WJ on won tons

[gatorayde]

Finally starting a build here now that the WJ is retired from mall crawler status

Plan is to get it up and running asap for a season of wheeling, and build it a bit further this winter (gears, 40s, coilovers, etc etc).

Short build plan:
-stock 4.0, 42re, 242HD
-'02 superduty 60/10.5. Welded rear, spartan front.
-3 link front, hydro assist
-dual tri 4 link rear. Coils all around. 12-14" shocks
-hybrid cage. Keeping the windshield, possibly quarters. Doors, fenders, and hatch are long gone.
-Boatsides. Up to the pinch seam, possibly higher. We'll see.
-plate the entire outer and lower side of the rails. Engine bay and inner rails will get plated this winter.

I would just firewall buggy it but I need to get it done asap for some summer/fall wheeling. Eventually Ill juggy it, or just build the buggy I have drawn in SW. Probably the latter.

Bought it in '07 bone stock



Slowly spent too much money on bolt ons and half tons



Started getting some heavy chit in the mail.




Just need some steel and a HF roller to build the bender



Pulled the axles and put the bitch on a diet.




Rolled an ancient 40" LTB under 'er. Everything will be mocked up for 40s. Ride height should be 2-3" taller than where it's at.



Scored some worn 37's on centerline aluminum rims for next to nothing. Ill rock these until I find some 40s and regear the axles.



Moar weight loss


Woke up sick as shit yesterday, still feel pretty awful today. Planned on picking up my steel order yesterday and axles today, so there goes a solid 2 days of work.

Ended up drawing the belly/xmember/suspension with the down time I have. Front links will mount to the xmember drop/stiffeners (3/16 sides, 1/4 bottom), rear 4 link bracket will mount to the rear crossmember. Already planning a new trans mount and clocking the T case to get a flat belly. Itl be 2.5-3" below the factory rails, but it'l be flat.

Shooting for a 115" wheelbase, 20" of belly clearance, and 4-5" of uptravel. Just threw this together, need to get the axles and links mocked up to really fine tune dimensions. Should be pretty close though.




Should be picking up the axles and steel this week. Plan is to get the boatsides and frame plating done ASAP. I want to get the suspension/axles 100% done before I start building the cage around everything.

[gatorayde]

Picked up the axles and finally spent some time in the shop this weekend. Finished the tube bender combo, just need to pick up a roller from HF and bolt it on the stand.




Hand ground the chromoly bushings for the hydro ram. .002 heavy and .005 within square, close enough.



Welded up the steering. Held the angle grinder in one hand and spun the tube with the other to chamfer both ends. Lathes are overrated




The HF step bit is damn near the same taper angle as the OEM knuckle. Ghetto, but it drilled like butter, perfectly straight.



Started on the frame plating. Took about an hour or two to draw all the templates and fab just two plates. Really thinking about picking up a cheap plasma...



Ordering some DOM tomorrow so I played around with good ol MS paint.




Annnd how she sits in the clusterfawk of an overcrowded shop. 4 weeks to go, who has time to tidy up?

[gatorayde]

Started plating the drivers side rail. I already loathe building a unibody rig. It'l be the first and last I build... Ignore some of the boogers. It looks like shit but it's burned in hot, Im not worried.

[zjmartin]

Subscribed

Can wait to see how yours turns out. Looks a lot like my zj build but I'm keeping her fat. Full interior for the family.

[gatorayde]

You and me both man haha. Trying to make some progress, slowly but steadily. I really thought about keeping some of the interior and doors but it's a trail rig, and ever pound helps.

Giving the UPS guy a workout lately Should be the last of the major orders for a while.

[K2]

Wow, that is a ton of work. Keep posting!

[gatorayde]

Wish granted

Been working 60 hour weeks so there was no way this thing was getting done in time. Not about to rush it and hack something together. Hopefully it'l be done in a month or so while things are slowing down at work.

Made some progress today though. Frame plating is pretty much done. Subframe is in place. Just needs the cross tubing and rear crossmember welded up.




Front links and mounts are tacked. Placement is gonna be a bitch with the oil pan, tie rod, drag link, upper link, etc. No calcs, shits going where it fits in the front.


Finished the rear truss and lower link mounts on the 10.5. Still need to add a gusset/skid to each link mount.



Hoping to have the front end on it's own weight all mocked up by the end of the week. Everything is getting a few stitches then Ill go back and burn in the rest on the lift when it's finally rolling.

[gatorayde]

Got the front end done, just need to triple check clearances and burn everything in. It's a tight fit everywhere. Upper link almost hits the body, tie rod and drag link are 1/2" apart at the frame, lower links would hit the frame with too much uptravel, etc. The hard parts over at least, the rear should be a cake walk.

My phones camera lens is scratched to hell so pics are getting worse...

[JohnBoulderCO]

Nice, that's a bunch of work!

[gatorayde]

Yezzir, thanks. Time to get the rear end started and finally start bending/gluing up some tube soon.

Also, anyone with some 4 link experience feel free to chime in. I wouldn't be concerned if it was ~5* or less of understeer, but 9 seems a bit much. Everything else Im fine with, just a fawk ton of understeer. Only way I can get it down below 5 is running straight uppers. Upper axle mounts are as low as I can get without running them on the face of the truss vs. the top.

Anybody have some thoughts or should I just run it?

[egg]

Separate the frame side lower links apart from each other. I went with -2 degrees. most of my suspension travel is down, so it goes to zero, then positive during suspension travel. Just helps with axle steer during droop in our application imho

[egg]

Nice build btw, I wish I had taken the time to plate the uni body like you did, keep up the good work sir

[gatorayde]

Hmm I would, but Id rather not start hacking up or not use the ruffstuff bracket, it's all compromise at this point... And as far as Ive read, it's more so for at-speed stability when cornering/turning. There's a sweet spot to it, and Im trying to figure how much is too much without reinventing the wheel and buying/building new brackets.

And thanks man. Yep it was first on my list. As much of a pain in the ass it was, I knew I would regret it later if I didn't do it.

[egg]

I agree with ya on it nor being a huge deal for crawling, but what if you end up doing some racing later down the road and find it to be a Lil bit squirelly. Now is the time to get it how you want it. Besides ruffstuff tabs are cheap ish. A long and a short tab set got me just about perfect for my lowers.

[egg]

But on the otherhand, I've noticed a lot of the koh guys running straight uppers...

Might be the way to go for you so you don't have to change anything

[gatorayde]

Got tired of compromises with the 4 link and hybrid cage, so I drank some beer and broke out the sawzall. I was going to build a buggy eventually so Im blending the best (or worst) of both worlds. Picked up some 14" fox air shocks for the rear until I go coilovers. Also picked up some 14" fox emulsions for dirt cheap up front.

Shes a convertible now




108" wheelbase (stretched 3 or 4" when I go full hydro and 40s. Its as far forward without relocating the steering box as it can go), 18.5" belly with 37s. 140' of 1.75 and 50' of 1.5. Once everything's finalized Ill clean up the notches and make printable templates with measurements.

[JohnBoulderCO]

That didn't take long to go all the way!
I'm enjoying your build thread. Nice SolidWorks modeling too!

[K2]

[gatorayde]

Hahah yea that pretty much sums it up. Doing it once, might as well do it right.

Thanks John, Solidquirks really is a god send once you learn how to use it.

Didn't get much done this weekend, spent most of my time modeling the chassis. Got some final welding done on the front suspension and had to shift the panhard mount on the axle a bit to clear the tie rod. Once that headache is done it's time to rock and roll on the cage/4 link and finally roll this pig out of the shop.

[OverkillZJ]

I like the convertible change,haha.

[gatorayde]

Convertible conversion is complete

My phones camera is completely toast, Ill grab some better pics sometime this week.

Chassis is 100% done, tacked up.










Short list of chit to finish

-front/rear shock mounts, then tune/charge all 4
-upper links in the rear
-mount/plumb oem fuel tank
-relocate battery/fab battery box
-brake lines
-clean up wiring
-final welding everywhere
-mount seats/harnesses
-replace rear hub seals
-weld both diffs (front it temporary, will be getting a detroit when I regear)
-lots of rattle cans

New, more realistic goal is labor day weekend. Should have it rolling by the end of the week assuming my laser order is finished.

[zjmartin]

How much room do you have for the fuel tank? I ended up with probably more money in my setup than I wanted but went with the genright adapter ring and it worked out great. It is the tj ring. Figured you may like that over the stock tank threw in there

[fluxcap]

Johnboulderco... he does NOT fear the grinder.

[zjmartin]

Johnboulderco... he does NOT fear the grinder.

That I can see.

Nice build too by the way

[JohnBoulderCO]

Johnboulderco... he does NOT fear the grinder.

Gatorayde has no fear! Or much original sheet metal!