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

[toximus]

WOW I think I'm in over my head on this.

That's why I started this thread to try and simplify things.

I'll try to break down your post into several questions.

I wanted a crawler for the weekends and thought that I can put a 6" long arm

A 6" lift is going to be overkill and place your rig higher than is necessary. Mine is at 4" lift equivalent.

with 37;s on and go.

37s are great, but there's big stepping stone between them and 35s. There also isn't much more work than going to 40s. So before you go to 37s, know why you want 37s. Bigger isn't always better.

I don't have the money for axles right now so can I beef up the axle shafts and add a axle truss to help till I get the money for axles?

The issue really isn't the axle tubes not being strong enough which could be helped with trusses, it's the bearings and ball joints that are too weak so you'll end up having to replace them often. So trusses just end up adding extra unnecessary weight.

I encourage you to read through this thread a few times because there's a lot more to it than just bigger tires and wheel spacers if you want a well built rig. You'll need to build holistically.

And how long will that last till I blow up an axle?

It all depends on how hard you are on it. I've heard of some daily drivers that are fine on the TJ axles and 37s for a few years, and I've also heard of off roaders who replace their axle parts each weekend.

Personally I built for reliability because I'd rather be driving than on the side of the trail/road dealing with problems.

Is it worth spending money on the larger breaks for the dana 44's now or should I just put that money towards the axles?

If you are insisting on 37s now, you absolutely should make sure that your brakes perform in emergency and panic situations.


Again, read through this thread because a lot of your questions will be answered and it'll probably make more sense.

One other thing to keep in mind is where you want to wheel, because different builds work better in different areas. Some guys need 44" Super Swampers to go through deep mud pits, long wheelbases are preferable in places like moab and sand hollow, narrow and short is beneficial in the forest, ifs is better in go fast desert, etc. I wanted something that would work well anywhere and so far it's held it's own toe to toe with purpose built rigs for many of those areas.

 

[someguysjeep]

did you use a vented fuel filler cap? do you know of any reason one or the other might be more preferred vs non-vented, for our application?

the tank has plenty of venting , do you see any harm to use the vented cap even though the sys doesn't require it.
vented is in stock . non is end of the month shipping.

 

[toximus]

did you use a vented fuel filler cap? do you know of any reason one or the other might be more preferred vs non-vented, for our application?

the tank has plenty of venting , do you see any harm to use the vented cap even though the sys doesn't require it.
vented is in stock . non is end of the month shipping.

You absolutely do not want it vented to the inside of your Jeep.

Here's some info for you:

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...e-adventure-lj-story.9956/page-40#post-485569
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...e-adventure-lj-story.9956/page-51#post-539065

 

[astjp2]

Yeah, the stink of one drop of gas is enough to gag even the most manly of men…

 

[someguysjeep]

mines never gonna see a full top again and the cell is supplied from a filler head and tube mounted to a plate on the back side of the B bar.
but point taken and if the rig is covered and the vent did release the fumes are trapped.

thanx for the advice. sometimes you can't always spot capt. obvious.

 

[toximus]

mines never gonna see a full top again and the cell is supplied from a filler head and tube mounted to a plate on the back side of the B bar.
but point taken and if the rig is covered and the vent did release the fumes are trapped.

thanx for the advice. sometimes you can't always spot capt. obvious.

What happens in a rollover? Even if flammability isn't a concern, being soaked in gas is a fun way to ruin a trip.

 

[astjp2]

What happens in a rollover? Even if flammability isn't a concern, being soaked in gas is a fun way to ruin a trip.

I will bring the matches and hotdogs! Tox do you want to bring the buns?

 

[Apparition]

What happens in a rollover? Even if flammability isn't a concern, being soaked in gas is a fun way to ruin a trip.

Had a 10 year old cousin killed many years ago when a tractor tipped over on him. He got covered in diesel when it tipped.

 

[someguysjeep]

What happens in a rollover? Even if flammability isn't a concern, being soaked in gas is a fun way to ruin a trip.

nothing i'm not gonna use any type of vented cap ,
i didn't figure most of these were open channels and had some type of pressure release device.

again thank you for the advice.

 

[Nickgsjeep]

What happens in a rollover? Even if flammability isn't a concern, being soaked in gas is a fun way to ruin a trip.

You and I have very different ideas of what is “fun”

 

[DRG05R]

Thanks. I feel like I'm finally starting on the downhill.





Thanks for the votes and opinions. I decided on black/smoke/midnight.

 

[Rusty762]

I plumbed and installed the coolers for my transmission and steering.

I had previously installed a different cooler. I decided to replace it with different coolers which should cool more appropriately especially now that I've supercharged my engine I'll be putting more heat into my transmission (I hadn't tested the previously coolers so I can't speak scientifically here).

The steering cooler is a Derale 13253 cooler mounted in Black Magic Brake's V-brace mount and for the transmission I'm using a Setrab 53-10748-01.

To mount the Setrab I welded 2 flat bars to the grill support V.

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I cut and snapped off the section of fins on the steering cooler to get it over the V:

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On the OEM radiator I replaced the factory 5/8-16 fitting adapters with Summit part number SUM-220667B to adapt to -6 AN.

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I used Aeroquip socketless for all of these low pressure hoses.

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I'm not into gimmicks, but the Koultools EZ-On Hose Press made fitting all sizes of hoses on a breeze. I lubed them with power steering or transmission fluid before pressing.

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To splice in my transmission temp sensor I used a tee and had to use a 1/4 NPT to 1/8 NPT reducer. I accidentally over did it and broke the hex off. To save my mistake and not have to rebuy expensive fittings I ground the rest off and rolled with it.

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Checking to make sure everything clears:

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Amazing build, just finished reading the entire thread ! I have Blaines PSC steering setup that I have been running for the last 4 years and want to add a Sertrab tranny cooler. I can weld up the brackets but have no idea on what fittings/hose to use. I ordered the Summit -6 AN for the radiator. Any help you can provide on the fittings would be appreciated, looks like the Koul tools is an investment but worth it.

 

[toximus]

Amazing build, just finished reading the entire thread ! I have Blaines PSC steering setup that I have been running for the last 4 years and want to add a Sertrab tranny cooler. I can weld up the brackets but have no idea on what fittings/hose to use. I ordered the Summit -6 AN for the radiator. Any help you can provide on the fittings would be appreciated, looks like the Koul tools is an investment but worth it.

Here's every fitting you could need: https://www.summitracing.com/search...dMatch&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=socketless

Just figure out your route and what angle of fittings you need.

Here's the hose you'll need (there's different lengths available): https://www.summitracing.com/parts/aer-fcn0620

Personally, I wouldn't do it without the Koul Tools hose press if you think you'll be doing more hoses in your future.

On the transmission side, I slipped the AN hose over the OEM hard lines and secured with the OEM clamps. However, yours being a 2005 will mean you'll have to cut off the ends of the hard line I think.

 

[Rusty762]

Awesome, thank you very much for the info. Very much appreciated!

 

[CAR-MAN]

Apparition​

Thanks for the link to read this. Slow day at work so I got to page 69. WOW...One question I did not see or miissed was why the mid length and not long arm? And...where did you get the CA's from. I know they have JJ's in them but were they predetermind lengths? I did not see where you built them based on your work.

 

[toximus]

One question I did not see or miissed was why the mid length and not long arm?

The arms were made as long as they needed to be and no longer.

And...where did you get the CA's from.

Savvy Mid-arm. And some different length front 7075 links from Summit Machine.

 

[astjp2]

Apparition​

Thanks for the link to read this. Slow day at work so I got to page 69. WOW...One question I did not see or miissed was why the mid length and not long arm? And...where did you get the CA's from. I know they have JJ's in them but were they predetermind lengths? I did not see where you built them based on your work.

There is a whole other post on the savvy mid arm which will just add to your knowledge base, it’s pages long too

 

[Rickyd]

The issue with my steering is that it is unable to achieve Ackermann. This is something that I've been aware of since day 1 of the build and I knew I'd have to dial in the steering.

Thankfully today was a nice sunny day with 50F weather which made for a good day of getting out of the Jeep a bunch of times and dialing in the steering on the side of the road with a couple of trips back to the garage.

To dial in the steering I started by centering the steering wheel. Because the steering stops are perfectly set up so the knuckles, hydro, and steering box stops all hit at the same time at ride height the only way to center the steering wheel is to adjust the ride height. Ride height is adjusted by moving the preload nuts on the coilovers up or down.

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I brought the toe to 0 (meaning straight; no toe in or out).

I then went for a drive on a paved dry road with lots of turns to establish a baseline. The handling was horrible due to the non-linear steering response. It was so bad I was honestly worried it wouldn't be fixable.

To get the steering to be good, I started by placing a mark on the top of the tie rod and rotated the tie rod half a turn of toe out at a time. As toe out increased the steering response became more linear. I kept increasing toe out until the steering became vague on center (similar to a dead spot I had trouble going straight but turns were fine) and then I turned the tie rod back half a turn to the sweet spot.

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There was a point where I could tell that I was steering by reacting to the road because I had muscle memory from how it handled in the morning even though it was starting to handle better. I've had this Jeep since stock and I think I have so much muscle memory of how it's handled over the years. So I stopped at a gas station for a little snack and a break so I could approach the Jeep with fresh eyes again.

The sweet spot wasn't quite good enough to feel comfortable handing the keys over to Mrs Tox for an unbiased opinion so I dialed in more caster angle by shortening the upper control arm 2 rotations and went through the process again of finding the sweet spot. Pinion angle is nice but isn't a huge concern since I have locking hubs.

I got the steering dialed in to the point where I could drive and enjoy music without having constant vigilance micromanaging the steering. I found that instead of pushing myself to drive the speed limit I was now driving faster naturally because I had confidence in the steering and it was easy. I'm not sure that I found the perfect sweet spot yet because the suspension is so firm that anytime there's a bump in the road I was thrown around and I would bump the steering wheel. I'm actually pretty sore from driving all day on paved roads.

One last thing, something that I had done last month is I sent my steering box to PSC to swap out the torsion bar with their firmer .210 bar. This helped slow steering response and make high speed driving better.

It took all morning and afternoon to go through this process and was well worth the effort since my Jeep is actually starting to be fun to drive — which I'm thankful for after putting so much hard work into it! Next up is dialing in the suspension!

Just getting to this point in your build and have some questions about this condition. My brothers jeep with highsteer arms and custom steering acts the same way.he trailers it so it isn't a big issue but no fun over 45mph regardless.

To be clear.you are adding toe out until it just starts to wander,then backing it up til it has decent ackermann? Add caster if necessary and repeat?

How has this worked out for you? Apologies if you wound up doing more. I'm a ways from the end of this thread and wanted to ask while its on my mind.

 

[mrblaine]

Just getting to this point in your build and have some questions about this condition. My brothers jeep with highsteer arms and custom steering acts the same way.he trailers it so it isn't a big issue but no fun over 45mph regardless.

To be clear.you are adding toe out until it just starts to wander,then backing it up til it has decent ackermann? Add caster if necessary and repeat?

How has this worked out for you? Apologies if you wound up doing more. I'm a ways from the end of this thread and wanted to ask while its on my mind.

Everything depends on where his tie rod is mounted. A picture of that in a new thread would do wonders.

 

[Rickyd]

Everything depends on where his tie rod is mounted. A picture of that in a new thread would do wonders.

I'll see if he can get some. 77 ford hp44 i narrowed to waggy width with flat top chevy knuckles and relatively straight arms.

If i remember right good ackermann follows a path from the center of the rear through the balljoint to the tie rod?