High travel, high clearance & high octane, a streetable adventure LJ story

[toximus]

I did some more measurements and calculations and I've come to the conclusion that I will need to remove nearly the entire width of the frame at the bottom for the 2.5x14 coilover to clear. I do have some strength concerns with that as well since I plan to place the air bumps in front of that C notch and the forces of winching/recovery. While possible, this is a difficult area to reinforce and to box on the inboard side with the motor mount being present and even that box would need to also then be notched to clear my upper control arm and reboxed.

To avoid that mess I decided to go with 2.0x14 coilovers in the front. Based on my approximate measurements they should be way easier to fit since they are narrower and shorter for the same amount of travel.

Like I previously mentioned, from my experience, 2.0s with DSC ride comparatively to 2.5s. When I started my build the DSCs were not available yet. The con to going with the smaller 2.0 is in something like a racing application where they will heat up and fade and the added volume of a 2.5 is needed, or on a heavy Jeep. But I suspect I've only added a few hundred pounds of sprung weight. Since I have the 2.5s in the rear, which see twice the work of the fronts, I should be in good shape. If I ever find that they're not meeting my needs I can always look into bypass shocks (although I truly don't think I ever will need them or else I'd be going down that road now).

The new coilovers will hopefully be in early next week.

 

[toximus]

Here is a comparison between the 2.0x14 (bottom) and 2.5x14 (top) coilovers:

I continued with mounting the coilover behind the axle tube to make mounting the air bumps on top easy. The placement works fine but the axle side mount is getting to be ugly coming off the control arm mount and difficult to make.

 

[toximus]

I decided to forget the airbumps in the front. After a conversation I was reminded that they aren't necessary and certainly not worth going through a headache to get the coilover mounted. If they end up easily fitting in anyway so be it.

2) Because the coilovers aren't mounted in a true 1:1 ratio with the axle movement and the axle tube rolls as it cycles, there is an extra 1/2" of travel left before they bottom out at full bump. To prevent the axle from smashing through the engine, I'm either going to need air bumps in place or lower the hoops by 1/2". If solved with air bumps, I will also need to check that the tires are okay at full articulation.

I threw a tire and fender on to check the clearance at full articulation. It clears with some okay rubbing so I'm mirroring the hoop to the other side! This is great because it'll allow for extra uptravel when articulated and the axle/tire can go up further before it pushes the body up. That will make the Jeep more stable.

To mirror the hoop to the other side I was finding that my digital angle finder had some accuracy issues, I've worked around these short comings before, but I wanted to avoid the frustration so I picked up a pair of digital levels instead. Since my Jeep is level on the ground I won't have to recalibrate the angle finder.

And using the power of internet magic, the hoop is mirrored to the right side!

Cycling the axle you can see just how close the springs will get to the axle track bar bracket and the frame. Seeing this makes me glad I didn't suffer through 2.5s...

 

[toximus]

Now that the hoops are in place, I decided to fully remeasure the frame and hoops and check axle alignment front to rear just to absolutely double check my alignment. I'm honestly a little confused with what I've found. The front frame and clip seem to be shifted 1/4" to the side when measuring from the frame to the brake rotor. But the axle appears to be absolutely centered by placing a line from the rear center to the front center. The front axle is also square to the rear axle. When I was working on the roll cage I did find that it was skewed slightly on the driver's side so maybe this has to do with all of that. From the factory my understanding is that measurements varied greatly too. All in all I'm going to say that it is good to go.

Edit: Typos.

 

[mrblaine]

Now that the hoops are in place, I decided to fully remeasure the frame and hoops and check axle alignment front to rear just to absolutely double check my alignment. I'm honestly a little confused with what I've found. The front frame and clip seem to be shifted 1/4" to the side when measuring from the frame to the brake caliper. But the axle appears to be absolutely centered by placing a line from the rear center to the front center. The front axle is also square to the rear axle. When I was working on the roll cage I did find that it was screwed slightly on the driver's side so maybe this has to do with all of that. From the factory my understanding is that measurements varied greatly too. All in all I'm going to say that it is good to go.

OEM frame side body mount.

​

 

[toximus]

OEM frame side body mount.

That's crazy.

 

[astjp2]

Tox, Dont you ever sleep?

 

[toximus]

Tox, Dont you ever sleep?

Nah. I've got a Jeep to build!

 

[JMT]

Nah. I've got a Jeep to build!

This is commitment folks!

 

[toximus]

To prevent the hoops from folding into the engine I am placing a spreader bar across the hoops and over the engine. The hoop I have came from Genright and is made from 0.120" wall 1-1/2" DOM with prebent ends.

To prevent any warping during welding, I welded on a temporary spreader bar between the hoops across the front of the engine. I then fully welded the hoops to the frame.

(spoiler: air bumps are happening)

I roughly mocked up the hoop spreader bar stacked on sheets of cardboard and held in place with tape to clear the supercharger and I found that the hood wouldn't close by about 1/2" due to the reinforcement down the center of the hood. So much for being easy! I'll be cutting and sliding down the center section about 1" to make room.

I want the bend in the tube to be centered over the supercharger but that places the hoop off center. I also want to keep the grill support rods (which aren't symmetrical to each other... I've been looking at them for 10 years and I never realized that...) Rather than only choosing either/or, I decided to have it all and cut the spreader bar in half to stretch it. There's not really a great place to cut it that won't waste the section so I just cut it right in the middle; I have new DOM that I'll be cutting to patch in the center section.

With the center section cut, I placed a sleeve over the 2 ends so they could slide but still be straight. I also raised the hoop up 1/2" off the supercharger to take into account the engine moving around in it's mounts.

I then notched and cut both "extensions", welded the flanges on at the table. Before welding the extensions onto the hoops and spreader I made sure both halves of the spreader were at the same angle.

I unbolted and removed both halves of the spreader and replaced the sleeve with a smaller one. I then welded on a temporary girdle to prevent movement while I worked on lowering the center.

I lowered the hood and marked the hood brace location onto the spreader bar (which by the way, the center hood brace is not exactly center of the hood... at least on mine.). I then marked the width of the hood brace and marked a few inches further so there will room to add gussets.

Then I cut the spreader on those widest marks.

To make the lower center section I cut ovals out of 1/4" bar and cut a new DOM section to length. The Makita LC1230 saw I had bought when I started this build worked perfectly to cut little amounts off the tubing at a time in order to get a tight fit.

I hurriedly cut the girdle off to see if the work ended up paying off and I am happy to report that it was well worth the effort. The hood closes perfectly and leaves a comfortable gap to the spreader.

I knew that this was going to be a challenge since day 1 of planing out the build back in late 2017 so it feels good having it checked off the list!

And finally, for your viewing pleasure, the bend around the supercharger:

 

[toximus]

This is commitment folks!

You guys are going to have to start sending me pizzas if you want me to continue this marathon...

 

[Chris]

I just want to know how much Jeep there's going to be left when you're done

Get that 4.0 out of there and it won't be much. Still, the end result will arguably be one of the coolest LJ builds I've seen, I'm sure of it.

 

[toximus]

I just want to know how much Jeep there's going to be left when you're done

Get that 4.0 out of there and it won't be much. Still, the end result will arguably be one of the coolest LJ builds I've seen, I'm sure of it.

I actually think the 4.0 is going to be a good fit for my build due to the physical size and reliability. Once my build is "done" I've been considering buying a junkyard 4.0 and stroking it to 400hp/400ft/lb and it'll swap right in on a weekend. I don't think I need that kind of power, it just seems like it'd be super relaxing and chill to build and I could take my time. And I enjoy building. Anyway, I need to do more research and have more conversations before jumping into that, but it's something I'm interested in.

 

[toximus]

I got the reservoirs mounted and the hoses routed to the coilovers.

For the front I had to bend the refrigerant lines out of the way and shorten the upper radiator hose to move it down. It still lightly touches the reservoir so if it ends up transferring heat I'll have to cut it down some more.

 

[Chris]

I actually think the 4.0 is going to be a good fit for my build due to the physical size and reliability. Once my build is "done" I've been considering buying a junkyard 4.0 and stroking it to 400hp/400ft/lb and it'll swap right in on a weekend. I don't think I need that kind of power, it just seems like it'd be super relaxing and chill to build and I could take my time. And I enjoy building. Anyway, I need to do more research and have more conversations before jumping into that, but it's something I'm interested in.

If Golen has proven anything, it's that you can take a 4.0 to well over 500hp with a stroker and a supercharger.

I think if you could get it to have 300rwhp, that would be all you'd need (which would translate to probably 400hp at the crank). I think that should be possible with a stroker.

Do you guys have E85 out there? If you can get it to run on E85, that's going to product a lot more horsepower as well.

 

[toximus]

If Golen has proven anything, it's that you can take a 4.0 to well over 500hp with a stroker and a supercharger.

I think if you could get it to have 300rwhp, that would be all you'd need (which would translate to probably 400hp at the crank). I think that should be possible with a stroker.

Do you guys have E85 out there? If you can get it to run on E85, that's going to product a lot more horsepower as well.

We do have E85 at QuickTrip stations across the state but I was talking to some of the street car guys in our state's group and the blend isn't consistent between batches and can drop down to 50% at times. I forget what the minimum ratio is to get the ethanol benefits, but iirc it's around 65% (somebody else can chime in if they know). It'd also force me to run different tunes on road trips where I can't easily get it and even though this Jeep will be a daily driver I don't put on enough miles to keep the fuel fresh and I'd worry about water contamination.

I might consider meth if I can fit a large enough tank under the hood to last 1000 miles minimum and if it can self regulate if it runs out. I want reliability through simplicity so I'm not sure if it's the best option either.

That's at least my initial very limited knowledge of things and I'm sure I have a lot more to learn. I plan to talk to Golen and Russ and see what we can come up with.

 

[liquidfluidity]

If you have Kwik Star, try out their fuels - all "Top Tier" rated. They carry E85, 87, and non alcohol 91.

 

[Chris]

We do have E85 at QuickTrip stations across the state but I was talking to some of the street car guys in our state's group and the blend isn't consistent between batches and can drop down to 50% at times. I forget what the minimum ratio is to get the ethanol benefits, but iirc it's around 65% (somebody else can chime in if they know). It'd also force me to run different tunes on road trips where I can't easily get it and even though this Jeep will be a daily driver I don't put on enough miles to keep the fuel fresh and I'd worry about water contamination.

I might consider meth if I can fit a large enough tank under the hood to last 1000 miles minimum and if it can self regulate if it runs out. I want reliability through simplicity so I'm not sure if it's the best option either.

That's at least my initial very limited knowledge of things and I'm sure I have a lot more to learn. I plan to talk to Golen and Russ and see what we can come up with.

I know in Oregon you can't get E85 at all, and the same with some other states as well.

So yes, you'd have to have two maps made via HPTuners, and bring a laptop with you so that you could connect to the PCM to switch between maps if you were in a place that didn't offer E85. Still, if you can get E85 (a good blend I guess) it can make a lot more power, that's for sure.

Golen is of course the guy to talk to, no doubt. I was watching one of his YouTube videos and he's got one of those 4.0s with Charles supercharger on it running 500 plus horsepower. Of course at that point, I'm not sure what he's doing for the transmission, but I am certain the 42RLE won't cut it.

 

[toximus]

My bad. I meant we have "Kwik Trip" which is the same as Kwik Star, right? "Quick Trip" is in the south and a different company iirc.

 

[toximus]

but I am certain the 42RLE won't cut it.

I was talking to ATS Diesel about putting 400hp into the 42RLE they said that (their's at least) can hold up to it but it NEEDS to stay cool or else it won't last. I didn't ask about 500hp, I also don't have the room to package the more efficient Magnum supercharger under the hood (the Eaton M90 was work enough as you can see).

My other concern is the transfer case holding up long term.