Nashville TJ's Build - Continued

Rickyd said:

I'm no expert,but if bolt elasticity(losing their clamping force) is an issue could harder bolts work?hardened washers?

I'm guessing you used grade 8?

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Yes - grade 8 on everything. Everything was definitely tight.

Brianj5600 said:

The 9/16 JJ has 33 degrees of articulation and the 5/8 has 30 degrees. The next larger bolt has only 23 degrees of articulation.

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Thanks for that, Brian. That’s what I expected to see.

I bought a few joints to replace my spares. I unintentionally picked up the “N” version of the joint, and they are just a bit narrower in the body. I’ve not measured, but they appear to have a bit more articulation than the standard joint.

The last time I had the front wheels off the ground I noticed just a hint of play in the ball joints. So, knowing what was coming I picked up a set of rebuildable Dana 60 ball joints from Dynatrac to try out.

These are the low profile (lower joint) version which works with the RCV's that I run. When I installed the RCV's, I had to trim the stock lower ball joint to clear the big orange ball. These should clear without modification.

Anyone have any experience with, or insight into, these things? Is the juice worth the squeeze?

hosejockey61 said:

How much was the juice?

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$689.

Blackjack said:

I had heard good things about them but that was prior to Dynatrac selling out to the ring whore.

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Was not aware - Randy's?

I spent some time in the Jeep this morning thinking about a layout for the new console. My goals in order of importance:

1) Best location for the Sidewinder trans shifter.
2) Best location for the triple shifter for the Atlas.
3) Keep the cutting brake levers (somehow).
4) Keep the console storage (especially since the Welder is in the glove box) and the arm rest.
5) Keep the subwoofer in the console.
6) Best location for the locker switches, winch switch, garage door opener, engine fan controls, OD switch, others.
7) Location for the welder idle controller.
8) Drink holders - but it looks like this may not be possible.

After quite a bit of flopping around, this is the general approach I've landed on:

Triple shifter up front (will be mounted about 3" lower than shown - since it's sitting on the stock console here), bending the shifter arms to best clear the dash and HVAC controls. Trans shifter in the center, cheated to the left to allow space for the cutting brake levers (modified to raise them a bit and clear the trans shifter and the seat) - there is more room there than it appears in the picture.

I'm also toying with the idea of using an SPOD I've had lying around for the switches - but not the locker switches, since I prefer a physical switch for those.

The console will be angled up in the front to meet the dash just below the HVAC controls. The plan is to build a steel square tube frame, with removable aluminum panels attached with button heads. The triple shifter, the trans shifter, and the cutting brake levers will be attached directly to the floor for rigidity, with the console built around them.

Whatcha think? Any insight?