WJ on won tons

[gatorayde]

Johnboulderco... he does NOT fear the grinder.

Or the plasma, sawzall, portaband, haha...

Thanks guys.

Plenty of room in the rear to fit the stock tank, along with the battery and a cooler/toolbox. I was eyeing a few smaller cells but for the simplicity and budget, the stock tank/sender/pump is staying. The OEM fuel line was about 15ft too long so I ended up picking up a roll of some -6 AN hose and a couple adapters and Ill run a new line. Should be plug and play when I swap to a cell.

Back to working 6 days a week so progress is slowing down a bit.

Got the rear 4 link and shocks tacked up. Need to triple check everything and burn it in.


Ignore the mess. Picked up some 3x.219 wall DOM for the rear D/S, shown in the bottom left corner. 1410 at the axle, 1350 at the tcase. Don't have time or money to dig up a 1410 31 spline slip yoke for the 242hd. If it exists..


And some overall shots that weren't taken with a toaster

[ELLLLLIOTTTTT]

I like your WJ... is it stock?

[Pearce]

I like it! Very nice.

[jeepridesbikes]

any updates????

[gatorayde]

Not really.. Still working 60 hour weeks, but I've been chipping away here and there. Should have it moving under its own power in the next few days.

Finally rolled it out a few weeks ago.




Everything is ~90% welded/fabbed on the chassis and suspension. Rear D/S is done, fuel tank plumbed, battery relocated, seat/harness mounts are done, front suspension is fully welded/painted. Been stripping out wiring here and there as well.

After sitting for 5 or 6 months she fired right up earlier today. I was actually pretty surprised the bcm/pcm are still happy considering all the wiring that's been pulled.

Finished up the trans mount yesterday, just need to add a hoop under the trans pan and mount a sheet of 1/4" for the belly.

Also ditched the ancient M35 and picked up a like-new HH210 for cheap. The last of the drunk pics, I swear

[gatorayde]

Got a few hours in at the shop today. Pulled the dash and HVAC out and started pruning moar wiring. The WJ dash is such a pain in the ass, if time wasn't a factor it'd be trashed and Id build a new one. Oh well, chalk it up as another future project.


Got a TON of room on the pass side fender/firewall now. The PDC and PCM will be relocated behind the dash, as well as the intake. The glove box will be gutted to make room so there should be plenty of real estate for all 3.

The intake and coolant line loop are temporary, just to keep test firing the motor.


Boxes 'o scrap





Spaghetti anyone? By some divine miracle she still fired up, even after round 2 of thinning out the harness.


Tomorrows project will be tidying/wire sheathing everything, and finding a home for the PCM and PDC. Then It's onto the pass and drivers body harnesses and the wiring will be fawkin done.

Im leaving all the driver-pass crossover wiring behind the dash alone. Not worth the time and aggravation just to shed a few pounds in copper.

[gatorayde]

Scheduling a wheeling trip to Attica to give 'er an easy shakedown on the weekend of the 18th. Got about 50 or 60 hours of work left yet (roughly), so it's gonna be fuggin close. Definitely getting a trip in before november before the cold ass weather hits, either way.

Wiring is 99% done, just need to install the seat heaters, a few switches, and finish wiring the fan relay. Pulled the dash, pulled the HVAC, stripped every harness on the bitch, and reinstalled the dash. Ill probably just light a match and toss it in the tank if I ever have to do that again

Picked up a cheap brake LED bar on fleabay on a whim that's gonna work perfect. Already wired it up, just need to weld a couple small tabs to mount it.



A shot in-progress. The PDC and ECU are right behind the (now) gutted glove box. Open the glove and it's easy access to all the wiring, PDC, and ECU. Should keep everything happy out of the elements.



And a shot of the (scrapped) switch panel to replace the ash tray/hvac controls. Wasn't paying attention and step-drilled one of the mounting holes for the battery cutoff



That's all I got from saturday, left the camera at the shop today so Ill get some completed pics up tomorrow.

[gatorayde]

My phones brand new camera is on the fritz again so the :beer: pics are back

Mounted the rad, mounted/wired the leds (obviously not aligned yet) and fabbed the intake into the cab.



Switch panel is still a WIP. Waiting to see if I have time to install/wire the heated seats before I paint it. Also a shot of the 12v post and the little bit of wiring I have left to cleanup. Still need to wire the efan as well.



Fabbed a quick battery mount


Quick shot of the seat mounts. Yea it's single shear but everything is 1/4", not too concerned with it. Ill step up to double shear when I get some nice suspensions.


Annnnnd finally getting the brakes plumbed





One more week, at most two. Already requested time off at work so this pig is gonna move, one way or another

[gatorayde]

Hauled ass to finish this thing last weekend. Still a ways to go before its 100% but it was enough to blast around the farm. Thing feels stupid stable even without tuning the shocks or running sway bars. Really happy with how it handled.

The tow pig needed brakes badly and the buggy needed a few odds and ends so it didn't pan out. Changed my days off for the Nov 15th weekend so there's plenty of time to finish it out.

Fabbed the trans skid Finished the engine cage Plated the front crossmember with 3/16, plug welded heavily around the D ring mounts. First pass weld pr0n.

And this wouldn't be mallcrawlin without an ultra harcore flex shot

[gatorayde]

Finally got this thing on the trail. Finished it up and loaded it on the trailer at 11pm thursday, then hauled it to work at 4am Friday. Ended up cutting a rear Trxus early on, found a couple cheap 38" claws to get me through the weekend, then cut one of those fawkers too.

All in all, it climbs like a fawkin goat. Doesn't steer worth a shit, but a hydro ram and a real D60 locker should fix that.

Got a small list of shit to still finish, and find some tires. Thinking about picking up some like-new 39.5 LTBs on CL and running some inner air locks with the aluminum rims. Not sure how well these Centerlines will hold up to some rock rash, I might end up going with some (heavy) steel beedlocks.

Also just put down a deposit on an RV for KOH. Ill be dragging this pig across the US with a few buddies come February, stopping in moab for a day or two then spending the week in hammertown.

Only got two pretty lame shots all weekend..

[gatorayde]

Spring is just around the corner so this thing will finally be on some trails soon. Got one last romp around the farm before I hibernated 'er for the winter.


Picked up some 4 Ds finally, and some inner air locks. The Centerline rims are forged, not too worried about em just yet but time will tell.



3.5" taller than the bald 37s



The 37" slicks barely clipped the lower links at full lock, now the TSLs barely make it 1/3 turn :homer: Next winters project will be triangulated lowers with new axle/chassis mounts. Till then it's getting some bent lowers.



Also planning on building a real mount for the fuel tank, and fabbing a nice storage area for tools


Broke it out of hibernation last weekend to move the rig/shop to my new house. Its a smaller garage, only has 110v, and is unheated.. But it's cheap as fawk so it'l do for now.



Also took it for a quick spin in the 2ft snow drifts around the farm. Ended up getting stuck pretty good, had the poor 4.0 on the rev limiter in reverse and something :nuked: in the Tcase. Lost front wheel drive in 4 low, 4wd part time works fine forwards but reverse loses the front again. Time for a 231/205...

[gatorayde]

Something doesn't look right..



Pulled another from the bone yard after work, gotta love the plethora of Durangos and Dakotas. Only thing I can think of is 4lo was only partially engaged. The shifter has always been a bit sloppy so it's the only explanation I can come up with..

[gatorayde]

The late spring (re)build is underway. Finally finished the skins, and the front end is getting a complete overhaul. ~8" stretch, full hyrdo, a much needed truss, and some coilovers.

Moved all my shit back to my dads shop, temporarily. The little one car garage wasnt gonna cut it.

Finally built a real fab/work bench. 3x5, 3/8 plate top with a 2x2x11 gauge frame. Got a 3x10' piece of .375 hot rolled for CHEAP. Only downside was it had a slight bow in it.

420lb's is a bitch to move around


Redneck plate un-bender


Finished product



Also built a steel organizer/shelf. One side for toob the other for sheet/plate.






Onto the buggy. Pulled the axle and threw it on the operating table.


Stripped it down and glued the tubes.


Finally cut some skins



And started tearing into the suspension.






Shooting for 5" uptravel in the front and 6" in the rear, should bump the belly from 17" to ~20" in the process.

And just one more middle fanger to the east coast/midwest. This box of goodies was brand new less than a year ago.

[CRJEeP_wj]

Looks good! The skins are gonna look great when there done.

[gatorayde]

Thanks man, I agree. Finally building this the way I imagined all along.

Got 98% of the front end fab-work done. Actually rolled it out the other day.


Managed to acually use the old panhard frame mount and run the panhard behind the axle CL. Had to put a couple small bends on different planes in the panhard. Shit gets tight at full droop.


Coil and link clearances fully articulated.



Picked up a brand new hydro orbital on ebay for $100 and ordered a box of lines/fittings and a ram from surplus center. Tried using the standard clevis ends but threw that idea out pretty quick. The fittings were either in a terrible spot, or everything bound up.

Lobotomized my old drag link for the hydro ram. Got the ram mounted, just need to turn up a 1/2" delrin spacer at work and slap the ram back together.



The fittings are out of the way and the ram is up/behind the tie rod. About as good as its gonna get without going high-steer and a DE ram. Yet..

[bentwrench]

Looks great. Can't wait to see those skins done

[roprisiu]

when you first put that dana 50 under the front , how much clearance was there between the diff and the unibody? im looking to swap in those same axles into my wj, just curious as to how much lift ill need to have good clearance. sweet rig by the way!

[gatorayde]

Thanks Bent.

It's a 60 (same housing though) and it's a tight fit. You've got maybe +-3" of stretch, front-rear to play with. The pinion yoke will hit the frame and/or the trackbar hits the top of the diff, from what I remember. Not an easy swap but it's doable.

My schedule fell waaaay behind with this thing, ended up having my appendix burst that put me out of commission for a few weeks, and left me with some hefty hospital bills. Finally back to 100% and hammering shit out. Just needs the gears installed, some paint, and a billion little things finished here and there.

Ditched the redneck ratchet straps for some stainless straps, mounted the trans/steering cooler, installed a rear limit strap, finished the passenger skin and hit them with some scotchbrite for a brushed look.




Had it out for a quick blast and hit the concrete RTI ramp


Also figured out why it was overheating

[bentwrench]

Sorry to hear about the appendix, but good to see you're back at it!

[gatorayde]

Thanks man, it's nice being able to work at 100% again and see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I spent 5-6 hours a night after work this week getting it trail-ready for the weekend. Then my buddy's 4.0 in his xj shit the bed. Gonna try and organize something for next weekend, trying to find some other hardcore mall crawlers for a shakedown run

5.38's are in. Time to :nuke: some 30 spline stubs. The 60 setup is a hair deep, not really worried about it.





the 80e in the tow pig has always run a little hot for my liking. Decided to finally address that.


1/4" flat belly skid with countersunk 3/8-24 bolts. Yeah there's a gap in the rails/skid. The subframe sits about 1/4" lower from the crossmember plane. Really wish I went a different route with the subframe/skid setup, but it'l work. The chassis/rig is getting scrapped/sold in a couple years, already itching to build something from the ground up.

[gatorayde]

Finally got this thing out for a shakedown run, which didn't last very long. Blew up FWD again hammering down on a pretty nasty rock ledge. This time it's in high and low range, thinking the chain is stretched? Also had my mark VIII fan seize up as it was heading back to camp in 2wd.

Good news is this thing climbs anything you point it at. Really, really happy with the new front suspension and wheelbase. Kind of. Turning radius with spools and a limo wheelbase gets old fast.

Coilovers are working great, spring rate seems perfect (150/250). Threw some rear WJ bumpstops on the shafts and they work surprisingly well in the bigger whoops/bumps. Time to start fawking with valving and the dual rate slider.

And it definitely needs a cargo section in the rear. Tools, cooler, parts, etc. Also could use an 01-04 4.7 P/S pump. The 160k stocker doesn't seem happy with the new hydro setup. Annnd the 30 spline stubs are ticking time bombs, gonna order some 35 splines before KOH and hope these hold up for another couple trips.

No action shots, since the trip only lasted a few hours

[gatorayde]

Well the front fell off


The Efan was fucked, pulled the rad/fan to replace it and decided to stuff a winch up front finally. Got a quick idea drawn up. Not sure how I feel about it but Im rolling with it.


Also ordered some 35 spline slugs/stubs, should have the hubs bored and everything slammed together by the weekend.
Anybody still wheel around here? Heading down to fall crawl, if anyone is driving from the midwest shoot me a PM. Leaving Chitcago thursday evening, pit stop in Cincy thursday night to meet a buddy, then heading to Harlan friday morning.

[bentwrench]

It looks like a good design to me. Keeps it low and it doesn't look like out will take away any clearance. I would love to wheel but you would have to come to az. I'm using all my vacation time to go hunting so cross country wheeling trips aren't possible till next year.

You should think about putting your build on pirate4x4

[gatorayde]

Yeah its more function than form at this point, keeps the winch behind/below the frame vs plunking it on top like most bumpers. Already started cutting plate, tired of overthinking this shit.

Ill take a raincheck on that man. Already set a deadline of 2018 until I move to AZ. Tired of the rust, politics, weather and shitty wheeling out here, but I digress.

Yeah Ive been being to, just too lazy to keep two threads up to date honestly haha. Been a long time lurker on here and pirate, but I thought all the cool kids only posted their shit on instagram and facebook

Brown santa showed up today. 35 spline stubs/slugs should be here tomorrow.


Tonight was piss-off-the-neighbors and hammer out Ujoints night. Replaced a junk 1310/1350 in the front DS, swapped the rear 1330 slip yoke/1350 conversion joint for a 1350 yoke/joint. And slapped some new 1480s in the 35 spline inners, the factory joints felt a little tight.



Fuckin 1.5 car garage is kicking my ass. Had to articulate the axle to get the long side out

[gatorayde]

Fall crawl was a fuckin blast. Left work thursday afternoon, got home last night around 10pm. 1200 miles and ~20 hours of driving, but it was worth it.

Got to Cincy thursday night with a wicked vibration in the truck over 55mph. Thought it was a sticking caliper/bad unit bearing. Tore the front end apart, everything looked cherry. Decided to check the rear and found the driveshaft carrier bearing was TOAST, 2" of radial play easily.

$30 bearing, a couple hours later, and we hit the road saturday morning around 6am. Rolled into the Putney side around 11am, just me and a buddy. Never been here before, don't know a single soul south of Ohio

Parked the truck, paid up for camping/wheeling, hop back in to go find a campsite and the truck wont start. No crank, no click, she's dead. Luckily a guy drives past and asks to borrow an adjustable wrench to swap his broken d30 shaft. He comes back about 5 mins later saying it didn't fit (no shit ) Tossed him a 36mm socket and a breaker bar from the half ton days, in trade for a ride to town for a new starter. Slapped a new starter in the truck and away we went.

Cruised around the park saturday afternoon/night, didn't hit anything too knarly. Mostly just watched people break there own shit. Finally went to hit lions den and the fucking 242hd grendaded, AGAIN. Im done with this one. Too much slop somewhere is allowing the 4wd collar to only partially engage. Give it some throttle (well.. WOT) and it shears ~1/2" of the teeth off that are engaged. Gonna find another good candidate and rebuild it 100%. Don't have the space/time/funds for a new case and new driveshafts right now.

Got some decent go pro footage. There's another longer trail video uploading (45 mins) Ill post eventually. I spent a few mins in Lions Den before the 242 imploded. And my luck the go pro battery died literally as I rolled up the to the entrance.

It was an adventure, and well worth the trip. KOH and Fall Crawl will be annual trips for sure.