We took the JL down to Puerto Penasco Mexico this weekend. This thing performed beautifully on the highway. Smooth, quiet and averaged 18mpg on 37's!

At one point while driving on the highway we hit a rather large, rough patch of road. We saw the cars in front of us bounce violently and so we both braced for the inevitable hard impact... but it never came. The big tires and tuned shocks soaked it up like it wasn't there. My wife looked over at me and said she was so happy she went with 37's instead of 35s, and when our Power Wagon shows up sometime this year, she want's 37's on it too. SCORE

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Today I fabricated the cargo area body mounts. I had to put the body back on the frame, bolt the mounts to the body, then tack the mounts in place. Then lift the body off again for finish welding. The mounts also double up as gussets that add some lateral stiffness.
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I wanted to give my drive shaft the best possible chance of being able to handle 14" of travel. So I played around with upper and lower link length. For reasons, the internet says that the upper control arm length should be 80% of the lower. At full droop this causes the pinion to angle down, increasing the likely hood of bind on the drive shaft.

If the links are the same length, the pinion will stay pointed at the same angle throughout its travel.

If the upper links are longer than the lower, at full droop the pinion will angle upwards, towards the transfer case, theoretically reducing bind on the driveshaft.

So, I did a thing a while back. Using a laser pointer fixed to the pinion yoke, aimed at a piece of cardboard at the approximate location of the transfer case tail shaft. I measured where the pinion was aimed at ride height, full bump and full droop.

I did the test twice, the first time was with the upper control arms being about 4 inches shorter than the lower control arms. Then the second test the upper control arms are about an inch longer than the lower control arms. The theory worked, you can see on my cardboard in the image, then pinion is aimed much higher on the test with the upper links being longer than the lower.

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*When I talk about control arm length, I'm referring to length on the x axis, not actual length.
 
I've been really busy with other things, but Punk'nStein isn't forgotten. I put the rear shocks and bumps on, so I could sit back and enjoy some of my hard work. Thats pure eye candy.

The preload on the shocks is fully unscrewed, but with no roll cage, interior, engine/trans/trans the jeep is sitting about 3" tall in the rear. Remember these are 35's, Punk'nStein is designed for 37's. Its looking like I hit my target of 7" up travel in the rear with the rough equivalent of a 4" suspension lift + 1" body lift.

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A little update on the brakes
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Using some of the wisdom of some senior members on this forum, the entire system will utilize AN3 fittings. All easily replaced.

I stole the little "rail" that the hardline tabs bolt through from toximus, who stole it from Blaine, who stole... probably invented the idea. It should keep any sticks from getting between the axle and brake line.

AN3 female soft lines have been ordered to go from the male AN3 fitting near the end of the axle to the brake caliper, which will get a 90 degree banjo to AN3 male.
 
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A little update on the brakes
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Using some of the wisdom of some senior members on this forum, the entire system will utilize AN3 fittings. All easily replaced.

I stole the little "rail" that the hardline tabs bolt through from toximus, who stole it from Blaine, who stole... probably invented the idea. It should keep any sticks from getting between the axle and brake line.

AN3 female soft lines have been ordered to go from the male AN3 fitting near the end of the axle to the brake caliper, which will get a 90 degree banjo to AN3 male.
I probably missed it somewhere back in the thread, but what is your plan for brakes?
 
I probably missed it somewhere back in the thread, but what is your plan for brakes?
The brakes will be oem for the m210/220 axles (JLUR). Huge rotors, twin piston calipers, and can stop my 5k pound JL on 37's no problem. I'm trying to keep the TJ near 4k so it should be plenty
 
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The brakes will be oem for the m210/220 axles (JLUR). Huge rotors, twin piston calipers, and can stop my 5k pound JL on 37's no problem. I'm trying to keep the TJ near 4k so it should be plenty
Oh yeah! I forgot those started out as stock JL axles.