Roxanne: 1985 Cj-7

[85cj7]

Did some work over the break, the list includes:
-ford shock mount conversion up front with rancho 5012 shocks
-tj fender flares, moved inner fenderwell a good foot back and patched inner fenders
-cut floor matts from truck bed roll liner
-mounted 3 ammo boxs on angle iron in bed
-installed avm locking hubs
-fixed transmission torque arm stud
-made 2X4 rock sliders
-custom "texan" decals

Future work-
-full cage tied to frame
-35" tires
-4.10 or 4.56 gears
-detroit locker in rear
-2X4 front bumper with stinger

[BMFScout]

looks good man!

[AggieTJ2007]

looks real good, I say go with 4.56s i like them alot

Also looks realy clean

[agjohn02]

moved inner fenderwell a good foot back and patched inner fenders



id like to see more pics of this

[85cj7]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 85cj7
moved inner fenderwell a good foot back and patched inner fenders




id like to see more pics of this

[AggieTJ2007]

that inner fender is pretty sweet

[DRAGOONRANCH]

Looks good, sure beats my "office depot office chair mat" super special fenders in the jeep...

[85cj7]

got some new toys to add to the jeep today. haven't installed them yet though.
1).new front bumper, i finally get to remove that tube one
2). YJ power brake booster, master cylinder, porportioning valve, to swap into the cj for power brakes and bigger master cylinder.

the bumper doesn't come with the winch or the mount, and i took off the tow bar mounts and welded up the holes.

[colman]

how much did the booster cost you with the mc?

[85cj7]

$49 off ebay, including shipping

[85cj7]

its about time to start worrying about all this stuff agian, my registration expires at the end of march and with that comes worrying about the inspection sticker. heres the problem, the cj is an 85 so is not exempt from emmissions, to complicate things it is registered in dallas so legally it has to be inspected in dallas and so is subject to emmissions. I wouldn't have thought this was a problem, but last year when i tried this for the first time; it was a massive pain in the ass. the ford 302 that was swapped in barely passed emmissions. i mean barely, i retook the test 5 times, overheated it twice, and spent close to 150 bucks getting this done. heres where my question comes in, what would the concequences be if i got it inspected here in college station where emmissions are not required. Is this really that aweful.

[RCcola55]

you can get it inspected down here wherever you wnat, you just have to sign the green waiver sheet when you go.

[mudtoy67]

Register it in Brazos County. Give your CS address. Done. :)

If they won't take the dorm address then give them someone else's address that doesn't mind your registration mail being sent to their house.

[85cj7]

if i sign the green waver sheet, doesn't that mean i cannot legally take it into a county that requires emmissions inspections. what happens if i get pulled over with a dallas registration and an inspection from cs?

[BMFScout]

I got the Honda inspected in College Station last year because the check engine light was on and I didn't want to screw with fixing it to pass emissions. I just gave them Lissa's address and signed a waiver. They assumed I was a student, since you actually are it's actually legal.

[85cj7]

swaped in the yj master cylinder and booster for power brakes, it fit well but i ran into trouble with the hydraulic clutch line so i fitted on a couple different brass adapters to move the line to the other side.

[85cj7]

cool, i still need to get those rock sliders finished up. Guess your not going out of town?

oh yah and put on the new front bumper,

[85cj7]

finshed the tie rod flip, reamed the knuckes and tap in the cones, then flipped the tierod and drag link as well as changed the pitman arm back to stock instead of a 4" drop.

[85cj7]

So i changed a fuel filter and now the engine is sputtering for gas. The small fuel filter/prefilter before the fuel pump had never been changed to my knowlege so i changed it, no big deal. But now the engine won't turn over for more than a secound or two, it sputters and dies. why would changing this "prefilter" starve the pump and engine of gas? What to do, 1-run it without the little filter in front of the pump, i would think this would wear out the pump quickly. 2-remove the little filter and move the big filter in its place? suggestions?

[85cj7]

i just replaced my fuel filter and inline fuel pump, and the jeep runs fine but now i have the most annoying whining coming form the electric pump. This was not there before with the old pump, the only thing that i can tell is that i moved the fuel pump from the frame rail to mount up under the tub. This way it would be closer to the tank and would not have to suck gas froma longer distance. But when i put my hand on the pump to dampen the noise it doesn't go away. So its not just vibrating off the tub. I don't know what could be causing this excessive whining?

[DRAGOONRANCH]

Does it have a good ground?

[85cj7]

its grounded about 3" away from the pump but thats a good point i grounded it over undercoating that i had sprayed on. So it might be just enough resistance to work but not too well. I'll remove the ground strip the surface to metal and reattach it to see if that fixes the problem. thanks

[agjohn02]

electric pumps are loud. it wasnt getting full voltage before and was not running at full speed. ive heard of people cutting some resistance out of an oem set-up (read- ricer performance mod) and their pumps suddenly get loud. live with it.

[agjohn02]

ford e2000 probably. is it not loud? what did you do for fittings? they have barb fitting on both ends from the factory.

[agjohn02]

e2000. ford put them on everything from a 4 banger to a 460. i had the napa p5000 on the scout. it was loud, so i put a walbro in the tank.

[JB]

my stock inline pump in PN e2000. (86 Bronco efi 302)...Like $90 or so

[73bronco]

do you have the insulation around it?

[85cj7]

yah i actually have two layers of insulation around the pump. like i said the sound isn't unbearable now but definently more obvious than before, i guess just a different model pump.

[BMFScout]

I've got the ford pump they are talking about, I guess a 345 with a single 3" exhaust makes me not notice it. Different brands may be louder though, who knows.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

We did away with the mechanical on the treefitty and put an electric one in and never heard it, but I may have had the same issues as Jimmy too. ;)

[agjohn02]

I've got the ford pump they are talking about, I guess a 345 with a single 3" exhaust makes me not notice it. Different brands may be louder though, who knows.


did you just worm clamp the hose onto the barb fittings? no leaks?


http://offroadrepublic.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=12149&g2_serialNumber=2

[colman]

isthat rig upside down or am i crazy

[BMFScout]

yes on both, check out fuel pump thread. No leaks thus far.

[85cj7]

Some minor alteration. . .installed new turn signal lights up front, (so they work now) and installed relays into the stock cj wiring to brighten the headlights, the best $25 dollar mod i've done so far.

[85cj7]

well i went outside on tuesday of last week to find about a 3 foot long stream of diff fluid comming from the drivers rear outer axle seal. So why i am waiting for parts i thought it was a good time to get some work done.
1-replaced all front and rear spring bushings
2-installed some jks b2 front spring plate skid plates that i bought a while ago
3-and i made and installed some skid plates for the rear, i used the stock front plates and stock rear plates, to make skids and gain an inch of clearance
4-when i took out the axle shaft i found the wheel bearing race had split in two, whcih is probobly what caused my sudden leak.

[85cj7]

some pictures of the rear skid plates i built

[85cj7]

some pictures of the b2 front skids, i still need to cut off the extra bolts

[85cj7]

the broken wheel bearing

[85cj7]

i got the 2x4 rocker sliders all finished and ready to weld up, but when i mocked them in place i just didn't like how they looked and expecially didn't like how low they hung, so here is what i came up with instead, they are 4"x6"x3/16" angle iron with 1.5x1.5 box tubing steps.

[BMFScout]

I made plates like this when I was still spring under. They work good. I kept them when I went spring over because I'm cheap and I think they help keep the springs from "fanning out." Much easier to get the nuts off, and they accomplish the same thing.

http://ih.off-road.com/ih/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=264098

You needed an excuse to buy ratchet wrenches anyway, I don't know how I lived without them.

I like the plans for the rock sliders, Will that go almost to the door openings? That's the way to do those.

[agjohn02]

Some minor alteration. . .installed new turn signal lights up front, (so they work now) and installed relays into the stock cj wiring to brighten the headlights, the best $25 dollar mod i've done so far.

no joke. i bought new headlights thinking that was my problem. it didnt help. when i put them on relays it made a world of difference. now, everything on the scout is on relays. horn, turn signals, lights. its a good way to get around having to replace a 35 year old wiring harness.

[85cj7]

the sliders will go about 1.5-2" from the door opening, but right up to the bottom of the jeep emblem, if i went with 5" or 6" angle iron I would have to cut a notch for the joop. I'm also thinking about tieing it in to 2 body mounts on the underside, but I don't think they are 100% necessary.

[85cj7]

here are the pics of the first rocker guard with step, all that is left is to drill holes for mounting and paint, and build the passanger side one. Turned out pretty nice, I ended up going with 5x3x1/4" angle and 1.5x1.5x3/16 box. Does anyone think these need to be ties into body mounts or with 4 to 5 bolts through the side of the tub be plenty?

[agjohn02]

the way i figure it, with the rails on there, its better to tie them in. if your jeep sits down on the rail, it will create a moment that could buckle your rocker. without the rail, theres no moment and the load goes straight into the tub.

[agjohn02]

btw, they look nice. good work.

[85cj7]

when i test fitted them up it is just to far to make extensions that tie into the body mounts themselves. The lip is only 3" now so I would have to add about 6" or so of flat bar extensions, then trim the poly bushings. It seems like a real hastle. BUT. Do you think I can tie them into the bottom of the tub by using some scrap box tubing spacers and bolts. Lets say 4 bolts threw the side of the tub and 2 from below. Does that sounds strong enough? I'm planning to run a 3ft or so section of flat bar on the inside of the tub to ask as a large washer to distribute the weight, because these things weigh about 50 pounds each!

[eight]

How hard do you plan on landing on them? Mine are just the same angle iron as yours and they're installed with 14 bolts through the side (upper/lower) and have a 1/4" plate inside the tub they bolt through. If you look for it you can tell the body is bent a little. 5/16" carriage bolts fit nicely in a 3/8" hole, might require a little persuasion.

[85cj7]

its time to get some new tires, I am currently running BFG Mud terrains, 33x12.5x15, and I found a set of Procomp X-terrains that are a good price but they are 35x12.5x15. I'm only geared at 2.73 which I know sucks and I plan on changing that in the near future. My question is can I run a 35" tires with 2.73s?????

[mark]

2.73's are too low numerically for highway use. My opinion is to choose the gears based on where your power band will work on the highway. You have a 1:1 top gear so you would want to be at 3.73 as a minimum and probably 4.10's as a max. With 3.73's at 70 with 35's you are at about 2500 rpm which is good for highway cruising.

Obviously you will want to add a doubler or better than 4:1 reduction in the t-case for rock crawling.

Remember you cant change your top ratio with anything other than the axle gears, given your current transmission. So if you intend to drive it on the highway don't go too low in the axle. You can always add more reduction at the t-case.

P.S. Remember that there is a carrier split at 3.73 and above for both the AMC 20 and Dana 30. So you will need new carriers/lockers.

-Mark

[85cj7]

i finished up the sliders today

[85cj7]

I have a question about regearing, can I just regear the rear to 4.10s and leave the front at 2.73s ONLY TEMPORARILY. as long as I am in 2 wheeldrive I won't have ill effects right?

[J Cooper]

ill sell you my axles for the right price

[colman]

you can, should you probably not but if you do take off the front drive shaft so you don't accidnetally put it in 4wd and grenade something

[85cj7]

Today 07:23 PM
J Cooper
ill sell you my axles for the right price
-what axles do you have and for how much?

[J Cooper]

they are from my 85 cj, i wasnt really looking to sell them but i was eventually, now that its not my daily driver and got a jizob. plus ive had it the same way for about 5 years i was looking to upgrade.

30/20, 3.73s, AVM lock outs, dom steering with TREs, rear has 1 piece shafts, and i was about to replace all the ball joints and get some warn shafts for the front. both have ARB air lockers. all new brakes. have some spare shafts too. and i guess if i did sell them the tires would be for sell also. 5-35 bfg muds with certs

not sure on a price id have to talk to you about it.

[eight]

Taking off the front shaft is one of the dumber things people do. You'd have to accidentally lock both hubs and shift the transfer case. Leave it on and you can still use it if you're in sand or mud or such.

[85cj7]

so i bought some 35x12.5x15 procomp x-terrains and i'm wondering if i install them now and run them on the cj untill school starts and i can upgrade the axles and gear ratio, what will i hurt if anything on the jeep. Will this hurt my transmission, i'm talking 500 miles max, with 35's and 2.73 gearing????

[colman]

i'd be more worried about your clutch, i know coup is getting new axles, his have gears and arb's. give him a shout if you havent' gotten stuff yet. also i have a front d44 for sale if your interested as well, its from a j10 and has 3.54 gears, both knuckles are flat top

[85cj7]

got to work on some more stuff today, I started building a new box to fit between the wheel wells in the bed, like a small truck bed box, used 3/4" angle for the frame and am going to plate it with 16 gauge steel and a diamond plate lid. Also started working on finishing the front bumper, got the prebend hoop in the mail that I got from jeeptubes.com, (because i don't have a bender), welded it up and am going to reinforce it with some 6"x3/16" plate tomorrow.

[85cj7]

well i finished the front bumper yesterday, and spent today shooting it with rustoleum paint, here are the pics, 2x4x3/16 bumper with 1.75x.120 hrew tubing with 6x3/16 bracing.

[Seth]

looks good

[Sharpe]

I dig it.

[colman]

looks great, now it looks like that bumper is begging for a winch

[scottsdale87]

nice job, looks good

[85cj7]

i finally finished the box for the bed of the jeep, the frame of the box is built from 3/4x3/4/3/16" angle, the lid is 3/4x16 gauge box, and its covered with 20 gauge. Its got two locks and gasket material to keep it waterproof as well as being caulked to hell because the last thing i want is this thing leaking.

Also i ripped out all the old heater ducts and vents up under the dash sinse i didn;t have a heater core or blower motor anyway to make room for an on board air compressor that is going to be mounted up under the passanger side dash. I also removed three of the old pull knobs that controlled the heater vents from the dash to make room for the three new arb switches that are going to be mounted.

I'm going to start the teardown tomorrow, remove both axles and bring them to cooper so we can trade them, he's going to use my old ones as rollers, and i'll cart them back to dallas to install, so the new plan is dana 30 and amc 20, arbs in both, 3.73 gears, one piece shafts in rear, on board air.

[Seth]

was that cheaper than buying an aluminum box? I know it wasnt easier or lighter. It does fit nice though.

[85cj7]

i don't know how expensive an auminum box would have been, i looked around for one, though i can't say for very long or very hard, but to my credit i did look. It cost $100 give or take, it's always the little expenses that jump up and bite you in the ass, the metal was around $80 which i thought was pretty resonable, but then hardware, paint, caulk, tape and gasket is what really surprised me, it was probobly closer to $150 now that i think it out.

[85cj7]

oh and its not rediculously heavy, about 30 pounds.

[colman]

is there a reason that you didn't make it flush witht he wheel wells

[85cj7]

yah the tallest item i carrry around with me are those large jugs of engine oil and coolant so the box was made with a 1/2" clearance of these items.

[BMFScout]

Who cares on the cost, I flushed $50 one time on some ideas for rock sliders that didn't work out. The more important thing is the practice welding, grinding, fabricating, etc. Looks good, and you have the satisfaction of building something different instead of just bolting in some chinese crap you overpaid Dennis Collins for.

[sasquatch]

make sure you use some rubber bushings/isolaters when you mount the compressor. it'll be obnoxiously loud and rattle everything if you dont. electric compressors are also slow as balls and draw alot of power when hot. the better oba system would be a engine driven york compressor.

[85cj7]

its the one that cooper has on his 85 cj i assume its arb brand but i don't know what model, the smaller or the larger. At the current time i'm just going to use it to run the arb's and go from there if i want to air up and down tires, run air tools, exc. i'll have to get a tank. But basically i'm just going to run it how he was it set up at least for the time being because of the time crunch before comming back to cs.

[FJAggie07]

if u ever plan on running anything more than lockers i would advise against the ARB. it is a slow weak compressor, even the new ones.

[85cj7]

i'll upgrade to a vlair or something else later, but for now i'm paying enough for those axles, the least of my worries is buying ANOTHER air compressor with the time and money on hand.

[85cj7]

Got an email today asking permission from www.jeeptubes.com to use photos of my jeep on there website because of the front bumper stinger I had built, CHECK IT OUT.
http://www.jeeptubes.com/Stingers.html
http://shop.jeeptubes.com/displayProductDocument.hg?productId=7&categoryId=3

[JB]

cool

[BMFScout]

That's more reasonable on price than I thought it would have been. Congrats. I was on monster garage's website one time, I thought I was cool! :gigem:

[CheapJeep]

http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/monstergarage/yourmonster/zooms/page09/zoom_03.html

"Jimmy's 1979 International Scout


This is my 1979 International Scout. I have spent a lot of time making it a reputable off-road rig; I like to rock-crawl with it, though it is also my daily driver between Dallas and College Station, Texas. I am the public relations officer for Texas A&M Off-Road. Everyone in the club is a huge fan of the show, and any of us would love a spot on Monster Garage. We think you should have a collegiate challenge … Texas A&M would win hands-down against ANY other university!
— Jimmy Brune
Dallas, Texas"

[85cj7]

got the axles taken off the jeep today and loaded up in the truck in order to take them to cs tomorrow, i'm planning on meeting cooper and given him my old ones so he can use them as rollers, then making the trip back to dallas with his axles, dana 30 arb 3.73 upgraded tierod and drag link (which i'm flipping over knuckle), amc 20 with one piece shafts, 3.73 arb.(planning on welding tubes to pumpkin) and air lines and compressor with wiring.

[J Cooper]

****ers! :flipoff2:

we pretty much rebuilt both axles last night... they are pretty much all new and ready to go
did about a weeks worth of work in a night... thanks for all the help ryan and cook

the spacers are why the tires fell off
do not use spacers... i have them still if ryan wants them

he now has like 3 spare hubs, 3 spare front shafts and 2 spare 1 piece rear shafts... he should be good to go.

[RCcola55]

Things to hate:
jeeps
balljoints
jeeps
slide hammers
jeeps
late night of wrenching on other **** when you have to be at work at 6:30 :flipoff2:
oh and did i say all things jeep.

[85cj7]

thanks for all the help guys, but consider yourselfs lucky that your work is done, after making the 3 hour drive, I have already stripped both axles with a wire wheel and lots of "simple green" repainted black, connected brake hardlines, and placed the rear axle on the springs. MORE FUN TO COME

[85cj7]

got a bunch of work done today, got the rear axle done (besides bleeding the brakes) the front axle done (plus flipped the drag link and tie rod). just need to mount the oba and route the wires and air lines. PICTURES TO COME!!!!

[J Cooper]

...but consider yourselfs lucky that your work is done


you kidding? i had the exact same amount of work of putting **** back together as you did right after you left.... got both axles put back under and hooked back up after you left.... and then ran into the fence in the back yard because i forgot i had let air in the brake lines... oops

...so then we went to the chicken and crapple got me drunk

[85cj7]

ok fair enough, well the projects not over for me yet, i'm still having trouble with the compressor. It did run but the actuators didn't work for the lockers, so i thoguht i would get rid of the crappy crimp on splices, BIG MISTAKE, so I removed a number of these which weren't really do there job anyway because the wires fell out when i started to mess with them, i soldiered the wires together, and know everytime i give it power i blow the 30 amp in line fuse. So a lot more tinkering is in order. Should get the 35s on tomorrow, so i'll post pics then

[85cj7]

i got the 35s on today and am going to flex it tomorrow to see where i rub, i took some before and after measurments with the 33s to the 35s
1-transfer skid plate-before-14.25"-after-16.5"
2-front u-bolt skids-before-9.75"-after 12"
3-back u-bolt skids-before-9.25"-after-11.5"
and for those for us that can't subtract thats a gain of 2.25"
I also figured out all the wiring problems and have the compressor up and running as well as the arb's

[85cj7]

ok got a question for yah, i knew i wasn't going crazy when it came to this electrical stuff, i was right all along in the wiring, when i take the compressor out of the car and mock things up it works correctly everytime, but the second i mount the compressor (not messing with any wires) i blow a fuse every time. Is it somehow grounding itself through the car which is messing everything up. But more importantly how do i fix this. Currently it is mounted up under the passanger side dash. But it is isolated from the firewall by some leaf springs bushings i has lying around to minimize vibrations. So it must be conducting current through the 4 bolts that are holding it through the firewall. Any ideas??????

[robertf03]

does it blow the fuse instantly when the compressor kicks on, or does it take a second? are the air solenoids and switches and stuff on the same fuse as the compressor?

[Seth]

seems like you want a common ground but id have to see the whole thing i guess

[85cj7]

never mind i fixed it, one of the bolts holding the compressor to the firewall penetrated too far into the internals of the compressor and was actually becomming electrified, so i put a nut on the bolt to act as a spacer and everything is all right and finished. FINALLY. the only thing that is left is to adjust tire pressure, and get an alignment.

[sasquatch]

never mind i fixed it, one of the bolts holding the compressor to the firewall penetrated too far into the internals of the compressor and was actually becomming electrified, so i put a nut on the bolt to act as a spacer and everything is all right and finished. FINALLY. the only thing that is left is to adjust tire pressure, and get an alignment.

how did you manage this? the compressor should be sealed. touching a wire or connector?

[85cj7]

i flexed it and like i expected i'm going to rub on the rear fenderwells, so the plan is to put tj flares in the rear and possibly a 1" body lift to help with rubbing and for the future transfer case clock and flat belly plate.

[85cj7]

this is the best i could do to mimik a rti ramp, the curb plus the ramp is about 18", i might try to find a loading dock ramp to test it further, any much further though and i'll touch in the rear, i'm about an inch away on either side just flexed this much.

[85cj7]

heres the compressor mounted and wired, and the new switches in the dash. The little black toggle with red led is the power and then the front and rear arb punch switches.

[85cj7]

RCook527 Quote:
Originally Posted by 85cj7
never mind i fixed it, one of the bolts holding the compressor to the firewall penetrated too far into the internals of the compressor and was actually becomming electrified, so i put a nut on the bolt to act as a spacer and everything is all right and finished. FINALLY. the only thing that is left is to adjust tire pressure, and get an alignment.


how did you manage this? the compressor should be sealed. touching a wire or connector?

I don't know there was 3 holes that were tapped into the compressor two of them i could see the end of because they were just in a thicker part of the aluminum housing. But the third hole went through into the mechanics of the compressor, So there was no end to the hole it just went deep into the compressor body itself. I don't know, i didn't make the holes so i'm just rolling with the punches. :gigem:

[savvyaggie]

looks good

[85cj7]

well the clutch has gone from a pain in the ass to near impossible to drive sinse the last trip to 47. Any recommendations of brand or type for a replacements. And any clues of what exactly it is that is in there. Is to a clucth for the ford 302, or in line six???? I want to have the parts ready and available before I tear into this, sinse I have to drive this thing to school every day.

[AggieTJ2007]

as far a replacements, I like my centerforce dual friction but it rattles because of the stupid conterwieght thingies.

Zoom clutches are good my theory is go with a good clutch that will last a long time because it a kinda a pain in the ass and you only want to do it once

[85cj7]

the PO claims that there is a centerforce II in it. We'll see if that holds true.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

That's what is in the Cheby also. I really like it now that I got the problems w/ the hydro clutch system worked out. I 100% agree w/ Creighton on this one, don't go cheap unless you don't mind pullin the tranny alot more. :D And don't listen to a thing Eric says, he will have you putting in a pick and pull special. :flipoff2:

[85cj7]

so is it a ford flywheel and jeep pressure plate and clutch disk?

[DRAGOONRANCH]

What motor and tranny do you have? Not that I will be able to help at all, but it might help others.

[85cj7]

its a t-176 4 speed jeep transmission, with a ford 302, H.O. E.F.I. out of a gt mustang

[sasquatch]

so is it a ford flywheel and jeep pressure plate and clutch disk?

yes, order the clutch for the transmisson (jeep) and just get the flywheel turned at vilas

[85cj7]

whats everything i should get. . . pressure plate, clutch disk, pilot bearing, throwout bearing, and alignment tool. Anything else? Should i replace the rear main seal sinse i'm dropping the transmission anyway? It already leaks like a b*tch.

[sasquatch]

just get a kit. it'll come with all that. to replace the seal, it would make it easier but you'll probably have to drop the oil pan too. not sure on that motor

[AggieTJ2007]

that would make since you need a jeep pressure plate and disc to mate to the transmission

[robertf03]

I've got a fresh 5.0 flywheel and clutch kit in Dallas if you aren't in a hurry. make me an offer, I think its for the t-18 size input shaft ( 1 -1/8? )

[85cj7]

will this work for my jeep? if so how soon can you get it. I'm going to dallas this weekend if that helps.

[85cj7]

i just got home and everything is still here, i took a look and the clutch friction pad is definently new but what about the flywheel and pressure plate, i also saw the throwout bearing. How did you have everything that fits my application? Ford 302 flywheel with 258 clutch? I definently owe you one, and some cash. What do you want for your trouble. Thanks again, man, this is great.

[robertf03]

i don't know if it fits or not, i can't remember the application, but the flywheel is h.o. ford, and the clutch is ford something or other. measure the hole in the clutch and look up your transmission input shaft size to know for sure if it will fit

i bought it for my truck a long time ago and ended up having to use a truck flywheel instead of a car flywheel for the starter to work on the zf transmission I swapped in, don't have the truck any more and it was taking up space.

its been sitting in a storage unit for a few years, I didn't even look at the pressure plate. is there rust on it or something?

[85cj7]

theres is a little bit of surface rust, but on the pressure plate there is two bits of weld that don't look factory, so i thought maybe there was a story behind that. So are you saying that the clutch is not for the inline 6 258 jeep 4 speed t-176. cause thats what i need.

[robertf03]

you need one for a ford flywheel that has the same spline count and bore as a t176. I don't know if ford and jeep use the same pressure plate bolt pattern, so one for a 258 might not work if you purchase a clutch kit.

I think t176 is a 1 1-8" 10 spline. I'm pretty sure thats what the clutch disc that is in that box is for.

Don't know about the weld. Like I said, I bought it new then found it it wouldn't work with the starter, lost the receipt and it ended up in the mystery pile. Is the weld holding on a weight?

IF it doesn't work, don't worry about it. I was more interested in emptying my storage unit.

[85cj7]

okay so your pretty sure this is what i need. You know a lot more about this area than i do. The welds light be holding on weights. I'll show you the next time you stop buy and we can talk about it somemore. Maybe I can even convince you to give me a helping hand when i decide to tear into it. thanks again

[colman]

search for the spline count of the t-176 and diameter and compart that to the cluch. you need only concern yourself with that and that the pressure plate will bolt up to the flywheel for the 302/ flywheel will bolt to the 302, the rest will fall into place (assuming the tooth count will match your starter)

[85cj7]

ok well i got all this clutch stuff figured out, heres whats whats
Jeep-clutch friction plate (Hays street/strip $105)
-throw-out bearing (self aligning $40)
-alignment tool ($5)
Ford-Flywheel (got it from flem)
-Clutch pressure plate (got it from flem)
Custom-pilot bearing (Novak conversions $26)

But i've got a question about the ford pressure plate that flem gave me its got two welded pieces of metal that look like weights -what are these- and is it ok to have them? Also there is some surface rust on the machined surface of it that won't come off with brakecleaner. What should i do about this. . . get it resurfaced?

[85cj7]

the gf gave me my birthday present early yesterday so i spent yesterday afternoon installing seat heaters in both the passanger and driver seat bottoms and backs, not the most hardcore mod that i've done to the cj but man is my ass going to happy tomorrow at 7 am in 45 degress. :gigem:

[85cj7]

I finally got the jeep back together after rebuilding the clutch master cylinder and putting in a new slave cylinder. replacing those was the easy part it was connecting the two that proved difficult. Two flares were cracked on the hydraulic line, so i had to wait untill yesterday to get a new line made from bryan hose and gasket. I hate fittings. the clutch is a little better but it still needs to be changed out. hopefully in the next two weeks.

[85cj7]

WARNING LONG POST-god where do i even start this post. i finally got the balls to change the clutch out today,

the tear down went relatively smoothly, flem and i started at about noon and was done about 2. I had to cut off the rear driveshaft u-bolts from the yolk on the dana 300 because they had been crossthreaded. But that wasn't the least of the jerry rigged cr*p we found on the jeep today. :mad:

first of all the starter can not under any circumstances be removed unless dropping the transmission or removing the header. yah fun. then we had to replace the starter to solinoid cable because it had melted to the header (reministent of pigpen, i just escaped pulling a robert). And then the evidence about how great the previous owner was, started to become apparent. The pilot bearing was the wrong one, and so was the throwout bearing, the bellhousing was filled with oil because a plug in the back of the block that held the oil in was finger tight, and the clutch disk and flywheel were totally scorched.

We couldn't get the old pilot bearing out, so i cleaned the tranny,x-case,bellhousing, and crossmember while flem drilled the old bearing out? i dunno-true flem style. i tried to ignore what he was doing because the sound of drilling on the crank was scaring me. got everything back together including a new rear main seal, battery cable, and u-bolts. untill we got to the four transmission to bellhousing bolts, 3 worked but in one of them the bellhousing was stripped because the po used bolts that were to short so we replaced them with longer bolts and everything is fine now.

Finished, so tomorrow i have to re-teach myself how to drive a stick cause i'm surpised this thing drove how it was before. now its time to :cheers:
so thank you to flem and a lesser thank you to ryan for comming over and tightening 3 bolts while drunk-cheers biatch

[85cj7]

i bought some tail light guards for the cj, i'm sick of replacing those damn lenses because of tree branches, and small pedestrians. I've heard that these are a bad idea on a stock jeep because if they do get hit the whole quarter pannel will be crushed instead of the light breaking. But i don't think that will be a problem with the diamond plate quarter pannels I have on mine. I got them half price because they were chipped, but a little paint and they were as good as new.

Before:

[85cj7]

After:

[uglyota]

light guards look nice, but have you seen Creighton's? Maybe that's not a real good example. I prefer frenched LEDs but make sure they're symmetrical cough Robbie cough

[85cj7]

when i bought the jeep it had the flush mounted round leds but i HATED the way they looked (in some way it made the jeep look like an asian) I don't know i'm just saying.

[85cj7]

Well i've delayed for a good month on the issue of a cage. And finally will a little inspiration of birthday cash i bought a poison spyder cull trail cage. Heres the specs and pics. . . https://www.spydercustoms.com/index2.php

hopefully it'll get here before clayton with a couple days to put it together.

[colman]

did you ever find a family style section, and does that cage come with provisions to tie it to the frame? are you going to paint match it or go black? looks like the jeep is coming together real nice and capable

[AggieTJ2007]

I'll be impressed if the light guards hold up to more then a small twig. They need more triangulation :flipoff2:

they hold up good, I backed into/leaned against a tree a couple of times and they protected the tailights, the body is a different story

[85cj7]

we only found one family style cage at the yards and it was burnt to a crisp. its wasn't worth the cash or pain it would have been to get it out. i don't think the poison spyder cage comes with frame tie ins, but i already have the bushings/tubing to make my own. I thought about color matching up figured it would be alot easier/cheaper/faster to reustoleum black it instead.

[RCcola55]

does that cage come pre notched?

[colman]

i would hope so at that price

[85cj7]

yah the site says they are, i ordered mine from www.4x4rockshop.com which actually came out cheaper than ordering it directly from poison spyder. It was 830 with shipping.

[85cj7]

i picked up some rear tj flares while i was in dallas for $10. I painted them and got them on the cj today. I already had the tj flares in front but hadn't found a rear set until now. In the rti pic you can see the rear rubbing. Hopefully in picture two they won't. I cut off about 2-3" in the rear half of the wheel well and about 1/2" from the front.

[85cj7]

pic 2 with tj flares in rear

[agjohn02]

looks killer. reverse shackle it and move the front axle forward an inch or so.

[85cj7]

the next and maybe last buildup of the suspension is going to be soa so i'm not going to do shackle reversal because i've heard that its actually counter-productive on an soa setup. But moving the front forward by that much isn't a bad idea. My only question is aren't you limited by the pitman arm and steering box location? So wouldn't you have to move the box forward by the same amount you move your front axle?

[85cj7]

i had noticed this a while ago and just haven't gotton around to asking the question. But in the picture you can tell that my rear shackles are nearly vertical 0 degree angle. Which isn't right. I always thought they were supposed to be at 20-30 degree angle. Isn't this stoping the rear suspension from flexing to its fullist? And whats the easiest way to fix this?

[Sharpe]

Stops it from drooping as much. Move the upper spring hanger forward just like yall did on the scout, wanker.

[85cj7]

f*ck that then, i thought maybe slightly longer shackles would get it to lean more. Its not worth it if i'm going to be doing everything over for the soa and 2.5" leafs soon anyway. I'll just wheel it at clayton as is.

[agjohn02]

dont listen to sharpe.


its the lift springs. get stock springs and SOA it. the shackles will be correct when you do and it will flex and ride better. especially with a reverse shackle.

[agjohn02]

2.5" leafs and SOA will be TOO tall

[robertf03]

i had noticed this a while ago and just haven't gotton around to asking the question. But in the picture you can tell that my rear shackles are nearly vertical 0 degree angle. Which isn't right. I always thought they were supposed to be at 20-30 degree angle. Isn't this stoping the rear suspension from flexing to its fullist? And whats the easiest way to fix this?


I bet if you had a hard top and full cage and the rear full of crap it would sit how you'd like

you could swap front and rear springs and shackle hangers to fix it, it would move the shackle back around 2" on each end :flipoff2:

if you want a hard top and doors to fix the shackle angle, I have them for sale

[85cj7]

2.5" leafs and SOA will be TOO tall

no, 2.5" wide not lift. i'm going to use cj7 rears on all 4 corners.

[85cj7]

i got the poison spyder cage in today, and spent about 2 hours getting the stock roll bar out, i ended up being able to get only 1 out of 12 bolt out without the torx head stripping, and i welded on nuts for the others.

[85cj7]

and then my worst nightmare came true, RUST
this is the worst, driver side front

[85cj7]

next worst passanger side front

[85cj7]

not too bad, driver side back

[85cj7]

i don't think i'l have to do anything to this one. passanger back

[85cj7]

yah the floor will be sandwiched and supported to the frame on the front bar near the windshield and behind the passangers but not in the extreme rear. Its not that hard to replace this, i'm already done with the worst spot behind the driver. So i should be done with rust repair by noon tomorrow.

[85cj7]

i finished the worst spot the one behind the drivers seat. . .
heres the metal cut out

[85cj7]

and heres it almost done, i just need to grind it down, and herculine it to match.

[85cj7]

and heres behind the patch in the wheel-well, i had to reinforce the area with angle because this is where the body mount tied in. you won't even notice it after its painted.

[85cj7]

cage progress-

[85cj7]

floor rust patches done

first pic was the worst rust behind the driver
2nd pic is passanger side front, second worst rust
third pic is drivers back small quarter size rust patch
4th pic no patch just wirewheel and paint.

[85cj7]

cage update, all in place and tacked, welding in progress. will paint tomorow and i'll bolt in when its dry

[85cj7]

i got both new diff covers on, but if anyone remembers at clayton my front arb locker stoped working instead of the compressor locking the arb it was just blowing air out of the axle breather tube. So when i took the cover off i tested it again, their were no obvious breaks or cracks in the copper line that runs from the diff housing to the arb, to the best of my knowlege the air leak seems to be comming from the internals of the arb itself. ANY ONE KNOW?? I didn't want to screw with it so i just put the cover on and added fluid, i guess i'll send the axle out to someone who knows what their doing when i do spring over, anyways heres pics.

[85cj7]

the stock rear cover weighed 3 pounds the replacement 19 lbs. the stock front cover weighed 2 lbs the replacement 9 lbs. I'm sure clayton can find a way to hurt these but at the very least i think they can stop 47.

[85cj7]

i think everyone saw the cage in person but just for sh*ts and giggles.

[JeepPhisherman]

Looks good. :gigem:

[uglyota]

so what keeps that cage from folding over sideways? Looks good, btw

[85cj7]

so what keeps that cage from folding over sideways? Looks good, btw

dash bar and bar behind the seat. if that is what your asking anyways.

[Doug Krebs]

dash bar and bar behind the seat. if that is what your asking anyways.

He's meaning something diagonal from the bottom to the top. Horizontal bars probably don't help nearly as something diagonal.

[uglyota]

Yeah there's no true diagonal on that cage. PSC built it?

[85cj7]

yah poison spyder customs

[agjohn02]

its a trail cage with interior access in mind. there are tons of them out there just like it. its a one roll deal. your probably still alive, now replace it.

[85cj7]

in a future build it will be gusseted, door bars added, diagonals behind the seats, and seat mounts integrated. the key word there is future however

[85cj7]

cage to frame tie ins.

[85cj7]

they also tie the rocker guards to the frame as well.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

Any plans on extra bracing?

[85cj7]

the plates and tabs are 3/16 and the tube is 1 3/4"x1/8" i think it will be more than enough for what i do and how much the jeep weighs.

[bcolman]

did you only tie it in at 2 places?

[85cj7]

i tied the front two pilars in with what you see above. The next two pillars back -right behind each seat-sits right above a body mount essentially tieing those points to the frame, and the extreme back two pillars are just bolted to the wheelwell humps, those rear points take a little more work to tie in than the front pillars do, so we'll see if i ever get the motivation to do those.

[85cj7]

these are the ones i need. uh my bad 1 3/4" tube.

[85cj7]

i'm starting to gather information about high steer set up, does anyone have any preferences on high steer 44 arms. Also all the ones i've seen for tie rods are tapered for 1 ton ends. are there any brands that are tapered for stock cj ends?

[JeepPhisherman]

And everyone seems to spank it to Parts Mike arms.

[Seth]

Yeah I agree, if you are going to go high steer, then go ahead and get new TREs It is well documented on the interweb.

[85cj7]

cause thats what i have, are chevy one ton tie rods the same thread and pitch as cj ones? if so then i could go for some new ends anyways but i don't want to have to rebuild my tie rod and drag link with different ends. Coop did a good job when he did the ones that i have now, and there is nothing wrong with them.

[Seth]

Might be the same pitch, but prob not the same diameter. all should be easy to look up. google it. im not sure exactly what the current setup is, but alot of folks go for the one ton chevy stuff when they build steering. cheap, plentiful, strong, and still tres. If not, then finding someone to make arms with different holes shouldnt be that hard.

[scottsdale87]

www.sky-manufacturing.com this is where i got mine. They use chevy 1-ton TRE's but you could maybe con them in to drilling them out for stock cj. May cost you alittle bit more $$ though. I would go with the 1 tons though. They are way mo beefy than stock jeep.:gigem:

And its not that hard to make a drag link and a tie rod.

[stx4wheeler]

he already has a beefy draglink and tie rod that were on coops axle the thats why he doesnt wanna go one tons

[85cj7]

he already has a beefy draglink and tie rod that were on coops axle the thats why he doesnt wanna go one tons

thank you someone knows,anyway
heres my plan sinse this is still my dd i'm going to be going spring over in stages,
step 1 do the steering first
step 2 front
step 3 back

so the first parts was to get the 44 knuckles all stripped down and ready to add on too, i did that this weekend. then i'm going to get them machined flat and drilled and tapped for the arms. Finally add studs, cones, arms, spindle studs, and balljoints, and finally find a long weekend and put it on. This way i can run it like this even though it would still be spring under.

if something takes longer than expected (which it will) i can always get around with ol' blue.

[bcolman]

where are you going to get your knuckles machined and drilled/tapped? i got one done at villas for 50, which was cheaper than i found anywhere on the web to send it out and get it done. the only thing with using them is that you had to have the steering arms so that they knew exactly where to drill and tap

[JeepPhisherman]

The plan is to make this Jeep better, correct? Why not upgrade to the larger ends right now when it's easiest? I don't know if your current links are tapped solid bar or if they are weld-in bungs, but either would be easy to change to fit larger ends, assuming the tubing is of large enough diameter, which I would assume.

[85cj7]

The plan is to make this Jeep better, correct? Why not upgrade to the larger ends right now when it's easiest? I don't know if your current links are tapped solid bar or if they are weld-in bungs, but either would be easy to change to fit larger ends, assuming the tubing is of large enough diameter, which I would assume.

your right i'll look ifs its as easy as changing out the ends than i might do it, if not than i'm going to run the stock ends and if they break then drill and tap them bigger, i'll climb that mountain if and when the time comes.

[85cj7]

where are you going to get your knuckles machined and drilled/tapped? i got one done at villas for 50, which was cheaper than i found anywhere on the web to send it out and get it done. the only thing with using them is that you had to have the steering arms so that they knew exactly where to drill and tap

i was thinking this place http://www.jnutter.com/index.html it seems like they know what they are doing and its a flat $40 fee per knuckle, i don't know if that included drilling and tapping for the arms so i sent them an email yesterday asking just that.

[bcolman]

i was going to use the nutter guy, but i didnt want to send it out, if you print out that sheet villas may be able to match the price, atleast then if something goes wrong you have some one in town to yell at. the nutter price is for machine drill and tap.

[85cj7]

how do you get the old studs out of a fat top knucle? Do they press out or do the screw out, i cann't tell. I need to remove the 3 old studs on my drivers side knuckle so i can clean the machined surface and put new studs in.

[JeepPhisherman]

Screw.

[agjohn02]

two nuts, locked together and a wrench on the bottom one. oh, and wd40. maybe some heat. elbow grease.

[Seth]

seafoam deepcreep has always worked well as a penetrating lubricant for me.

[BMFScout]

then when it snaps, drill it out! :gigem:

[85cj7]

i just got all 3 out, thanks guys, i used pb blaster, a pipe wrench, and a 3' cheater bar.

[85cj7]

ok so i found the dimensions,
stock tie rod ends-11/16"-18
chevy 3/4 and one tons-7/8"-18
thats only about an 1/8" difference in diameter, does anyone think i'll have enough room and strength to drill them out and retap them if need be?

[Seth]

depends, what is size and thickness tube are you using/

[robertf03]

actually that would be very easy to tap out and could easily be done in a vice by hand since you would really be only chasing threads and not 100% cutting new ones. You would have to check to see if the rod ends are the same length from ball joint centerline to where the thread starts (or stops, depending on perspective)


I still don't think its necessary or a significant upgrade or makes any changes in parts availability.

[85cj7]

i've been emailing all the manufacturers of high steer arms today to see if they can change the size and taper of the tie rod holes for me, and i've gotten a couple back, ballistic fab said they couldn't do it, but crane said they could for $109 each.

[85cj7]

i just got another email from wfo they said they couldn't do it either, i atalked to crane again, and he quoted me $288 for both arms, 2 stud/cone kits and shipping. Seems kind of high to me? Does anyone else know?

[85cj7]

Just a thought. How much extra would TREs be to match the arms vs having them specially done? esp if you can use the same tube.

Crane insn't charging me extra to change the size and taper, i was emailing them to ask if they would. And i looked earlier chevy one ton ends are about $45 each.

[bcolman]

did you try talking to parts mike, if they will change the taper/size for no charge or close to nothing you will be out the door for about 220 plus shipping

[85cj7]

did you try talking to parts mike, if they will change the taper/size for no charge or close to nothing you will be out the door for about 220 plus shipping

yah i emailed them hopefully i'll get a response tomorrow, i'm going to ship out the passanger side knuckle tomorrow to get machined flat, drilled, and taped for $50 including shipping.

[85cj7]

heres some sh*t ive been working on, the first is the new 2 1/2" shackle hangers for the front when i go spring over with the rear cj springs. I didn't make the shackle hangers, but just for good measure i gusseted the cr*p outa them with 1/4"

[85cj7]

another.

[85cj7]

and heres my idea for rear shock mounts, cj rear shocks are attached to the spring plates and when i go spring over the plates will be to high to be of any use, i these will be welded to the axle tube. They are made from 1 1/2" by 1/4" box and i made them effecttivly act as skids, they will be welded level with the axle tube on the facing forward on the jeep, this way if they do hit anything the ramps will be used.

[85cj7]

another

[85cj7]

another one

[Seth]

nice work - attention to detail is always good.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

noice!!!

[agjohn02]

shock mounts look cool but they will hold water and dirt and the shock bushings will be working overtime.

mount one in front of the axle tube and one in the rear and it will damp wheel hop.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

speed hole 'em...

[85cj7]

i made "antiwrap" spring perches for the rear of the cj this morning, they are made from 2.5x2.5x1/4" box. They are 8" long to hopefully fight axle wrap in the rear, these along with 7 leaf cj rear military wrap springs and i hopefuly won't have to run an antiwrap bar.

[85cj7]

heres a comparison between some aftermarket ones that i got from flem that measure 4.5" long ,i'll run them on the front

[colman]

if you want a little more wheel base you might want to drill the centerpin hole 1 inch offset and that will give you an inch of wb. shouldn't hit the tank and since you have to redo the driveshaft anyway probably now is a good time

[DRAGOONRANCH]

ya gonna have do do the spring plate also

[85cj7]

well i shipped the passanger side knuckle out a week ago and got a message from the guy today that he couldn't machine the knuckle because it was bowed at the spindle mounting surface, and that is where his jig bolts to the knuckle. So it wouldn't sit flat on the jig and so wouldn't be machined flat. I had it shipped back to see if its salvagable. Here is an attached image, what is the general consensus. i don't know if the gap is 1/16" or 1/2" because there is no scale.

[Sharpe]

Dont suppose it could be from the balljoint/hydraulic press incident do ya???

[85cj7]

my immediate thought was that i had fubbarded them all up, but i was pretty careful that when i pressed them out that i watched closely for bending. And if you think about it if the press did bend them it would have bent the ball joint portions of the knuckle in so the spindle portion would have had to bow out not in as in the pic.

[Seth]

I agree, that is ryan's carpet, and probably his tent stake too eric. :) At least the guy was decent enough to be honest with you. Hope he didn't gouge you on shipping. How much harder would it be to just source new (to you) knuckles?

[uglyota]

I am really confused here. Did you tell him ahead of time that you were sending him a knuckle that was trashed? How in the world did you bend it that way, and you can't possibly expect your axle to stay together for any period of time if the mating surfaces don't mate. This is your DD, right? Tell the machinist to throw that thing in the trash and get yourself a new knuckle.

edit: I am slow tonight. I see that you had him ship it back to you and you took the picture. That sucks, but I am still not sure how you could be uncertain of the difference between 1/16" and 1/2" on a picture you took yourself. Whatever, moral of the story is the same, throw that thing in the trash and get a new one.

[robertf03]

Looks like you need a new one. Dodge ones are easy to find, but they've got some extra featuers on the knuckle for the caliper bracket. I don't know if you can ignore them and use your brakes or if they would be in the way.


Did you send this to a business or a residential address? Looks like the photographer is wearing socks.

[85cj7]

yah that pic seems sketchy as sh*t, he took it not me, thats why i couldn't tell how far it was bent. Ok should i have him mail it back and spend $20 of my money doing it, or should i tell him to trash it and try to find another one?

[Seth]

Seems shady. I would have it shipped back to you. That's just bc I would want to see for myself what the deal was. Also, I would not want anyone who uses a plastic tent stake as a straight edge making judgement calls for me. He very well could be telling the truth, but still raises a flag to me.

[agjohn02]

ah, i see now. forgot what it was your were doing.

tell him to bolt it to his jig and torque it down really tight. put a torch to it till its glowing and keep tightening the bolts till its flush. then quench it in oil.

[uglyota]

what are you crazy!? The carpet in his shop will catch fire!

[85cj7]

finished the drivers side cage to frame tie-in. I had all the parts cut out and ready to go last week but was waiting on a bushing. Looks just like the other side.

[85cj7]

i got the springs yesterday and took them apart to repaint them and remove the rust, while i'm at it i'm going to to replace the center pins and spring clamps/retainers, or whatever you want to call them.

[85cj7]

rear spring

[J Cooper]

wow somebody actually tied a cage into the frame without hard mounting it to the body

[85cj7]

these are what i ended up getting, new center pins, and the clamp style spring retainers the bolt style ones were just too expensive, 4 center pins and 8 clamps ran me $23.

[uglyota]

you haven't been paying attention to discussion concerning center pins, have you?

[85cj7]

yah i know about cooks and david Os discussion about using grade 8s and grinding the heads round, but i don't think i'l have a problem, hell i could be wrong and it wouldn't be the first time but for some reason i would prefer to start this way.

[Sharpe]

I told him...

[RCcola55]

x2

[85cj7]

another

[85cj7]

arb is a bad ass company, let me explain.
i was trying to trace down the cause of my faulty arb that occured in clayton, i found that the rear was had a leak at the compression fitting where it attaches to the pumpkin, so i unhooked it and added some teflon tape hoping for an easy fix. When i went to tighten it up the compresson collar cracked along with the entire bulkhead fitting sheering from the housing. f*ck. i went to bryan hose and gasket yesterday to find replacements with no luck. called arb today, they are sending me both the new and old model bulkead fitting kits, next day shipping, free under a warranty that i don't have, and i told them this. huh.

[85cj7]

i don't know what the f was up with the front arb in clayton, because the other day flem and i jacked the front up, locked the hubs and locker and everything worked how it should, the only thing i have done sinse clayton is change the diff fluid. The only things we could think of was that the fluid was low and the o-rings got dry which caused them to leak or it was just really freakin cold and maybe that had something to do with it. I'll test the front out again when i get the back fixed.

[85cj7]

the stock transmission torque arm on the cj has been bending for quite some time now, but it finally has gotten to the point where the dana 300 is resting on the crossmember so i built a new one.
The stock bent one.

[85cj7]

the stock arm was 5/32" thick the new replacement 15/64" thick.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

Was that a piece of square tubing?

[85cj7]

uhhh, yes. why?

[DRAGOONRANCH]

Just curious. How did you cut it, with the hot wrench? If so, do you think that the heat will have affected the strength of it any?

[colman]

if you decide that you want to try stock again i have 2 of them that i'm not going to use

[85cj7]

i cut it with an angle grinder and 3 cutoff wheels but i did use a torch on the large stabalizer hole.

[85cj7]

well i tried for a couple hours today to get all the bolts to line up, but with slight variations in measurments that i took when i built the torque arm bracket, things just wouldn't work. So i'm building a new crossmember, and i'll clock the x-case when i get the $$. I built the brackets today that bolt to the frame with 4 stock bolts on each side, the are made from 3 1/2" angle, and the crossmember portion will be from 1.5x1.5" box. the stock poly tranny mount will still be used.

[85cj7]

i ordered some rubber bushings from advance that come in tomorrow, but i finished the crossmember today, heres some pics unpainted and unassembeled. Pics tomorrow of everything put together, the new crossmember is about 1/2" higher than stock.

[85cj7]

a little more progres made.
rear springs are painted black, and with slipez anti-friction paint, new center pins, and new clamps, new poly bushings, new shackles.

[85cj7]

and finally i got about 30 foot of DOM from clarke today, so the plan is to add door bars and tie the seats to the cage this weekend. And with the seats off the floor, i can clock the t-case with the jb conversions kit, finish modifying the crossmember and add a flat skid. With my t-case clocked i can then procede to see if the front driveshaft is going to work out and measure for a new cv rear to go SOA.

[85cj7]

i got about halfway done with tieing the seats into the cage yesterday. update pic 1....

[85cj7]

this is all finished, just need to remove, finish welding, and paint.

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pic 2

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pic 4

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pic 5