Roxanne: 1985 Cj-7

[robertf03]

this still gets my vote. flat plates even with the frame rail are way overrated, uniform clearance is where its at

[eight]

Make it bolt on from the sides instead of the bottom and put another stiffener across the middle and that'll look a whole lot like mine. Bolted on from the side is easier to install and you can use thru bolts to make stripped holes a thing of the past. Of course you want to bolt it from the outside of the frame rails so it will still come out after you land on it a few times.

[robertf03]

not really a fan of that idea. There are already holes in the frame for a crossmember/skidplate. rotating the transfercase so its mostly out of the way rather than completely flat keeps the floor happy, the front driveshaft angle safe, and no one seems to be 100% sure on the oiling issues on a daily driver that sees long durations of highway speeds.



If the skid plate isn't high enough, lift the entire vehicle more.

[85cj7]

i figured out the shifter linkages, heres pics of the shift pin that i had to cut shorter and drill a hitch pin hole. Then the bent shifter handle.

[85cj7]

finished.

[Shaggy]

why did you not want to twin stick it?

[85cj7]

available cash, i'm going to spend about 200 this weekend alone in exhaust work. I'll do it when i have the available resources.

[85cj7]

i picked up the jeep from rich's this morning I painted the exhaust and put new O2 sensors in. It costed me more than i would have liked but hey i think its pretty good over all, the only thing i might change in the future is the rear exit locating.I might make it go back to the way it was (between the tank and the spring). But i would need a shorter glass pack for that, the one now is 21" long which is way to long to exit the way i wanted, so we had to have it angled like in the pics. But if i get a 16" or 12" or anything shorter than i'll change it back.

[Shaggy]

if you tuck your tire does it hit it?

[85cj7]

no the tire doesn't hit when i flex, but i think thats becasue i don't have much flex with the lift springs, the only problem i can see is when i go spring over the flatter spring may hit under compression. We will see.

[85cj7]

when i installed the rear bumper over a year and a half ago, i didn't realize the enormous stress that that would put on my rear crossmember. I've been meaning to tie it into the rear frame rails for a while. But i was in a real hurry sinse seeing some cracks in the crossmember this weekend.

So i made 1/4" brackets to tie it into the frame on each side.

And while i was at it one bolt on each sides rear spring hangers had broken before i got the jeep so i had to torch them out, weld in nuts and replace the bolts. And while i was at it I put on the beefed up rear sring hangers.

And then i had to address the cracks in the rear crossmember there was one large crack extending almost the entire length of the crossmember vertically. So i welded those up, but i was still paranoid about it. So i made some 3/16" mending plates. So hopefully it won't crack again. I really wanted to make one plate to extend the whole crossmember, but I would have to drop the gas tank about 1/2" to help on the bottom middle. So i compromised with two.

Sorry for the long post!

[robertf03]

stock crossmembers will not hold up to anything more than bumperettes. The omix or blackmountain or whatever collins bros has is much better.

[85cj7]

i know i cann't believe how crappy those things are made, i wanted to put the m.o.r.e. one on, but the tank, body mounts, and difficulty of removing the old one ultimently stopped me.

[85cj7]

diagnosed the weird idling issue last night, replaced the cap, rotor, plugs, and idle air speed sensor. It runs like a new jeep, thanks to flem and robbie for doing all the hard work and cook for comming in at the last minute and stating the obvious. no really, thanks

[85cj7]

i've started the summer collection of all the remaining parts needed to go spring over with cj rear spring packs on all 4 corners. As well as making the dana 30 basically a 44 with all 44 outers, brakes, and steering, with 4340 chromoly dana 30 inners and 297 u-joints.

Went to awesome auto salvage today and got the cv yoke and driveshaft that I will shorten and use as a spare all for $20. The dd driveshaft that i will be using is a long travel tom woods shaft that flem gave me.