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Back in an XJ: Building a mild 1998 Sport

I've done that before with ARB's, I just didn't feel like doing it this time. I was already in a grumpy mood, besides the air seal housing for the Zip Locker is cheaper than an ARB one. I think it was $60 shipped. I'm keeping the old one and will repair it for a spare.

I also just picked up a pair of brand new Tomken 2x4 rocker guards for less than $200. I know they aren't the beefiest out there but for the money it was hard to pass up. I'm going to get my mid frame stiffeners ordered up and then I'll be able to weld the rocker guards directly to the frame. I'll also add 1 or 2 more legs going back to the frame to brace them up. I don't care if they get dented up, I just want to make sure they don't push up into the Jeep's body at all.
 
I still need a fuel tank skid, I don't even have the flimsy factory one back there. I do really want to make Holy Cross this summer though. That's a gorgeous trail.
 
I still need a fuel tank skid, I don't even have the flimsy factory one back there. I do really want to make Holy Cross this summer though. That's a gorgeous trail.

I've never done it but it's high on my list. The tank skid would be nice. I trashed a few tanks before I did the relocation.

I am not sure how aftermarket fuel tank skids compare to a factory one but a factory one is not flimsy IMO. I picked up one for my '00 awhile back for $50. Wire wheeled it, POR 15'ed it, and installed it. Thing was pretty heavy.
 
After welding an IRO coil conversion truss onto a buddy's 8.25 I decided to put my steering into double sheer. Pics are out of order because Imgur sucks like that, but I guess that's better than holding pics hostage like PhotoSuckit.

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i have the same trac bar, are you planning on switching to a double shear?

the d30 is looking very beefy, it should hold those 35s very well now!
any plans on zj brakes with all the mods? youve got an axle going many of us probably would like?
 
Pretty sure ZJ’s had the same brakes on the front. I ran WJ knuckles/brakes before on my 2000 XJ. I don’t really think it’s worth the effort. I will be doing a Liberty disc brake swap on the 8.25 eventually.

I want to double sheer the pitman arm and panhard bar mount at the frame. I’ll get to it eventually.
 
I pressed the old ball joints out and the new Synergy ones in. It was cold last night so I left them hanging to allow the paint to dry. If its warm enough this afternoon I might finally get the axle back under the jeep. Of course I'll have to shovel the snow out from under it first.

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I got the axle put back together and under the Jeep. It did suck laying in water and snow, but at least it was nice out today. Kind of amazing how warm 50 deg feels after single digit weather.

I had to trim the dust/rock shield down on the passenger side
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After sweeping/shoveling the snow off of the Jeep and out from around it
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Old tractor mud flaps helped to keep me dry
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And its no longer a hover Jeep
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My JCR mid frame stiffeners showed up today, so that'll be the next project. I'll have to modify them a bit because of the way the Rusty's 4-Link brackets wrap around the frame. It shouldn't be too hard though, I'm basically just cutting a section out of the middle. The 4-Link brackets are already welded and wrap around all 3 sides of the frame rail, plus bolt through the floor with a plate in the cab to reinforce them. I'll probably add fish plates over the seam between the frame stiffeners and the brackets too.
 
Had to go back to the drawing board and rework the bracing on my passenger side knuckle. There wasn't enough clearance between the larger outer gusset and the rotor. Of course I found this out by driving the jeep around the block and going, "wow, what is that grinding noise?" Machined the rotor down pretty good just driving to the end of the block.

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So after cutting off the outer gusset I used a flapper wheel to clean it all up and reshape the top and bottom pieces. I then made two separate gussets and made sure everything would all clear before burning it in.

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Once clearance was confirmed (I used the undamaged rotor off of the driver side to be sure) I preheated the knuckle with a propane torch and burned it all in.

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Now I just need to find the motivation to get those frame stiffeners installed. Its one of the things I really dislike doing, especially off of the floor in a garage.
 
I decided to go ahead and get started on the frame stiffeners. I started with the passenger side first.

Cleaned off the frame rail
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Then painted the inside of the stiffeners and the frame rail with some weld through primer. I used this Seymour brand stuff, its the only one listed as being self etching and had decent reviews on Amazon. It seemed to work ok, not as good as some stuff I had in the past (can't remember the brand) but better than others I've used.
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Then I measured up and cut off part of the frame stiffener so that it would fit behind the 4-Link mounts.
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After that I put it in place and started welding it from front to back, moving clamps along as I went.
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I'll probably add a fish plate over the gap between the 4-link mount and the stiffener. I'm not going to bother putting the small piece in front of the mount on right now. Once I get some front stiffeners then I'll go about putting that in too.

That's it for tonight. Time to eat wings and play Nazi Zombies on Xbox with my son, the g/f is out of town so its Boys Night In for us.
 
Finished up the passenger side and got the rails coated with some truck bed liner. I still have the rocker guards to install, so that'll be the next project. I need to pick up some steel so that I can add one or two additional legs to them. I'm also going to weld them straight to the stiffeners.

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Your Jeep is coming along nicely.
how tideous/ time consuming is it to weld stiffeners? Any plans of tying in an internal cage?

It's been a cool build to watch, looking forward to what comes next!
 
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In all reality it’s not that bad, I just hate doing it. If the Jeep were on a lift it wouldn’t be bad, but laying down under it to weld them on you catch a lot of sparks/slag. Plus you’re trying to weld and work around clamps and the jack while already in an awkward position. This is probably the seventh set I’ve done and the third on my own rig. If I never do it again that would be fine by me.
 
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