any idea what type of links you are gonna use up front?
you gonna use a track bar?

 

I already added a track bar before this project so that is taken care of. Im using 7/8ths heims and bushings on the lower arms with 2"x1/4" wall dom links, and 3/4" heims on the one upper arm with 1.5"x1/4" wall dom tubing.

So its a 3 link with panhard

 

so i have gotten a little more work done. got the lower links and link mounts tack welded in place. i noticed i am going to have to lengthen my trac bar a bit so i ordered material for that. i also started putting the engine bay back together. made a new mount for by fuse box and mounted the ARB compressor on the passenger side.

lower arms



engine compartment being put back together


i still have to mount my PSC steering reservoir and my coolant overflow bottle. i will be mounting the battery behind the front seats. i ordered a few more pieces from RuffStuffSpecialties to finish off the suspension. my coilovers are being shipped so i should hopefuly see them in the next week or two

 

i have been out of town for about 5 days attending my little brothers US Marine Corps boot camp graduation so i havent been able to post much. i did however recieve my coilovers in the mail and got them mounted. and got the jeep sitting on its own once more

nearly new Rock Equipment 14" 2.0 Coilovers


mounted through the inner fender. still have a little more trimming of the fenders to do



sitting on the coilovers




the rest of my parts should be arriving in two days. which includes material for my upper link, new longer trac bar, upper link mount, and new trac bar mount. once i have all that i am home free and just need to start finishing up the welds and paint it all

 

what is the angle you have on those coil-overs? they look pretty vertical, by this i mean are you sure they wont go past vertical during flexing causing them to rock back and forth like a piston rod does?

 

They are pretty vertical but with the lower links as long as they are i dont think i will have an issue. They should stay pretty close to the same angle throughout my entire range of articulation. Even if they are off a little bit im not too concerned about it

 

Looking good, can't wait to start building my front end

 

my link and trac bar material came the other day so i got a little more done. i tacked the upper link together and got the upper mount tacked on the axle side. i also extended my trac bar and tacked it all in place.

upper link and track bar mount tacked in place


sitting under its own power. i think i am going to adjust the coilovers so that the jeep sits a little higher in the front.


maxed out my short hi lift and still had a ways to go on the coilover. thats a 35" tire also


during my mini flex test everything cleared. my upper link barely clears my exhaust and frame, the trac bar clears the oil pan, the trac bar mount and upper axle mount also clear eachother.

next step is to pull it all apart again to finish all my welds and put a coat of paint on it. she is in the home stretch!

 

it looks better that you extended that trac bar, i was looking at it last week and it just didnt look right.

 

Ya i had that other trac bar on when i had the leafs and knew i needed to extend it. So its now as far over as i could mount it which will make it track better

 

I was gonna do this on one of my xj's but then like a dumb *** I sold off all the stuff to do it. Now I got an extra xj thats a perfect donor for this. So I'm getting a k5 blazer with everything good on it except the body and I'm gonna switch everything over to the xj. I like the v8 mounts that Novak sells, so I'm gonna go for it. I got to many xj's sitting around so the wife said They gotta function or they go.!! The donor xj is an 88. Its the red one in my pics. It came with 5 speed ( which is in peices ) so this is the cheapest route for me. lol

 

i pulled everything apart so that i could finish up the final welds on everything and start painting everything.

(left to right) 2 lower links, 1 upper link, trac bar all painted and ready for final install


so my final setup goes like this;
-36" lower links, 7/8ths ruff stuff heims on frame end, bushings on axle end, 2"x1/4" DOM link material
-40" upper link, 7/8ths ruff stuff heims on both ends, 1.5"x1/4" DOM link material
-7" vertical seperation at axle
-4.5" vertical seperation at frame
-overall wheelbase is now 111"

close to being done! the remaining list is as follows;
-mount PSC PS reservoir
-mount coolant reservoir bottle
-mount battery behind front seats, run wiresto engine bay
-build motor crossover to tie both shock hoops together
-finish painting mounts
-reassemble suspension

 

Crossed two things off my list. I finished painting eerything and last night got the crossmember, upper and lower links, and trac bar mounted up for final installation.

Whats left:
-mount coolant bottle
-mount PS resevoir
-mount battery
-build motor crossover bar
-mount coilovers

 

got some stuff done today. getting so close i can taste it!

got all my new bolts installed and reinstalled all the new paint suspension for final install



you can see the tcase skid in place also


doesnt look too bad from the side angle


i also got my PS resevoir mounted back in the engine bay. my tube for the cross bar over the motor comes tomorow along with my ruff stuff specialties battery tray which should just about finish up everything.

and the list gets shorter...
-mount coolant bottle
-mount battery
-build crossover bar

 

lookin at the lower arm mounts on the crossmember, are you gonna box them up? dont take the plate all the way down but look at the rough country long arm as they have a similar bracket, give the brace a good notch and weld it on there. the flex and sway of the axle puts alot of strain on those points, especially cause there are the only thing keeping the axle from running away. otherwise looks great. love the skid plate.