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XJ axle swap/build

As a new wheeler and novice welder I think the details matter. Details like wire speed and size matter when someone says ‘put it on C and crank the wire speed’ but don’t tell you they ran .025 wire.


Now put up pictures of your welds. Really show the world what you got. HAHAHA!
 
DocTremp said:
Checked with a tie rod and it was far from clearing. Cut the bracket off and I think it’s pretty close now. That’s at full lock.


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Click to expand...

Is this a TNT truss and brackets? I have a ford F100 D44 with Chevy outers with high steer cross over with no issues. seems odd
 
XJensen said:
Is this a TNT truss and brackets? I have a ford F100 D44 with Chevy outers with high steer cross over with no issues. seems odd
Click to expand...


TNT truss but with ruff stuff brackets. I didn’t like how short the track bar would be with the TNT brackets and spring buckets so I did my own thing.


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That’s a good bump. Since I don’t have a fancy digital display mine is a guess. I’m guessing I’m around 16.5-17. I know it’s 165 IPM because I measured using a stop watch and a tape measure a few times.
 
89Mock said:
That’s a good bump. Since I don’t have a fancy digital display mine is a guess. I’m guessing I’m around 16.5-17. I know it’s 165 IPM because I measured using a stop watch and a tape measure a few times.
Click to expand...


Right on, sounds like you’ve got it pretty we’ll figured out. Have you finished putting your frame stiffeners on? Are you happy with them?

I mocked up my SFR brackets and they fit well but since I have stiffeners there is a little gap between the body.
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DocTremp said:
Right on, sounds like you’ve got it pretty we’ll figured out. Have you finished putting your frame stiffeners on? Are you happy with them?

I mocked up my SFR brackets and they fit well but since I have stiffeners there is a little gap between the body.
770b51c3bc1e69e82584f359f1386f8b.jpg



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Click to expand...


I’ve put them in. I’m not sure what I expected from them and I actually haven’t driven it since installing them. I have death wobble and I’m solving that by swapping front axles and doing a long arm kit.


I have the front frame pieces to put on. I plan to use those for shock tower mounts for a set of coilovers and I don’t trust the unibody to the task of holding up to stress and strain from articulating on some hardcore stuff.


If you can, weld the ends of the stiffener and the SFR bracket to the body, then weld those welds together.
 
89Mock said:
I’ve put them in. I’m not sure what I expected from them and I actually haven’t driven it since installing them. I have death wobble and I’m solving that by swapping front axles and doing a long arm kit.


I have the front frame pieces to put on. I plan to use those for shock tower mounts for a set of coilovers and I don’t trust the unibody to the task of holding up to stress and strain from articulating on some hardcore stuff.


If you can, weld the ends of the stiffener and the SFR bracket to the body, then weld those welds together.
Click to expand...


Right on, sounds like you have some pretty big plans.
What axle are you swapping in and what kind of long arm kit are you doing?
Coil overs sound pretty sweet. Have you decided on brand and length yet? Those ORI struts look like a pretty good option as well.


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Especially on the driver side. I jacked mine up enough to sit semi comfortably and make it less overhead.

Obviously the good came from good fit up.
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26b9535fd90a3b6e2bd154701a3d4fce.jpg
 
89Mock said:
Especially on the driver side. I jacked mine up enough to sit semi comfortably and make it less overhead.

Obviously the good came from good fit up.
3485b1ecb461952c35a1fa56dca60545.jpg


26b9535fd90a3b6e2bd154701a3d4fce.jpg
Click to expand...


Looks good! Are you doing a lot of stitch welds or longer beads? I’m also a bit unsure of how much to weld along the seams. I filled all the holes where it’s obvious, but I’m not sure if I need to weld the full perimeter of the stiffener.


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I did stitch welding and moved around. I welded as much as I could including under the transmission crossmember. Moving around seemed to keep me focused and keep me from getting too fatigued while also keeping so much heat out of the body.

My sliders actually came in too far under the body so I had to trim them. Even then it was a definite < shape to weld. I did my best to build up a puddle on the slider, drag it up to touch the unibody, and create essentially a wall that I was building sideways.
 
Mid and front stiffeners are burned in all the way on both sides, and SFR steering box spacer as well. SFR frame side brackets are in place, just need to drill some holes in the body and put a rivnut (?) in for the skid plate. Plan to do some PVC links this weekend to make sure things fit ok. Had to clearance one of the passenger frame side UCA bracket and joint as the enduro joints I have, were rubbing and the bolt wouldn’t go through.
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Looking good man. you should really consider a Ironmanfab or boostwerks steering box brace as it would compliment that steering box frame plating you just did. A bit of a cost upfront but I think it's a well worth investment.
 
Nates2000XJ said:
Looking good man. you should really consider a Ironmanfab or boostwerks steering box brace as it would compliment that steering box frame plating you just did. A bit of a cost upfront but I think it's a well worth investment.
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Thanks, that’s not a bad idea. I like that boostwerks has a DIY kit, but it’s out of stock right now. I might have to wait a bit in it.

Got the front axle under the Jeep today. My dad helped me get it centered and as close to ride height as possible. I tacked my axle side link mounts just in case I need to move them, good thing too because I had to move the UCA mount. Looking at 8-8.5 inches of separation at the axle. I am a little concerned about the UCA as it sits, is about 5 degrees above horizontal, from frame to axle. I was under the impression that it should be as close to flat as possible. Do any of you have any input on this? Thanks in advance!


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So from what I've read, and how I set my three link up, you can either run equal length upper/lower control arms or not. That would affect pinion angle as you cycle your suspension on the road/trail. Axle and frame separation will ultimately affect anti squat values. For the upper at the frame side, I'm at just under 6" iirc, I'll have to measure axle side link separation. You could rotate your lower link brackets to gain a bit more link separation. Do you have any adjustability on the frame side for your uca?
 
Your lower link is not going to bend at the Jonny joint bung. The bung needs to be pushed in more or you need to lower the axle.
 
Nates2000XJ said:
So from what I've read, and how I set my three link up, you can either run equal length upper/lower control arms or not. That would affect pinion angle as you cycle your suspension on the road/trail. Axle and frame separation will ultimately affect anti squat values. For the upper at the frame side, I'm at just under 6" iirc, I'll have to measure axle side link separation. You could rotate your lower link brackets to gain a bit more link separation. Do you have any adjustability on the frame side for your uca?
Click to expand...


Ok so angle of the upper link at ride height really isn’t something to be worried about unless it’s really bad, and I link separation and length is really what you need to worry about? I don’t have any vertical frame side separation as I am using the SFR link brackets so I just have what’s built in. I was thinking about moving my LCA brackets but I like how much clearance I have with them flush to the bottom of the axle. The other option is raising the UCA at the axle but then I run into space issues.


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