The Pickle LJ

PickleLJ · Jan 31, 2026

Today was relatively successful, finished welds on the front truss and rear cradle, and got a coat of steelit over the welds. also got the rear lower control arm mounts welded up.

After that I messed with trying to get my lower balljoints in and gave up on that pretty quick, and moved the axles to their rough position under the jeep.

Was really just killing time till my rear main seal showed up, cleaning up the shop a bit and getting an idea of axle position.
Got the rear main seal and oil pan gasket replaced, honestly it woulda only taken an hour or so if it wasn’t for all the crusty bits on the edge that had to be scraped off, but turned out alright, should seal up good.

PickleLJ · Feb 9, 2026

Havent had a ton of time to work on the LJ the past week or so, but the time I've had has been fairly productive.

We will start with the bad. After I did my rear main I decided to start disassembly on the Front 60 for the regear, it went pretty smooth besides the inner pinion cup fought me a little bit, and got the housing cleaned up. Pulled off the bearings and I will make setup bearings here in a week or two.

Now the bad, I went home to get my ring gear put on my Eaton Locker, and although I checked it to make sure i got the right one, I didnt inspect it super close.

I guess UPS didn't like shipping the locker because it had the hell beaten out of the end flange, to the point where i was pretty sure there was deformation, as well as some surface rust you can see. Not a big deal if I was in a hurry to regear, but Im not. I made a phone call to ECGS, and they got me taken care of quick and painlessly and are sending me a new locker as soon as this one gets back to them. 10/10 on the customer service! So with gears on the back burner I turned towards some other tasks for the time being.

Front Axle: Upper and lower control arm mounts are welded in, lower balljoints are pressed into knuckles (no i didn't finally do it I had a buddy press them in for me I gave up). Balljoint eliminators are ready to go, getting ready to mock up steering soon. Lowered the jeep down and centered the front axle to get an Idea of what angle to mount my upper mount, decided with perpendicular to the axle since it will need to have a bend for clearance on the frame.

Rear Axle: not sure if I already posted about it, but I dont want my reply to clear out, but got the lower control arm mounts on, and mocked up the upper mount (ill go into a bit more detail later in this reply.

Transmission: I took some time and got the skidplate and trans pan dropped so I could put a lube locker in and a new filter, pretty easy job, but I'm still waiting on my new motor mounts to arrive so still fighting clearance issues at the moment. Got it put back on as well as the skidplate.

Body Lift: I already have a 1.25" body lift, however RK recommends a 1.5" for their tummy tuck, and I couldn't find any mfg that makes a 1.5" body lift, so I used some thick body panel washers to space it up another 1/4" and it did make a bit of a difference, not much but every little bit helps! (no word yet on if my MML has shipped yet).

Steering: I started doing the 3rd bolt relocation on my steering box tonight, i was hoping to be a little bit closer off the bat but i got the sleeve cut out and will have to work on it more tomorrow since i forgot my 1" drum sander attatchment thatll make this a breeze, and I dont like working that hard with a dremel. LOL

Now the bigger task that I completed of the week, after lowering the Jeep a couple times and taking a look at clearances, I was not satisfied with the amount of up travel I would have with the rear, and after looking over a buddies LJ that was stretched, I took some inspiration from him and made some clearance.

Cut out the shape of my upper link mounts and boxed in the open space on the crossmember with some 1/4" flat strap I had, and fully welded the Barnes gas tank relocation bracket in place to help give it some structure (im not worried at all now). I dont think I even needed to box it but it was for my own satisfaction. In addition to this I am planning to modify my rear truss a little bit unless anyone yells at me to do otherwise.

I figure if i leave the back part of the truss intact, and cut the top at those angles, and cut down the truss to the top of those holes in it, then weld 100% around the outside I will gain approx an inch to an inch and a half of clearance between the top of the link mounts and the tub, while still keeping around 9" of separation (its around 4" at the tub). All while still having adequate space underneath the mount to bolt down my links. I think i am going to be fighting a game of clearance on this one with how low profile I'm wanting to keep it on 40's.

Lastly but certainly not least we have wheels! Picked up a new set of Raceline's tonight from a good friend of mine and im super excited to be able to finally build a tie rod lol, I've been waiting to get them so I have an easy spot to measure for square so I can build the link correctly.

He suggested I take a look at the Apex Valve Stems, and I really like them but I was planning on running balance beads. Does anyone have experience with their quick deflate stems and beads? Can i use a filtered valve stem core with them?

Swiss-cheese TJ-6 · Feb 9, 2026

PickleLJ said:
Havent had a ton of time to work on the LJ the past week or so, but the time I've had has been fairly productive.

We will start with the bad. After I did my rear main I decided to start disassembly on the Front 60 for the regear, it went pretty smooth besides the inner pinion cup fought me a little bit, and got the housing cleaned up. Pulled off the bearings and I will make setup bearings here in a week or two.
View attachment 671283
Now the bad, I went home to get my ring gear put on my Eaton Locker, and although I checked it to make sure i got the right one, I didnt inspect it super close.
View attachment 671284
I guess UPS didn't like shipping the locker because it had the hell beaten out of the end flange, to the point where i was pretty sure there was deformation, as well as some surface rust you can see. Not a big deal if I was in a hurry to regear, but Im not. I made a phone call to ECGS, and they got me taken care of quick and painlessly and are sending me a new locker as soon as this one gets back to them. 10/10 on the customer service! So with gears on the back burner I turned towards some other tasks for the time being.

Front Axle: Upper and lower control arm mounts are welded in, lower balljoints are pressed into knuckles (no i didn't finally do it I had a buddy press them in for me I gave up). Balljoint eliminators are ready to go, getting ready to mock up steering soon. Lowered the jeep down and centered the front axle to get an Idea of what angle to mount my upper mount, decided with perpendicular to the axle since it will need to have a bend for clearance on the frame.
View attachment 671285 View attachment 671288

Rear Axle: not sure if I already posted about it, but I dont want my reply to clear out, but got the lower control arm mounts on, and mocked up the upper mount (ill go into a bit more detail later in this reply.

Transmission: I took some time and got the skidplate and trans pan dropped so I could put a lube locker in and a new filter, pretty easy job, but I'm still waiting on my new motor mounts to arrive so still fighting clearance issues at the moment. Got it put back on as well as the skidplate.
View attachment 671286 View attachment 671287

Body Lift: I already have a 1.25" body lift, however RK recommends a 1.5" for their tummy tuck, and I couldn't find any mfg that makes a 1.5" body lift, so I used some thick body panel washers to space it up another 1/4" and it did make a bit of a difference, not much but every little bit helps! (no word yet on if my MML has shipped yet).

Steering: I started doing the 3rd bolt relocation on my steering box tonight, i was hoping to be a little bit closer off the bat but i got the sleeve cut out and will have to work on it more tomorrow since i forgot my 1" drum sander attatchment thatll make this a breeze, and I dont like working that hard with a dremel. LOL
View attachment 671289

Now the bigger task that I completed of the week, after lowering the Jeep a couple times and taking a look at clearances, I was not satisfied with the amount of up travel I would have with the rear, and after looking over a buddies LJ that was stretched, I took some inspiration from him and made some clearance.
View attachment 671290
Cut out the shape of my upper link mounts and boxed in the open space on the crossmember with some 1/4" flat strap I had, and fully welded the Barnes gas tank relocation bracket in place to help give it some structure (im not worried at all now). I dont think I even needed to box it but it was for my own satisfaction. In addition to this I am planning to modify my rear truss a little bit unless anyone yells at me to do otherwise.
View attachment 671291
I figure if i leave the back part of the truss intact, and cut the top at those angles, and cut down the truss to the top of those holes in it, then weld 100% around the outside I will gain approx an inch to an inch and a half of clearance between the top of the link mounts and the tub, while still keeping around 9" of separation (its around 4" at the tub). All while still having adequate space underneath the mount to bolt down my links. I think i am going to be fighting a game of clearance on this one with how low profile I'm wanting to keep it on 40's.

Lastly but certainly not least we have wheels! Picked up a new set of Raceline's tonight from a good friend of mine and im super excited to be able to finally build a tie rod lol, I've been waiting to get them so I have an easy spot to measure for square so I can build the link correctly.
View attachment 671292
He suggested I take a look at the Apex Valve Stems, and I really like them but I was planning on running balance beads. Does anyone have experience with their quick deflate stems and beads? Can i use a filtered valve stem core with them?

That is pretty neat. I fought tooth and nail to make sure I had as much up travel in the rear as possible. I ended up moving my rear crossmember and floor up 6" to make room for my truss and links. I also thought about notching the truss for the rear upper links how you plan too, but sadly I got lazy and now I wish I had because it nicks the floor at full bump. Not a lot, but enough to wish i could have at least 1/2" more space

PickleLJ · Feb 10, 2026

Another task checked off the list tonight, I got the power steering box 3rd bolt welded back in, and mounted

I decided while I was there, I would finish getting the steering shaft, reinstalled and set to center which turned out to be about 3 hours worth of cussing until I finally figured it out for the small price of a busted clock spring. I was having problems with my steering wheel being upside down when centered with the steering box. I checked everything 3 or 4 times positive I had screwed something up when rebuilding the steering rack. Right as I was about to leave and of course as soon as I messaged all the auto savvy guys I know about it I figured out what must have happened. When you swap the Saginaw box in the LJ’s you have to drill out the little plastic pin in the steering shaft to extend it. I did this and it was difficult to move so I took it all the way off to clean it up so it was manageable. The genius move of the day was I put it back on 180 degrees from the way it was supposed to be. Problem solved and now my wheel is straight. Now I need to order a clock spring, waiting on my Genright twisted pitman arm to arrive, and will be trying to tackle the rear upper mounts and tie rod this week. Will have to see how it goes with the storm moving in. Hoping to measure for links by this weekend.

PickleLJ · Feb 11, 2026

Today I was able to knock out a couple more tasks. Got both knuckles on, hubs, and rotors, and used some scrap tube to rough out my tie rod length. Stopped by the hardware store for some new grade 8 bolts , cut my tubing and got my tie rod welded up and set to around 1/8” toed in for now. I also welded one end of my draglink for esthetic sake while waiting for my remaining steering components to arrive.

After that I tackled getting my rear upper link mounts inset in the rear truss. I cut into the truss and was able to drop the mount in an additional inch which should help with clearance at full stuff. I think it turned out good! Now just need to build some spacers for my control arm joint size and weld the lower plate into the mount, then I can measure for links! Depending on how I feel about it after welding in the lower plate, I may add in some more gusseting.

PickleLJ · Thursday at 9:47 PM

After setting my spacing for my links, I think I will add one brace below the middle to give it a pinch more structure but other than that I’m pretty happy with the results of the rest truss/cradle after adding the lower bracket (I guess I forgot to take a picture today). Tonight I got my twisted pitman arm painted and installed on the box, and started figuring out how far forward and low I can go, and it’s looking pretty promising. Genright claims with an outside the frame trackbar and their twisted pitman you can stretch the front up to 5”, and based off what I eyeballed tonight I believe them. Anybody got experience that can chime in? Anybody with full size 1 tons got some pictures of your steering setups/axle positions?

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Swiss-cheese TJ-6

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