Need ideas for XJ stretch.

[blistovmhz]

98 XJ, 5.3/4l65e/np231-241hybrid, long arm, OTK/OTA, 63" chevy leaf rear (3.5" lift springs plus XJ main for support), d30/44 locked, 35x12.5 (but probably going to 37's).

Built new mounts for the 63" leafs. Gave them 6" of adjustment for future plans. Currently set as far forward as they go, which is just about dead on stock location. Rear mounts are between the bumper and chassis.

With how well this thing flexes, the 35's are too big to fit in the wheel well, even after trimming and folding. Rubbing on the bottom front and back which is really preventing the rub from hitting the top .

I've got about 3" between the back of the diff and the front of the fuel tank, and the fuel tank can be moved further back a few inches, or possibly even inboard it through the floor (or build a fuel cell).

Just fishing for idea's on how to do the wheel well chop. My current thought is to just cut'm out inside and out from half way back, to around the fuel door, then wrap the edges with some 2x2 square tube which'd tie into the sliders back to the bumper. This'd give me a good surface to weld the new sheet in on the inside, as well as a handy spot to mount flares (I hate off the shelf flares so I'll probably just layer a few mud-flaps all the way around the well. Really not interested in spending a grand on a flare that will break off the first trip out ).

With this setup, I think I can get about 4" of extra room which should be more than enough for 37's, even if/when I drop my Jeep 2". Not entirely sure about the gas tank yet.

Either way, for now all I REALLY need is about 1-2" to clear the front of the well, but seems like an awful lot of work to not just take it all the way on the first try.

Suggestions?

 

[ullose272]

take about 3" away from the aft portion of the wheel well arc and move the axle back about 1.5" should give you 1.5" mor clearance front and rear. and looks like it would still clear the gas tank.

 

[DeftwillP]

If you're going to the trouble of stretching any, why don't you go ahead and relocate the gas tank? You're already going to have to rework your shock hoops right?

 

[blistovmhz]

If you're going to the trouble of stretching any, why don't you go ahead and relocate the gas tank? You're already going to have to rework your shock hoops right?

Shocks are already relocated to leaf plates, through floor, behind seat. Lots of room.
I may end up just cutting out the entire wheel well so I can put the shocks back outside, and just build the wells a little further in.

As for gas tank, still not sure. I can only move back another 4" due to the length of the leafs (I want to keep my shackles between bumper and chassis). That's sorta the thing. This is a lot of work for 3-4", so I wanna make sure I get it right on the first try. I'm pretty sure u can go 3" without moving the tank, and the tank can move about 1" back if need be, so 4 I think is a good limit, considering I'm already 1.5 or 2" back already.

Also, I'd have loved to stretch it right back to put the wheels almost under the bumper, but that'd require a 4-link setup and I've already explored that option. For a rig with a stock motor I'd have 4-linked no question, but with the 5.3 and the absurdly large 3" exhaust, I just couldn't figure out any way to stuff everything under there and still have it street legal (exhaust cannot go through frame here, and I can't cross around the rail as I tend to bash my rails on the rocks a lot).

 

[DeftwillP]

Serious question for those who have done this:
Moving the gas tank back even one inch affects departure angle. Does the ability to move the rear axle back 3-4" make up for and grant that much better angle?

 

[blistovmhz]

In my case I'm not too worried yet. When I come down, if I'm going to hit something, its my leafs, then shackles, then 4" back and only 1" up I run into the bumper. Clearance for days so long as I don't take a retarded line over a fairly large boulder.
The other reason I don't want to lift the tank is cause cog. I'm already tippier than I want to be and working towards dropping cog at least 3", or adding a few hundred lbs unsprung mass. Still debating tonnes, or just 37's, thick rock rings, sleeves and maybe a truss .

 

[blistovmhz]

Really just trying to find someone else who's cut open the rear quarter and managed to stick it all back together cleanly. Axle has to move back at least an inch or two to give drive shaft splines some room (I think they're currently bottoming out on hard compression) and I really don't want to bump-stop short enough to keep the 35's from stuffing into the wells.

Sure would be nice if I had a spare Jeep laying around still to experiment on.

Anyone got pictures of the inside of the rear quarter?

 

[POSJ]

Cut and fold the Rear Quarter Panels like so(Starts at post #87) gain about 2" then bump-stop it:
http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1059015&highlight=rear+stretch&page=6

Post #12 on this link:
http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1112528&highlight=rear+stretch

Post #28 on this link is pretty clean but relocated the fuel cell and filler tube:
http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1081967&highlight=rear+stretch&page=2

 

[blistovmhz]

Cut and fold the Rear Quarter Panels like so(Starts at post #87) gain about 2" then bump-stop it:
http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1059015&highlight=rear+stretch&page=6

Post #12 on this link:
http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1112528&highlight=rear+stretch

Post #28 on this link is pretty clean but relocated the fuel cell and filler tube:
http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1081967&highlight=rear+stretch&page=2

That's what I was looking for. Unfortunately none of those really go into any detail on what went on on the inside. I've got a pretty good idea. I almost feel it'd be easier to re-use the rear half of the well and just weld in some sheet in the middle, but I wanted to get rid of all the curve as well (1. because I don't have a bender and I'm going to be throwing in some square tube, and 2. because everything else is all hard lines on my Jeep anyway).

The big thing that worried me was cutting out all the interior metal, but looking at everyone else's stretches, looks like everyone just gets rid of most of it, which really simplifies things.

Damn it sure would be easier to do this with curves though. No one in the area has a proper bender, and I still haven't been able to convince myself to spend $1500 on a tool I'll only use a few times . May have to do it, but at the same time, I need to get this done pretty quick cause I can't hold off wheelin', and that DS is going to push my t-case right off the trans soon if I don't move the axle back.

 

[POSJ]

I would cut the wheelwell in half and around the exterior lines then move it back 3-5" to get your clearance. Then like your said just get sheet metal and weld in the filler. If you want a "harder" line then just cut the body in line with the wheelwell back to the rear and put flat unformed sheet in to enclose the rest.

 

[blistovmhz]

From this:

To this:

Roughly. Just a bit scary cutting all that stuff out, with really no body experience (though that's always the case with all my projects, and they all turn out decent).

I think that's what I'll do though. Chop the well in half, cut off the outside lip, separating the outside panel from the well, then tie them back together with 2x2 or 2x3 tube, cut out a few inches off the back of the panel and floor, weld in the back half of the well, and put a 3-4" patch in the middle. So much work for a few inches...

 

[POSJ]

Go over to Pirate4x4 and look at the "Topic of the Month: Gas Tank Relocation" in the Cherokee section. Pretty good ideas for relocating the tank and or going to a fuel cell. Might have to search TOTM...My work computer wont let me get on there go I can't get you a link.

 

[foxwar71]

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showpost.php?p=245280988&postcount=277
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showpost.php?p=245288461&postcount=292

 

[N20Jeep]

i would relocate the tank or go fuel cell. it does hang it a shitty spot.

 

[blistovmhz]

i would relocate the tank or go fuel cell. it does hang it a shitty spot.

I'm thinking about it, but also trying to lower my COG here as well. Moving the tank back a bit probably won't matter for my setup as my 63" leafs go right back to the bumper, so I could move the tank a few inches back, but I definitely don't want to move it up.

 

[blistovmhz]

Here we go. Something like this.

As I said, body work is not at all my thing. When I do body work, I Mad Max the shit outta things. Hopefully enough that it doesn't end up weakening the body structure

Thoughts?

 

[NCCherokee]

I did it on my. It wasn't too bad but sucked for my buddy who did the welding. Unfortunately with the flares on you can't fully see it but we extended about 3", about the max I could without getting into the fuel filler neck. Honestly if I did it again I wouldn't worry about that and I'd go as close as I could without affecting the filler door. Only problem at that point becomes finding a flare that works for it. We also extended the front of the wheel well. I wish I had left that alone, so that I could possible have mounted a flare to the body instead of the door. Hindsight 20/20.

Here's the inside on the fuel filler side. You can see how I trimmed the interior panel and the carpet to fit. Maybe could go another inch.