Wildman's TJ is getting a face lift

I'd have to weight them both but I'd SWAG it and say I lost 40-50 lbs of weight going from the old one to this Motobilt one.
UPS said the the Motobilt bumper is 60 lbs.

Will the swayloc work as-is or will you have to make some modifications?

I had already given up on the SwayLoc due to tire clearance. I'll sell it at some point but really don't want to ship it since it's so expensive. And Quadratec selling it earlier this year for a great price made people not interested. And I have the air cylinder setup so they'd have to buy the latch. Since it was new I wasn't willing to sell it for used prices. Since it not my daily I was just going to run an Anti-Rock instead.
 
WOW and I thought my TJ was heavy.

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He's wanting to run the BJD's in his Dana 44 also.

Definitely need a set for my CJ5 on comp compound 39.5s, spool, RCVs, 5.89s, and 200lbs of water. I'd be surprised if these ball joints live much longer
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How long have they had those?

Long time... The issue most times is that the front axle doesn't have a similar ratio.

7.17 for a Dana 60. But that is standard rotation axles also. I think 5.38 is as deep as you can go for a high pinon.
 
OK gang got a little distracted with the new bumper but promise to get back on track with the engine and getting it running SOON.

I'm working on getting the mount for the 8274 mocked up and figuring out how I'll mount the fairlead. Now I've been running a roller fairlead for years with both cable & rope with no issues. And I've never ran a hawse fairlead so I really have no way to do comparison right now. I also know that there are those who say not to run a roller fairlead with rope but as I said I've never had issues with running it. @B00mb00m has been nice enough to offer me his old hawse fairlead but we've just never connected so I could pick it up from him. I'm currently trying to decide if I should run my old got to fairlead which is the rollers of go to a hawse fairlead.

If I went with the roller I'd have to trim this much off the front to make it fit.

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This is what it would look like with the roller fairlead.


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But most opinion seem to be that I should swap out to a hawse fairlead. If I decide to I'll have to wait to trim the bumper until I have one so I can make it look nice. I know it's not a GOOD reason to stay with the roller fairlead but I've always liked the ability to just pop my front license plate on and off using the flashlight holder clips. I know there are license plate mounts you can get that fit behind the hawse fairlead. Just a little more hassle taking the plate off and putting back on.
 
If I remember correctly this is what the hawse fairlead that B00mb00m has looks like.

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Fishbone makes a decent looking license plate mount.

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Change is just HARD for this OLD fart.
 
I don’t run a front plate. Haven’t since it was stolen the first month after I put the new WA plate on. 3 years and no issues. Yours is pretty much a trail only rig, so why worry?

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Yes I know a lot of people who don't have a front plate but I just know my LUCK, I'd get that PoPo who hadn't gotten laid in a month and was fighting with their other half so they're in a shitty mood and BOOM I'm sitting on the side of the road.


Rollers are fine for rope, you just need to make sure it’s not been used on cable first. The cable will dig into the roller, then cut your rope.

I replaced the old steel rollers that had been used with cable years ago. I have new poly rollers I can install if I decide to run rollers. As I said I've never had issues with mine but I know some who have gotten the rope caught in the corner when doing a sharp angle pull. I honestly like rollers more than a hawse.


Yeah, either is fine functionally if they are in good shape. I think a hawse fairlead looks cleaner.

I do agree with everyone that cosmetically a hawse fairlead looks cleaner. You also don't have the rollers sticking out the front so it's less protruding out the front. I've just got to decide what matters more to me. The old school look of the rollers to me looks better but as you said the hawse fairlead does look cleaner. I'll think on it some more and then make my decision.
 
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I'd have to weight them both but I'd SWAG it and say I lost 40-50 lbs of weight going from the old one to this Motobilt one.
UPS said the the Motobilt bumper is 60 lbs.



I had already given up on the SwayLoc due to tire clearance. I'll sell it at some point but really don't want to ship it since it's so expensive. And Quadratec selling it earlier this year for a great price made people not interested. And I have the air cylinder setup so they'd have to buy the latch. Since it was new I wasn't willing to sell it for used prices. Since it not my daily I was just going to run an Anti-Rock instead.
I had the same bumper without the grill hoops. I was getting some contact with my AntiRock, so I had to clearance the sides.
 
Yes I know a lot of people who don't have a front plate but I just know my LUCK, I'd get that PoPo who hadn't gotten laid in a month and was fighting with their other half so they're in a shitty mood and BOOM I'm sitting on the side of the road.

I think this is just an excuse and the real reason is your getting old and you can’t change! Admit it.
 
OK now the FUN parts. I had to chop up the driver's side of bumper to be able to get it to work around the rotated steering box and the stretched frame plus the wider frame.

I had to remove the rear of the plate due to the steering box.

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Also had to clearance this piece to fit around the cap & bolts on the steering box.

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And around the body of the box.

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Need to cut a little more out of the front for the 8274 mount.

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I'd already cut some of the upper section out for the winch plate.

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To add some strength back into the plate I'm going to weld in this piece in this hole.

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Then to strengthen the area around the steering box cap 'll run a strap right behind it.

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And then a strap over the top of the hole I'd already closed up, I'm planning on welding the winch bracket to the bumper also.


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This section will have to be removed to allow the rope/cable hole on the winch plate,

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