Dicks Divorce Causing XJ Build

[kastein]

That's what I did... $35 plus whatever the wiring harness cost me to get, the one on the junker was too corroded to use.

Neat trick for getting the bolts into the frame rail - stick some fluxcore/mig wire to the tip of the bolt and use it to fish it in. I would have used the regular string method but it was late at night, I had a fluxcore gun in my hand, was pissed off and in a hurry, and couldn't reach the roll of string. Using wire actually makes starting the nuts onto the bolts a bit easier.

 

[bigalpha]

Mine was about the same price for the hitch i pulled for my MJ

 

[dick.breakey]

alright. 3 weeks from ordering everything. list has gotten smaller, but better i think.

picked up some D windows this last weekend. 15x8 style. so ive finally settled on the RC 4.5 x-series lift with an upgraded(and cause mine im sure is trashed) steering stabalizer, kuhmo kl71 33x12.50(cant beat 728 shipped to my door). and ive got some 2x6 square stock going into the rockers. ill also be getting a hitch and some tow hooks for the front for now. bumpers will be later on. this is enough money for one weekend haha. oh and Aussie has their lockers on backorder for forever. another 3 weeks at least. that will be coming for the 8.25 ive got in the garage now.




so right now, ive got the rear suspension coming undone. axle is gone. shocks are coming out. relocators are going in. and im gonna try and get the leafs out. i didnt have the right size sockets when i tried this weekend. so im gonna go buy some and tackle it again. ive got 3 weeks to get the leafs out. any ideas on how to do it if they dont just come out? and how do the front ones mount? i only see the bolt and no nut cause it goes into the unibody frame rails. is there a nut welded inside the rail?

 

[kastein]

21mm socket should do it. The nut is indeed welded inside that pocket on the side of the rail... the one for mounting the shackle is the same.

Expect it to take a lot of torque to break them free (I braced against the front wheel and was pulling as hard as I could with both hands on a 20" breaker bar.) Hopefully you won't break the bolts themselves, or the welds holding the nuts in - I got lucky on my rot-box and the bolts came out fine.

 

[dick.breakey]

yeah i broke one side free. they are two different size bolts. ive got the right size for one side of the rear shackel but that 21 i dont have. i happen to have a 20 and a 22 and a 23 and a 24. but no 21 haha. on the one ive kinda got loose, i used a wrench, and breaker bar and my leg to turn the bolt. very slow process.

 

[kastein]

They should all be the same size unless some idiot previous owner used the wrong size... try SAE sizes maybe? Whatever fits on a 9/16 bolt is probably a good guess.

A foot or two of extension bars and a ratchet makes quicker work of it. After a couple turns they should be loose enough to use your hands instead of feet.

 

[dick.breakey]

yeah i dont doubt some dumb ass po messing with it. the lower bolt on the rear shackle is smaller than the nut thats on it. thats where i have the multiple sizes. but i dunno. im going to Rausch Creek with a buddy this weekend so i wont progress much for another week after.

 

[92xjunk]

If you have a really hard time try soaking every thing in wd40 or what ever you use every day for like a week.
You dont want to snap any of the bolts, and they sieze in the eye of the bushings.
I had one thread all the way out of the nut in the "frame". Then I couldnt get it out of the spring.
I ended up having to cut it and the other side the bolt broke right where it starts to taper down.
I had to cut the spring out and drill the bout out of the nut in the "frame" then retap it.
Talk about a pita! Good luck!

 

[bigalpha]

WD40 is not a penetrating lubricant.

 

[kastein]

If you have a really hard time try soaking every thing in wd40 or what ever you use every day for like a week.
You dont want to snap any of the bolts, and they sieze in the eye of the bushings.
I had one thread all the way out of the nut in the "frame". Then I couldnt get it out of the spring.
I ended up having to cut it and the other side the bolt broke right where it starts to taper down.
I had to cut the spring out and drill the bout out of the nut in the "frame" then retap it.
Talk about a pita! Good luck!

yeah, my driver side shackle did this... the bolt seized into the shackle bushing sleeve. I ended up using my angle grinder and dremel to cut off the shackle, then chopped off the bushing itself and cut into the sleeve opposite the seam until I could pry it open slightly with a flat blade screwdriver, that broke the rust open enough that I was able to unscrew the bolt out of it.

Keep an eye on them while unscrewing the bolts - if the bushing is seized you want to stop messing with it and cut the spring/shackle/bushing off the bolt before you go any further, otherwise it will screw up the leaf or shackle mount or wallow out the bolt hole. Ask me how I know.

 

[warwagon98xj]

thanks for the info. i found a 44 for 300obo from a 87 xj. ill keep an eye out over the next few weeks for a cheap 44 or 8.25.

and i think ivee decided on a tire. wrangler mtr with kelvar. 32x11.50x15

dick in the trails in and around pitsburgh and pa in general mtrs are major suckfest in mud if its just a wheeling rig look at swamper ltbs i have the 33 13.50 and they rock

 

[dick.breakey]

haha. ive changed my mind so many times when it comes to tires its ridiculous. im now 100% set(barring a sweet deal on CL) on the kuhmo kl71. while yes, this is a wheeling rig and not a dd, Ill be driving this some pretty long distances to wheel and i dont want to be jarred to death.

 

[kastein]

You can fit 4 33s in the back, put the stockers back on for the drive to the trail :gee:

 

[dick.breakey]

haha. i need the space for camping gear and my storage box and tools. so no swapping tires for me.


yall ever hear or run the pittbull rocker tires? i hear good things but im unsure about them.

 

[sunburned]

Rockers are amazing tires, two guys I wheel with have the 39.5" bias plys and they grip everything. I almost got the 35" radials, but they were too pricey.

 

[dick.breakey]

theyre so damn wide. theyre gonna be too wide for what im doing. im gonna go with some x-terrain 33x12.50s since the tire i want is out of stock all over the damn place

 

[dick.breakey]

ok so i ordered this front hitch and these rubber flexy flares.figured even if the flares fail horribly, its worth the try for the price.

and i have a hitch being picked locally for the rear.


im so pissed about the kl71 not being in stock anywhere. so as i said im gonna get some 33x12.50 pro comp x-terrains @ 201 a piece. those and my lift and my steering stabalizer are 1558 shipped. that will leave me enough to get it registered and inspected and then also get my new rocker/sliders burned in.

hopefully my plans dont change again.

 

[H8PVMT]

just say no to procomps

 

[austinaubinoe]

just say no to procomps

X2 I think I would buy retreads of procomps, but to each there own of course.

 

[dick.breakey]

just say no to procomps

haha. i hear good and bad things about every tire.

X2 I think I would buy retreads of procomps, but to each there own of course.

and i was thinking of retreads, but i dont trust the sidewalls. and i know people have said that about procomps as well, but i havent heard it being an issue in a long time. and i changed the tire for one last time haha. using the extreme mud terrains.