LJR long term "rebuild"
- Thread starter AMS417
- Start date
I appreciate it. Let hit an off-road park up your way next spring. I haven’t been to moonlight yet.
Me and my son got out and did some tape measurements. I’ve been reading the alignment guides. I’ve got a 2” difference between the left side and right side.
I do need to knock out some of those little things. Last 10% always takes up 90% of the effort to finish a project.
The amount of times I’ve been to mermac state park. And this is only 10 minutes farther. I may get those rough runs in before I try SMORR.
I’ve also got a job interview in Denver after the first of the year. So still up in the air on what I’m doing
The metal for suspension links and roll cage came in and my buddy picked it up. We did a group buy and got an awesome price. Also found out another friend of ours is a distributor for Barnes 4wd. We just placed a large combined order for brackets, trusses, skid plates, steering kits etc.
More work on the axles this weekend, we are also going to start the back half kit on the green YJ.
More work on the axles this weekend, we are also going to start the back half kit on the green YJ.
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More axle work this Thursday. Was going to finish up welding the 14B truss and pinion bridge but we ran out of shielding gas. Still waiting on some sales to fire off to order the next round of parts.
We did make some YJ progress. Frame chop done and new back half kit fitted and tacked in.
When we pulled the frame section out to weld and paint the gas ran out. Ran to town and grabbed a bottle. Stopped by another friends shop and scored a set of free comp cut corner armor and rock sliders from a TJ, these will go on the YJ and save a bunch of expense. He’s doing a full rebuild and had them in the scrap pile.
We did make some YJ progress. Frame chop done and new back half kit fitted and tacked in.
When we pulled the frame section out to weld and paint the gas ran out. Ran to town and grabbed a bottle. Stopped by another friends shop and scored a set of free comp cut corner armor and rock sliders from a TJ, these will go on the YJ and save a bunch of expense. He’s doing a full rebuild and had them in the scrap pile.
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Heck yeah, we have some good wheeling buddies!
Also recently found my stock cage has been bent and repaired poorly in the rear section. Same great group of guys offered me a perfect stock cage with pads for $100. Going to pull all my Rock Hard bolt on stuff on that cage, weld all the slip joints solid and add a few bars and gussets.
Some parts showed up recently, some just today.
Tons of Barnes 4WD stuff for the YJ's including a front truss for me, and all my gears and bits.
5.38 Yukon for the front with a Detroit
F550 OEM shafts
Warn Premium Lockout hubs
Full master kit with crush sleeve eliminator
5.38 Yukon for the rear with a full spool
Full master kit with crush sleeve eliminator
Also placed my order for a set of 14" ORI struts. Should have them in April or May.
Working on picking out tires and wheels now. Really want to do BFG 42" stickies but not looking like its going to work out. Would require a lot of cutting and highline fenders / body lift.
Should have some progress pictures this weekend.
Tons of Barnes 4WD stuff for the YJ's including a front truss for me, and all my gears and bits.
5.38 Yukon for the front with a Detroit
F550 OEM shafts
Warn Premium Lockout hubs
Full master kit with crush sleeve eliminator
5.38 Yukon for the rear with a full spool
Full master kit with crush sleeve eliminator
Also placed my order for a set of 14" ORI struts. Should have them in April or May.
Working on picking out tires and wheels now. Really want to do BFG 42" stickies but not looking like its going to work out. Would require a lot of cutting and highline fenders / body lift.
Should have some progress pictures this weekend.
Well, not as much as I would like to have gotten done this weekend but some things took priority. My buddy was busy doing an EGR delete on a 6.4 Ford and we got a late start. Unloaded the parts pile and the new stock roll cage.
These OE F550 shafts are beefy, 1550 u joints, for the price I had to get them. Will keep the stock shafts as spares with new joints in them.
I started practicing my very rusty MIG skills on the back side of the truss where its not as visible. My welds are going to hold find, but they wont win any beauty contests. Got a little better as I moved to the front. Had my buddy TIG the cast sections. He did the center and welded in the tubes. With a little paint, it should look pretty good. I need more practice to get a good cosmetic consistency. I was getting some porosity in places as my stick out was too far.
I kind of "need" glasses but haven't gotten them yet. Also was having issues seeing the material, the puddle was blocking my view and couldn't get the visor adjusted to fix it 100%. Lots of starting and stopping to see if I was on the line. Will do better on the rear truss. Its strong though, welded all the seams. Probably overkill really.
Need to order some wheels soon and pick out tires. I know the final assembly is a ways off, but I want all the hard to find stuff found and paid for when its go time.
These OE F550 shafts are beefy, 1550 u joints, for the price I had to get them. Will keep the stock shafts as spares with new joints in them.
I started practicing my very rusty MIG skills on the back side of the truss where its not as visible. My welds are going to hold find, but they wont win any beauty contests. Got a little better as I moved to the front. Had my buddy TIG the cast sections. He did the center and welded in the tubes. With a little paint, it should look pretty good. I need more practice to get a good cosmetic consistency. I was getting some porosity in places as my stick out was too far.
I kind of "need" glasses but haven't gotten them yet. Also was having issues seeing the material, the puddle was blocking my view and couldn't get the visor adjusted to fix it 100%. Lots of starting and stopping to see if I was on the line. Will do better on the rear truss. Its strong though, welded all the seams. Probably overkill really.
Need to order some wheels soon and pick out tires. I know the final assembly is a ways off, but I want all the hard to find stuff found and paid for when its go time.
Maybe a 39" or bigger. BFG makes a 39" and I can get a decent deal. Dunno just yet. Still just planning to build axles and collect parts until spring. Wheel it as is all summer and start nailing down details in the fall.
A lot of people around here seem to like the nitto trail grapplers. Good road manners as well as really sticky compound. A bit stronger sidewall than the red krawlers too.
Yup, talking to Toyo / Nitto now. Also looking at Interco TSL SXIII since its 99.9% trail. I could also do a Mickey product. Lots of options. All my friends seem to be on 40 / 42 / 43. We all call the 43's cheater tires. If I can't find a "deal" on something I want I can always run the 37's and drag my 14 bolt all over the place
TSL was going to be my other recommendation depending on road use. They make the SX in a 40 I think, not sure about the SX II. I would 100% get a tsl over the baja pro x. I’m currently running the Maxxis RAZR mt in 35” but I know they make a 40” as well and it’s been a good tire so far. I’d put it in the same category as the trail grappler.Yup, talking to Toyo / Nitto now. Also looking at Interco TSL SXIII since its 99.9% trail. I could also do a Mickey product. Lots of options. All my friends seem to be on 40 / 42 / 43. We all call the 43's cheater tires. If I can't find a "deal" on something I want I can always run the 37's and drag my 14 bolt all over the place
A friend just ordered the TSL in 43" for his stretched TJ. The price is pretty good. Will see what he thinks of them after a few runs. Was looking at Raceline for wheels. I have a set now and they have been solid. They have a sale going but what I want is on back order. Just have to be patient.
The TSL 43” sticky is arguably the best tire on the market(for our conditions, can’t speak to the high desert) I ran regular Tsl’s back in the day on a bronco and they work great. The main downside is it’s also one of the heaviest tires in its class.
Heading over to to the shop tonight to weld up the 14 bolt truss and tear down the diffs.
Ordered 2 sets of Mevotech ball joints for both the Dana 60's, one for me and one for a gift to my friends rig for all his help. We are going to try these out and see if we have a failure. If we do, ball joint eliminators are the next step.
Also super excited about a conversation I had with Mickey Thompson today. Not 100% yet, but it looks like I might be getting a set of 43" Pro XS tires for the Jeep. This means I will need to highline and will probably replace all my armor. Looking at Motobilt for everything.
More to come....
Ordered 2 sets of Mevotech ball joints for both the Dana 60's, one for me and one for a gift to my friends rig for all his help. We are going to try these out and see if we have a failure. If we do, ball joint eliminators are the next step.
Also super excited about a conversation I had with Mickey Thompson today. Not 100% yet, but it looks like I might be getting a set of 43" Pro XS tires for the Jeep. This means I will need to highline and will probably replace all my armor. Looking at Motobilt for everything.
More to come....
gasiorv
I'm a new world samurai, and a redneck nonetheless
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