LSRGreg's WJ Build... Its ON!

[SaturnICL]

crude but like this:

[LSRGreg]

nice! I just checked out those links. I see how you did it now. Also, kick ass on the steering mods too. Did you need any speical tools to take apart the steering gear to tap into it? I gotta do that same thing. My steering is already starting to get slow, and i still have the factory (pretty much non-exsistant) steering stabilzer on there.

Got any more details on the pump mod?? all you have to do is remove the line, and spring, and drop in a spacer?? how think was the spacer??

G-

[LSRGreg]

I installed the harder durometer bushings from Kevin's Offroad in my JKS track bar. The ones that come with it are just a little too soft, and they allow the front end to wobble slightly. The new ones are so much nicer. No more wobble! Not sure why they don't come like this from JKS, but they are a great improvement!

G-

[SaturnICL]

nice! I just checked out those links. I see how you did it now. Also, kick ass on the steering mods too. Did you need any speical tools to take apart the steering gear to tap into it? I gotta do that same thing. My steering is already starting to get slow, and i still have the factory (pretty much non-exsistant) steering stabilzer on there.

Got any more details on the pump mod?? all you have to do is remove the line, and spring, and drop in a spacer?? how think was the spacer??

G-

I actually just followed this:
http://www.mallcrawlin.com/forum/sho...1&postcount=27

The change I made is the lower tap I did on the flat spot on the right so it keeps the hydrolic hoses away from the Belt. And I used 1/4 o-ring to 3/8 flare nipples for a better seal.

And here is the steering box mod:
http://westtexasoffroad.homestead.co...rsteering.html

[LSRGreg]

Killer.. Thanks for the info. I am headed out to colorado in a few hours, so i will get back to you about the bumper stuff next week. Have a great weekend!

G-

[LSRGreg]

Got my Kevin's Offroad Steering Stabilizer installed:
Hit it and the brackets with some hammerite spray paint.

[LSRGreg]

Hit up sedona last weekend for a little mtn biking, and wheelin.. Saturday it poured on us right in the middle of our ride, so we had to wait out the rain under a cliff ledge. I have never gotten so wet without being completely submerged in water. Good times.. so later that day, we hit up Broken Arrow, then Sunday morning did Soldiers Pass.













Going down Broken Arrow....



Then back up.. even in the rain..



Then nice and Sunny on Soldiers Pass:

[theksmith]

Hit up sedona last weekend for a little mtn biking, and wheelin.. Saturday it poured on us right in the middle of our ride, so we had to wait out the rain under a cliff ledge. I have never gotten so wet without being completely submerged in water. Good times.. so later that day, we hit up Broken Arrow, then Sunday morning did Soldiers Pass.

looking really good! how busy where the trails with it being a holiday? i love sedona but usually stay away from there on the weekends... the trails are mostly short ones and fill up so quick.

also, since you're into the hiking/biking/camping thing while offroading, i've been meaning to invite you to come sign up over on my new forum http://www.offroadpassport.com.... we like to mix in other activities with the offroading as well as do a lot of expedition/camping type trips. in fact we're going camping this weekend, but my jeeps in the shop so i'm taking my dual-sport, you're welcome to come (mingus mountain area)!

[LSRGreg]

Saturday in the rain, i think we ran into about 3 pink jeep tours on broken arrow.. then sunday, there was probably 4 or 5 other jeep tours out on soldiers pass.. so i wouldn't say it was busy at all.. only had to drive up to the side twice to let them by.. not a big deal at all. But i was surprised at how short those two trails are.. i was wishing they were longer.

Cool. I will check out your forum. Thanks for the invite, but i gotta stay in town this weekend. Maybe another time. There is the Grand Slam west in a few weeks in sedona.. i will be going to that.

G-

[theksmith]

Saturday in the rain, i think we ran into about 3 pink jeep tours on broken arrow.. then sunday, there was probably 4 or 5 other jeep tours out on soldiers pass.. so i wouldn't say it was busy at all.. only had to drive up to the side twice to let them by.. not a big deal at all. But i was surprised at how short those two trails are.. i was wishing they were longer.

Cool. I will check out your forum. Thanks for the invite, but i gotta stay in town this weekend. Maybe another time. There is the Grand Slam west in a few weeks in sedona.. i will be going to that.

G-

i didn't even know about GSSW, i'll have to come up for at least one of the days since it's so close!

[LSRGreg]

Im glad i mentioned it to ya! I hope the trails we do during GSSW are a little more difficult than the two i did last weekend...

G-

[kingke2005]

Its great to see more and more built up WJs on the trails. I like the green with the black it looks great.

[LSRGreg]

Did the Crown King backroad trail on sunday... its gotten a little rougher than i remember from 4-5 years back. Good times though. Made it up all the difficult bypasses pretty easily. I aired down the rear tires to 10 psi, and the fronts 13 to keep the steering a little easier. i only slipped a tire twice. not too shabby for no lockers.

Heres some pics:





found out i still have some more front fender trimming to do

[LSRGreg]

So i finally got some time over the last week or so, to start working on my shock project. My whole goal with this rig was to be a "do everything" vehicle, and so far i am pretty happy. I can cruise the freeway at 85 mph, hit up the "mall" , and do pretty well on the trail. One of the main pieces to this puzzle is shocks. I have always wanted to get bypass shocks on a jeep, just never really had the resources to do it myself. But i do now. I spent some time measuring up my suspension, axles, tires, body and shock mounts so i could get an idea if i could actually fit some custom built bypass shocks on my rig, without dropping serious coin on shocks, only to find out they don't fit. I wanted to keep the fabrication low, and not have to cut into the engine bay, and move things like abs controllers, ecu's etc, and not cut into the cargo area, so that limited things a bit. I was hoping to fit some 14" travel units, but that just won't happen. I don't want to loose any uptravel, and i don't want to be any higher lift. So i will have to use 12" travel ones, and make some new lower shock mounts for the correct locations. I will be at 50% travel at ride height. with 6" up and 6" down travel. Which should be perfect for a mutlipurpose vehicle like this. It will do great in the desert at speed, ride smooth as glass on the street, and have plenty of articulation for the rocks.

Here are some snap shots of the 3d model i built. I will be using some 12" stroke Fox 2.0 3 tube bypass shocks, with custom bypass tube locations to squeeze into the limited areas i have to work with, all while using the factory upper shock mount locations.
I am running some 10 travel shocks now, so i will be getting even more travel & articulation that i am right now, so i am pretty happy with how it will perform! Especially with 6" of uptravel to absorb the bigger bumps at speed!

Here is a general shot.. the axle and tires are transparent...



side shot at ride height:


detail of front and rear






fully compressed:


fully extended:


articulated:






Next step is to order the shocks, then fab up some new lower mounts that are just a little lower than the stock ones..

[chadjans]

found out i still have some more front fender trimming to do

Can I say I told yah so?

[chadjans]

Have you considered coilovers and loosing the stock springs?

[LSRGreg]

i have.. and they may come in the future... but right now, i don't want to do any major fabbing and spend more $$ on springs and another set of shocks.. but i think to get the performance i am after, i will end up having to change the spring rates, and i can't just have custom springs made for a WJ with the rates i might need. So at that point, i might just have to get some coilovers just for the purposes of holding the coils, and being able to adjust the ride heights to where they need to be.. so i imagine they will be coming one of these days.. im glad my work is a dealer for Fox!

[sasdranger]

wouldn't he have to cut into the engine compartment or cargo area if he did c/o's?


edit: oops in a little late

[LSRGreg]

Can I say I told yah so?

yeah, yeah.. hahaha. but the new shocks will have slightly less uptravel than these short ones do.. so i might be ok.. plus it will give me an accuse to fold the lip under to give it a more finished look.. maybe? hahah.

[dp96zj]

yeah, yeah.. hahaha. but the new shocks will have slightly less uptravel than these short ones do.. so i might be ok.. plus it will give me an accuse to fold the lip under to give it a more finished look.. maybe? hahah.

When you said "the new shocks will have slightly less uptravel than these short ones do.. so i might be ok..", were you implying that the shocks will be the main source of reduced uptravel? If these shocks are that much shorter that they're gonna be acting as bumpstops, you might destroy them quicker than planned. In other words, you may want to incorporate some longer bumpstops into your plan.

I like the idea, and the solidworks models are kickass! Just offering some constructive criticism.

[chadjans]

Blue Coil makes some very nice springs for cheap.

Combined spring rate for two springs = product / sum

[downtowncb]

Holy shit that SolidWorks model must have taken you quite a bit of time. I used it for my motor swap prior to pulling all of the stuff out to make sure the motor would even fit in the first place and that was an undertaking. Good job, I can't wait to see bypasses squeezed in there.

[GOTMTNS]

Nice looking rig, shocked I have never seen it around.

[LSRGreg]

When you said "the new shocks will have slightly less uptravel than these short ones do.. so i might be ok..", were you implying that the shocks will be the main source of reduced uptravel? If these shocks are that much shorter that they're gonna be acting as bumpstops, you might destroy them quicker than planned. In other words, you may want to incorporate some longer bumpstops into your plan.

I like the idea, and the solidworks models are kickass! Just offering some constructive criticism.

I will be adding some nice bump stops so the shocks aren't the limiting factor, but they will be used to figure out where the bumps need to be placed. Plus, the shocks have bump stops on them. Although, they aren't designed for heavy hits.. but i should only be bottoming out doing slow crawling during max articulation.

Blue Coil makes some very nice springs for cheap.

Combined spring rate for two springs = product / sum

yeah. i have purchased from them before. i had triple rate SAW's on my tube crawler, and needed to find some lighter rates than what most of the other guys made that they stocked.

Holy shit that SolidWorks model must have taken you quite a bit of time. I used it for my motor swap prior to pulling all of the stuff out to make sure the motor would even fit in the first place and that was an undertaking. Good job, I can't wait to see bypasses squeezed in there.

Yeah.. it took some time measuring the important stuff.. im sure its not perfect, but good enough for my needs.

Nice looking rig, shocked I have never seen it around.

thanks! i live in tempe.

G-

[SaturnICL]

The fender stuff is why I have bump stopped mine down and added tons of droop! (and my fenders are cut more) The rear is cut as far as I am willing to go because more will be into the doors and a bigger headache than I want. I paid $1586 + Shipping for all 4 of my coilovers with Gravity Springs. The rear is what would take you some fabbing. Not horrible but you would have to C-notch the uniframe.