The golden turd

[robselina]

Well, thought I'd post up some pics/specs on the grand. Here's a set of recent pics from our outing yesterday (8-29-04) down a local canyon (Water Canyon or Jordan's Canyon depending on who you talk to).







Anyway, here's some crap it has on it:

231 t-case
32" BFG ATs
3" F/R swap (RE discos - suck, DIY extended trackbars, etc)
Tow points front and rear
Gas tank and t-case skid
3.73s, limited slip out back (in the lovely D35, but an 8.8 is sitting on my work bench!)
DIY rocker protection
waiting for tube bumpers...

[OverkillZJ]

I think you deserve some kind of award for such a great name...

[robselina]

Went out to our usual playground today. A few shots of the grand after another round of small mods.





BTW - I can't believe the difference new rims made. Articulation front and rear is more even, it's more stable, better traction, etc. I fudged around with a few other things like rear sway bar endlinks and stuff, so they might be contributing too, but the wheels made a much bigger difference than I had imagined they would. (FYI - they're AR-767 15x8 with 4.75"BS)

[robselina]

Well, made a rear bumper today. Its only temporary, so I made the mounting system modular and super beefy, so I could just bolt on another design down the line. I want something that will wrap around, but I don't have time to make that right now so this will keep me from smacking my back end on every obstacle (used to have a hitch for a tow point)

Anyway, here's the mount:



The passenger side 2" tube is 12" long, the drivers side is 10" long to clear the fuel lines. The 2" square tubing is 1/4" thick, it's connected by 1/4" thick 2" angle iron and then the tabs on the end of the 2" square stock are made of 3/16" thick 2" flat bar. I didn't brace them on purpose 'cause I want them to have some give....I tapped the 2" square stock so it would take 3/8" fine thread bolts (24 threads per inch). The 2" angle iron is connected to the body in 6 points with 7/16" grade 8 hardware.



Here are finished pics. The 7/16" grade 8 bolts holding the bumper to the mounts have a couple neoprene fender washers between the bumper and mounts, again for a little give. I wanted a little play in the system so I wouldn't put too much stress on the mounts to the body, since that's definitely the weak link in it all.

[robselina]

took the grand out to quebradas again today...had a pretty rough day of it...

anyway, tried the bumper out today, worked great getting slammed on rocks. Doesn't look tweaked or anything and it took the hits well (though there were a lot less hits than the last time I ran this trail I might add).

Wish I could say my rocker protection did so well though! It took a couple of hard hits on the passenger side, then on a pretty hard fall, it yanked the metal screws holding it in place out and forced the rocker protection into the body :x :? Anyway, I remounted it temporarily and reshaped the fender and door so they'd at least clear each other again:



I need to go ahead and just weld these things on. I'm going to try to get that out of the way tomorrow, though I am VERY tempted to just cut out the rockers and weld in some 2x4 that I have sitting in the shed.....

I also slashed a sidewall on my front passenger side tire, so I'm running around on the spare now :? getting really tempted to go pick up some new MTRs before MOAB week after next :twisted:

[JeepinHank]

The bumper is coming along nicely. I like the way you bolted through the side as well as the bottom - that should make it a bit stronger.

The wrap arounds aren't all that hard. The most time consuming part is coming up with a way to make the bends for the u-channel. If you can find 5" u-channel more power to ya! My easiest solution was to pay someone else to do bend up the U. The 45* bends (for the wrap around) were easy... I made my relief cuts, then took a couple of pieces of 2x4 box tubing, set one under the U-channel, then set the other inside the U (holding it down), and drove up on it with the Jeep. That got a good even bend started, all I had to do was finish it up by hand after that.

[robselina]

thanks for the info Hank. More than anything else, it's just having the time. I'm going to Moab with our local club on the 23rd of the month, and I'm just trying to get as many functional things done to the vehicle as i can in that time frame. Gotta replace some seals, fluids, recharge the AC and some other misc BS (not to mention fix my rocker protection now)....

As for bending the channel, I'm pretty sure my local metal shop can do it....

[robselina]

long time w/o an update...figure I should post something...

Anyway, got the following taken care of:
- locked up front axle with a quicklock (generic lunchbox)
- got new spicer 297x shafts up front
- tom woods front driveshaft
- adjustable RE superflex control arms all around
- RE HD front trackbar and bracket
- another 3/4" of lift
- some ghetto fabulous 33" dick cepeks (they pretty much suck BTW)
- little more fender trimming

Still need to:
- finish the 8.8 and get it under the rig. Gears are setup, spacers made, lug studs changed, brackets removed, locker installed...need to do some cleanup and then weld the brackets on.
- hood vents
- new radiator
- new sway disconnects
- new sway end links out back (bent and too short right now)
- new shocks
- start the exo

some recent shots, nothing hardcore unfortunately...



http://www.nmvjc.org/forum2/photos/g...p?photoid=2475

http://www.nmvjc.org/forum2/photos/g...p?photoid=2470

[ATL ZJ]

linky no worky.

[OverkillZJ]

I think that that mounting system if fantastic....

[robselina]

linky no worky.

bummer, must be stored in the members only area, 'cause I can see them....