hows the unii body wj's on 37s holding up?

[BlackDiamondBound]

I managed to crack my uni body in the rear where the long arm brackets are welded too. The other side is starting to crack as well so looks like I'll be box that whole area soon. i'm only on 35s but am contemplating 37s, and was wondering if anyone running 37s have had any issues with the heavier tires and too much stress on the uni body.

[JohnBoulderCO]

Been running 35's for years and 37's since last fall. No issues for me.

[AgitatedPancake]

I had some minor cracking in the claytons rear mounts at the unibody, but part of it was due to the welding that I did as a 17 year old. At the same time I noticed something that was actually more worrying, I cracked at least one of the welds on the clayton bracket itself, and those are some nice looking welds. I think the claytons system could REALLY benefit from a rear crossmember, and I'll be adding one.

I also started destroying the unibody rails behind the rear coil springs, but that was from a LOT of pulls off the rear bumper over the years that were...less than friendly .

[JohnBoulderCO]

I think the claytons system could REALLY benefit from a rear crossmember, and I'll be adding one.

Agree! This is on my to-do-list as well.

[BlackDiamondBound]

The welds on the rear claytons bracket has cracked on mine too. Im just trying to make it threw the summer trails before tearing it all down. I have had to box the rear of the uni body as well, it was flexing way to much but thats from the way my rear coil overs are setup.

agitatedpancake, I just moved too fair oaks let me know if you ever wanna hit the trails or grab a beer sometime. I'm going to try and run the con end of summer

[BlackDiamondBound]

did you guys end up cutting behind the passenger door to fully stuff 37s? I'm really on the fence if I should just stick with 35s or stuff some 37s in there. I just love how well 35s fit up in there when stuffing

[JohnBoulderCO]

Lots of cutting front and rear to stuff 37's. Look at my Don't Fear the Grinder! thread in my sig, there are pics in there. Not sure what axles you have, but stock ones eventually fail with 35's.

[BlackDiamondBound]

I'll check out the thread now, thanks for the info! I have a reverse cut 60 in the rear and curries rock jock 9"/44 up front with ctm's. Axle wise 37 should be fine. Did you gusset your c's on the your 44?

[AgitatedPancake]

Damn now thats a small world BlackDiamond! I grew up in Fair Oaks and now live in the eastern part of citrus heights, all of 5 miles from Fair Oaks. Send me a PM on where abouts you are and your phone number. We can get together and BS some time. I've got a torchmate CNC plasma table too so if you need plate work I can help ya out

[JohnBoulderCO]

Yep, you are fine for 37's. I have not gusset my c's on my HP44. I added a TnT truss on my Ford HP44 (1/2" thick tubes), with superior shafts and CTM's. Blown a few hubs (they make a nice fuse). I'm more worried about my 8.8 rear at this point.

I'm planning on adding a rear cross member and weld my sliders to Clayton's "subframe" to stiffen things up more. Check out agitatedpancake's boat sides on his WJ, fantastic work!

[BlackDiamondBound]

I'm planning on adding a rear cross member and weld my sliders to Clayton's "subframe" to stiffen things up more. Check out agitatedpancake's boat sides on his WJ, fantastic work!

a rear cross member would be awesome. It will be interesting to see what you do with the muffler, and if it would interfere with the drive shaft when flexing. sounds like some good idea bouncing around coming up soon

[IndyZJ]

I know AP is finally getting around to it, but a well-designed and executed cage will prevent a lot of the typical issues - done right, it's not just a safety item on a unibody. If your wheeling necessitates 35s+, you're only asking for trouble multipe fronts without a decent cage.

If you guys are already adding a crossmember at the rear mounts, it would also help to triangulate the lowers. Clayton's kits generally appear to be severely below the rule of thumb for enough triangulation to locate the axle without over-stressing mounts and joints.

[indy242003]

I know AP is finally getting around to it, but a well-designed and executed cage will prevent a lot of the typical issues - done right, it's not just a safety item on a unibody. If your wheeling necessitates 35s+, you're only asking for trouble multipe fronts without a decent cage.

If you guys are already adding a crossmember at the rear mounts, it would also help to triangulate the lowers. Clayton's kits generally appear to be severely below the rule of thumb for enough triangulation to locate the axle without over-stressing mounts and joints.

Agreed. I have been on a ledge with all 4 tires cutting (typical South east wheelin') and watched the rear axle walk laterally as I cut the fronts back and forth. The Claytons kit is a great starter to get your foot in the door and I'm not saying it does not perform well, when built to the parameters Clayton specifies. a lift running 33's -35's the Clayton's kit is nice. You start putting one tons, and 40's on it and you start to see the difference. It just was not designed for this. Not enough seperation in the upper body side, not enough triangulation in the lowers, and so on. I'm not upset with them, it has done all I have asked. It just needeed to upgrade when my axles, tires, and wheeling style did. I'm getting ready to pull all my Claytons kit off and start over. It's been a good ride, but I've just outgrown it.

[AgitatedPancake]

Indy, I don't think you have to completely remove it to create a satisfactory suspension. As Indy () said, with a rear crossmember it would not take much more than a few tabs and cut/welding of the LCA's to trinagulate them. I've also seen a couple people replace/extend the upper control arm mounts up through the floorboards to give varying spots for vertical seperation (mostly anti squat). At that point what you have is pretty ideal for a double triangulated 4 link. The front can be converted to a 3 link with some work also. I might do that some day :P

[indy242003]

Indy, I don't think you have to completely remove it to create a satisfactory suspension. As Indy () said, with a rear crossmember it would not take much more than a few tabs and cut/welding of the LCA's to trinagulate them. I've also seen a couple people replace/extend the upper control arm mounts up through the floorboards to give varying spots for vertical seperation (mostly anti squat). At that point what you have is pretty ideal for a double triangulated 4 link. The front can be converted to a 3 link with some work also. I might do that some day :P

I intend to keep the front lower mounts and incorperate a real 3 link in the front. The bushing radius arm set up is not working for me anymore. I toast upper bushings quickly (mainly because I'm using 1 arm). The axle wants to rotate under load (locked and drive flanges), and destroys the bushing. In the rear, if I'm going to not use the lower mounts, and have to redo the upper mounts, then I might as well cut the all mounts off the rear and mount everything to the cross member and burn it all back in. If your going to double triagulate the rear and get good AS numbers, I think you are going to have to change everything on the rear. My plan is just what you suggested. I'm going to cut the floor to give me ample clearance, then sheet metal everything back in to give me the room at full stuff. I've got my eyes on a brand new set of 42" stickies and want to get the belly as low as I can. A lot of sheet metal work is on it's way to a forum near you. Stay tuned, this fat bitch is going on a diet, and a whole new set up! Build thread resurection!

[ron4x4]

I built My own rear suspension with as much triangulation as I could, placing the frame mount side on the inside of the uni-rails as I could. Then used the Clayton lowers and built a 3 link up front when I put the tons under it. I do want to make a better Rear cross member that is my next mini project. I will say though the Con is much more fun with 37's and 1 tons.

[BlackDiamondBound]

For anyone that is interested this is what I ended up doing to keep the rear control arm mounts from cracking anymore then what they started to do. had some little gussets made behind that arms, had this done a while ago and holding up so far. We'll see how well the last next summer.



little blurry sorry

[BlackDiamondBound]

still havnt decided if ill go 37s or not. just bent a the rear axle flange on the dana 60, so the added weight of a 37 doesn't seem to appealing right now

[IndyZJ]

Didn't notice your axles earlier. Your HP60 rear gears will not like 37s on a heavy WJ that gets wheeled like yours sounds to. Neither will 44-sized u-joints and outers of any material. Both would be marginal with the extra size, weight, and traction. You might be fine for a while, but I would not expect them to last. Sounds like a sweet setup for 35s though.

Hope that repair holds up for you. I still think the problem is largely a result of the lack of separation and triangulation in the links. Your gussets should help significantly, but I'd still keep an eye on them and the surrounding sheet metal.

[BlackDiamondBound]

you dont think 44 outers sleaved and gussets on the c's would hold up to 37s? I see the JK crowd doing it and holding up well. regardless, with the issues im already having I think 35s might be as big as i'm going. Anything bigger time to get a real frame like a JK

[IndyZJ]

Ah - I assumed you meant old school 44 stuff. Still, 44-sized shafts and joints generally do not live long in heavy rigs that actually get wheeled on tires larger than 35s. I'd bet that JKs get by with that largely because they were/are so under powered (kind of like 'yota axles living with huge tires...).

It's not a very popular opinion here, but you're about at the limit of your setup and the unibody without doing serious work and a lot of compromising when going bigger/ wheeling harder and not having the thing literally tear itself apart.

[jimicorbet]

The welds on the rear claytons bracket has cracked on mine too. Im just trying to make it threw the summer trails before tearing it all down. I have had to box the rear of the uni body as well, it was flexing way to much but thats from the way my rear coil overs are setup.

[DBMETALWORX]

Well this is an old thread, but still on the front page... SO... LOL.. Anyway our frame plating may help with this problem. It's maed of 10ga steel and goes full length front to rear. http://dbmetalworx.com/#!/Frame-Stif...egory=13125399