DJ's TJ: Low and Slow
- Thread starter Dev
- Start date
Tank dropped!
It feels soooo good to finally see some results of the rear.
This tank is decievingly massive when it's sitting in front of me. I'm glad I'm getting rid of it. It's been a giant boat anchor on the trail.
Here's the wheel sitting at 110" of wheelbase which has been my goal since the start. At 110" my rear tires are past my bumper by about 2" which I think is perfect. I'll build a different bumper later on which will probably stick out slightly more. I'm real happy.
It feels soooo good to finally see some results of the rear.
This tank is decievingly massive when it's sitting in front of me. I'm glad I'm getting rid of it. It's been a giant boat anchor on the trail.
Here's the wheel sitting at 110" of wheelbase which has been my goal since the start. At 110" my rear tires are past my bumper by about 2" which I think is perfect. I'll build a different bumper later on which will probably stick out slightly more. I'm real happy.
I removed the rear corner armor for the first time and found an old sticker on the tub. Apparently this jeep was in Virginia before it wound up in SC where I bought it from. Pretty damn cool.
I tacked a temporary crossmember to hold the frame rails together and lopped off the rear section of the frame. My dad swung by to help me out with this. I live closer to him now so it's awesome to finally get an extra hand when I need it.
I placed an order from Motobilt for some blank armor and a couple other goodies. I always plan my big purchases around Black Friday so this is the time of year I get excited for.
I tacked a temporary crossmember to hold the frame rails together and lopped off the rear section of the frame. My dad swung by to help me out with this. I live closer to him now so it's awesome to finally get an extra hand when I need it.
I placed an order from Motobilt for some blank armor and a couple other goodies. I always plan my big purchases around Black Friday so this is the time of year I get excited for.
First post in a while! I've been spending every minute I have after work in the garage so I've been too busy to post anything. The rear frame section is complete, my suspension geometry has been set up and all of the link tabs are burnt in. I'm almost completely done with the cage as well, I just have a few more tubes to place for additional strength. Once I get some paint on everything I'll post it here. The 14 bolt is also pretty much done. I got the locker in and gears set up last night.
In the meantime, I wanted to share this since this took a little time out of my build. My buddy invited me to KOH with him and a few others. I haven't been to KOH yet so I definitely had to see what it was like. We were taking his '89 Comanche out there and it needed a little work. We literally worked on it up until the night of the race so we got there around midnight and had some fun on the trails til 4am. We went two weekends in a row and it was a BLAST! Seeing a bunch of different badass rigs definitely gave me inspiration to get straight in the garage when I got home and continue on the jeep.
Anyway, here's one of the items I checked off on his jeep. He used to have his seats mounted to the floor in the cab so he gave me full freedom to design seat mounts that were built into the cage. Here's what I came up with. This is all 1" x .120 wall DOM.
... I also added vertical tubes to the main cage and a harness bar behind the seats (not pictured).
Have 3 Xmas trees tied down in the bed, ready to be burnt in the desert.
I had the privilege of riding bitch up backdoor in my buddy's XJ.
Here's a picture of us getting wild on blueberry
Dirtnation was there when we showed up to the trail so we got featured on their video. We all show up at the 11:00 minute mark... Btw I want to mention that this Comanche was absolutely pristine when he bought it. No dents, full interior, not a scratch on it
Here are a few shots to sum up my first KOH trip. It was wild. I am definitely going back every year if I'm able to.
Here's the poor Comanche at the end of the trip. We sent her a little hard.
We also didn't have time to install both rear shocks before our trip so we were only running this one. Here it is after the carnage. Completely blew it out.
While we were walking to hammer town I spotted these treps for sale. I snapped a pic of them and didn't think much of it. The next week I contacted the guy to see if he'd part just the tires and we ended up making a deal! 40" STICKIES with about 2000 road miles on them. He brought them to my house and I gave him $2600! That was a deal I could not pass on. I'm thinking about buying another set of beadlocks for these so I'll have a desert tire set and a road/big bear tire set.
In the meantime, I wanted to share this since this took a little time out of my build. My buddy invited me to KOH with him and a few others. I haven't been to KOH yet so I definitely had to see what it was like. We were taking his '89 Comanche out there and it needed a little work. We literally worked on it up until the night of the race so we got there around midnight and had some fun on the trails til 4am. We went two weekends in a row and it was a BLAST! Seeing a bunch of different badass rigs definitely gave me inspiration to get straight in the garage when I got home and continue on the jeep.
Anyway, here's one of the items I checked off on his jeep. He used to have his seats mounted to the floor in the cab so he gave me full freedom to design seat mounts that were built into the cage. Here's what I came up with. This is all 1" x .120 wall DOM.
... I also added vertical tubes to the main cage and a harness bar behind the seats (not pictured).
Have 3 Xmas trees tied down in the bed, ready to be burnt in the desert.
I had the privilege of riding bitch up backdoor in my buddy's XJ.
Here's a picture of us getting wild on blueberry
Dirtnation was there when we showed up to the trail so we got featured on their video. We all show up at the 11:00 minute mark... Btw I want to mention that this Comanche was absolutely pristine when he bought it. No dents, full interior, not a scratch on it
Here are a few shots to sum up my first KOH trip. It was wild. I am definitely going back every year if I'm able to.
Here's the poor Comanche at the end of the trip. We sent her a little hard.
We also didn't have time to install both rear shocks before our trip so we were only running this one. Here it is after the carnage. Completely blew it out.
While we were walking to hammer town I spotted these treps for sale. I snapped a pic of them and didn't think much of it. The next week I contacted the guy to see if he'd part just the tires and we ended up making a deal! 40" STICKIES with about 2000 road miles on them. He brought them to my house and I gave him $2600! That was a deal I could not pass on. I'm thinking about buying another set of beadlocks for these so I'll have a desert tire set and a road/big bear tire set.
First post in a while! I've been spending every minute I have after work in the garage so I've been too busy to post anything. The rear frame section is complete, my suspension geometry has been set up and all of the link tabs are burnt in. I'm almost completely done with the cage as well, I just have a few more tubes to place for additional strength. Once I get some paint on everything I'll post it here. The 14 bolt is also pretty much done. I got the locker in and gears set up last night.
In the meantime, I wanted to share this since this took a little time out of my build. My buddy invited me to KOH with him and a few others. I haven't been to KOH yet so I definitely had to see what it was like. We were taking his '89 Comanche out there and it needed a little work. We literally worked on it up until the night of the race so we got there around midnight and had some fun on the trails til 4am. We went two weekends in a row and it was a BLAST! Seeing a bunch of different badass rigs definitely gave me inspiration to get straight in the garage when I got home and continue on the jeep.
Anyway, here's one of the items I checked off on his jeep. He used to have his seats mounted to the floor in the cab so he gave me full freedom to design seat mounts that were built into the cage. Here's what I came up with. This is all 1" x .120 wall DOM.
... I also added vertical tubes to the main cage and a harness bar behind the seats (not pictured).
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View attachment 594981
Have 3 Xmas trees tied down in the bed, ready to be burnt in the desert.
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I had the privilege of riding bitch up backdoor in my buddy's XJ.
View attachment 594982
Here's a picture of us getting wild on blueberry
View attachment 594987
Dirtnation was there when we showed up to the trail so we got featured on their video. We all show up at the 11:00 minute mark... Btw I want to mention that this Comanche was absolutely pristine when he bought it. No dents, full interior, not a scratch on it
Here are a few shots to sum up my first KOH trip. It was wild. I am definitely going back every year if I'm able to.
View attachment 594984
View attachment 594986
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Here's the poor Comanche at the end of the trip. We sent her a little hard.
View attachment 594980
View attachment 594979
We also didn't have time to install both rear shocks before our trip so we were only running this one. Here it is after the carnage. Completely blew it out.
View attachment 594978
While we were walking to hammer town I spotted these treps for sale. I snapped a pic of them and didn't think much of it. The next week I contacted the guy to see if he'd part just the tires and we ended up making a deal! 40" STICKIES with about 2000 road miles on them. He brought them to my house and I gave him $2600! That was a deal I could not pass on. I'm thinking about buying another set of beadlocks for these so I'll have a desert tire set and a road/big bear tire set.
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Damn, Skippy - good deal. I just bought 5 of those new.
Cage work looks great.
Wheeeew someone spent some $$$. How much did you get em for? I can only find them for $1360 each
$889 before tax. Picked them up at Goforth Tire in East TN. Scott Goforth moves a bunch of off-road rubber.
I've been making MASSIVE progress on the ol' gal and I can't wait to show her off, but I need to take a step back and show you guys the progress along the way. We left off cutting the rear frame section out so let's continue from there..
I used the same 2x4x3/16" square tubing to build the new frame section as I did on the front. I wanted the rear tube to be just under the tailgate so I cut the factory frame level with that line and simply went straight back to it. I tacked the 3 square tubes together, used a piece of spare tube to hold everything together and finish welded it out of the jeep.
Here's a pic of how I cut the body. I'm not a huge fan of a true comp cut so this is what I've had in mind for a while. It allows me to keep a little bit of fender behind the tire whenever I get around to building fenders.
After paint..
I know I had some fishplates left over that I used on the front but I couldn't find them after my move so I designed some new ones, and they fit this area a lot better than the other ones would have.
And just like the front, I used some 3/16" plate to make up the gap between the two different widths of frame tubing.
With the rear frame section welded back on the jeep it was time to input some 4 link numbers into the calculator and build the suspension. I don't have a pic of the calculator screen but my official AS% was 92% which was around my goal. I also decided to build a single triangulated rear instead of double due to the better roll axis and roll center angles. Overall going with single triangulation will make the jeep feel real stable.
I was planning on designing my own link brackets but ultimately decided to just order them from Motobilt. I'm a big fan of what they do so I'll support the businesses when I can.
I welded some plates to the back upper tabs to spread the load to the thin factory frame.
The Motobilt lower axle mounts don't come with skid plates and that's a pet peeve of mine so I got some made.
For the lower frame mounts I used the same Barnes mounts as I used on the front. Here's the axle and wheel mocked up. I was aiming for 108-110" of wheelbase. After going through numbers I decided 108" was the better option.
I used the same 2x4x3/16" square tubing to build the new frame section as I did on the front. I wanted the rear tube to be just under the tailgate so I cut the factory frame level with that line and simply went straight back to it. I tacked the 3 square tubes together, used a piece of spare tube to hold everything together and finish welded it out of the jeep.
Here's a pic of how I cut the body. I'm not a huge fan of a true comp cut so this is what I've had in mind for a while. It allows me to keep a little bit of fender behind the tire whenever I get around to building fenders.
After paint..
I know I had some fishplates left over that I used on the front but I couldn't find them after my move so I designed some new ones, and they fit this area a lot better than the other ones would have.
And just like the front, I used some 3/16" plate to make up the gap between the two different widths of frame tubing.
With the rear frame section welded back on the jeep it was time to input some 4 link numbers into the calculator and build the suspension. I don't have a pic of the calculator screen but my official AS% was 92% which was around my goal. I also decided to build a single triangulated rear instead of double due to the better roll axis and roll center angles. Overall going with single triangulation will make the jeep feel real stable.
I was planning on designing my own link brackets but ultimately decided to just order them from Motobilt. I'm a big fan of what they do so I'll support the businesses when I can.
I welded some plates to the back upper tabs to spread the load to the thin factory frame.
The Motobilt lower axle mounts don't come with skid plates and that's a pet peeve of mine so I got some made.
For the lower frame mounts I used the same Barnes mounts as I used on the front. Here's the axle and wheel mocked up. I was aiming for 108-110" of wheelbase. After going through numbers I decided 108" was the better option.
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Got a new MIG welder! Since I've been using my digital Everlast TIG machine I've been loving it so I got a new digital MIG. And a couple new carts.
These links have seen some real good times. Not pictured, but I threw a nice coat of Steelit on them and cleaned/prepped the johnny joints.
And onto the fun part. It was time to for some cage work. I initially wanted to keep my body on the bushings but after measuring for my 16" ORIs I had to tie them into the cage which means the cage and the frame had to be tied together. The first step was to lop off the C to B pillar tubes.
Here's a nice little hole I found under the factory weld
I used some Motobilt plates to sandwich the tub together. There's another plate under this and a tube that terminates to the frame.
I really like the look of the fast back style cages so that's what I went with. I bent the tube slightly at the upper termination to make it blend into the B pillar for cosmetic reasons.
I tacked in the upper shock mounts and twisted her up. This is where I ran into a problem. This is full flex and as you can see full droop looks good, no issues. Full bump though, with the wheel mounted, the tire would hit the strut big time... I had to inboard the upper mounts which also meant I had to french the frame for the strut at full droop.
These are the frame cutouts I made..
As you can see once the uppers are moved in the struts would land directly center of the frame at droop.
I fully welded them in the backside of the frame and then cut out the section that wasn't needed. The frame didn't move at all.
And then it was time to figure out where the upper mounts needed to land. I'll be continuing on the next post..
These links have seen some real good times. Not pictured, but I threw a nice coat of Steelit on them and cleaned/prepped the johnny joints.
And onto the fun part. It was time to for some cage work. I initially wanted to keep my body on the bushings but after measuring for my 16" ORIs I had to tie them into the cage which means the cage and the frame had to be tied together. The first step was to lop off the C to B pillar tubes.
Here's a nice little hole I found under the factory weld
I used some Motobilt plates to sandwich the tub together. There's another plate under this and a tube that terminates to the frame.
I really like the look of the fast back style cages so that's what I went with. I bent the tube slightly at the upper termination to make it blend into the B pillar for cosmetic reasons.
I tacked in the upper shock mounts and twisted her up. This is where I ran into a problem. This is full flex and as you can see full droop looks good, no issues. Full bump though, with the wheel mounted, the tire would hit the strut big time... I had to inboard the upper mounts which also meant I had to french the frame for the strut at full droop.
These are the frame cutouts I made..
As you can see once the uppers are moved in the struts would land directly center of the frame at droop.
I fully welded them in the backside of the frame and then cut out the section that wasn't needed. The frame didn't move at all.
And then it was time to figure out where the upper mounts needed to land. I'll be continuing on the next post..
I appreciate the feedback! This has been my life for the last 2-3 years. I'm ready for it to be done!
Well its turning out really good. Not like I'm any kind of expert. I've spent similar time on another project and didn't end up with anything nearly as well done... So there is that at least. You're killing it.
Alright let's continue..
Since the upper strut mounts had to be inboarded quite a bit it would've been impractical to use shock tabs off of my existing horizontal tube cause they'd be way too long. So I placed a tube off of that point and placed shorter tabs off of the end of that tube. I also welded some weld washers onto the tabs to spread the load of the strut bolts.
The struts now clear the frame perfectly at full droop. You can I see I placed the frenched frame section flush with the tub. The strut gets close to the tub but never contacts.
Because the plan is to make this jeep sit as low as possible I had to cut out a section of the tub so that the upper axle link mount can come up through the floor at full bump. I went with this style of link mount instead of the normal mounts that place the joints vertical. Having the joints horizontal like this places them as close as possible to each other, allowing more triangulation which in turn more stability. Also, as the axle goes through it's travel, since the upper and lower links are the same length, those upper joints don't flex since the the axle pivots on a single focal point. The only time these joints flex is when the axle is flexed out but I took that into consideration when placing everything so that no binding occurs.
Now that I knew my suspension was set up properly it was time to add more tube to the cage. I've been wanting to add to the rear of this cage for soooo long so it was nice to finally work on it. Plus I absolutely love doing cage work. Aaaand here it is complete... The vertical tubes coming from the strut mounts that terminate on the harness bar aren't backed up by a tube on top of it but I don't plan to be jumping this jeep anytime soon. I felt like adding those tubes would be overkill, afterall this is just a crawler.
Oh and also, yes I built off of the factory B pillar. Ideally I would've loved to scrap that B pillar and built my own but this tub was fully bedlined and getting that thing out would've been a nightmare. By adding all the tube that I did it's more than strong enough for what I need it for.
Since the axle and ORIs were out I figured now is the perfect time to slap some paint on the cage. Hands down the best way to paint a cage like this that's built into the jeep and isn't removable is to roll it on. But I love my Steelit grey way too much so I taped everything off and sprayed it.
Drumroll...
Seeing this cage complete and painted was huge for me. You guys don't see all the small, tedious work that I've been doing cause I've just been posting all of the major stuff but to finally see a big amount of progress was awesome!
With the axle out it was time to get her finished up...
Since the upper strut mounts had to be inboarded quite a bit it would've been impractical to use shock tabs off of my existing horizontal tube cause they'd be way too long. So I placed a tube off of that point and placed shorter tabs off of the end of that tube. I also welded some weld washers onto the tabs to spread the load of the strut bolts.
The struts now clear the frame perfectly at full droop. You can I see I placed the frenched frame section flush with the tub. The strut gets close to the tub but never contacts.
Because the plan is to make this jeep sit as low as possible I had to cut out a section of the tub so that the upper axle link mount can come up through the floor at full bump. I went with this style of link mount instead of the normal mounts that place the joints vertical. Having the joints horizontal like this places them as close as possible to each other, allowing more triangulation which in turn more stability. Also, as the axle goes through it's travel, since the upper and lower links are the same length, those upper joints don't flex since the the axle pivots on a single focal point. The only time these joints flex is when the axle is flexed out but I took that into consideration when placing everything so that no binding occurs.
Now that I knew my suspension was set up properly it was time to add more tube to the cage. I've been wanting to add to the rear of this cage for soooo long so it was nice to finally work on it. Plus I absolutely love doing cage work. Aaaand here it is complete... The vertical tubes coming from the strut mounts that terminate on the harness bar aren't backed up by a tube on top of it but I don't plan to be jumping this jeep anytime soon. I felt like adding those tubes would be overkill, afterall this is just a crawler.
Oh and also, yes I built off of the factory B pillar. Ideally I would've loved to scrap that B pillar and built my own but this tub was fully bedlined and getting that thing out would've been a nightmare. By adding all the tube that I did it's more than strong enough for what I need it for.
Since the axle and ORIs were out I figured now is the perfect time to slap some paint on the cage. Hands down the best way to paint a cage like this that's built into the jeep and isn't removable is to roll it on. But I love my Steelit grey way too much so I taped everything off and sprayed it.
Drumroll...
Seeing this cage complete and painted was huge for me. You guys don't see all the small, tedious work that I've been doing cause I've just been posting all of the major stuff but to finally see a big amount of progress was awesome!
With the axle out it was time to get her finished up...
Yeah, I don’t think your factory B pillar is going anywhere at this point…
Man, I wish I had your welding chops. Nice, clean work as usual.
Man, I wish I had your welding chops. Nice, clean work as usual.
Beautiful fab work, Dev, as usual! Can a Johnny Joint handle the main load in the direction of what is normally a side load? I honestly don't know the answer. Essentially, you're relying on the lip on one side and the snap ring on the other to carry the main loads and keep the ball from popping out:
Let's step back and talk about the 14bolt. A couple years ago when I was prepping this big girl I found the truss wasn't fitting properly for some reason. This Ballistic Fab truss come as a kit and ties into the diff cover and and pinion guard which prevents the housing from spinning the tubes which these are notorious for. I had to cut a whole 3/8" off the entire bottom of the truss to make it fit properly.
A few weeks ago I final welded the truss and then welded it on the axle.
This was about the time I got the sad news that Ballistic was closing for good. They announced that everything had to go so they offered 35% off all products so I had to snag a couple thangs.
I sent them my ring gear to get machined down due to the shave. I got it back a few weeks later. I'm surprised I never got a picture of it.
I also got a AR500 plate just to beef up the shaved section. This was my first time working with AR500. I TIGd it to the existing shave plate and it welded no problem. No preheat necessary.
I chamfered the trailing edge so the rocks won't grab it.
I also burnt in the link mounts and strut tabs.
Yea, I welded the inside of the strut tabs after I took these pics.
I've had this planned for a little while as well. I knew I wanted to have a suckdown winch in the rear so I made some tabs and welded them to the diff cover. This diff cover is also tied into the truss so she ain't movin.
Time for paint!!
More Steelit. Black for the housing and cover, grey for the rest just like the front. Although, I did powdercoat the front diff cover myself which I don't think I ever posted. This rear cover is a little bigger so it didn't fit in my oven.
A few weeks ago I final welded the truss and then welded it on the axle.
This was about the time I got the sad news that Ballistic was closing for good. They announced that everything had to go so they offered 35% off all products so I had to snag a couple thangs.
I sent them my ring gear to get machined down due to the shave. I got it back a few weeks later. I'm surprised I never got a picture of it.
I also got a AR500 plate just to beef up the shaved section. This was my first time working with AR500. I TIGd it to the existing shave plate and it welded no problem. No preheat necessary.
I chamfered the trailing edge so the rocks won't grab it.
I also burnt in the link mounts and strut tabs.
Yea, I welded the inside of the strut tabs after I took these pics.
I've had this planned for a little while as well. I knew I wanted to have a suckdown winch in the rear so I made some tabs and welded them to the diff cover. This diff cover is also tied into the truss so she ain't movin.
Time for paint!!
More Steelit. Black for the housing and cover, grey for the rest just like the front. Although, I did powdercoat the front diff cover myself which I don't think I ever posted. This rear cover is a little bigger so it didn't fit in my oven.
On Barnes website they say this is actually stronger. From what I understand these joints are seeing mostly front to back push and pull load as power is applied to the wheels. The up and down direction is dampened by the shocks.
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