Jimbo's JL axle build and stretch

Some progress with my draglink. 1.75” .12” thickness with the rpm 1 1/4” thread links. Initial bend down to clear the radiator. Full bump and droop, turned full passenger led to a bit more bend down and some forward bend. Clears everything now. Time to pull the axle and weld it up along with the notch and driver side hole
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Looking good! That’s a major hurtle. Once you figure out that trackbar it should be smooth sailing. I’m curious to see what you think of the ORIs on the trail and road.
 
Looking good! That’s a major hurtle. Once you figure out that trackbar it should be smooth sailing. I’m curious to see what you think of the ORIs on the trail and road.

Absolutely! Can’t wait to finish this thing. Started getting all my brake items in so that will be the last big hurdle before getting this thing out. All the little still will be too easy to finish.
 
we have lift off! Jeep rat rod to off road monster!
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Have a buddy that powdercoats. Got my trackbar and draglink coated black and my calipers blue to match my seats. Going for that Honda racer ricer! Have everything to rebuild the calipers and all the brake parts layed out for the custom lines.
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Front and rear brakes are done. It was the last big sub project in the build. Time to start piecing the little stuff together: fenders, wiring, charcoal canister delete, fuel cell placement, and rear tower gussets are all at the top of the next list.
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Knocked out some on the to do list this week. Finish welding up the frame notch and painted, Installed front bumper, bled brakes, and finished up the taillight wiring. Cleaned up the rear to figure out how I want to mount the motobilt 15gallon fuel cell. Check how wide she’ll be. Close or right at 86” from outside tire to outside tire. Ordered locker switches so waiting on them to get here. Went with the GCD switches since I use gcd for my rock lights and like them. Next up on the to do list:
Install fuel cell
Wire lockers
Breather hoses front & rear
Configure horn, washer fluid bottle
Fill up diffs, steering fluid and radiator
Rear gussets in towers
Weld up rear bumper for install

Don’t mind the front tires facing the wrong direction…got excited to reinstall them put them in the wrong side.
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Very nice! Similar build as mine, working through some of the same issues.


I really need to take more pics during my build...
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I haven't notched the frame yet... but probably will... especially with the Rock Jock high steer knuckles.
 
@Rickstar321 the Currie hi knuckles are a bit different from the typical hi steer from what I understand. So your’s probably sits a lot higher than mine. I’m not in love with my draglink and trackbar bends so may at some point re work them. The draglink will be heim like yours over the custom rpm steering/draglink i made. Once I add hydroassist the current trackbar will most likely not work.

I need to weld in my rear tower gussets and trim the rear fender for the 38’s and it will be ready. Looking to finish it by this weekend for a shake down at Uwharrie. Putting in overtime all this week. Got the F/R lockers wired up and everything plugged back in.
 
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@Rickstar321 the Currie hi knuckles are a bit different from the typical hi steer from what I understand. So your’s probably sits a lot higher than mine. I’m not in love with my draglink and trackbar bends so may at some point re work them. The draglink will be heim like yours over the custom rpm steering/draglink i made. Once I add hydroassist the current trackbar will most likely not work.

I need to weld in my rear tower gussets and trim the rear fender for the 38’s and it will be ready. Looking to finish it by this weekend for a shake down at Uwharrie. Putting in overtime all this week. Got the F/R lockers wired up and everything plugged back in.

Yes, they are different, I had to have RPM make a custom center. Where the Tie rods connect to the knuckles is moved in in order to make clearance for the rims, so standard tie rods are too long. I would have preferred heims for the TRE's as well but couldn't find anything I liked other that the new GR vector tr.

I'm also going 38" grapplers.

I'm working on wiring as well, got the lockers and FAD working last night. Took a bit to figure out the FAD, but I still drive mine enough on the highway I wanted to keep if for now.

Right now mine is falling out a little taller than I wanted... so will be working on bringing it down a little once I get back from this two week trip to CO/CA.

What did your wheel base fall in at? I think mine is right at 101. My bubble to bubble is pretty crazy... 84-1/2"...
 
Yes, they are different, I had to have RPM make a custom center. Where the Tie rods connect to the knuckles is moved in in order to make clearance for the rims, so standard tie rods are too long. I would have preferred heims for the TRE's as well but couldn't find anything I liked other that the new GR vector tr.

I'm also going 38" grapplers.

I'm working on wiring as well, got the lockers and FAD working last night. Took a bit to figure out the FAD, but I still drive mine enough on the highway I wanted to keep if for now.

Right now mine is falling out a little taller than I wanted... so will be working on bringing it down a little once I get back from this two week trip to CO/CA.

What did your wheel base fall in at? I think mine is right at 101. My bubble to bubble is pretty crazy... 84-1/2"...

I haven’t taken a final wheel base measurements, but should be right at or close to 103”. With 37’s I could get out close ti 104” but the 38’s are considerably larger. I would have to get into more of a comp look
 
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I haven’t taken a final wheel base measurements, but should be right at or close to 103”. With 37’s I could get out close ti 104” but the 38’s are considerably larger. I would have to get into more of a comp look

Just seeing this build. Very nice @Jamesval035. I'm shooting for similar wheelbase (slightly less at 101") but on 35s w/stock axle housings and a tank in the rear. In addition to handling bigger tires, JL axles sure do help with packaging the suspension😓
 
Just seeing this build. Very nice @Jamesval035. I'm shooting for similar wheelbase (slightly less at 101") but on 35s w/stock axle housings and a tank in the rear. In addition to handling bigger tires, JL axles sure do help with packaging the suspension😓

I definitely have a lot of space on the axle tubes to work with. It’s been a fun build. I’ve glanced through your build page as well. Very nice what you’re doing with the stock axles.
 
Need some help with the locker switches and wiring. I have the gcd switches that I can’t seem to figure out. I assumed I could just wire it straight to the switch with Power source and ground the black, but that isn’t the case. I would have constant power to the axle that way.
The gcd has a red white and black wire. So question is.
What does the white wire do if the red is power and the black is ground? Could the shot be the potential switch to activate/ deactivate the switch, while the red goes directly to power and nothing else?
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we have lift off! Jeep rat rod to off road monster!
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Have a buddy that powdercoats. Got my trackbar and draglink coated black and my calipers blue to match my seats. Going for that Honda racer ricer! Have everything to rebuild the calipers and all the brake parts layed out for the custom lines.

That thing looks lean and mean!!! Love it!
 
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Finally got her out in the wild. Trying to break in the gears while not putting wear my new soft tires, impossible I know.

It’s been in the shop with front locker issues for the past month! I made lots of mistakes on the way trying to go with an Eaton but at the end of the day, I decided to just buy a new actuator and be done with it. While I was deciding to go Eaton, the problem I was having was the shafts. Long story short, The front axle is very specific with drive shafts since it doesn’t have a FAD and either needs the the spicer chromo’s it came with or custom shafts since the lip for the axle seal sits at the traditional location in the housing.

And don’t even get me started with the warranty from Dana/Spicer. They flat out suck! If I were to do it again, I’d just look for an axle out of a JL/JT instead of a crate axle. Or just have gone ton’s! Either way it’s back in my garage and ready to be played with.

Also stated the PRP install.

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