92 XJ Mild Build Thread

[themauler]

Hard to tell in the picture, but how much thread engagement do you have into the upper arm in this pic? General rule of thumb is you want one diameter of engagement (1" dia equals 1" of engagement).

I checked how much was left and it was just under an inch by a smidge. I was surprised how much longer the arms were going to be over stock since I made them in the beginning as short as the stock length. But if by some reason I need less castor I will take a shim out of the lower control arm brackets.

In strength terms I feel like the 10mm bolt would shear before the threads deformed. Is that right to assume that or no?

 

[themauler]

There is something nice about fresh paint!

Ordered a Steering spacer because I could hear the stock one crunching every time I turned the wheels. Also ordered some leaf spring plates with an extension for the bump stop to hit.

Lastly I went to 4WP here in Va Beach and ordered a warn vr8000 winch before the deadline for the mail in rebate. I will be cutting out my front cross member under the radiator and stick the winch in its place. I will build off of my current bumper and try to add some more bolt locations on the frame





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[themauler]

Been pushing pretty hard to get this baby ready for the spring/summer. I wanted to upgrade my axle ujoints so I ordered some 5-760 joints off of amazon. Pull my shafts and realize mine were the small u joint axles. (Barf). Had to go to pick n pull and grab four newer axle shafts with the larger u joints. Pulled them apart and am busy grinding away material for the full circle clips.



The dremel with a cut off wheel actually goes through the metal pretty fast. If I had a vice with me here in VA Beach then I would probably just use a hack saw like many others but this has been successful so far.



Lastly, I picked up my winch from 4wheelparts and am starting to look ahead at the electrical upgrades I need to do. I don't think the battery I have is big enough, enough cold cranking amps. I also want to mount this under the radiator so I need to mount the solenoid box under the hood. I want in cab winch control so I will order a winch control toggle from 12voltguy. Also I need new battery cables as well! Gosh the list grows quickly.

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[PacificEd]

Where did the u-bolt plates come from?

 

[themauler]

Where did the u-bolt plates come from?

Ed, a few companies have their own version but I got these from diybeadlocks.com

JCR and dirtbound have them I think but their shipping was ridiculous :flame:

 

[PacificEd]

Do they have any other parts included to adjust them for bump stops?

Thanks for the info!

 

[themauler]

Do they have any other parts included to adjust them for bump stops?

Thanks for the info!

Ed, there was nothing else included. I believe you can just stack steel plate ontop of the bumpstop pad. There is a small hole there to place a bolt. Or you can run the bump stop from the ubolt plate and it will contact the frame rail above it. I have seen it both way.

 

[themauler]

Maiden Voyage

The XJ took its first offroad trip since steering mods and larger tires. I ventured out to the Cove for a ride with the Big Dogs. I got a good feel for some item that need to be addressed after a weekend on the trails.





GF had to get one poser shot in


My trac bar and my trac bar brace have been making contact. I am not sure I want to ditch the trac bar brace so I may have to add a puck to the bump stop mounts up front. I may just need a new trac bar made. This will have to be custom since I do not have a tubing bender.

Rear wheel wells need to be trimmed a tad behind the doors. The bumpstop pads in the back worked great.

Tire carrier needs to be reinforced. It bounces off of the rear hatch on really bumpy roads.

The jeep handled a 5 hour trip on the highway and in the hills just great. Still averaging decent gas mileage. I want to say at least 15 mpg with a speedometer that is just a few mph off correct. 4.56 gears seem to be a happy medium with the 35s that are on there now.

Driveshafts are worn out big time. Slop in the slip joints. Will need a replacement for the front soon as they are old driveshafts from the trans swap.

Right before the trip I found some bilstein 5100s on craigslists for a deal. They came off of a dodge truck and were less than a year old. I am not quite sure how the valving is compared to ones sold for a jeep but they are acceptable. Way better than the JK shocks I had on the front.

Now it is time to prepare a winch bumper. This will be a recessed winch bumper with the winch under the radiator. I already have a 2x6 piece of steel, IRO bumper brackets, and a steel hawse for the winch. I will be building it to match the look of ORS stubby winch bumper.

 

[Ghost]

Yea I like that stubby but when I contacted them I got no response.

 

[Georgia Mike]

Nice thread, nice build! I like that bumper. It's similar to what I have planned for my current project. Clean and simple.

 

[Ghost]

Nice thread, nice build! I like that bumper. It's similar to what I have planned for my current project. Clean and simple.

Build two! Nick's a good guy! Hopefully he makes the Crawl again this year!!!!

 

[PacificEd]

Very good guy. I thought his rig was already well built, kind of like a sleeper. It's really turning out nice.

 

[043500]

I hope he can make it to the Crawl too. We'll make him do some harder stuff!

 

[themauler]

Nice thread, nice build! I like that bumper. It's similar to what I have planned for my current project. Clean and simple.

I can't wait to get started on the bumper. I will document it well incase you decide to undertake in a similar bumper. The fabrication will be very easy. Just have to cut and weld in a few places and 4 holes for the winch.

Very good guy. I thought his rig was already well built, kind of like a sleeper. It's really turning out nice.

Thanks Ed. Harlan put a lot of pressure on me after my first trip. Really need to be beefed up if you want to get into some larger rocks. Plus having a winch will be an ease on my mind.

I hope he can make it to the Crawl too. We'll make him do some harder stuff!

I want to try Rail Bed! Maybe get all the way up the lower rock garden. Last time my little 33s kept falling into the large holes from buggies digging it out :confused1

 

[themauler]

Welp I ordered some parts for the bumper build form Barnes4wd. Can't beat his business anywhere else. Definitely was not going to waste any time trying to fab small gussets or d ring tabs.



The only steel hawse I can find besides warn which isn't offset. Got it off of summit racing of all places. Quality is average haha.



Also I suffer from not being able to drill a single hole in the correct spot for any of my projects resulting in me with a carbide bit and dremel opening up holes. So I took the time to accurately measure my warn winch bolt pattern and put it on AutoCAD for a perfect line up and a template for me to drill.

 

[Ghost]

Also I suffer from not being able to drill a single hole in the correct spot for any of my projects resulting in me with a carbide bit and dremel opening up holes. So I took the time to accurately measure my warn winch bolt pattern and put it on AutoCAD for a perfect line up and a template for me to drill.

This is why I have not even tried to build a winch bumper.........:shhh:

 

[themauler]

A lot of progress with the stubby winch bumper. For those who care to do this in the future I am using IRO bumper brackets, a 36" long 2"x6"x0.25" rectangle, and various bumper fab parts from barnes4wd. The 2"x6" is just tall enough to accommodate the bolt pattern of the winch. If there is such thing as a 2"x8" that would be the way to go.

Cut a lot of the front crossmember and the bottom of the fan shroud of the mechanical fan if you have one. I was surprised exactly how close the mechanical fan is to the winch and the harmonic balancer. The wire cables of the winch will have to be tucked away clean. Re-used the stock steering box spacer for the passenger side bumper plate.

I did clock the winch gear drum to get the engage/disengage lever away from the steering box. So far it has been a very tedious process making sure the winch is in a position where it won't interfere with other parts of the front end.

I plan to either order or make my own cables so that I can mount the electrical/solenoid box under the hood somewhere it can fit.



















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[themauler]

The bumper build is coming to a finish besides a few cuts, welding, and paint. I am very pleased with how well the IRO brackets fit plus the thickness of them (0.25 inch). The bumper is so tight that I can slide the bumper on and it will stay there with no bolts attached. I am eager to find someone with a tubing bender that may want to rent it to me so I can add some more protection for the rest of the grill/radiator.

Next, it is time to relocate the solenoid box under the hood and buy or build new battery cables to help get that connected so far away from the winch.





















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[themauler]

Finally have the mods done to the bumper that will allow me to drive it again. No winch mounted until I get this bumper painted. Then the welding cable to relocate the solenoid box. Was looking real good in my head until I realized that I still needed to mount my homebrew antirock sway bar. Kind of through off the lines of the bumper but oh well. If it really bothers me I will ditch it.

Really happy again with the approach angle. It would be nice to find a tube bender to use for a weekend to bend out a little protection for the lights and the radiator. That will have to wait a little.















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[Cottontail]

You bringing that thing to the Crawl?