XJ Buildup III

XJEEPER said:

The TMR plates come long on each end to trim to your liking, I trimmed mine to line up with the T&T unirail stiffeners and will do the same up front to fit around the SBS. I'll have some pix this weekend to clarify.

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Putting some holes in the TnT plates?

Yes, T&T stiffeners getting drilled and plug welded both side and bottom for added strength, plus stitched every 4" on each edge.

Sat welding didn't last too long; I didn't get the SBS plates installed............ironic that I was working a new welding cart while letting the XJ welds cool.

Made some progress on the Jeep this weekend....still alot to do.:doh:

This should answer the TMR plate to SBS fitment





Fuzzy installed shot

Ahhh, I was wondering how the Tempermental plates worked on the drivers side, if they also did something for the steering box. So, you're using the SBS and shortening the TM plate. How does the TM plate go around the track bar mount?

Got alot done....unfortunately not enough for me to make the BOTW event. Still catching up with the photos but here's a few more.......



TMR plates intersect with T&T stiffeners





TJ Disc Brake bolt pattern needs to be modified to fit the XJ D44 housing




Drill out backing plates to match retainer plates

Couldn't find any perches that fit my requirements so I fabbed my own.

8"L x 2.75" W x 2" H




Got the housing primed and the diff area painted this weekend......final finish will go on after the spring perches are welded on at the correct pinion angle and shock mounts too. Ready to install brakes and axles, truss will attach to the HD diff cover and perches.

Finally made some vusual progress last week on the Jeep, cleaned up the welds on the stiffeners and painted them. Still have to torch off the LCA mounts so I'll hold off on painting the TMR stiffeners and Currie SBS plates until the LP D30 is swapped out.




Then I moved on to the TNT Bellypan/Skid install. Careful measuring and good drillbits are key here......my DrillDocter came in handy. I don't know how I've lived without a carbide burr all these years, a must for every fabbers toolbox and it came in handy for this install as well.



While the paint was drying, I worked on installing 33 Spl. Alloy shafts in my D44 and bolting up the modified TJ rear disc setup. I purchased TJ lines as well, because they were easily modified to fit the XJ 44 housing and the price was right. I'll install them once the spring perches and new shock mounts are welded on.



I forgot about ordering new upper shock mounts to work with EB1 eye type shocks and not wanting to wait for a order from JKS or the like, I snagged some 5/8" bolts and nuts from HD, used some 1.5" x 1/8" strap and bent me up a pair of shock mounts for the upper front. Just like uptown, chiney too....


More tomorrow............

Looking good Jeff. Glad you are getting it put together.

Got the TnT Arms on and installed the 5.5 RE coils. I then slapped on the rear springs. After setting proper pinion angle (-1 degree) on my D44, I welded up the perches and shock mounts, then a touchup coat of primer and finish to clean things up.TJ brakelines were next and then a good bleed job with DOT4 fluid (I chose to purge the entire system with my vacuum bleeder). Took it for a test drive around the block and the brakes work well.



Closeup shot of the modified TJ disc setup, I tacked welded a 5/16 bolt to the perch to make a nice mounting point for the stock TJ brakeline bracket, which is part of the factory TJ line assembly.


I decided to use the stock e-brake cables from the 8.25 rear, since the SVO disc e-brakes I had on my last rig worked fine with factory cables and I already own them, why not? Picked up some 1/8" cable clamps and eyelets from HD for this.

First you need to pull the cables off, a little trick I learned was to slip a 1/2" box wrench over the cable and it will release the cable housing clips.


Next you need to chop down the returns springs to allow the cable throw required to work with the TJ setup. Trial and error netted 2.5" of spring left after trimming. Don't nick the cable with your cutoff wheel.



Completed modified cable end. Also note that for the axle cable ends to stay in the TJ brackets, you need to carefully bend the 3 little spring tabs up with a screwdriver and then trim some off with a cutoff wheel to snap into the 3/8" thick bracket on the TJ disc backing plate. You can see in the shot below the end result.



Installed e-brake cable

I still have a few thing left to do on my HP30 so I left the LP30 in, but added the Currie steering. I heated and bent my trackbar and redrilled the axle bracket hole to get sufficient length so my Jeep was driveable. A new trackbar is underway and will go in with the HP30. I ghetto-fabbed the swaybar endlinks by chopping and welding in some rod stock, they'll be reworked with the new axle too.

Here's the easiest way I've found to set your toe-in, which all the XJ's I've owned like 1/8" toe-in, but the factory manual recommends 1/16th-1/8th.
Set up 4 jack stands, lay a straight edge on them so it sits flush against the front and rear of the tire sidewall. Then measure front and back and adjust the tierod until the front measures 1/8" less than the backside. Caster was set with an angle gauge on the diff to 6 degrees.



Here's a high tech solution to breaking in new springs.......and re-stocking your water softener brine tank. Drive around a week with 280 lbs of salt in the back.



Here's how it sits for now. The 4:88's are perfect with 285's, lowend power feels slightly better than stock and I now pull a pretty steep hill by my house in 4th gear at 60mph, used to always kick down to 3rd. Still in street cruiser state for now, gotta get the D30 done and get busy on bumpers and several minor details, like compressor and ARB lines........

Nicely done there my friend. All coming together really well.
Once the LCA brackets are cut off, are you plating over where they sat so you dont have a section that is not re-enforced?

I have almost completed what you are doing. I installed the same plates, went with T&J frame stiffeners Both there plates and Tube setup, Tied it all together. Used the full Traction long Arm kit, Installed Fox bump stops inside the front coils and went with Bilstein 9100s. Cant wait to try it out, hopefully it all works great. I wanted a vehicle to take to Mexico that could clip along at a good pace, and also be used as a good trail rig????? Hopefully it works. I installed Currie 9" front and rear with ARB's, What DIffs did you go with??

hey man what size steel tube did you make those leaf perches out of?

Gojeep said:

Nicely done there my friend. All coming together really well.
Once the LCA brackets are cut off, are you plating over where they sat so you dont have a section that is not re-enforced?

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I've ground the torched area down but haven't gone to the effort of completely removing the pieces of bracket you see still attached, as they are spot welded in several places.......removing them would really be cosmetic. On the inside of the rail, I've welded the inner piece of the old bracket to the unirail so that there are no exposed/rough edges. It provides some reinforcement, I'm sure, but this area is pretty beefy anyway so I haven't decide on adding plating.

FordGuy said:

I have almost completed what you are doing. I installed the same plates, went with T&J frame stiffeners Both there plates and Tube setup, Tied it all together. Used the full Traction long Arm kit, Installed Fox bump stops inside the front coils and went with Bilstein 9100s. Cant wait to try it out, hopefully it all works great. I wanted a vehicle to take to Mexico that could clip along at a good pace, and also be used as a good trail rig????? Hopefully it works. I installed Currie 9" front and rear with ARB's, What DIffs did you go with??

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Thought hard about 9" axles, but scored an XJ D44 and a HP D30 for a great price, 33 spl rear and 30 spl front Alloy axles, ARB's F/R.

hman333 said:

hey man what size steel tube did you make those leaf perches out of?

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2.5" OD x 6" OD IIRC. Trimmed them so they provide 2" of lift.

XJEEPER said:

2.5" OD x 6" OD IIRC. Trimmed them so they provide 2" of lift.

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where did you get 2.5" x 6"

Very nice looking rig X...looks great.

When you get a chance please post front and rear view pics, i'd like to see how those 285's sit under the rig. Whats the BS on the Moab's?

HOW...

are you doing the front '30 vent tube/arb combo???? Love the idea, building an axle very similar.... and if you don't mind am going to plagiarize that idea so I don't have to drill into top 'o pumkin w/ TNT truss = no go..... but are u routing the ARB line around ring gear??? Thanx for being my guinea pig bro lol!
scott

HEP111 said:

HOW...

are you doing the front '30 vent tube/arb combo???? Love the idea, building an axle very similar.... and if you don't mind am going to plagiarize that idea so I don't have to drill into top 'o pumkin w/ TNT truss = no go..... but are u routing the ARB line around ring gear??? Thanx for being my guinea pig bro lol!
scott

Click to expand...

I tapped the D30 vent hole to 1/4" pipe and then threaded in a 2" brass nipple and T-fitting.



The ARB copper airline routes through the T and is small enough to allow ample space inside the T for the axle to vent out the top of the T. The TnT truss comes clearanced for this mod..........which you'll want to do before the truss installed. ( Just threw that in for the stupid folk :wierd: )


Not sure how this mod will work on old-style ARB's but on the new units, the air collar attaches on the ring gear side.