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Nothing I need, everything I want (2005 TJR, impact orange)
- Thread starter psrivats
- Start date
Excited to see what happens here Sri. Love the Impact Orange canvas and the details to be revealed. The builder choice is spot on for shared philosophy to get your dream build. 
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Just make sure you give a rap on the knuckles when you see silly questions regarding springs and joints. And short arm vs midarm vs other idealogies. The "tuning" will happen with shocks and getting everything else to play nicely with them. The only reason this build is getting a mid-arm is because I desire it, not because a short-arm would have been any less capable.
Just for some context, the black jeep got it's shocks tune adjusted again before it went to the new owner. I had the opportunity to experience the new tune very recently and it was just excellent. That jeep has now had 4 different shock tunes and each one has made it feel like an entirely different jeep. And I will point out that NOTHING else on the suspension was changed. Same springs, same links, same joints, same everything. Only thing changed is the shock tune. The latest iteration is now perfectly matched to how that vehicle sits in terms of weight and it was delightful to drive.
This orange jeep will get Fox shocks with DSCs, same as what @jjvw recently installed and talked about.
You and Josh are gonna make me spend another 1500 bucks on my shock project before I even install them.... you know that, right?
And it will be worth it
We'll see what kind of bonus I get. The tune I've already paid for will be garbage at that point...
More than that, but yes. My previous 2.0 reservoir shocks were very good, but the DSCs are something entirely beyond my basic understanding of how shocks work.
You guys have me contemplating dropping $5000 on Fox Factory 2.5 DSC coilovers for my F150 for goodness sakes.
Properly tuned shocks is a real game changer on any vehicle.
Properly tuned shocks is a real game changer on any vehicle.
As long as we all understand that we try to move forward with each tune which means that his tune will not be used, we'll try to improve it.
They’re largely impractical unless you’re doing a lot of desert racing. I’m also not a fan of the look. I like more classic looking trucks. The Raptor is just too aggressive looking. If I can buy any truck it’s a 70 Chevy Cheyenne 4X4 with the two-tone paint.
please keep the build pro pics coming for those of us who prefer to flail through our builds ourselves but still recognize our long list of shortcomings
please keep the build pro pics coming for those of us who prefer to flail through our builds ourselves but still recognize our long list of shortcomings
I resemble that remark!
I told Blaine this will be a forever vehicle and as he is going through the build, he is doing all that is possible to seal things that need to be sealed, paint things that need painted and coat things that need coated all with the appropriate materials carefully chosen. You will see that in many places going forward from here.
And goes without saying - all photos are courtesy of Blaine. Like many of you, I have really enjoyed watching them on other threads but knowing these are on the orange jeep makes it extra special for me.
Front axle work continued .. Blaine welded capture washers to both the LCAs and then welded both mounts in place on the axle.
Then work started on the shock mounts.
Before -
and after Blaine cut them flush to the tube ..
and after he capped them off in preparation for the lower shock mount ..
Some of you may recall this photo from an earlier Blaine build thread showing shock mount. If you had wondered how all of that was built like me, now you know the steps. The work quality is really beautiful here
After those were done, Blaine welded the truss and stiffener. Weld thru primer was sprayed on the axle tube bare metal and inside any place that paint may not reach when the axle gets finally painted. Note that the stiffener is welded full length to seal out water to prevent rust on the inside.
Remember this from the previous page?
Now a mechanical connection is made with welding to unitize them together preventing relative movement. @mrblaine please correct me if I explained that wrong.
And goes without saying - all photos are courtesy of Blaine. Like many of you, I have really enjoyed watching them on other threads but knowing these are on the orange jeep makes it extra special for me.
Front axle work continued .. Blaine welded capture washers to both the LCAs and then welded both mounts in place on the axle.
Then work started on the shock mounts.
Before -
and after Blaine cut them flush to the tube ..
and after he capped them off in preparation for the lower shock mount ..
Some of you may recall this photo from an earlier Blaine build thread showing shock mount. If you had wondered how all of that was built like me, now you know the steps. The work quality is really beautiful here
After those were done, Blaine welded the truss and stiffener. Weld thru primer was sprayed on the axle tube bare metal and inside any place that paint may not reach when the axle gets finally painted. Note that the stiffener is welded full length to seal out water to prevent rust on the inside.
Remember this from the previous page?
Now a mechanical connection is made with welding to unitize them together preventing relative movement. @mrblaine please correct me if I explained that wrong.
Blaine said he used a 4” cut off disc on the Dynabrade right angle die grinder.
@psrivats, congrats on getting "everything you want" (especially after being sans-TJ for a bit), and bravo, @mrblaine, for more incredible work shared for those of us who are learning the best way to build a TJ! My build is very similar to yours, psrivats, and building it is exactly the stress-relief I need from a day job that's lost its luster! I'll be following this because it'll sequence quite nicely ahead of my build.
While the "truss" style upper control arm mount is reasonably well designed and fairly stout, it is still doing the job that was shared between two upper arms previous. I've seen a lot of carnage in roll overs so I wanted an extra bit of strength between the truss and the axle housing. The weld around the two cut off ears is a poor bond since it is to cast material. By filling the gaps with weld, that adds a mechanical connection that won't let it move laterally. Then, even if the welds crack all the way around like some cast welds do, they won't crack in a perfectly straight line that would let the truss lift straight up off of the ears.
Of note- the cracks or joints at each of the bends in the truss flanges should not be welded until last. Welding closes them up and pulls the two ends towards the middle and the truss won't fit.
The appearance of the pieces we weld on should also be noted. They are a uniform gray, that's because we have sandblasted each piece. I wanted a good key for the finish paint and then I wanted a good key for the weld through primer which is a high zinc content version in this case.
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