Wildman's TJ is getting a face lift

You could always run it single shear and see what happens. How much of a pain is it to replace the threads in that arm? Can you just replace it, or is it part of the knuckle? Welding a couple brackets on seems easy compared to repairing threads, but if it's easy and inexpensive to replace the steering arm on the knuckle, run it!

My main concern is that it's about a 9" long bolt that has the drag link on top and then the tie rod below the high steer arm.

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So if that bolt snaps I lose steering. Now the ram will be doing most of the work but there is still going to be stress on that bolt. The tie rod is double shear but it's the drag link that takes more stress. I think for the hour of fab time I'll just make the double shear bracket and be done with it.
 
My main concern is that it's about a 9" long bolt that has the drag link on top and then the tie rod below the high steer arm.

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So if that bolt snaps I lose steering. Now the ram will be doing most of the work but there is still going to be stress on that bolt. The tie rod is double shear but it's the drag link that takes more stress. I think for the hour of fab time I'll just make the double shear bracket and be done with it.
So would i
 
Well that was easy....

Welded two pieces of angle iron together and then ran a marker up inside the heims and marked where I needed to drill.

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Then I unbolted the high steer arm and set the angle iron onto it with the heim inside and a bolt ran thru to keep everything aligned. Then I tacked it onto the high steer arm.

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Welded on the outside & inside.

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Then I put it all back together.

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Not too bad for 90 minutes of work. It ain't pretty or fancy like some I've seen but I think it's functional.

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Damn a notched frame and other COOL kid stuff. ;)

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But DAMN I've got MC fenders so I'm still an outcast...
 
Well that was easy....

Welded two pieces of angle iron together and then ran a marker up inside the heims and marked where I needed to drill.

View attachment 302718


View attachment 302719


Then I unbolted the high steer arm and set the angle iron onto it with the heim inside and a bolt ran thru to keep everything aligned. Then I tacked it onto the high steer arm.

View attachment 302720

Welded on the outside & inside.

View attachment 302721

View attachment 302722

Then I put it all back together.

View attachment 302723

Not too bad for 90 minutes of work. It ain't pretty or fancy like some I've seen but I think it's functional.

View attachment 302724

Damn a notched frame and other COOL kid stuff. ;)

View attachment 302725



But DAMN I've got MC fenders so I'm still an outcast...
Looks good! Did you have to relieve the back side at all? Turning to the right, it looks like the draglink might hit the reinforcement.
 
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Well that was easy....

Welded two pieces of angle iron together and then ran a marker up inside the heims and marked where I needed to drill.

View attachment 302718


View attachment 302719


Then I unbolted the high steer arm and set the angle iron onto it with the heim inside and a bolt ran thru to keep everything aligned. Then I tacked it onto the high steer arm.

View attachment 302720

Welded on the outside & inside.

View attachment 302721

View attachment 302722

Then I put it all back together.

View attachment 302723

Not too bad for 90 minutes of work. It ain't pretty or fancy like some I've seen but I think it's functional.

View attachment 302724

Damn a notched frame and other COOL kid stuff. ;)

View attachment 302725



But DAMN I've got MC fenders so I'm still an outcast...
BOOM!
 
Looks good! Did you have to relieve the back side at all? Turning to the right, it looks like the draglink might hit the reinforcement.

I'll cycle the steering and suspension today to double check everything. I looked at it turning the steering yesterday but didn't cycle the suspension.


One of the easier & quicker mods I've done.
 
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Everything cleas NOW. The swaybar brackets were hitting the drag link so I tried to grind them a bit but ended up cutting the tack welds and moving them.

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So not a bad little mod 😉.
Not sure if it was really necessary but it's done.
 
The other thing I worked on today was these weld washers I'd bought and had been trying to decide if I wanted to just leave them loose or weld them onto the skid plate.

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https://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/FIXIT.html
So I finally took the plunge and welded them on.

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Both belly & engine skid are done.
 
Since every time I do something lately and then don't test fit it after and come back to it later only to find it doesn't fit now I decided I'd do a quick test fit of the belly skid.

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Hot Damn it fits like 👍 it's supposed to.

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Time to start pulling things apart again so I can do the final welding of the frame. And then prep and paint the frame. Then it'll be re-assembly time. And paint body armor as I bolt it back together.

I'm waiting on ONE part for the rear axle before I can get the gears setup. And of course UPS was supposed to deliver it on Friday but claimed extreme weather for a delay. Lazy ass just didn't want to chain up to come down my road 😒.
 
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One of those things that happen when you change things is that new clearance issues crop up.

It isn't BAD but at full lock towards the drivers side the top of the bolt head hits the frame.

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Now it isn't limiting the steering as this is right at the end of the stroke but I'd still like to either put a button head bolt or a low clearance head bolt (if there is such a thing) or notch the frame just a little bit.

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So what does everyone think? What is the better option to tackle this problem 🤔?
 
How much clearance do you need? Would shaving the bolt head just a bit do it?

I think I could shave the top of the bolt just a bit.

Or there is a 4th option 🤔.

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This is the pitman arm that I was running before. It's a Waggy pitman arm.

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It is 7" from center of bolt holes where a TJ pitman arm is 5 5" center of bolt holes.

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It also has a slight bend to it.

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I need to flex things and verify that there aren't any clearance issues by using it. But it’s a option.
And it was drilled for a TRE so I'd have to drill it out and run some type of bushing or buy a new one that is drilled for 5/8" bolt.
 
Notching the frame if nothing compromised, or wait and see if anything else changes and re-visit later.
 
Well option 4 is a bust without having to do major things.

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And as I recall things about my previous steering setup things was why I'd had to limit up travel before.

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So it's back to the other pitman arm and then notch the frame or shave the bolt head.
 
What about shaving the head of the bolt a little and having a little bit milled off the face of the pitman arm. Not much off either one, but enough to clear and still retain bolt head integrity?
 
What about shaving the head of the bolt a little and having a little bit milled off the face of the pitman arm. Not much off either one, but enough to clear and still retain bolt head integrity?
How much clearance do you need? Would shaving the bolt head just a bit do it?

I took the bolt head to about half it's normal height and it is still hitting. So that's a no. I will need to notch the frame just a bit.

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Notching the frame if nothing compromised, or wait and see if anything else changes and re-visit later.

It's not going to compromise the frame if done properly. And it's not something I can address later as I want to get all the work to the frame done so it can be painted.
Everything I have to take off to notch the frame is the same things I've got to take off to paint the frame.
But after notching the frame if I'm doing it right I've got to put the steering box and drag link back on to verify that it clears. Just more work is all.
 
I'm sure it's buried in here somewhere, but I'll ask anyway. How much total travel will you have once done?
 
I'm sure it's buried in here somewhere, but I'll ask anyway. How much total travel will you have once done?

I got 12" travel shocks for the front and the rear. Honestly I'm thinking I should have gone with 11" for the front.
I can't say yet about the rear since I've got to have the axle finished to verify everything.
 
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I got 12" travel shocks for the front and the rear. Honestly I'm thinking I should have gone with 11" for the front.
I can't say yet about the rear since I've got to have the axle finished to verify everything.
I figured you had to be in the 12" range!
 
I figured you had to be in the 12" range!

The spec's on the air bags say they support this amount of travel but we'll see. ORO only designed the 6" lift for 10" of travel so I am pushing it. It's going to be interesting to see IF all this extra work was worth it. I'm hoping it was and I'm still considering running some limiting straps so I can limit the droop to about 11.75" to make sure I don't damage the air bags.


From the diagram I should have 14" of travel from the bags but at 12" it seems I'm at the limit.

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