Yes, theoretically, control arms with a ball-style joint on each end are what we engineers call a two-force member, which means it sees compressive and tensile forces inline with a line drawn between the centers of the balls at each end. However, that theory flies quickly out the window if a JJ housing touches a mount, a rock finds it's way between the JJ housing and the mount, or a rock touches a control arm. But some of those things can also happen if the JJs are mounted like "normal." Like I said, I was curious about that mounting position used "in the real world."
DJ's TJ: Low and Slow
- Thread starter Dev
- Start date
I wish I had seen this prior to you adding the AR500 plate to the bottom. I run the same Ballistic (RIP) 14 bolt setup as you are building. In my experience the weak part is not the bottom plate, but the lower, thick part of the diff cover, where the 4 lower bolts are counterbored. On my rig, the trailing edge of that piece wore away down through the bolts.
I recently dealt with this over on my build thread by reenforcing it with weld bead to build it all back up.
But I considered doing something similar to what you did, adding another layer of AR500 as you did - but to extend the extra AR500 plate back past the lower edge of the diff cover to protect it. That could have solved that wear problem. I may still do this in the future.
By the way, on my Ballistic 14 bolt shave kit I went with the optional AR500 lower plate. Was your lower plate mild steel?
I also had to spend some time straightening my axle housing after carefully welding up that truss. That part was actually fun.
Before they closed for good Ballistic actually came out with their MRK 3.5 kit that has a lot more protection to prevent that. They also sell just the bolt protector too but I think it only fits that shave kit, not the OG. I noticed my dad's is worn down to the bolt heads too. TMR's shave kit has slightly more protection I think but not much.
Btw the word on the street is that Motobilt is talking to the owner of ballistic to hopefully take over their products. Let's cross our fingers, that would be an awesome mashup.
Oh and I'm pretty sure my original bottom plate is just mild steel. Without the extra plate that bottom section by the ring gear is super thin. I honestly didn't think it would cause a problem but since ballistic had this sale I just got it for piece of mind.
This is ballistics mrk3.5 shave
And their bolt protector
Continuing from my last post let's get this axle complete.
This jeep will touch payment from time to time so a selectable locker was a must for me. With the rear being selectable and the front with a Detroit, all I have to do is lock my front hubs and flip a switch when I get on the dirt.
IMO ARB makes the best and strongest selectable. I snagged a deal on this at an off road expo a while back and it included a compressor. Not bad $1000 new.
My dad swung by to help me with the install. Between the both of us we've set up gears on 8 housings so far. This one came out...ok. it's not the sexiest pattern I've seen but it's definitely within spec of the book. I don't think it'll have a problem. Backlash is at .006"
And with that, this heavy pig is done. I assembled the hubs and installed it under the jeep. I threw the ORIs in and BAM! She's finally sitting on her own weight!!! Here it is at full bump sitting nice and loooooooow.
Placed a 5 gallon bucket underneath for scale
The next step is getting driveshafts made. I called my local shop - Drivelines Inc. Part of their service is coming out themselves to take measurements. The tech wanted to measure at full extension, bump and ride height.
This was my first time raising the entire front and rear instead of flexing the axles and holy shiyet, she's got some legs on her..
The tech told me he sees a lot of prerunner/trophy trucks with crazy travel numbers but he was in as much disbelief as I was. The B pillar got so high that I had to close my garage door slightly.
Btw I had another inch left of shock shaft to go but it was tall enough for him to measure. These ORIs are tough to fully extend with weight on them.
I wish I took some measurements when it was like this but I didn't wanna keep him waiting. The important this was nothing contacted and no joints were binding.
With the axle at full extension like this my rear driveshaft would most likely be at too steep of an angle for the max angle of a double cardan so I'll have to strap it at the diff, but I knew this going into it. I won't be jumping this jeep so this axle will probably never see droop like this again so strapping the center of the axle will still allow full flex.
Here's the front. I could only get 12" of shaft showing before my upper link joint maxed out. As stated, this joint doesn't max out when the axle is flexed.
While I'm waiting for driveshafts I can take care of the small items. I finally mounted the Motobilt 15 gallon fuel cell. I used 1/4-20 rivnuts through the tub so I don't have to mess around with through-bolts. I noticed if you try to bolt the straps down with nothing under the tank, the straps bottom out on the base plate so the tank has room to move around. I initially tried using these rubber bushings under the tank but they were too thick. I found that 2 layers of toolbox drawer liners are the perfect height.
I'm now waiting on some fuel rated RTV to get delivered so I can finish this fuel cell. But with that, a ton of progress has been made and I'm now in the home stretch. A full week on the Rubicon is planned for July and I can already smell the campfire marshmallows. I'm also planning on a shakedown run as soon as possible.
This jeep will touch payment from time to time so a selectable locker was a must for me. With the rear being selectable and the front with a Detroit, all I have to do is lock my front hubs and flip a switch when I get on the dirt.
IMO ARB makes the best and strongest selectable. I snagged a deal on this at an off road expo a while back and it included a compressor. Not bad $1000 new.
My dad swung by to help me with the install. Between the both of us we've set up gears on 8 housings so far. This one came out...ok. it's not the sexiest pattern I've seen but it's definitely within spec of the book. I don't think it'll have a problem. Backlash is at .006"
And with that, this heavy pig is done. I assembled the hubs and installed it under the jeep. I threw the ORIs in and BAM! She's finally sitting on her own weight!!! Here it is at full bump sitting nice and loooooooow.
Placed a 5 gallon bucket underneath for scale
The next step is getting driveshafts made. I called my local shop - Drivelines Inc. Part of their service is coming out themselves to take measurements. The tech wanted to measure at full extension, bump and ride height.
This was my first time raising the entire front and rear instead of flexing the axles and holy shiyet, she's got some legs on her..
The tech told me he sees a lot of prerunner/trophy trucks with crazy travel numbers but he was in as much disbelief as I was. The B pillar got so high that I had to close my garage door slightly.
Btw I had another inch left of shock shaft to go but it was tall enough for him to measure. These ORIs are tough to fully extend with weight on them.
I wish I took some measurements when it was like this but I didn't wanna keep him waiting. The important this was nothing contacted and no joints were binding.
With the axle at full extension like this my rear driveshaft would most likely be at too steep of an angle for the max angle of a double cardan so I'll have to strap it at the diff, but I knew this going into it. I won't be jumping this jeep so this axle will probably never see droop like this again so strapping the center of the axle will still allow full flex.
Here's the front. I could only get 12" of shaft showing before my upper link joint maxed out. As stated, this joint doesn't max out when the axle is flexed.
While I'm waiting for driveshafts I can take care of the small items. I finally mounted the Motobilt 15 gallon fuel cell. I used 1/4-20 rivnuts through the tub so I don't have to mess around with through-bolts. I noticed if you try to bolt the straps down with nothing under the tank, the straps bottom out on the base plate so the tank has room to move around. I initially tried using these rubber bushings under the tank but they were too thick. I found that 2 layers of toolbox drawer liners are the perfect height.
I'm now waiting on some fuel rated RTV to get delivered so I can finish this fuel cell. But with that, a ton of progress has been made and I'm now in the home stretch. A full week on the Rubicon is planned for July and I can already smell the campfire marshmallows. I'm also planning on a shakedown run as soon as possible.
I'm using the same links and joints from the Clayton long arm kit I installed years ago.
Nope! I've wheeled them pretty hard but never dropped onto them off a ledge though. And at 36" I think they're the perfect length, not too short and not too long to bend easily.
A lot of people say they're stronger but technically the shape of round tube is stronger right? Plus they aren't DOM like round tube can be.
They're about the same. They're 2" x .250" wall so same amount of material. My uppers are .120" wall though. Even the front upper is .120 which I'm not a fan of since it holds the entire load of the front axle. At least the rear shares it's load between the two of them.
TODAY OFFICIALLY MARKS 2 YEARS SINCE I PUT THE JEEP ON JACKSTANDS AND CUT THE FRAME OFF!!!
To celebrate, I made it my goal to have my tires touch pavement under its own power. I drove it around the neighborhood and took some phone pics. I'll give her a quick wash tomorrow and whip out my actual mirrorless camera. It's been a long day so I'll just leave those pictures here and I'll make another post about all details another time. I'm a happy man right now.
To celebrate, I made it my goal to have my tires touch pavement under its own power. I drove it around the neighborhood and took some phone pics. I'll give her a quick wash tomorrow and whip out my actual mirrorless camera. It's been a long day so I'll just leave those pictures here and I'll make another post about all details another time. I'm a happy man right now.
If anyone is interested in the parts I had on this jeep before I started the swap I just posted them all in the classifieds. The rubicon 44s, 37s, armor, bumbers, whatever else you can find them here: https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/rubi-axles-37s-armor-bumpers-springs-etc.84225/
Alright it's been almost a full month since my last post where I got it on the road. I never did get some time behind a lense with it cause I've been trying to get it ready for a shakedown next month. I've already got a lot done since then so here I go again playing catch up.
I figure we can start with some fuel cell stuff. I got the fuel and breather lines plumbed and the electrical connected.
I originally used some fuel rated 5/16" hose to temporarily run it for that day I got it on the road. Even though that hose is fuel rated the permeation is horrible. The outside of the hose stays dry but the smell of fuel goes right through it. I swapped it for some Fragola -6 6000 series PTFE lined hose. This hose is a little nicer than the other -6 PTFE hose I used on the power steering. After hooking it all up there's zero fuel smell permeating through it.
At the fuel pump side I used a -6 x 3/8 adapter, and for the hard-line under the tub I used a -6 x 5/16 adapter. I originally used Fragola fittings as that's what I've been using throughout the jeep but I found the o-rings in their adapters were way too tight. I had to force them on which tore the o-rings. I ended up buying some cheap, no name adapters from Amazon which worked like a glove. I'll give Fragola a call and let them know so they understand their product needs a design change.
To run the fuel line through the tub most people run it through a grommet, but it's not necessarily the safest way to do it. I used a -6 x -6 bulkhead fitting and a 90° fitting on each end. This prevents any chafing on the tub entirely.
Below the tub, from the AN line to the hard-line it was straight forward. I actually had the perfect line already made from when I built my power steering lines. I made one extra accidentally and it fit perfectly here for the fuel line. I connect that fuel adapter to the end and it snapped right onto the existing hard line. The way the hard-line bends outward of the frame is kind of a strange angle but it works fine.
The breather hose that comes from the rollover valve on the passenger side of the fuel cell was real simple. Since this hose isn't under pressure I used simple AN hose end clamps. To run it through the tub I used a 5/16" hose barb bulkhead fitting instead of going the AN bulkhead route. Using an AN bulkhead like I did on the fuel line with hose end fittings on each side would've been $60-70 more expensive which would be overkill anyways. On the bottom side of the tub I ran the line to the outside of the driver fender and terminated it with an air breather filter... Btw to get all technical about the routing of a fuel cell breather hose, the buggy/comp/trophy truck guys run the hose 360° around the fuel cell and up on the B pillar and back down before exiting to a vent-to-atmosphere termination. This ~720° of bends prevents any fuel from leaking out of the fuel cell during rollovers and off camber situations. Most jeep guys that use fuel cells just run it straight out of the tub cause they aren't race cars. Also, if we get off camber enough to start leaking fuel out of the breather then we're already at enough angle to have low oil pressure. Just wanted to put that out there.
For the fuel pump electrical I just spliced into each wire and extended them. Super simple.
Moving onto the fun stuff - electrical and wiring.
We didn't use our winches much unless we went out to the hammers trails. Out there the winches got used so much that we ended up just keeping our winch remote inside the cab while it was plugged in the winch so the cord just sat outside and flipped on the hood. I have a wireless Warn adapter thing but the delay on that thing sucks.
Going through that I knew I wanted to hook up my winch to an in-cab rocker switch. When I designed my dash switch panel I made sure to keep an open rocker switch cutout just for this.
I initially just cut my remote hand switch off of the cord so that I can leave the pin end connected into the winch. I found out one of the pins got damaged and pushed into the connector so I had to hard wire it into the winch itself.
Here's my winch remote before I cut both ends off of it.
I routed the cord along the frame, through the firewall and into the dash. Cutting off the ends of the remote and using the cord made it super simple due to the colors.
Here's the winch with the cover off.
To route the cord through the top of the winch I drilled a 3/8" hole through the side and used a grommet that fit really snug around the cord.
I've seen people splice into each wire but I decided to just crimp terminals on each end and land them on each post of the solenoids.
It's important to know that Warn changed the colors at some point so if you were to do this, this is important to know. The old colors are as follows..
Brown = switch ground
Black = winch out
Red = motor ground
White = 12v + power
Green = winch in.
And it here it is all done.
As you can see the winch fits insanely tight on the bumper, making the approach angle the best it can be.
I also wrapped some new synthetic rope on it. This will be the first time this winch has had synthetic so I'm excited to feel the difference.
I wanted to take some time to talk about this fairlead. This is the HOSS fairlead that Brennan Metcalf designed. I'm a big fan of what the guy designs and this product is no different. A lot of thought has gone into this and the attention to detail shows. This design allows synthetic rope to smoothly enter the rear of the fairlead, preventing the winch line from fraying and eventually failing. And the fact that my winch sits so closely to the fairlead makes this perfect for my application. You can read more about it on his site. https://brennans-garage.com/products/winch-hoss-hawse-fairlead
Here's what the back of the fairlead looks like. And he includes a thin plate of stainless for your application depending on how thick your mounting plate is.
Along with the winch wiring done I also hooked up my fans. I used triple throw rocker switches for these for a specific reason. In the normal state these switches will be in the down position. When the jeep is turned on the fans will come on only when the fluid gets to proper temp. The switch LEDs stay off until the fan is actually running so I know when the fans come on when I'm driving.
I can move the switch to the center position to completely kill the fans for whatever reason. Example- going through a deep water crossing to prevent shorting the fan out or if my battery has low cranking amps I can kill it before I key the jeep on.
Or I can move it to the up position to bypass the thermostatic switch. So if it starts overheating I can shut the jeep off but leave the fans on.
Here's essentially how the wiring schematic looks for one fan circuit. Both circuits are set up the same individually.
EDIT: I forgot to label the switch to the left in the picture below. That's the ignition switch.
And here's my dash switch panel complete.
I figure we can start with some fuel cell stuff. I got the fuel and breather lines plumbed and the electrical connected.
I originally used some fuel rated 5/16" hose to temporarily run it for that day I got it on the road. Even though that hose is fuel rated the permeation is horrible. The outside of the hose stays dry but the smell of fuel goes right through it. I swapped it for some Fragola -6 6000 series PTFE lined hose. This hose is a little nicer than the other -6 PTFE hose I used on the power steering. After hooking it all up there's zero fuel smell permeating through it.
At the fuel pump side I used a -6 x 3/8 adapter, and for the hard-line under the tub I used a -6 x 5/16 adapter. I originally used Fragola fittings as that's what I've been using throughout the jeep but I found the o-rings in their adapters were way too tight. I had to force them on which tore the o-rings. I ended up buying some cheap, no name adapters from Amazon which worked like a glove. I'll give Fragola a call and let them know so they understand their product needs a design change.
To run the fuel line through the tub most people run it through a grommet, but it's not necessarily the safest way to do it. I used a -6 x -6 bulkhead fitting and a 90° fitting on each end. This prevents any chafing on the tub entirely.
Below the tub, from the AN line to the hard-line it was straight forward. I actually had the perfect line already made from when I built my power steering lines. I made one extra accidentally and it fit perfectly here for the fuel line. I connect that fuel adapter to the end and it snapped right onto the existing hard line. The way the hard-line bends outward of the frame is kind of a strange angle but it works fine.
The breather hose that comes from the rollover valve on the passenger side of the fuel cell was real simple. Since this hose isn't under pressure I used simple AN hose end clamps. To run it through the tub I used a 5/16" hose barb bulkhead fitting instead of going the AN bulkhead route. Using an AN bulkhead like I did on the fuel line with hose end fittings on each side would've been $60-70 more expensive which would be overkill anyways. On the bottom side of the tub I ran the line to the outside of the driver fender and terminated it with an air breather filter... Btw to get all technical about the routing of a fuel cell breather hose, the buggy/comp/trophy truck guys run the hose 360° around the fuel cell and up on the B pillar and back down before exiting to a vent-to-atmosphere termination. This ~720° of bends prevents any fuel from leaking out of the fuel cell during rollovers and off camber situations. Most jeep guys that use fuel cells just run it straight out of the tub cause they aren't race cars. Also, if we get off camber enough to start leaking fuel out of the breather then we're already at enough angle to have low oil pressure. Just wanted to put that out there.
For the fuel pump electrical I just spliced into each wire and extended them. Super simple.
Moving onto the fun stuff - electrical and wiring.
We didn't use our winches much unless we went out to the hammers trails. Out there the winches got used so much that we ended up just keeping our winch remote inside the cab while it was plugged in the winch so the cord just sat outside and flipped on the hood. I have a wireless Warn adapter thing but the delay on that thing sucks.
Going through that I knew I wanted to hook up my winch to an in-cab rocker switch. When I designed my dash switch panel I made sure to keep an open rocker switch cutout just for this.
I initially just cut my remote hand switch off of the cord so that I can leave the pin end connected into the winch. I found out one of the pins got damaged and pushed into the connector so I had to hard wire it into the winch itself.
Here's my winch remote before I cut both ends off of it.
I routed the cord along the frame, through the firewall and into the dash. Cutting off the ends of the remote and using the cord made it super simple due to the colors.
Here's the winch with the cover off.
To route the cord through the top of the winch I drilled a 3/8" hole through the side and used a grommet that fit really snug around the cord.
I've seen people splice into each wire but I decided to just crimp terminals on each end and land them on each post of the solenoids.
It's important to know that Warn changed the colors at some point so if you were to do this, this is important to know. The old colors are as follows..
Brown = switch ground
Black = winch out
Red = motor ground
White = 12v + power
Green = winch in.
And it here it is all done.
As you can see the winch fits insanely tight on the bumper, making the approach angle the best it can be.
I also wrapped some new synthetic rope on it. This will be the first time this winch has had synthetic so I'm excited to feel the difference.
I wanted to take some time to talk about this fairlead. This is the HOSS fairlead that Brennan Metcalf designed. I'm a big fan of what the guy designs and this product is no different. A lot of thought has gone into this and the attention to detail shows. This design allows synthetic rope to smoothly enter the rear of the fairlead, preventing the winch line from fraying and eventually failing. And the fact that my winch sits so closely to the fairlead makes this perfect for my application. You can read more about it on his site. https://brennans-garage.com/products/winch-hoss-hawse-fairlead
Here's what the back of the fairlead looks like. And he includes a thin plate of stainless for your application depending on how thick your mounting plate is.
Along with the winch wiring done I also hooked up my fans. I used triple throw rocker switches for these for a specific reason. In the normal state these switches will be in the down position. When the jeep is turned on the fans will come on only when the fluid gets to proper temp. The switch LEDs stay off until the fan is actually running so I know when the fans come on when I'm driving.
I can move the switch to the center position to completely kill the fans for whatever reason. Example- going through a deep water crossing to prevent shorting the fan out or if my battery has low cranking amps I can kill it before I key the jeep on.
Or I can move it to the up position to bypass the thermostatic switch. So if it starts overheating I can shut the jeep off but leave the fans on.
Here's essentially how the wiring schematic looks for one fan circuit. Both circuits are set up the same individually.
EDIT: I forgot to label the switch to the left in the picture below. That's the ignition switch.
And here's my dash switch panel complete.
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Exhaust time!
I had a small Magnaflow muffler on this jeep after I installed my Clayton long arm kit. That muffler did next to nothing to quiet it down and I terminated the exhaust before the axle so it droned to holy hell. I was half deaf by the time I got to the trails and then it would be constant off and on when I was wheeling. I hated it. So I knew I wanted a bigger muffler and I wanted the exhaust to dump as far back as I could. I think Borla makes the best sounding and designed mufflers than the other big brands so I got a Borla ProXS off Amazon. It seemed like the perfect dimensions needed to fit right behind the cats. I also got myself a couple of stainless V-bands so I can remove the muffler in the future.
These are the V-bands. This was my first time working with these. Since these are stainless I picked up some 309L filler rod to TIG weld SS to Aluminized steel.
I welded one side of the V-band joint to a small pipe which then inserts into the muffler to get finish welded. This was also my first time TIG welding exhaust and it was a little rough. I used 1/8" filler which was way too thick so it was hard to work with. I ended up just MIG welding the rest of the exhaust with regular steel wire and it came out way better.
I had to get a little playful with the pipe behind the muffler since the upper link almost contacts the tub at full bump. I let out the gas from my struts so the jeep sat down all the way before I mocked it up. These ORIs make setting up a new rig incredibly easy.
To terminate the tail pipe I doglegged a bend towards the passenger side and cut it flush with the bottom of the frame. After tacking it I took it out a finish welded it.
I didn't have any exhaust hanger material on me at the time and I never really liked how the regular rod-bushing style hangers are designed so I did something a little different. I used some 1/4" tabs I had laying around and those universal rubber bushings that I have plenty of. The thick tabs make it nice to get more welding surface on the thin pipe to spread the load.
Instead of mounting my other tab to the passenger frame I mounted it to the tub. This allows the natural rotation of the engine to work with the hanger instead of constantly fighting against it. The tub-support is made of steel so it made for a nice place to weld that tab to.
Edit: I wanted to mention that I purposely placed the tab that's attached to the exhaust to the rear of the other tab. This is important because the pipe will expand when it gets hot which will move the tab rearward.
Here she is all finished up. The exhaust behind the muffler turned this beautiful blue color after getting the engine warm a couple of times. The sound is absolutely perfect. Definitely not loud but has a nice growl to it.
And since you guys saw some pictures of underneath the tub you may have spotted these absolute DIMES.
Drivelines Inc. did a fantastic job at making these custom driveshafts. Here's a pic of them side by side with the old rear they made me a while back after doing my Clayton kit with 1" stretch. I don't have my front shaft anymore but it would've been cool to see the length difference of that as well. But as you can see, the length of the front shaft really puts into perspective how much I stretched the front axle.
My TCM has been pretty much just sitting on my engine since I removed my front fenders 2 years ago so I designed this mount for it.
I drilled out the holes in the TCM so they'd fit 1/4-20s. And me being me, of course I had to spray a small layer of Steelit to the top of it. The module then through-bolts underneath this aluminum mount. Then I welded some tabs on my shock towers making the mount removable for future use.
Recognize this tab? This is the same tab I used for my shock tab brace that's sitting 2" in front, kind of in-frame of this pic. When I made these I made 2 extra for the rear but didn't end up using them. I cut it down and it fit perfectly here.
I had a small Magnaflow muffler on this jeep after I installed my Clayton long arm kit. That muffler did next to nothing to quiet it down and I terminated the exhaust before the axle so it droned to holy hell. I was half deaf by the time I got to the trails and then it would be constant off and on when I was wheeling. I hated it. So I knew I wanted a bigger muffler and I wanted the exhaust to dump as far back as I could. I think Borla makes the best sounding and designed mufflers than the other big brands so I got a Borla ProXS off Amazon. It seemed like the perfect dimensions needed to fit right behind the cats. I also got myself a couple of stainless V-bands so I can remove the muffler in the future.
These are the V-bands. This was my first time working with these. Since these are stainless I picked up some 309L filler rod to TIG weld SS to Aluminized steel.
I welded one side of the V-band joint to a small pipe which then inserts into the muffler to get finish welded. This was also my first time TIG welding exhaust and it was a little rough. I used 1/8" filler which was way too thick so it was hard to work with. I ended up just MIG welding the rest of the exhaust with regular steel wire and it came out way better.
I had to get a little playful with the pipe behind the muffler since the upper link almost contacts the tub at full bump. I let out the gas from my struts so the jeep sat down all the way before I mocked it up. These ORIs make setting up a new rig incredibly easy.
To terminate the tail pipe I doglegged a bend towards the passenger side and cut it flush with the bottom of the frame. After tacking it I took it out a finish welded it.
I didn't have any exhaust hanger material on me at the time and I never really liked how the regular rod-bushing style hangers are designed so I did something a little different. I used some 1/4" tabs I had laying around and those universal rubber bushings that I have plenty of. The thick tabs make it nice to get more welding surface on the thin pipe to spread the load.
Instead of mounting my other tab to the passenger frame I mounted it to the tub. This allows the natural rotation of the engine to work with the hanger instead of constantly fighting against it. The tub-support is made of steel so it made for a nice place to weld that tab to.
Edit: I wanted to mention that I purposely placed the tab that's attached to the exhaust to the rear of the other tab. This is important because the pipe will expand when it gets hot which will move the tab rearward.
Here she is all finished up. The exhaust behind the muffler turned this beautiful blue color after getting the engine warm a couple of times. The sound is absolutely perfect. Definitely not loud but has a nice growl to it.
And since you guys saw some pictures of underneath the tub you may have spotted these absolute DIMES.
Drivelines Inc. did a fantastic job at making these custom driveshafts. Here's a pic of them side by side with the old rear they made me a while back after doing my Clayton kit with 1" stretch. I don't have my front shaft anymore but it would've been cool to see the length difference of that as well. But as you can see, the length of the front shaft really puts into perspective how much I stretched the front axle.
My TCM has been pretty much just sitting on my engine since I removed my front fenders 2 years ago so I designed this mount for it.
I drilled out the holes in the TCM so they'd fit 1/4-20s. And me being me, of course I had to spray a small layer of Steelit to the top of it. The module then through-bolts underneath this aluminum mount. Then I welded some tabs on my shock towers making the mount removable for future use.
Recognize this tab? This is the same tab I used for my shock tab brace that's sitting 2" in front, kind of in-frame of this pic. When I made these I made 2 extra for the rear but didn't end up using them. I cut it down and it fit perfectly here.
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