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bought someones hackjob (in over my head)

kastein said:
Exactly what I was thinking - add in the V8, and the fact that it appears to run already, and you're ahead of the game.

As for the front coils - well, just take out as much as you want to lower it (probably cut the coil buckets down to almost no height except the base/retainer) and see what that gets you.
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Pretty sure the 4.3 is a v6.
 
go1lum said:
Pretty sure the 4.3 is a v6.
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there is a pretty good chance it is, I didn't research it at all before posting :dunce: and I'm a retard when it comes to motors.

EDIT: you are correct. It is a V6 based off the chevy 350 V8, according to wikipedia.
 
go1lum said:
Pretty sure the 4.3 is a v6.
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Correct. I am not sure how it pans out on paper but it seems but have quite a bit more power than the 4.0.

The front axle seems to really be the easiest fix. By just simply cutting out the extra metal being used to lift the coils I should be able to get the height down to where it needs to be. Shorting the drag link and track bar is not rocket science and I should be able to measure, cut, and sleeve it and be back on my way. I do need to redo the frame mount for the track bar as it has been so loose for so long it has wallowed out the hole. That is just grinding that off and welding a new one in place. I have a welder but no plasma cutter. That is why I am limited to what I can fab. After getting a new install kit for the 14 bolt and the shackle relocation brackets I should be good to go on the rear. New cross member and the above mentioned on the front and I don't see what could be keeping it from being a capable wheeler?
 
lowrange2 said:
Was this thing being driven on the road?!
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I do not believe so. I ran into the guy on the tails and he gave me this ghetto trailer when i bought it too so I am sure he was trailering it to the trails. I know he only owned it for a few months before I got it. No telling how many hands this thing has been through. It looks like maybe at some point it was built right and then fell into the wrong hands where it got butchered into its current state.
 
dude all in all i think u got a good deal. the 4.3 d300 14 botl and front 44 is a decent setup. yeah the suspension is hacked but who cares fixit and u should be able to smash out no problem. why do u want to go 40's on it. thats a little big. u can just hack off everything and go with a bolt on 6.5 or 8'' lift. and run 36 or 38 tires. imo suspension is the easy part. just got to start over. are u gonna be geared for 40's or are u just gonna slap em on and say XXXX it. if u dont know much about fab or suspension take it to a local offroad shop and have them guide u through it. it will be way easier to figure out a plan of attack. dont get me wrong the guys on here are great but there are 100 different ideas about suspensions and u can get confused really quick. eitherway man i think u got a good deal and u had a good foundation to build off of. good luck and post up your progress.
 
I have no visions of running Moab or anything like that. As stated before this would see more mud and light trails than anything else. We do have an offroad park about three hours away but there isn't anything major there that I would be attempting. My leaf springs and long arms on my other XJ are working great! At least for the level of wheeling I am doing. If I could just replicate on a slightly larger level I would be very satisfied. I don't know what gears are in it but they are deep. I was told that the 36s were put on it for the last change of ownership and that it had 44" boggers on it before. No way it would even remotely turn those without some sort of gears. I would like to loose some sheet metal and go with big tires and keep it somewhat low. The tires aren't that expensive. I thought about doing something in the 38" range but we will see how the built goes and I might change my mind from there. With the axles being full width I would like to run a larger tire because I will still be able to keep my center of gravity low. Thanks again for eveyones input. At the end of the month I will be ordering a good bit to begin the revamp.
 
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devildog12210 said:
I have a welder but no plasma cutter. That is why I am limited to what I can fab.
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Find a local guy with a small welding business. The one I use charges $40/hr and loves working for cash on Saturday morning. You would be amazed at how much you can get cut-out in 1/2 hour if you have it marked-out before you get there. Most times the piece just has to be close, then you can fine tune with a grinder when you get back home. That and your welder could decrease your fab abilities to near 0.
 
You're gonna need: New springs all around, a new properly designed cross member, probably new driveshafts, possibly shorten/ replace control arms. Oh, and take a sledgehammer to those blocks before some mall crawler is tempted to use them :D
 
This made me think of last week when I saw an early 80s blazer on 44" boggers sitting on the side of the road with 3 wheels still left on it. I stopped to help. Come to find out he had sheered all of the wheels studs off while going 55mph down the road. Wheels came off and sparks started to fly. I can't believe he didn't roll it. It probably had 2 foot of lift on it.
 
lowrange2 said:
This made me think of last week when I saw an early 80s blazer on 44" boggers sitting on the side of the road with 3 wheels still left on it. I stopped to help. Come to find out he had sheered all of the wheels studs off while going 55mph down the road. Wheels came off and sparks started to fly. I can't believe he didn't roll it. It probably had 2 foot of lift on it.
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Gotta love 44s on 1/2 ton running gear.
 
jeeperjohn said:
You're gonna need: New springs all around
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why all around, once he chops down those abortions called coil buckets i think the front springs will suit him just fine. the leafs are obviously a different story seeing how they appear to be stock leafs.... what an odd decision on the PO part
 
back by popular demand. The blocks will be in the classifieds for $1800 if anyone wants them. That includes the funeral arrangements as well as the casket. Shoot me a PM if interested. I also included a shot of the front coil set up. With the "coil lift" off and the spacer removed I think it will be perfect! This is all riding on how the coils sit. I am thinking about running the F150 leaves with the overload removed and seeing where that puts me. I think that would bring me down at least 6" or so and should still leave me plenty for the size tires I want to run. I am also seriously debating on cutting the rear portion down as it has no windows in the back anyway and the rear hatch is just butchered from what appears like it was pushed out of a whole by another truck. Oh and check out the u bolts!!! They are a regular u bolt with sections of all thread welded to them!

IMG_0846.jpg

IMG_0847.jpg

IMG_0850.jpg

IMG_0851.jpg
 
Wow. Just... Wow.

Out of curiosity, what diameter are those rear brakes? I'm guessing somewhere in the neighbourhood of 13". Could be that if you're still using the stock master cylinder and booster, the proportioning valve simply cannot actuate anything that size.
 
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