Got A Real Grinder!-Gold Dust Build

[JohnBoulderCO]

Buggy, no. 4 more disks tonight. Still not done.

[ArloGuthroJeep]

Hey John you could just give me your bumper if you're going to grind it all away

[JohnBoulderCO]

Do you want the pieces I cut off?

[JohnBoulderCO]

All done. It took a few more disks but I finished it Saturday morning.
I then ran Holy Cross on Sunday and everything was fine. New 35x12.5x15 MTR's and no bump stops, for maximum flex. Not a single tire rub.

[ELLLLLIOTTTTT]

no pics = no chop

[JohnBoulderCO]

Sunday. Running Holy Cross, on Cleveland Rock.

[BigDaveZJ]

I'm glad to see you've gotten over your days of "lightly tapping" with a sledgehammer to get sheetmetal out of the way!

[JohnBoulderCO]

Yeah, I think the front looks good, I spent some time on it. The rear needs a little work to "pretty-it-up".

I cut more then Chad did on David's, but I wanted to make sure the 35" tires would clear easy. I have more wheel offset, running 15" instead of 16", so more trimming is needed.

Hmmmm, room to spare...hmmmmmm.

[ProjectZJOM617T]

Looks nice but is'nt this a shop subforum thing...

[ILikeMud]

Nice trim job.

[chadjans]

Yeah, I think the front looks good, I spent some time on it. The rear needs a little work to "pretty-it-up".

I cut more then Chad did on David's, but I wanted to make sure the 35" tires would clear easy. I have more wheel offset, running 15" instead of 16", so more trimming is needed.

Hmmmm, room to spare...hmmmmmm.

Please tell me you didn't shim out the rear inner and outer with aluminum spacers like you mentioned.

Looks good. David said, "trimming isn't as bad as I thought." Yeah when you have someone else do it.

Chad

[JohnBoulderCO]

No I didn't do that, it was just an idea.

Funny you said that about trimming. Trimming the front fendors, not so bad. Trimming all the stuff under the front, a little longer. Trimming the front bumper, even longer...rear, longer still....seemed to go on forever...lots of disks, big mess....I wore eye, ear and lung protection (carbon dust)....glad it's done.

[chadjans]

Many don't realize how long it takes to do it correctly. The first cut is always the worst. You going to rivit together the inner and outer in the rear?

Chad

[JohnBoulderCO]

I'm leaning that way. Then cover the remaining rear fender lip with Rino paint or use textured tape, so you can't see the rivets....a little black stripe that blends into the rear bumper.

[Matt]

Here's a little better shot of the timming. Yeah no touching the sheel metal.

You started me thinking! The new shoes looked/performed great.

[LSRGreg]

reviving this sucker from the dead!!

so did you have to remove the washer reservior system? If so, did you remount it, and where?

What about the charcoal canister in the rear? same deal??

Did you just fold over the pinch seams, or did you have to push them in with a hammer to clear them?

What back spacing are your wheels??

I just picked up a WJ 3 days ago and clayton's with 35's are in the works.. thanks for ur time!
G-

[adam99wj]

i did about the same chop as john, and i didnt remove the washer bottle but it would be reccomended as its in a very vulnerable place.

i didnt even see a charcoal canister when i chopped the rear??

i bashed the pinch seams with a BFH untill flat

i was running a 15x8" steel wheels with 4"s of BS with 35x12.50x15 truxs MTs

[LSRGreg]

right on.. thanks for the help. the charcoal canister is hiding behind the rear bumper on the drivers side.. but if you aren't familiar with it, then it is probably fine where its at.

g-

[chadjans]

right on.. thanks for the help. the charcoal canister is hiding behind the rear bumper on the drivers side.. but if you aren't familiar with it, then it is probably fine where its at.

g-

The charcoal crap was moved to the rear in later years.

[LSRGreg]

so what is the ideal wheel size and backspace to run with Claytons 6" kit, and 35's?? I will be doing the same amount of trimming you guys are doing.

I want to run 17" real beadlocks, and my favorites are the Allied "Monster" but they only come in a 17 X 9.5 with 4" backspace.. and i am afraid those will be too wide. What do you guys think?? Thanks for putting up with my noob questions.

G-

[The Dude]

Be careful with that, I've launched cutoff wheels at peoples heads before.

I wish i was that lucky...they always seem to come back and ding me in the leg or gut...

[JohnBoulderCO]

I can't add much more then what was said above, but this is what I did:
- I replaced the WJ washer bottle with a ZJ bottle, the washer pumps and low fluid level sensor transfer right over. There are write ups on this site if you search.
- No rear charcoal canister on 2000
- I'm running 15x8 steel wheels with 3.75" BS and clear the new WJ brakes.
- 17"x9.5" with of 4"BS will make you 1.5" wider per side then me (and past Adam build) with your tires outside the fenders, but I'm already outside with my wheels. I think the extra width will be fine. If you hit your fender edges (under compression) just increase your bump stops a tad.
-Use plastic edge trim for metal landscaping from HomeDepot for the fenders, to make it cleaner.
-If I did the rear again I would have made cuts between the spot welds and used a BHF and a cresent wrench to fold the seem flat instead of cutting. I attached the two rear pieces back together after cutting, which was more work then cutting them. Leaving the spot welds would have saved a step.

[LSRGreg]

john,
thanks for the insight. i already picked up a ZJ washer bottle..

I am more worried about hitting the lower rear corners on the front end because there is only so much room to trim. I know i can move the axle forward a little bit to help, i just don't want these suckers to stick out super far.

Are you running the stock width axle up front? 65" to WMS i am thinking?

do you have any other pics of your ride besides whats on this thread (like a photobucket account or something)? i'd like to get an idea of how much your tires stick out, so i can try and visualize where an extra 1.5" will put me.. i have a feeling it will be too much...

[chadjans]

john,
thanks for the insight. i already picked up a ZJ washer bottle..

I am more worried about hitting the lower rear corners on the front end because there is only so much room to trim.

Bring it over to my house. I'll trim it.

[LSRGreg]

thanks for the offer.. i might just do that when i am ready!
g-

John.. i think i found some pics of yours... let me know if this is yours, and if you are using the stock width axles...