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Backyard Customs XJ Build

another thing to consider is the castor. . . did you end up welding the shims on the spring perches?
 
jasonsxj said:
call me stupid but why would you want to go from coils to leafs??? seems to me you are going backwards in offroad capabilaties ?? or not ?? cant spell !!
Click to expand...
easy to install. not much fab. and it's cheap.
 
It looks like you have the skills to fab anything you want... maybe I missed it, but why didn't you go with a shackle reverse set-up? and full width shackles? these considerations, as long as everything else is tight , including ball joints, might help eliminate dw.
 
i would do a shackle reverse setup otherwise first rock ledge you approach will put your leafs/dshaft in a bind.
 
whitneyj said:
another thing to consider is the castor. . . did you end up welding the shims on the spring perches?
Click to expand...

I havent added the shims on yet. I am still seeing how Im going to make the front driveshaft work before I put any shims in place. Right now the castor is 6.5* towards the back of the jeep.

muddyrocks said:
It looks like you have the skills to fab anything you want... maybe I missed it, but why didn't you go with a shackle reverse set-up? and full width shackles? these considerations, as long as everything else is tight , including ball joints, might help eliminate dw.
Click to expand...

I went with the regular shackle setup because it is a low pinion front and I needed to use a long shackle for my desired height. I dont know what you mean by full width shackles. Everything in the front end is tight; I just dont have a panhard bar or steering stabilizer installed yet.

256offroad said:
i would do a shackle reverse setup otherwise first rock ledge you approach will put your leafs/dshaft in a bind.
Click to expand...

Although I dont think my jeep will see many rock ledges, I have thought about this situation. Once I save up for a winch, I will modify the current front bumper for the winch to sit inside between the front hangers and then enclose the bumper.

Thanks for the comments people. I should be getting some more actions here in the next couple days if things go right.
 
6.5* is fine for caster
 
hydro assist or full hydro will fix that death wobble. other than that. i wouldnt put a front trac bar on it. they really dont do much other than limit your flex.
 
Finally got my Death Wobble problem under control. It ended up being one of the tires.

The rims I had on the jeep were a little bit bent so I switched the tires over to 15x8 rims and added 15 oz of airsoft bb's. The jeep drove pretty good this time but still had some DW and I could accelerate up to 55 MPH with a slight shimmy. After this I rotated the front and rear tires and went for a ride. The jeep drove beautiful except for the bounce in the rear from the one bogger.

Now I just need to get a front driveshaft installed then I can go out and test it !
 
my front ds has been a bear, i'm not going to the everglades this weekend, probably another month out to have 4wd.

that part fits great, the case needs to be clocked down for it to work for me, i am going to buy a 231 T case housing from the junky and put all my 241 guts inside that, that'll clock it down to the stock cherokee location for the t case, hopefully sloving all my problems, we'll see :)
 
you cant redrill the case, there is no material, and redrilling the tranny would clock it up where the holes are available.

need to, have to get a different case, a clocking ring is 62 dollars, the piece of tcase i needs is going to be like 10 bucks.
 
256offroad said:
i would do a shackle reverse setup otherwise first rock ledge you approach will put your leafs/dshaft in a bind.
Click to expand...

NOT.
have a look at yj's etc. i had zero issues with front driveshaft and so on.
a shackle reversal has LOTS of adverse affects, as have been discussed to death on yj forums. a good shackle setup up front can be a lot better for rock climbing, as well as saving the driveshaft from bottoming out into the t/case. with a reversal, the axle will actually back away from the rock you are trying to climb. up front the shackles will push into it. only place a reversal is a good idea is on road, as it allows the shackle to naturally arc rearwards. other than that 1 benefit, which is not a massive difference, there are no others. i have driven both setups, and wheel with people that have done it. find one that is honest and they will say it is not worth the aggrevation and work invloved to do a CORRECT shackle reversal. i speak purely from personal experience BTW.
you may want to do some serious reading and get some first hand experience before posting stuff like that up. i would however highly recommend some mountain offroad boomerang shackles. they will stop the springs from inverting in the few instances they will want to. happened to me 1 time, and i do some pretty extreme rock action.

martin
 
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leftlanetruckin said:
NOT.
have a look at yj's etc. i had zero issues with front driveshaft and so on.
a shackle reversal has LOTS of adverse affects, as have been discussed to death on yj forums. a good shackle setup up front can be a lot better for rock climbing, as well as saving the driveshaft from bottoming out into the t/case. with a reversal, the axle will actually back away from the rock you are trying to climb. up front the shackles will push into it. only place a reversal is a good idea is on road, as it allows the shackle to naturally arc rearwards. other than that 1 benefit, which is not a massive difference, there are no others. i have driven both setups, and wheel with people that have done it. find one that is honest and they will say it is not worth the aggrevation and work invloved to do a CORRECT shackle reversal. i speak purely from personal experience BTW.
you may want to do some serious reading and get some first hand experience before posting stuff like that up. i would however highly recommend some mountain offroad boomerang shackles. they will stop the springs from inverting in the few instances they will want to. happened to me 1 time, and i do some pretty extreme rock action.

martin
Click to expand...

X2 on all you said, but be a little gentler. The kindness is why I prefer NAXJA to those "other forums.":peace: Some vehicles with really bad steering setups for onroad (like FJ40's) really benefit from SR's... this setup really wouldn't.

Nice job overall on the rig. Have you thought about a YJ type shackle and mount? It might be stiffer and more stable overall in a front setup.
 
REVROK said:
X2 on all you said, but be a little gentler. The kindness is why I prefer NAXJA to those "other forums.":peace: Some vehicles with really bad steering setups for onroad (like FJ40's) really benefit from SR's... this setup really wouldn't.

Nice job overall on the rig. Have you thought about a YJ type shackle and mount? It might be stiffer and more stable overall in a front setup.
Click to expand...

if i came off all "piratish" i am sorry! never meant to. no flaming intended, just ticks me off when bad/incorrect info is posted is all.
again, sorry if i came off as an ass!:flipoff:

martin
 
Well the Death Wobble has come back to haunt me once again.

I changed out the transmission mount for a new one and it raised up my tcase which now sits at 0* like it should. I take it for a ride to see what difference it makes and all I get is DW at 35 MPH up until about 45MPH, if I stab the brakes or just throttle through the DW goes away. Not really sure exactly what is causing this but I know it someone has a connection with the tranny mount I replaced.

I will be working some on it tomorrow if I get a chance so Ill be sure to post if I find any solutions.
 
that is starting to sound like a harmonic balance issue.
wheels/tires, driveshaft etc. basically something that turns and has to be balanced.
i have personally never had a wobble issue caused by a tranny mount, but there is a first for everything i guess.
i would be looking at all other suspension and steering geometry, wheel/tire balancing, as well as driveshaft angles/balance.

good luck

martin
 
I plan on going to a local driveshaft shop and see what the guy can do for me. I am also going to bring it to my uncles shop so he can do an alignment.

Hopefully that will solve all the problems.
 
i ended up just buying a caster/camber gauge from summit.
trying to get a shop to loosen all the long arms to adjust them would be funny to watch, but near on impossible IMO.
one of the best tools i have bought me thinks, works with anything after all...

martin
 
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