Flavor of the week

Myke J · **Posted:** Tue Jan 26, 2016 1:54 pm

upsguy wrote:

Cool...I'm still trying to decide if I wanna do a stretch on mine and that makes the idea better cause the cost of the genright tank has been detouring me.

I have the money for a GenRight tank right now, but I think that cash would be better spent on a set of 17" beadlocks. I'd rather have a home-brewed stretch tank that no one will ever see and a good set of wheels that the mall crawlers will drool over

Paul · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2016 8:41 am

The stretch (and axle width) on my Jeep completely changed it for the better. Way different rig, super stable everywhere. But I also went to 108. I say stretch it as far as you can, the 5 inches from the Genright tank will be noticeable.

Myke J · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2016 10:21 am

Paul wrote:

The stretch (and axle width) on my Jeep completely changed it for the better. Way different rig, super stable everywhere. But I also went to 108. I say stretch it as far as you can, the 5 inches from the Genright tank will be noticeable.

Maybe in the future, I've kind of changed my goals for this rig. I want to build a simple wheeling rig that I can hop in drive to work when I want to. I may do more to it in the future, but for now it will be at ~98" wheelbase with the Waggy springs. I'll have to link the front when I finish the Spidertrax housing, but I don't think I'll do much else other than a V8 swap at some point. Stout drivetrain, simple suspension, easy to find replacement parts, 35-37's. The only parts that won't be "off the shelf" will be the front inner axles.

Myke J · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2016 6:35 am

Got out to the garage for about an hour yesterday and got the rear passenger side brake mounted, but forgot to take any pictures of that. I will be running 17" wheels on this, but I had some 15" wheels laying there and wondered if they would clear the brakes. Turns out that they just barely clear, although if I was actually going to run them, they'd need a little clearancing on the calipers. After discovering that 15's would fit, I realized that I could get the rear of the Jeep off jack stands for the first time in 14 months, so I hurried up and dug my rollers out of the snow and threw them on the rear.

This is ride height with the Waggy springs, although they haven't settled at all yet. The frame under the center body mount is at 21" and the top of windshield frame is at 73.5". I looked back at The Homewrecker build and that was 22.375" to the frame at the same point. It's apples and oranges comparing a spring under YJ on 35's to a linked TJ on 40's and coilovers, but I'm pretty happy with the ride height of this rig so far. I'm still going to add a 1" body and motor mount lift, but that's to get a flat belly skid under there.

After that I decided that I might as well toss the fronts on as well and pull out all the jack stands. The 4" lift springs are still on the front and it's sitting about 1" higher, but no more hover Jeep :rock:

Still have a long list of things to do, but getting it off the stands was a huge motivator. Watching KOH all week should help with that too :mrgreen:

dr drae · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2016 8:48 am

JB · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2016 9:08 am

Awesome Dude! Looks good.

Myke J · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2016 9:32 am

The rearend looks hella wide in those pics because it's off center about 2" to the passenger side. I haven't installed the SYE on my NP231 yet, so I haven't set the pinion angle and welded on the perches. With 35x12.50x15 on a 10" wide wheel with 3.5" backspacing, it's about 80" in the rear and 78" in the front. I can live with the rear being a little wider than the front until I finish building the front 9" and get that in. They will be even then.

Ricky Booby · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2016 10:38 am

Myke J · **Posted:** Sun Feb 07, 2016 5:07 pm

Got a little bit done before the Super Bowl today. After converting to disc brakes, I needed longer wheel studs, I ordered some ARP 3.5" studs from Summit Racing. I pulled the rearend out, pulled the shafts, pressed out the old studs, then pressed in the new ones.

Sent my wife a text about the new studs :eek2:

Old vs new

Got the new studs installed and shafts back in the housing, then finished mounting the driver's side brakes.

The rear housing is pretty much complete now. Just have to set it back under the Jeep and set the pinion angle, then burn in the perches.

JB · **Posted:** Sun Feb 07, 2016 8:04 pm

Nice. Way more productive than I was today.

Myke J · **Posted:** Sun Mar 06, 2016 6:59 pm

Still plugging away at this when time permits. We've had some awesome weather lately, so it's been nice to have all the garage doors open and not be freezing.

Maxx @ Northridge hooked me up with a smokin' deal on some Allied steel beadlocks. I was considering Trail Ready's or something like that, but I felt like the steel wheels fit with the simple and strong direction of this build. 17x9.5 in 5x5.5 with 3.5" BS.

I got the Waggy springs on all four corners and as expected, the steering wasn't happy about the ~3" reduction in ride height.

Picked up a stock CJ pitman arm, which is totally flat, and that fixed the clearance issues. I also have a MORE steering box relocation bracket that I need to install and that will clear up any draglink vs tierod issues.

Here's the next issue with the steering. I have the Teraflex highsteer knuckle and with being SUA, I can't run the tierod under the knuckle because it will hit the springs. I can't run the draglink under the highsteer arm because the TRE's hit. I think I'm going to switch out my tierod and build a new one with 7/8 heims. That should allow me to flip it under the knuckle and move down the draglink as well. I may still need a little frame notch to clear the steering at full bump, but that's not a big deal.

I wanted an easier way to fill my rear 9" and be able to inspect the gears without pulling the 3rd member out, so I ordered a fill plug kit from Spidertrax. They're a local company for me here in Colorado, so I had it 36 hours after ordering.

I found a good spot for it, cut a 1.5" hole, welded the bung in, then painted the housing.

Yesterday I started to cut the front shock mounts off the frame and broke my last sawzall blade :mad

but I was able to finish it off with a cutoff wheel. I'll finish the cutting them off and cleaning up the frame later this week.

Mocked up the shocks to measure for towers, probably going to order a set of RuffStuff 12" towers. Yes, I am going to relocate those brake lines.

Today I installed my Brown Dog 1" lifted motor mounts and a JKS 1.25" body lift.

I don't think the body mount bolts had ever been out before :help:

And this is the main reason for the motor mount and body lift. Very close to having a flat belly on this turd.

JB · **Posted:** Sun Mar 06, 2016 8:17 pm

Looking good! Yes, flip your draglink.

ryan2l · **Posted:** Sun Mar 06, 2016 9:33 pm

Seems like a LED tie rod and drag link would solve all your issues. But maybe they are only out for JK's right now.

dr drae · **Posted:** Sun Mar 06, 2016 10:47 pm

Nice work dude, you're kicking ass! :rock:

Nice bird bomb! :roflmao:

Myke J · **Posted:** Mon Mar 07, 2016 6:29 am

ryan2l wrote:

Seems like a LED tie rod and drag link would solve all your issues. But maybe they are only out for JK's right now.

I could probably make one work!

Ryno · **Posted:** Mon Mar 07, 2016 10:23 am

Lookin good, mang! :thumbsup:

Wang90XJ · **Posted:** Tue Apr 05, 2016 12:27 pm

OP = "Wed Jan 23, 2013 3:34 pm"

:stirpot

Myke J · **Posted:** Tue Apr 05, 2016 12:28 pm

Wang90XJ wrote:

OP = "Wed Jan 23, 2013 3:34 pm"

:stirpot

On a related note, I have way more hair now than in that pic :eek2:

Myke J · **Posted:** Tue Apr 05, 2016 2:28 pm

Just to appease the Wang, here's a minor update. I haven't gotten much done since my last update.

I ordered some RuffStuff Specialties front shock towers and got one of them mounted.

I ordered some Dave's Custom Unlimited rear shock towers and got none of them mounted. Had them shipped to the brewery and saved $2.43 on shipping :spend

My wife is the Technology Librarian in Louisville, CO and runs their Maker's Space. She recently got a 3D printer for them and I've been putting her to work making me stuff. This is about a 2/3 scale test of the shift knob design, so hopefully it comes out a little cleaner on the full-scale one. I have a model for a matching t-case knob too.

Baller · **Posted:** Tue Apr 05, 2016 5:13 pm

Myke J wrote:

This is about a 2/3 scale test of the shift knob design, so hopefully it comes out a little cleaner on the full-scale one.

Don't get your hopes too high. Otherwise, nice work on your rig.

Baller

Myke J · **Posted:** Sun May 22, 2016 4:26 pm

As usual the brewery is busy and I don't have much free time, but I've continued slowly knocking stuff out and collecting parts. I've had the MORE steering box relocation bracket sitting on my shelf for a few months and finally installed it. I had to lengthen my steering shaft about 1.5", but it went together pretty easily. In hindsight, I should've just built my own bracket and saved money while getting the box in a better position.

The only issue with the MORE bracket was that the nut for the upper shackle bolt was hitting. I was thinking that it was due to my shackle hanger not being factory and that I was going to have to cut them off and reposition them. Then Maxx suggested that I just flip the bolt around, after all, when was the last you had to remove that bolt on the trail?
Problem

Solved

Picked up a used set of 37" Nitto Trail Grapplers from a guy who had just blown his engine and needed money. Then I had the love/hate task of mounting beadlocks, luckily one of my buddies that works for a craft beer distributor brought me some of the first cans of Arrogant Bastard to hit Colorado :cheers:

I did an assload of yard work yesterday and reclaimed a good portion of our yard, which earned me enough points to spend all day in the garage today. I got to work by pulling out my t-case to install the Teraflex Mega Short SYE. I discovered that the previous owner had installed the 6th stud eliminator kit on it already :roll:

Everything went together smooth and easy. Here's what I thought was the finished product...

Until I got it all bolted back up and found this laying on the ground. There wasn't supposed to be spare parts :bang:

A quick PM with John, complete with ridicule and shaming, and I figured out where it goes and when it fell out. Instead of dropping the t-case again, I just pulled the back cover off the case. This goes in-between here.

Mucho bettero :smt028

Box full of parts that were supposed to be leftover. I also have a 40 tooth speedo gear, if anyone needs it let me know :thumbsup:

I also recently picked up a set of NIB 12" Fox smooth body emulsion shocks for $100 and two cases of IPA. Those will be going on the rear soon now that I have the SYE done and can finalize my pinion angle. I have a set of rear shock towers from Dave's Custom Unlimited to french into the frame for outboarded shocks. I have a Genright crossmember kit for my trans mount and ordered a Barnes flat skid, Novak t-case shifter, and will be ordering my rear driveshaft this week, so the drivetrain will done soon. Not a lot left to after that, so the end is near :rock:

Avanteone · **Posted:** Sun May 22, 2016 5:19 pm

Appears you have an XJ front yoke on your YJ driveshaft.

Myke J · **Posted:** Sat May 28, 2016 6:38 pm

I got shafted by Maxx @ Northridge :eek1:

Adam's Driveshaft makes some quality shafts really quickly. I put in my order with Maxx on Tuesday, it shipped Wednesday, and I had it Friday.

My Novak shifter kit came in too. Hoping to get that put in tomorrow.

I finally dialed in my pinion angle, then pulled the rear axle (hopefully for the last time), and burned on the perches. I was planning on putting the axle back in, but I forgot that I was out of paint. :bang:

Myke J · **Posted:** Sat Jun 04, 2016 5:46 am

I haven't gotten anything done since my last update, but I have a good excuse. SHINY NEW TANKS AT THE BREWERY!!!

I did receive a package yesterday from FullStack Motorsports though, Fox 1.5" shock spacers. These little guys are kind of hard to find and way too expensive for what they are, but Paul was able to source and ship them to me for cheaper than anyone else :rock:

Arisythila · **Posted:** Sat Jun 04, 2016 8:12 am

Turning out well!

Yeah, Maxx rocks!

Baller · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2016 10:06 am

Myke J wrote:

I haven't gotten anything done since my last update, but I have a good excuse. SHINY NEW TANKS AT THE BREWERY!!!

Make more barley pop. :cheers:

Baller

comanchekid · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2016 10:53 am

If possible I'd return that Novak shifter and get their Cable shifter kit its 100% better. And easier to install and adjust..

Myke J · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2016 11:40 am

comanchekid wrote:

If possible I'd return that Novak shifter and get their Cable shifter kit its 100% better. And easier to install and adjust..

If you'd read their website, than you know that the cable shifter doesn't work on YJ's....

comanchekid · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2016 11:42 am

Myke J wrote:

comanchekid wrote:

If possible I'd return that Novak shifter and get their Cable shifter kit its 100% better. And easier to install and adjust..

If you'd read their website, than you know that the cable shifter doesn't work on YJ's....

Whoops forgot its a YJ...

Myke J · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2016 11:42 am

comanchekid wrote:

Myke J wrote:

comanchekid wrote:

If possible I'd return that Novak shifter and get their Cable shifter kit its 100% better. And easier to install and adjust..

If you'd read their website, than you know that the cable shifter doesn't work on YJ's....

Whoops forgot its a YJ...

www.PNWJeep.com

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