Orangepower needs bigger boots

[OrangePower]

Hi guys

I`ve been reading forum for about year and a half and gathering info for my build.
I get addicted in off road a few years back when I get my first jeep. It was stock ZJ 5.9 (I`m still sad for trading it). I drove it about one year and then trade it for 2,5L YJ. Wrangler had 32”s on and about 3” of lift. It was fun to drive especially during summer with no roof , but is was way under power with stock gearing. I drove it also about a year and then sell it. Then I get 98 XJ 2,5L diesel (Italian VM motor). It was lifted 3,5” and had 31” on it. It was fun to drive but I was missing V8...
So I bought it It is Limited 97 5,2L V8.
I thing this thing will stay in my house little longer then usual because I have plans for it.
I also have a friend who loves to fabricate things, so all projects that we do, we do it together. It will be almost impossible to make thing on my own because of good ideas, skills, additional par of hands…
For now I made BB and put on 265/70/16 winter tires. Second thing was winch bumper (we made it) and a winch, and now we are getting to serious stuff.
I bought HPD44/9” combination out of an 79 Bronco. I know this is not the best option but in my country is almost impossible to get something like this. If I say almost impossible this means that I pay A LOT for it. It cost me 1300€. I know, I must be stupid to pay that much, but you know how it goes if you want something that much, there is no limit to get it..

You can see couple pictures of it:


XJ



ZJ:








This was winter joy


And now front bumper:
Two electrician are discussing plan



Testing:



Work in progress:



Late night testing...



Winter problems with paint – drying…




Almost final result





Almost final test

[OrangePower]

It was beautiful day and you can see finished bumper



And progress on build:




In the moment I`m waiting on RE 4.5 springs and Bilstein shocks and joints.

Plan is to build long arm kit on HPdana44/9" regear to 4.56 and put on bigger boots



My first question is where can I find R&P at best price, because I have to pay X2 for it if I order it to my country. In europe this is almost impossible to find or is wery expensive.
I found this on ebay but I don`t get an answer from store:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33731

anibody knows anything about this store? I think they have good price.

[IndyZJ]

Eat shit

I like the bumper.

It looks like you have an hp44 with cast radius arm mounts. FYI, they have thinner tubes than other hp44s and no actual axle tube passing through the cast mounts. It's no big deal if you're running radius arms anyway, as radius arms generally perform the same regardless of how they are mounted to the axle - just run the Ford bushings and extend the factory radius arms. There are a few threads on here about it.

For gears, go with a reputable brand like Yukon and a known good vendor so you (hopefully) only have to spend the money once. It would suck to have to buy and install another set of gears because you wanted to save $50 the first time around, and there is a noticeable difference in quality with better gears.

[OrangePower]

I will

I know about cast radius arm mount, but like I said this thing is almost impossible to find in my country so this is the best I found.
I will leave radius arms on it, just extend them.
So you say Yukon, do you have any store in mind?

[Technohead]

Welcome. Great looking bumper. You might consider beefing up the tow rings though.

Looking forward to watching the build progress.

[zj-monster]

What's up Slovenija?

[OrangePower]

What's up Slovenija?

You wrote that way that it seemed to me that you have already been in Slovenija before.

And back on topic - today I found store in Germany who have parts for old cars, so I can order radius arms bushings (7° - for lifts 4" and up).
Bearing`s are also ordered, pipes for arms to, now I yust need to find R&P set and then we can start putting stuff together.

[FearTheDentist]

So you say Yukon, do you have any store in mind?

I second Yukon gears- I've never had a problem. If for some reason you can't find them closer to home I seem to remember that Moonworks (a vendor on this site) carries them, and if no luck there I've had good treatment from East Coast Gear Supply (eastcoastgearsupply.com)

Nice job on the bumper, I really like that.

[OrangePower]

Hi guys

I found store in europe that sells Yukon gears. They don`t know much about R&P so they say if I give them numbers they can order it.
Can you, please, help me with this matter?

I found R&P set but dont`t know if they are ok for my axles - Bronco 1979 HPD44/9" - R&P count 3,5.

Will this be ok for me:

FRONT:
http://www.yukongear.com/ProductDeta...px?ProdID=3307

BACK:
http://www.yukongear.com/ProductDeta...px?ProdID=2215

Thank`s guys.

[OrangePower]

Today I get outer bearing`s for front axle. Not exactly Timken...




I also figured out what reverse cut means and what R&P I have in front axle.
http://katy.tx4wd.org/tech/general_axle_info.htm






Oh, and look what I found in my friend`s garage. It`s huge
Red »thing« 0,5L beer

[Brad S]

Dude that is ridiculous!

[Joe Lynch]

That bumper is nice. Great fabrication work. People always skip making cardboard templates. Your bumper is a prime example of why it is important to make templates.

[paulkeith]

I don't know that I'd sweat SKF bearings instead of Timken. IMO SKF is extremely established and quality. Do not have direct automotive related experience with them, but I know they get put in much more expensive stuff that spins much faster.

[ATL ZJ]

I don't know that I'd sweat SKF bearings instead of Timken. IMO SKF is an extremely established and quality. Do not have direct automotive related experience with them, but I know they get put in much more expensive stuff that spins much faster.

x2. SKF is good, as is Koyo.

[OrangePower]

Build is on pause till I get all the parts in. They are coming slowly...
Here is something new:




Comparison between lower ZJ arm and joint:







More to come...

[OrangePower]

It`s been a long time, but I`m back
I was colecting parts during summer and now I have it almost all of them, so the build continues
Well, first off all I got most of parts
RE 4,5 springs
4.56 R&P for both axles - Yukon
Rebuild kit for both axles -shimms, ALL bearings, bolts -Yukon
MilleMarker lockout hubs
5100 Bilsten shocks
Radius arms bushings
ARB locker for front DANA 44
Trail Gear Creeper Joint
MOPAR bushings
Pipes for arms





Then I started to remove all of original junk




After that I allready had prepaird 9" with truss (OGDAK design ) and also rails, tubes for arms...

Oh, I also tried RE 4,5 springs on original arms yust for curiosity.



Now it`s like this


I put 9" under and make some tests on how it will stand later.
For the moment axle is 42cm high from ground to midle of wheel bearing (aprox 33"/2 - size of 33" tire)

I also tried to find position of axle in term of longer wheel base. I put axle under middle stripe that you can see on inner fender.





Now I have a question:

how far back you move axles for 33"?
I will run 35" sooner or later so Take this in mind

I think I will have a lot of questions till I`m finished with this project, so guys bare with me

[it usually runs fine]

Mine is 2 1/2" over stock in rear. And 3" in the front

[OrangePower]

The build is coming along slowly, mostly because I have only 2-3 hours time per day. I thing that back end will be done till end of this week.
Now, when I have things thing`s removed from underneath the car – axles, exhaust, I will probably doo 249->242 swap. I will be picking up 242 in next couple of days from an 92 XJ. I thing that spline count is wright only not sure on shaft length.

Can someone measure distance from ground to rear fender (strait part above axle), who has 33”, 35”tire and 4,5” lift.
I have car leveled and was taking some measurements and it looks like it will be sitting pretty high.

[OrangePower]

Hi Guys

I have another question: how will my travel be affected if I make small curve on arm itself. I want the arm to be curved so that I get castor angle correct and also that I can mount arm on original rail under car.
Now my arm, because of length, came to close under car so I can`t mount them on rail but on inner side of rail.

My arms are build like this one:



I want to curve them like they are on this picture:


The seccond curve I marked on this picture. This is for castor alignment:


Will this work or it will have too much affect on articulation?

This is how it sits now

[IndyZJ]

I would not put more than 1 bend in a control arm, with none being prefered.

The best solution is to get the right C bushings for however much caster you need to add at ride height. Put the mounts where ever the ends of the arms end up. Put them on a new transmission crossmember like every aftermarket kit does. Your options are very limited with the Ford radius arms and the work you have already done to them.

[OrangePower]

Thanks for advice!
Arms are not welded yet (tube and control arm) if you had this in mind.
I plan mounting front arms behind transmission crossmember…
I will go under car and see what can I do if I take in your advice.

[IndyZJ]

There is no real benefit to mounting the arms behind the crossmember. Your links will only hang down further and be more easily damaged like that for no real gain.

The easiest way to do it and the way that others who have done this swap before have done is to mount the arms to a crossmember like the one Clayton Off Road sells. This would still make the arms very long and have plenty of articulation available. Your shocks/ steering/ driveshaft will likely limit flex either way.

[OrangePower]

Ok, I will take this into consideration today afternoon when I lay down under jeep

[OrangePower]

I was under jeep now and looking what can I do...

I think I must order new c bushings with different mounting angle to compensate caster angle.

For arm mounts I`m still not sure. I was taking measurements and no matter what I do, I get only about 4'' of travel, before my arm hits unibody rail.

What up travel do you get with clayton arms or with different long arms setup?

[OrangePower]

Maybe I don’t have correct value of RE4,5 spring being compressed on ride height.
Can anybody, who has RE4,5 spring, measure them in normal state – ride height?


A few picture where I have problems on deciding where and how...







Any idea?