed" your front, just your axle or you frame?

Have fun.

nice

a guy on one of the zj boards i go to has one of those d70 rears. i think it is rated for like 2 tons or something

had bracketed both axles myself, but ran into problems with the front, as i was working with an angle finder and tape measure in my front yard. I kept ripping the driver side control arm mount off the axle tube, and after the third time, I tried swapping leafs into the front. I hadn't quite finished the front crossmember, but decided to take it out for a quick run anyway. I ended up bending the unibody where the crossmember attached, as i failed to reinforce it enough for my driving habit I finally decided to swallow my pride and take it to a buddy of mine's shop, Asshogger Off Road www.asshogger.com I had them bracket the front end using a jig, and truss it up

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Why go to all the trouble of building a one ton rig and then keep the OEM style suspension? They could have built you a nice suspension with better geometry, no?

CRASH

Shoe The jeep probably wont see any street action anytime soon.
The trackbar is a problem. I have driven it on the street, and bumpsteer was noticable but controlable.

Ashman The entire cage is 1.5" .120 wall except for the grab bars. The bend is just to give a bit more head room. As far as trussing goes, i used the term to describe the bridge for the uca mounts. As far as tie-in points, they are planned for the future, but i wanted to limit the amount of labor time to things that i couldnt do on my own. The plates on the a and b hoop are close enough to the unibody "frame" that it would take a considerable flop to push them through. The C hoop and rear leg plates stradle the unibody "frame".

Crash, The oem short arms have worked fine for me in the past (not perfectly by any means, but good enough) , and I'm not a big fan of long arms, (your setup being the exception). Again, Im working on a fairly limited budget Im not Mr. Moneybags, but im 21 and have busted my ass over the summers working 50 hour weeks and still 30 hour weeks while going to college full time, so I'm trying to keep my spending to a bare minimum.

Keep the ?s coming.

Your jeep looks great with those full width 1 ton axle and roll cage. How much lift do you have? I have 8" lift on 35's going with hp44/9" full width on 37's so I was just wondering.

Very nice job! with a rig like that Id think the next logical step would be a triangulated 4 link and you could get rid of that track bar all together...


Also, do you have any pics of the truss work that was done underneath it>?

Its right around 8.5" of lift. Its a little tall for my likes. I might take the spacer out of the front and a leaf out of the rear. I guess i could step up to a bigger tire size, but like i said im a bit short on money. Besides the cost of running a bigger tire, I wouldnt feel comfortable with the stock 30 spline stubs.

your jeep is AWESOME!! did u reinforce the unibody or framerails?

Nice start :wave: but....

... with the oem suspension you will always have a lot of stress on your mounts. A 60 doesn't flex like a D30 and so all the bind will be transferred to your mounts and during flex something has to give and it will not be the 60 :wierd:

... you should move the front spring cups outward a bit, looks like you first welded them and then centered your axle. The springs are bowed in and that generates a sloppy feeling in the front.

I would say stay at that height so you don't ruin your oil pan at full stuff or when coming down after a jump.

Definitely raise yout track bar mount or you will get serious damage either at your steering box or the track bar mount.

Keep on, the easy work is done, now comes the hard part - make everything work the way you want it. :wave:

The rear springs are alcans. I had them make them for 9" of lift and 300lb of extra capacity. They sit really high. I friend of mine had the same problem with alcan. The revolvers suck. They always unload at bad times.

Joachim Youre right about that. Like i said its not even done, so i know from past experience that on the maiden voyage, murphys laws will bite you in the ass. Im not worried about having the coil springs bowed a little. Its minimal, and a ton of people run bronco fronts with the coils bolted into the facotry bronco mounts which makes the spring bow considerably, and from what ive seen their rigs do just fine off road. I do know that the d. side uca mount clears the oil pan. I made sure to check that. And in case you didnt know, if the arms, whether they are factory or not, are not equal lengths with their counterpart arm, the stress developed by the front tires getting traction will not be evenly distributed [with the shorter arm having less ability handle it]. Hence the reason the same mount kept ripping off before.

D70XJ

Great Job on the XJ. That looks like it needs a little trip west to the next BOTW.

Glad I could share my Xj addiction

Grant

Thats an awesome start. I like it and would drive it myself. Now it is time to just fix all the little things that might go wrong. Of course that is part of the building process.-----------Kyle

D70XJ said:

And in case you didnt know, if the arms, whether they are factory or not, are not equal lengths with their counterpart arm, the stress developed by the front tires getting traction will not be evenly distributed [with the shorter arm having less ability handle it]. Hence the reason the same mount kept ripping off before.

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I did know that but during flex the oem suspension will bind. I ripped off a upper mount too several times with my long arms but i decided to remove one upper arm. I do not limit flex in any way, i don't run bump stops or any limiting straps. You will find out that the unibody does flex a lot due to the heavy axles. Have fun and keep up the good work

XJoachim said:

you should move the front spring cups outward a bit, looks like you first welded them and then centered your axle. The springs are bowed in and that generates a sloppy feeling in the front.

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What is the best procedure for setting up all the brackets?

I wish my xj looked like that....