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96_zjlarado
06-11-2007, 09:15 AM
Been cruisin around on here for a while so i figured now that i finally did something major to my zj, I'd post up some pics.

When it had 2"bb and 31x10.5's

Took some poser shots with the stock suspension. Actually did a lot better than i thought it would. Still wasn't unloading the left rear spring in the pics. Probably could have done one more tire. :-X
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/6395/dscf1193wg7.jpg
http://img476.imageshack.us/img476/5828/dscf1194up6.jpg
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/2712/dscf1199gi2.jpg
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/1267/dscf1198rt9.jpg
http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/6416/dscf1195ed8.jpg
Ok, now for the goods.....
Got it in the garadge and on the jackstands.
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/6428/dscf1212pn2.jpg
and got the axles out from under it!
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/7528/dscf1219si6.jpg
http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/3582/dscf1226wf1.jpg
Moved the charcoal canister from in the fender well to a temporary location until i can find somewhere else for it.
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/1404/dscf1230qu6.jpg
Trimmed out the inner fenderwells to make room for the 35's after I moved the charcoal canister.
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/2679/dscf1229ka6.jpg

Lift showed up after waiting on it an extra week due to Clayton's tow rig grenading a tranny on the way back from Moab Easter weekend.

Front high clearance axle bracket kit and front long arms
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/7601/dscf1259el4.jpg
Rear high clearance axle bracket kit and rear upper and lower arms
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/3559/dscf1260hm2.jpg
New BEEFY crossmember to replace my "tin" factory crossmember
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/1676/dscf1261dw1.jpg
holy stickers batman!!! sent me a stack of them! one of them is gonna have to go on Hailey's Barbie powerwheels jeep
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/8389/dscf1263my7.jpg
lazer cut goodness
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4900/dscf1264oa0.jpg
old and new front and rear springs. front on the left, rear on the right
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/7872/dscf1265gh0.jpg
Got my new rubbers finally! 35x12.5 R15 Cooper Discoverer STT (almost identical to the Toyo open country mt but alot cheaper) and new 15x10 wheels.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/7181/dscf1270ny3.jpg
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1495/dscf1271gi8.jpg
Got the new crossmember in.
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/1562/dscf1273yx0.jpg
Welding the truss and all the other brackets onto the 9"
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/8827/dscf1288zu5.jpg
All finished up
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/6910/dscf1295pw6.jpg
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1743/dscf1296cx3.jpg
some floorjack flexin. 8-) this thing is going to have sooooo much droop. if i had jackstands that were about a foot taller, i'm sure the axle could have dropped about another 5-10 inches.
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6616/dscf1303xb5.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/6743/dscf1304qn6.jpg
axle sitting on jackstands with springs in place. needs to jack the axle up about another 4-5 inches before i can mount the tire.
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/5294/dscf1306xy3.jpg

96_zjlarado
06-11-2007, 09:17 AM
got some D60 caliper brackets that use chevy D44 calipers and had to grind them out a little to make it fit the axle tube. It uses the front ford D44 rotor and a chevy 3/4 ton caliper. doesn't have much clearance behind the 15" wheels.... about 1/4"
sorry for the crappy cell phone pics.
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/9406/may13001tc2.jpg
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/2030/may13005iu8.jpg
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7839/may13003aq7.jpg
it will be easy to bleed the rear brakes
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/9625/may13004iy1.jpg
rotor pretty much fills up the entire rim. talk about a brake upgrade. http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/3773/may13002xt3.jpg[/quote]

96_zjlarado
06-11-2007, 09:18 AM
here's a few pics of it all done.
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/2079/dscf1357op8.jpg
I need to do some trimming
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/6489/dscf1358gz4.jpg
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/4596/dscf1359cw0.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/3027/dscf1360km7.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/21/dscf1361ty6.jpg
it was a long way up for my short @$$
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/7636/dscf1364bs8.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/2948/dscf1382mo0.jpg
made it home safe and sound. talk about a shake down run.
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/8020/dscf1385fz6.jpg

jfowlzj95
06-11-2007, 11:05 AM
Damn thats looking great! Makes me want to stop being a lazy ass and get my junk built. What did you get your axles out of? That 9" doesnt look to be that much offset.

nierace
06-11-2007, 11:17 AM
Very nice sweet ZJ...but wheres your spare tire ? :D

96_zjlarado
06-12-2007, 02:05 AM
Damn thats looking great! Makes me want to stop being a lazy ass and get my junk built. What did you get your axles out of? That 9" doesnt look to be that much offset.

came out of late 70's f150 or full size bronco. it's 66" WMS to WMS. 30 spline shafts.

96_zjlarado
06-12-2007, 02:06 AM
Very nice sweet ZJ...but wheres your spare tire ? :D

good question........ still trying to figure out where i'm gonna put it and how i'm gonna pay for one.:smt102

SOLITUDE
07-10-2007, 09:43 AM
Very nice build. Love the caliper idea. Questions about the 44:
HP? Did it come with the cast-in radius arms? Lets see some shots of the front suspension.

zj95maxx
07-10-2007, 10:40 AM
Looks great, How high doyou think you are with those high clearance brackets?

96_zjlarado
08-06-2007, 02:22 AM
sorry it's taken me a while to reply.
the front is a hp44. the original one i picked up had the cast radius arm wedges, but the guy that sold them to me was nice enough to let me bring it back for another one with the welded on wedges. I'll post up some pics when i get home. no pics on the work computer.

the high clearance brackets are awsome. the bottom of the axle tube is about 15" from the ground and the brackets are about a half inch above that. haven't scraped them on anything yet. the spring buckets only sit about 1/2" higher than the factory spring buckets on the d30/d35, but with the plastic spring pad/isolator it puts it up another 1/2". I'd say i got about 8" of lift overall.

SOLITUDE
08-28-2007, 10:23 AM
update?

ELLLLLIOTTTTT
08-29-2007, 01:36 PM
what is a larado?

04WJfreedom
08-29-2007, 04:21 PM
Looking good, nice job.

N/Angel
08-30-2007, 12:14 AM
looks great!! what wheels are those and where did you get them? they look like american racing wheels...

Strada
08-30-2007, 03:09 PM
Thatīs a sweet ZJ!!!

SOLITUDE
09-12-2007, 12:59 AM
please elaborate on the brakes you went with.... I'm wanna do the same swap on my 9". I want to run a front caliper on the rear.

jfowlzj95
09-12-2007, 01:26 AM
please elaborate on the brakes you went with.... I'm wanna do the same swap on my 9". I want to run a front caliper on the rear.

Looks like he just used some D60 weld on caliper brackets (probably from BTF or Ballistic), ground them out to fit the 9", and used D44 rotors and calipers... what else is there to know?

midwestxj
09-12-2007, 09:34 AM
got some D60 caliper brackets that use chevy D44 calipers and had to grind them out a little to make it fit the axle tube. It uses the front ford D44 rotor and a chevy 3/4 ton caliper. doesn't have much clearance behind the 15" wheels.... about 1/4"
sorry for the crappy cell phone pics.



This is exactly what he did.

SOLITUDE
09-12-2007, 11:41 AM
I wanna know what he kind of spacer he used to hold the shafts in because after you remove the stock drum backing plate you need a spacer. Ballistics sells a spacer too?

Thanks for mentioning ballistics.... found them. Still having trouble with the spacer.
http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Weld-on-Dana-60-caliper-brackets_p_27-1438.html

96_zjlarado
09-23-2007, 09:49 AM
what is a larado?

somone on a different forum already used 96zjlaredo and other versions, so i just decided to spell it wrong and now i'm so used to doing it when i log on, i seem to spell it wrong ALL the time.

96_zjlarado
09-23-2007, 09:50 AM
I wanna know what he kind of spacer he used to hold the shafts in because after you remove the stock drum backing plate you need a spacer. Ballistics sells a spacer too?

Thanks for mentioning ballistics.... found them. Still having trouble with the spacer.
http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Weld-on-Dana-60-caliper-brackets_p_27-1438.html

just did it the el cheapo way and cut the centers out of the drum backing plate the same shape as the axle flange. problem solved. :D

96_zjlarado
09-23-2007, 10:00 AM
looks great!! what wheels are those and where did you get them? they look like american racing wheels...

Thanks! they're Unique (same company as cragar) series 42 15x10 with 4" back space.

96_zjlarado
09-23-2007, 10:06 AM
no new updates to the zj yet. just been wheelin it and tryin not to break anything. i've put my rock rails through their paces the past couple weeks though. very very VERY good investment! funny part is that i think i only hit them 1 time when i only had 31's and now i seem to smack the hell out of them all the time. probably doesn't help that i try to crawl over rocks the size of a civic now. Naaaaaa.....
anyway, trying to sell my car so that i can buy a more expensive car so that i won't have any money to put into the zj.... well, that's not the real reason, but it's the truth. i haven't had a car payment in 7 years and i'm not looking forward to having one again. especially one that's 550 bucks a month. oh well. gotta pay to play right?

SOLITUDE
09-23-2007, 12:28 PM
I've never seen Clayton's rear high clearance upper shock mounts installed. Can you take a pic?

96_zjlarado
09-23-2007, 08:37 PM
sure can. I'll be able to do it tomorrow morning when i get off of work. if i remember, but i'll try.

96_zjlarado
09-29-2007, 04:38 PM
ok, it took me a little while to get the pics because its been cold and raining and i just didn't feel like crawling under the truck. anyway, here's some pics of the upper shock mount that was requested.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3403/dscf1502fr6.jpg

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/166/dscf1501li8.jpg

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/9818/dscf1503ge6.jpg

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/1372/dscf1505oi9.jpg

and some rock scrapage on the bottom of the axle tube. gotta love not having anything hanging down under it to hang up on.

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8306/dscf1506ai1.jpg

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/3017/dscf1507ae8.jpg

and yes, i know i have the rear lower links on backwards. been too lazy to turn them around. I'll get to it one of these days.;)

SOLITUDE
09-29-2007, 05:25 PM
way cool dude.... I bought the high clearance axle bracket kit from Clayton awhile back and I'm in the process of welding on all the brackets. Thanks for the pics.

96_zjlarado
09-29-2007, 05:27 PM
no prob. you're gonna love 'em!

Gravesdigger
10-15-2007, 03:22 PM
post some pics of the front d44 build. Maybe a close up or an explaination on your steering setup?

zacharykro
10-16-2007, 09:45 AM
i will give someone a nati light to help me find and install these axles

96_zjlarado
12-05-2007, 09:55 AM
give up a case of Yuengling and then we're talkin! can't get that out here on the west coast. Just got honey brown a year ago FINALLY! I'll have to dig thru my pics to see if i have anything on the steering. if not i'll have to take some when i have some free time. just started working at a performance shop as a "second" job, so I mostly work 6 days a week.

96_zjlarado
02-10-2008, 03:58 AM
here's about the best pic of my steering that I have. I keep forgetting to take a good close up of it.
It's a HP44 with chevy flat top knuckles, chevy spindles, chevy brake backing plates, ford F150 hubs and rotors and chevy 3/4 ton calipers/pads. used a high steer arm on the passenger side to connect the drag link and reamed the steering arms on the knuckles to make the tie rod over the knuckle. tie rod and drag link use 1 ton chevy TREs.
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/599/dsc0048yi4.jpg

96_zjlarado
02-10-2008, 04:20 AM
Did a few snow wheelin trips with the ZJ over the past 2 months. This thing has done nothing but impress me yet. I love it!
Here's some pics.

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/689/dscf1702wi8.jpg

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/6681/zjinthesnowut1.jpg

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/9530/dscf1616rx7.jpg

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2938/dscf1734an8.jpg

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/2962/dscf1730ar4.jpg

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/6053/dscf1745ou5.jpg

96_zjlarado
02-10-2008, 04:23 AM
a couple short vids

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i193/moneypit_2006/2-2-2008%20Browns%20camp%20snow/th_Russplowingdeepsnow.jpg (http://s72.photobucket.com/albums/i193/moneypit_2006/2-2-2008%20Browns%20camp%20snow/?action=view&current=Russplowingdeepsnow.flv)

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i193/moneypit_2006/2-2-2008%20Browns%20camp%20snow/th_Russgettingit.jpg (http://s72.photobucket.com/albums/i193/moneypit_2006/2-2-2008%20Browns%20camp%20snow/?action=view&current=Russgettingit.flv)

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i193/moneypit_2006/2-2-2008%20Browns%20camp%20snow/th_Russgettingit2.jpg (http://s72.photobucket.com/albums/i193/moneypit_2006/2-2-2008%20Browns%20camp%20snow/?action=view&current=Russgettingit2.flv)

mr_wallace
02-10-2008, 11:25 PM
Looking sick. Do you know what trails are open at BC.

96_zjlarado
02-11-2008, 07:18 AM
most of them are open if you can get to them. when I was up there last, you couldn't get very far past the shooting range on beaver dam rd.

here's a link to the trail closure report for all of TSF.

http://oregon.gov/ODF/TSF/road_and_trail_rpt.shtml

96_zjlarado
03-07-2008, 03:03 AM
well, it's been a long time since i've done anything to the heep so i figured i'd do someting to it. One of the owners at the shop upgraded to the new ARB compressor and gave me his old one......... for FREE! can't beat that price with a stick right? well, it's been sitting around for a month and i've been itchin to get it put in but i just never seem to have the time workin 2 jobs. yesterday i got a wild hair up my arse and dediced to go for it after i picked up the kiddo from school. turned out real nice. even ran a line off of it to the back, into the hatch and got a 7 gallon tank at autobone to hook the line to and fill/top off on the way back to the staging area. Enough of my babbling...... on to the pics!!!
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/5664/dscf1863ac7.jpg
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/7307/dscf1862pt2.jpg
http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/75/dscf1860ni7.jpg
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/1782/dscf1856pn4.jpg
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/4475/dscf1855vb3.jpg
the "reserve" tank
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/6325/dscf1854yj2.jpg
comes up thru the floor and can be coiled up in the "secret stash" panel.
http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/3667/dscf1857fm7.jpg
hooked up to the tank
http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/4910/dscf1864my0.jpg
everything all packed in
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3516/dscf1866sr5.jpg
Oh, and I just picked up an "only used once" warn Tabor 9k lb winch for 300 bucks. Now all i gotta do is order some synthetic rope and build a bumper.

smurphy
03-24-2008, 06:11 PM
Thats super sick..im goin for that same set-up but with 33's. Im digin the 35 tho.

klipz
04-15-2008, 03:24 AM
NICE LOOKIN JEEP!! :partyman:

grandmaster
04-15-2008, 02:17 PM
Love the wide look the axles give ya. Looks like quite the fun time doing some snow wheelin...

Derek33
04-15-2008, 05:07 PM
how much of a pain is it to relocate the charcoal canister? ive never really looked at it, but its right in the way of my tire.

grandmaster
04-15-2008, 05:50 PM
mine is relocated with a bracket. which really wouldnt be two hard to make. but i got mine from iceland offroad with my bumper, i bet you could order one.

piku303
04-15-2008, 06:09 PM
rip that shit off and plug the lines. it does nothing but collect gasoline fumes from the tank. if you plug the lines and its hot you need to open the gas cap and let it fart once a week but other than that theres no issues.

grandmaster
04-15-2008, 06:18 PM
If your not using it enough to be getting gas once a week your in trouble ha ha.

piku303
04-15-2008, 10:46 PM
im at college so i dont drive him that much but i still let him fart weekly.

grandmaster
04-16-2008, 12:37 AM
I will probably feel the same way here in a couple months

96_zjlarado
04-16-2008, 02:39 AM
i had mine relocated for a lil bit. got tired of it rattling around up there so i just bypassed it and ran the lines into each other. I only drive mine once every other week when i hit the trails, but i top off the tank before i hit the trails regardless of how much is in it.

96_zjlarado
04-16-2008, 02:45 AM
Love the wide look the axles give ya. Looks like quite the fun time doing some snow wheelin...

the full widths make it a lot more stable. i usually get the "ur truck looks like a white roller skate" shit from people who don't know shit about what we do, but from other people that are into trucks and wheelin or just wrenchin in general, they usually give me the ol " THATS FUCKIN BAD ASS MAN!!!" Stupid People are :gay:

The snow wheelin is a lot of fun, but i can't get to some of my favorite trails because there is STILL too much snow on the mountain. I've never seen this much snow in TSF since i've lived here. We went up saturday and it was BEAUTIFUL!!! not a cloud in the sky, 75* and not covered completely in snow. I'm sooooooo ready for summer!!!!

grandmaster
04-16-2008, 10:58 AM
the full widths make it a lot more stable. i usually get the "ur truck looks like a white roller skate" shit from people who don't know shit about what we do, but from other people that are into trucks and wheelin or just wrenchin in general, they usually give me the ol " THATS FUCKIN BAD ASS MAN!!!" Stupid People are :gay:

The snow wheelin is a lot of fun, but i can't get to some of my favorite trails because there is STILL too much snow on the mountain. I've never seen this much snow in TSF since i've lived here. We went up saturday and it was BEAUTIFUL!!! not a cloud in the sky, 75* and not covered completely in snow. I'm sooooooo ready for summer!!!!

Yeah i bet it does make it more stable, thats quite a bit of width. Not to mention them being much stronger.

Im not to into snow wheeling due to the fact it fucking freezing. I mean, its fun cuz you get to drive your jeep, but i would much rather crawl over some rocks. Also cant wait for summer, do a couple runs to 5 mile pass, little moab, and maybe one to moab. Then i will be moving to St. George for college.

SOLITUDE
04-17-2008, 08:46 PM
How much did you have to grind out to get those brackets to fit? Got any better pics of this? I'm in the process of doing this right now and I'm having to grind out almost 1/2".

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/2030/may13005iu8.jpg

96_zjlarado
04-20-2008, 08:10 AM
How much did you have to grind out to get those brackets to fit? Got any better pics of this? I'm in the process of doing this right now and I'm having to grind out almost 1/2".

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/2030/may13005iu8.jpg

I don't have any better pics, but i did find a nifty little trick. the bottom of the cap for the gas bottle on my welder was the same size, so i just loaded the caliper with the pads, mounted it to the bracket then slid it down over the rotor to see how much farther down it needed to go until the pads were completely seatced on the rotors. once i had theat guesstimate, i took that much off of the bracket after using the bottle cap to make a nice radius on the bracket. I think i took out about 1/2" out now that i think about it.

96_zjlarado
07-24-2008, 02:10 PM
Little update:

got tired of having no storage room in the back and got a little tired of all my tools rattling around in my race box, so I did a little "remodeling".

My daughter (4yrs old) wanted to help me do something to the jeep after i got done doing an oil change, so we built a shelf to mount my new Geneva products slide out toolbox and my air tank to. got my air hose, tow strap, torque wrench, breaker bar and the big ass jam nut wrenches for the long arms under it. Frees up a LOT of space.

old mess
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3516/dscf1866sr5.jpg

new setup
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/6562/dscf2185kx3.jpg

all the lose stuff under the shelf
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/2984/dscf2183fv6.jpg

all my fluids, grease, spare u-joints and misc tools
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1866/dscf2193yn5.jpg

still leaves enough room for another tote, 6 gal gas can and and then some.
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/575/dscf2182tw2.jpg

toolbox sits back in nice and tight, then you take the lock off of it and it slides out for easier acces or to remove it completely.
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/3949/dscf2189kh9.jpg
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/2408/dscf2192vc2.jpg
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/8572/dscf2190kr8.jpg
http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/66/dscf2191wq3.jpg

96_zjlarado
07-24-2008, 02:19 PM
I also picked up a Tabor 9K winch for 300 bucks that was mounted and never used. So i did a little mock up of my front bumper with some thin wall tube i had laying around.

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/2625/dscf1871fc6.jpg

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/5677/dscf1872tc4.jpg

I think i'll end up cutting out the stock "bumper" in the center and weld in a piece of 2x4 back in closer to the radiator so i can push the winch back in further.
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/5827/dscf1874zs8.jpg

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/2158/dscf1876he1.jpg

It will end up looking something like this, but most likely plated over the 2 tubes so i have somewhere to weld the shackles to.
http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/4177/dscf1875mm8.jpg

grandmaster
07-24-2008, 07:29 PM
Looks good, how did you secure the shelf?? Because that all you need is to get in a roll over and have that shelf flying around. ;)

D-FRESH WJ
07-24-2008, 08:02 PM
lookn good man keep it up

96_zjlarado
07-27-2008, 02:11 AM
Looks good, how did you secure the shelf?? Because that all you need is to get in a roll over and have that shelf flying around. ;)

Roll over????? I can't roll over crawlin over curbs at the mall :smt082

Nah, but anyway, i drilled out the rivets that held down the forward most d-rings on the floor and put some 2" lag bolts up into the 2x4's. it's not going anywhere now, but im gonna put some L brackets that i got from ace hardware back by the hatch that i'm gonna screw into the wood and rivet into the floor. should keep it from going anywere in the unfortunate chance of a roll over.

grandmaster
07-27-2008, 11:48 AM
Roll over????? I can't roll over crawlin over curbs at the mall :smt082

Good Point!!

dangerousdave
07-27-2008, 12:29 PM
where did you get the tool box? I have been wanting to find something like that to pt in my zj. I have three tool boxes now and it sucks when you need to use them

96_zjlarado
07-28-2008, 04:21 AM
they're made by Geneva Manufacturing Products (http://www.genevaproducts.com/products/storage_drawers/sig.html)

They run about $180 bucks but i got mine for $17.99. haha
A local store here had 1 polished diamond plate box left and it was marked at $17.99 and the black powdercoated ones were $179.99. I didn't need it at the time, but i wasn't gonna pass up a deal like that. Someone screwed up and I made out on it like a bandit!

dangerousdave
07-28-2008, 08:13 AM
you have to take a deal like that and its gotta be safer that having loose tool boxes.