Stang5lgt
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Parker, CO
That thing is pretty sick!! :thumbup:
-
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50/50, 50% XJ and 50% Tube
- Thread starter FiFo
- Start date
So the FedEX man just paid me a visit, and though I am a little peeved that he left my package sitting in my driveway despite the fact that I was home he brought my long awaited Christmas present from my lovely wife. (She was waiting until I knew which one I wanted.)
So with out further ado, here it is!
And after a little un-wrapping.
Warn 8274-50!
So with out further ado, here it is!
And after a little un-wrapping.
Warn 8274-50!
Ok, since I went to the Moonshiners swap meet last weekend we didn’t get anything done with the Cherokee this week, other then receiving the 8274 that I posted about earlier. However I couldn’t help but play around with MS Paint today and come up with these images of what I may look like when finished.
Here you see the front half, with the bumper draws in, as well as another horizontal bar running from the front to the “A” pillar. Neither myself nor Tom are happy with how there is only one piece of 2” covering this small section so where talking about adding this piece of 1.5” to back it up. It should add just a little more strength to the front end. The vertical pieces coming off the front bumper are to get it over the 8274, which will take up the entire bumper and come up almost too the top of the bumper.
Here is a shot from the back; you can see how the back will form a small pickup bed, which will have the JEEP logo prominently displayed. Oval Lights will be placed into the triangles in the back, and where hoping to put a tow hitch in the little square underneath to be used as a tow point and allow the rig to be used as a trailer mule around camp. You can also see the flares where planning, well you can kind of see them. These will stick out roughly 6” from the body to cover my current 10.5” wide tires. Some day when I go to a wider tire I plan on getting those plastic fender extinctions to extend them.
If you can remember the original vehicle the tires didn’t really stick out past the stock flares.
As you can see here, this has changed; the body is now quite a bit narrower. The gas tank fill nozzle is hanging down a little bit here, but it gives you a good idea what I’m talking about. It’s about where the old body used to be.
Finally, here is one idea of what it will look like when competed. Whether or not you will be able to see the tube running along the front will depend on if the original fender will still fit back on. At one time we had measured and it would fit with some major trimming, but who knows if that is still the case.
Next week we hope to finish tying what we have now into the Uni-frame down below and then Tom plans on starting to weld all the structural pieces into place permanently before we start working on any of these fantasy pieces. But I stick with my original opinion that it’s going to look pretty good when it’s done!
Here you see the front half, with the bumper draws in, as well as another horizontal bar running from the front to the “A” pillar. Neither myself nor Tom are happy with how there is only one piece of 2” covering this small section so where talking about adding this piece of 1.5” to back it up. It should add just a little more strength to the front end. The vertical pieces coming off the front bumper are to get it over the 8274, which will take up the entire bumper and come up almost too the top of the bumper.
Here is a shot from the back; you can see how the back will form a small pickup bed, which will have the JEEP logo prominently displayed. Oval Lights will be placed into the triangles in the back, and where hoping to put a tow hitch in the little square underneath to be used as a tow point and allow the rig to be used as a trailer mule around camp. You can also see the flares where planning, well you can kind of see them. These will stick out roughly 6” from the body to cover my current 10.5” wide tires. Some day when I go to a wider tire I plan on getting those plastic fender extinctions to extend them.
If you can remember the original vehicle the tires didn’t really stick out past the stock flares.
As you can see here, this has changed; the body is now quite a bit narrower. The gas tank fill nozzle is hanging down a little bit here, but it gives you a good idea what I’m talking about. It’s about where the old body used to be.
Finally, here is one idea of what it will look like when competed. Whether or not you will be able to see the tube running along the front will depend on if the original fender will still fit back on. At one time we had measured and it would fit with some major trimming, but who knows if that is still the case.
Next week we hope to finish tying what we have now into the Uni-frame down below and then Tom plans on starting to weld all the structural pieces into place permanently before we start working on any of these fantasy pieces. But I stick with my original opinion that it’s going to look pretty good when it’s done!
Real life kept us from working on the XJ Saturday, so we started Sunday by getting the winch mounted to the front bumper. Here you can see us working on the placement of the winch.
As you can see where centering the fair lead on the bumper, which mean the winch its self is a little off-center. The 8274 takes up a huge amount of room on the front and is going to block the radiator more then I would like, but it was either that or reduce the approach angles more, which we are trying to avoid. I’m a little concerned with where it is placed causing heat issues, but Tom came up with way to mount a larger radiator and mechanical fan later if it becomes an issue this summer. Anyways here is a side view.
With the placement figured out we bent and coped some tubes to connect the upper and lower tubes and give us a place to mount a faceplate since an 8274 mounts onto the front faceplate instead of down below like most winches now days. While Tom was doing that I started work removing my current transmission cooler, and the A/C system. The transmission cooler is going to be moved as far toward the passenger side as possible to try and get it out from behind the new winch, yet still in front of the mechanical fan. Later I plan on also getting a matching cooler to mount on the driver side and use as a power steering cooler. The A/C is getting converted to OBA, so most of that hardware is also getting removed. Here you can see the two vertical pieces in place and the crap behind, which I have yet to remove.
And here it is with the winch plate in place, as well as the winch, and I’ve finally started removing the A/C system.
To get some idea how tight this is going in, here is a up close side view with everything removed. Where going to put a plate between the winch and the radiator to make sure the cable doesn’t eat into the radiator if it gets all pilled up.
With that accomplished We deiced to finally start working on plating the frame rails. Anyone who has ever had to remove the belly skid from a TNT Custom LA lift knows that it is no easy feat, since the control arms are attached to the skid plate the front axle generally wants to move forward until it hits the fenders. We finally fabbed up some extensions for Toms home-made jack stands so that we could support the front end and removed the tires from the front axle so that it could hang free. We then removed the skid and confirmed that yes, I had managed to dent a ¼” thick, reinforced skid plate. And not just a small little dent, a good 1” deflection in the center. That went into the back of my truck, and after a visit to the carwash to get it cleaned up is going to get straitened out and more reinforcement added. I’m just trying not to think about what would have become of my transmission and transfer case if it had not been there.
With that removed it was time to start plating the uni-frame. Here you can see the piece of plate that will go on the bottom driver side rail. The larger holes are for welding, the three smaller ones are for the bolts that attach the belly skid to pass through.
With the extra plating in place the existing hardware isn’t going to be long enough. After all between the after market belly skid, and the ¼” plate you have almost ½” of extra thickness. New bolts are easy enough to come by, but on each side of the vehicle one of the bolts is pre-welded into the uni-rail. That is the bolt hangs down from the uni-frame and you attach the nut instead of the other way around. Since this bolt isn’t long enough it had to come out and a new bolt welded onto the new plate. This called for Tom to break out what must be the only piece of cutting gear that hadn’t until this point been used on the XJ, his cutting torch.
Here you can see what I am rambling about, the two outer bolts will simply be replaced with longer ones, the middle one is the new one we added, we will cut it to length once we have it all back together and know what the proper length is. Also you can see the side of the rail, along with the various holes I have drilled into it in order to mount my old rock rails and the belly skid. After we finish scrapping away the undercoating we will place another piece of plate here to further strengthen, as well as to cover up this unsightly mess.
As you can see where centering the fair lead on the bumper, which mean the winch its self is a little off-center. The 8274 takes up a huge amount of room on the front and is going to block the radiator more then I would like, but it was either that or reduce the approach angles more, which we are trying to avoid. I’m a little concerned with where it is placed causing heat issues, but Tom came up with way to mount a larger radiator and mechanical fan later if it becomes an issue this summer. Anyways here is a side view.
With the placement figured out we bent and coped some tubes to connect the upper and lower tubes and give us a place to mount a faceplate since an 8274 mounts onto the front faceplate instead of down below like most winches now days. While Tom was doing that I started work removing my current transmission cooler, and the A/C system. The transmission cooler is going to be moved as far toward the passenger side as possible to try and get it out from behind the new winch, yet still in front of the mechanical fan. Later I plan on also getting a matching cooler to mount on the driver side and use as a power steering cooler. The A/C is getting converted to OBA, so most of that hardware is also getting removed. Here you can see the two vertical pieces in place and the crap behind, which I have yet to remove.
And here it is with the winch plate in place, as well as the winch, and I’ve finally started removing the A/C system.
To get some idea how tight this is going in, here is a up close side view with everything removed. Where going to put a plate between the winch and the radiator to make sure the cable doesn’t eat into the radiator if it gets all pilled up.
With that accomplished We deiced to finally start working on plating the frame rails. Anyone who has ever had to remove the belly skid from a TNT Custom LA lift knows that it is no easy feat, since the control arms are attached to the skid plate the front axle generally wants to move forward until it hits the fenders. We finally fabbed up some extensions for Toms home-made jack stands so that we could support the front end and removed the tires from the front axle so that it could hang free. We then removed the skid and confirmed that yes, I had managed to dent a ¼” thick, reinforced skid plate. And not just a small little dent, a good 1” deflection in the center. That went into the back of my truck, and after a visit to the carwash to get it cleaned up is going to get straitened out and more reinforcement added. I’m just trying not to think about what would have become of my transmission and transfer case if it had not been there.
With that removed it was time to start plating the uni-frame. Here you can see the piece of plate that will go on the bottom driver side rail. The larger holes are for welding, the three smaller ones are for the bolts that attach the belly skid to pass through.
With the extra plating in place the existing hardware isn’t going to be long enough. After all between the after market belly skid, and the ¼” plate you have almost ½” of extra thickness. New bolts are easy enough to come by, but on each side of the vehicle one of the bolts is pre-welded into the uni-rail. That is the bolt hangs down from the uni-frame and you attach the nut instead of the other way around. Since this bolt isn’t long enough it had to come out and a new bolt welded onto the new plate. This called for Tom to break out what must be the only piece of cutting gear that hadn’t until this point been used on the XJ, his cutting torch.
Here you can see what I am rambling about, the two outer bolts will simply be replaced with longer ones, the middle one is the new one we added, we will cut it to length once we have it all back together and know what the proper length is. Also you can see the side of the rail, along with the various holes I have drilled into it in order to mount my old rock rails and the belly skid. After we finish scrapping away the undercoating we will place another piece of plate here to further strengthen, as well as to cover up this unsightly mess.
Been great following your project. 
Above, are you talking about the bolt or stud that holds up the cross member on a stock setup? That just screws out which everybody does when fitting a transfercase drop and replaces it with a bolt.
As for the cooling, having thought about fitting the transcooler below the radiator like I have just done and used a Taurus fan.
Full write up about it on my site. www.go.jeep-xj.info
Above, are you talking about the bolt or stud that holds up the cross member on a stock setup? That just screws out which everybody does when fitting a transfercase drop and replaces it with a bolt.
As for the cooling, having thought about fitting the transcooler below the radiator like I have just done and used a Taurus fan.
Full write up about it on my site. www.go.jeep-xj.info
Gojeep said:Been great following your project.
Above, are you talking about the bolt or stud that holds up the cross member on a stock setup? That just screws out which everybody does when fitting a transfercase drop and replaces it with a bolt.
As for the cooling, having thought about fitting the transcooler below the radiator like I have just done and used a Taurus fan.
Full write up about it on my site. www.go.jeep-xj.info
What we’ve thought of doing is extending the radiator down so that it takes up the space the cross member takes up now, basically putting in a large square radiator instead of our rectangular one. Then we would use tube to replace the old cross member and put in a large center mounted mechanical fan from a TJ. It would be a lot of work however so the current plan is to just run it how it is for now and see what happens over the summer.
Having said that I’ve thought of a Taurus fan like the one on your sight, never thought of putting the transmission cooler down below like that though. I take it the setup works well in the Australian heat; does the Taurus fan really move all that much more air then the stock mechanical fan? My concern is that the Taurus fan wouldn’t move as much air as the mechanical, nor be as reliable, though if it works it sure would be a lot simpler then my idea. Can you give me some idea how well those two mods have worked for you
WheelinJR
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Portland, Oregon
The taurus fans are two speed and I believe are rated at more CFM than a mechanical.
The place my Jeep gets warm more than anything is when I am sitting and no air is flowing thru the Jeep with the mechanical fan. The fan spins slow at idle so it won't move much air, and of course as soon as you get moving the temp settles right back down.
The nice thing about the electric is that it spins constant so you're always getting a good cooling effect.
I would say a Taurus fan, or a good pair of smaller slimfans like these is your best choice
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Procomp-10-1250-CFM-Radiator-Cooling-Fan-street-rod_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33600QQitemZ330099552259QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
I am partial to two procomp 10" fans over one Taurus fan because your stock radiator is only about 11" tall so your focusing all of the fan blade area onto the radiator and nothing is hanging below. My plan is to use a couple of these and one of these Zirgo variable temp switches
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FAN-TEMP-SWITCH-ZIRGO-DIGITAL-ANALOG-STYLE-20-250_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ34202QQitemZ260096612853QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
Just some food for thought.
The place my Jeep gets warm more than anything is when I am sitting and no air is flowing thru the Jeep with the mechanical fan. The fan spins slow at idle so it won't move much air, and of course as soon as you get moving the temp settles right back down.
The nice thing about the electric is that it spins constant so you're always getting a good cooling effect.
I would say a Taurus fan, or a good pair of smaller slimfans like these is your best choice
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Procomp-10-1250-CFM-Radiator-Cooling-Fan-street-rod_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33600QQitemZ330099552259QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
I am partial to two procomp 10" fans over one Taurus fan because your stock radiator is only about 11" tall so your focusing all of the fan blade area onto the radiator and nothing is hanging below. My plan is to use a couple of these and one of these Zirgo variable temp switches
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FAN-TEMP-SWITCH-ZIRGO-DIGITAL-ANALOG-STYLE-20-250_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ34202QQitemZ260096612853QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
Just some food for thought.
WheelinJR said:
I can guarantee that those 10" fans will NOT work. Just to replace the mechanical fan you need a minimum of 2500 CFM PLUS the A/C fan which pulls around 1800 CFM.
The Taurus fan is very reliable and the only failure I heard from from a guy that just hard wired it so it ran all the time! The second-hand one still lasted a couple of years but not designed to run that way and is a stupid idea to do that anyway.
I found that having the cooler out of the airstream of the radiator has made a big difference so far and was always suspected that the auto was getting hot first and then putting more strain on the cooling of the radiator. One that it has to deal with hotter air flowing over the core but also the in tank auto cooler heating the coolant as well.
Taurus Fans are used a lot in anything from off road buggies to hotrods and muscle cars. I have looked at for years putting in a deeper radiator but you first have to narrow the width to get between the frame rails and then cant go low on one side due to the steering box getting in the way. You end up with a smaller radiator area rather than bigger. Just look at the what I have been told is the factory setup for a 4 cylinder 2.46L.
Gojeep said:
That’s basically what we where thinking, except the front cross member would be completely cut out, and it would be a little wider, though we had noticed the steering box was going to really limit us on the drivers side (LHD).
I like the idea of mounting the transmission cooler where you did though. Since my bumper is made of Tube there is noting to prevent air from getting to those lower holes, and it has the advantage of keeping the transmission heat away from the radiator. If I’m following your write up correctly you basically turned the fan 90 degrees so that the end with the long shroud hung down to where the cooler is mounted. It sounds so simple I’m surprised no one else has thought of it. I’m defiantly going to have to research this further. It sounds like a good inexpensive upgrade.
Yes mate that is what I did, just rotated it from horizontally to vertically. Not sure why others hadn't thought of it either but I am known for thinking outside the box.
But is also shows just how strong this fan is that those that mounted it horizontally with this fan only, and not running the A/C fan as well, still cooled well enough. I like the idea of still running both so never completely fan-less should either fail and I run often in deep sand crossing deserts and dunes while towing my camper in 100+ temps so need as much cooling as possible.
But is also shows just how strong this fan is that those that mounted it horizontally with this fan only, and not running the A/C fan as well, still cooled well enough. I like the idea of still running both so never completely fan-less should either fail and I run often in deep sand crossing deserts and dunes while towing my camper in 100+ temps so need as much cooling as possible.
WheelinJR
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Portland, Oregon
Well, two of the 10" fans are 2500cfm, and I was planning on keeping the AC puller there, which on my Jeep, only gets used a couple months of the year.
If they didn't all fit with the AC fan there, I was planning on a 3rd slimfan.
Even if the mechanical fan is pulling 2500cfm, it doesn't seem like its pulling it all thru the radiator since its hanging below it.
By the way I did your intake silencer removal thing last night. driving to work and back today, it seemed like I was on the throttle less in cruising, and it seemed a little stronger around 2k rpm. Maybe I'll luck out and gain a mile to each gallon.
If they didn't all fit with the AC fan there, I was planning on a 3rd slimfan.
Even if the mechanical fan is pulling 2500cfm, it doesn't seem like its pulling it all thru the radiator since its hanging below it.
By the way I did your intake silencer removal thing last night. driving to work and back today, it seemed like I was on the throttle less in cruising, and it seemed a little stronger around 2k rpm. Maybe I'll luck out and gain a mile to each gallon.
2xtreme
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Kayak Pt, WA
Fifo,
I am pretty sure my worm drive winch takes up significantly more room infront of the radiator than your Warn does. And living in the Northwest I have not had any issues with it either on or off road, summer or winter. As long as everything is working well I don't think your going to have any issues with the size of the radiator.
I am curious as to why you are adding all of that extra weight of the tube for fenders?
Michael
I am pretty sure my worm drive winch takes up significantly more room infront of the radiator than your Warn does. And living in the Northwest I have not had any issues with it either on or off road, summer or winter. As long as everything is working well I don't think your going to have any issues with the size of the radiator.
I am curious as to why you are adding all of that extra weight of the tube for fenders?
Michael
2xtreme said:
Two main reasons really
1) Keep the mud off me, KarlVP hasn’t built his front flares yet and gets mud thrown on him from the front tires; I would like to avoid that if possible.
2) I want to be “Street Legal”, or at least enough so that when driving around near the trail the cop can look the other way if he’s so inclined. I’m thinking of trips like running to the lake for a swim when camping, or into town for some ice. Or just when the best place to leave the tow rig is a couple miles from the trail I want to run and I have to run on the roads for a few miles.
I don’t think it will add that much weight. I can pick up an entire 24 foot piece of 1.5” myself and I’m not exactly a buff guy, I doubt the flares will take up that much. The fact that it will keep mud off me, which in turn will let me enjoy myself more, is worth the weight gain alone, at least to me. That’s the great thing about building your own cage; everyone can build it to there own preference so that they get the most enjoyment out of it.
The plan is on only making them about 6 inches wide so that they will cover my current 10.5” tires. Then when I go to a wider tire I can extend them using those rubber flare extenders they make for farm equipment. That way the only part I’m likely to hit on stuff is the rubber part which will give, yet it will still keep the mud off, and be legal…….ish
We got started on adding some plate to the uni-frame this weekend. Though since it’s almost all welding, I mostly watched Tom work. In other words he probably only got half as much work done as he would have if I wasn’t standing around “helping”. Well at least I got a few pictures, and hopefully by next weekend Tom will have these welded in so that I can fab up the lower connecting tube. The plan is to run 4 short 2” pieces per side from the lower cage tube to this new plate in order to help tie in the new cage with the old structure.
Here you can see the first couple welds done on the lower plate, as well as my fabulous job scraping off the under coating. The small wholes you see in the plate are for welding. I would describe it more but there’s a very good reason Tom is the one doing all the welding at this point. He’s the only one with a clue how to do it! Later when we get to some less crucial welds he’s planning on showing me how, but until then I’ll just watch and learn.
Here is the side plate going on, the four smaller wholes are for mounting my T&T Belly pan, and the larger whole will be filled with weld. like the ones on the bottom piece.
The whole time Tom was welding these supports in place he kept mumbling something about having to build a frame since the Jeep Engineers forgot too; I suspect he may have just been admiring the fine engineering that goes into an XJ, allowing it to forgo one of those archaic frame thingies. However since I basically sat back and watched at this point, here is a pick of Tom working.
I just think that picture looks cool. Well since I wasn’t really doing anything but get in Tom’s way I took off at this point and went home. Most of the work for a little while is going to consist of Tom permanently welding in all the pieces we have constructed up until this point as me making a few small pieces here and there.
Here you can see the first couple welds done on the lower plate, as well as my fabulous job scraping off the under coating. The small wholes you see in the plate are for welding. I would describe it more but there’s a very good reason Tom is the one doing all the welding at this point. He’s the only one with a clue how to do it! Later when we get to some less crucial welds he’s planning on showing me how, but until then I’ll just watch and learn.
Here is the side plate going on, the four smaller wholes are for mounting my T&T Belly pan, and the larger whole will be filled with weld. like the ones on the bottom piece.
The whole time Tom was welding these supports in place he kept mumbling something about having to build a frame since the Jeep Engineers forgot too; I suspect he may have just been admiring the fine engineering that goes into an XJ, allowing it to forgo one of those archaic frame thingies. However since I basically sat back and watched at this point, here is a pick of Tom working.
I just think that picture looks cool. Well since I wasn’t really doing anything but get in Tom’s way I took off at this point and went home. Most of the work for a little while is going to consist of Tom permanently welding in all the pieces we have constructed up until this point as me making a few small pieces here and there.
Well, after a long hiatus we finally got back to work on the XJ. First thing to do was to make the center B pillar to B Pillar bar that will give any rear seat passengers something to grab on to, provide a place to attach the seat belts, as well as provide a little more support to the structure.
I’m contemplating doing some kind of additional “^” or “x” here for more strength but am concerned with reducing the rear seat leg-room, which would make the rear seat not really that useful, and defeat the point of all the work we have gone through to keep it.
With that completed and after a fine Diner provided by Tom’s girl friend Penny I pulled out the coper and made the little stand offs I wanted for the lower sides. The main point of the upper 1.5” tube is to provide a 6” lip to keep things from rolling out of the rig, though with the stand offs in place I figure it will provide some additions support to the lower 2” tube, which is always a good thing. Plus I just think it looks cool.
Tom spent most of the night on his back under the rig welding in the plates that are going onto the Uni-frame rails. Fortunately he completed that job since it turned out to be a lot more work then I was thinking. With that out of the way he got to work straitening the belly skid. Originally we had planed on using the 20 ton press, but it turned that it would be easier to simply heat it up and then use some C clamps to make it strait again.
GaryTJ said we could harden the metal by heating it all up, and then rapidly cooling it, so naturally I tried to get Tom to heat it up so that we could throw the whole thing into his bath tub, but he wouldn’t go for it. Oh well, he has to go to work sometime and I’m sure if I ask Penny’s son Mike he will give me the key to the shop. Now I wonder if it will fit in the oven………….
I’m contemplating doing some kind of additional “^” or “x” here for more strength but am concerned with reducing the rear seat leg-room, which would make the rear seat not really that useful, and defeat the point of all the work we have gone through to keep it.
With that completed and after a fine Diner provided by Tom’s girl friend Penny I pulled out the coper and made the little stand offs I wanted for the lower sides. The main point of the upper 1.5” tube is to provide a 6” lip to keep things from rolling out of the rig, though with the stand offs in place I figure it will provide some additions support to the lower 2” tube, which is always a good thing. Plus I just think it looks cool.
Tom spent most of the night on his back under the rig welding in the plates that are going onto the Uni-frame rails. Fortunately he completed that job since it turned out to be a lot more work then I was thinking. With that out of the way he got to work straitening the belly skid. Originally we had planed on using the 20 ton press, but it turned that it would be easier to simply heat it up and then use some C clamps to make it strait again.
GaryTJ said we could harden the metal by heating it all up, and then rapidly cooling it, so naturally I tried to get Tom to heat it up so that we could throw the whole thing into his bath tub, but he wouldn’t go for it. Oh well, he has to go to work sometime and I’m sure if I ask Penny’s son Mike he will give me the key to the shop. Now I wonder if it will fit in the oven………….
FiFo said:
Unfortunately, it isn't that simple. Plain carbon steel will not harden that way.
There is a process for hardening plain carbon steel, but I doubt you have the equipment in your bath tub.
You would have to get it much hotter than any kitchen oven could get it anyway.
Over the week Tom (tomsbrokeagain) reinforced my skid plate with some square tube in an effort to keep it from bending again, only time will tell if it will stand up to the abuse I routinely put it through.
With that done, Tom got to work welding the cage structure together on a more permanent bases. If nothing else we know that even before he welded everything together the cage would hold one slightly “full bodied” young welder.
Will Tom was on top of the rig, I was down below making the eight supports (four per side) that will connect the new tube frame with the newly plated Uni-Rail. Here you can see the rear most one on the driver side. Where going to use some plate to reinforce the spring mount and tie it into this support member.
Here’s a picture of all four done on the driver side. Tom has declared that I now officially have a frame.
With that job done I turned my attention to the rear most spring mount. Tom had the idea of boxing it in and tying it into the original rear bumper mount. We figure there already there so we might as well use them for something. Here you can see it from the rear, the side and front is also covered with this plate and the whole thing is going to be welded together. And if nothing else it kept me out of Tom’s hair while I made it.
With that out of the way I finished the tube work on the rear bumper. The two pieces of tube are 2 ½ inches apart so that we can weld a receiver hitch in the center.
Finally Karl (KarlVP) borrowed my TSLs to go wheeling this weekend so he put his balding 33x12.5 on in there place. Here’s a pic that gives some idea just how far a 12.5 wide tire sticks out from the now narrower body.
With that done, Tom got to work welding the cage structure together on a more permanent bases. If nothing else we know that even before he welded everything together the cage would hold one slightly “full bodied” young welder.
Will Tom was on top of the rig, I was down below making the eight supports (four per side) that will connect the new tube frame with the newly plated Uni-Rail. Here you can see the rear most one on the driver side. Where going to use some plate to reinforce the spring mount and tie it into this support member.
Here’s a picture of all four done on the driver side. Tom has declared that I now officially have a frame.
With that job done I turned my attention to the rear most spring mount. Tom had the idea of boxing it in and tying it into the original rear bumper mount. We figure there already there so we might as well use them for something. Here you can see it from the rear, the side and front is also covered with this plate and the whole thing is going to be welded together. And if nothing else it kept me out of Tom’s hair while I made it.
With that out of the way I finished the tube work on the rear bumper. The two pieces of tube are 2 ½ inches apart so that we can weld a receiver hitch in the center.
Finally Karl (KarlVP) borrowed my TSLs to go wheeling this weekend so he put his balding 33x12.5 on in there place. Here’s a pic that gives some idea just how far a 12.5 wide tire sticks out from the now narrower body.
