Thekid320

Hey guys just got done working on the jeep today and I was thinking to myself that since I never posted a build thread I should probably post what I have done at least just incase someone needs some ideas or help with something I have already done! Bare with me I have been working on this for over a year and there is a lot to post so it will be a little at a time

Here is how the jeep started:








It had a 4.5 RE long arm kit on the front with RK leafs on the rear with 32" procomp mud retains on rock crawler wheels and that's pretty much it

Decided to start a summer project and replace the floor and it went form this:




To this:








Then I figured I would do it the right way so I went and bought a sheet of 3/16" plate and figured I would make some frame stiffeners:












I plated the frame from the rear bumper all the way to the re crossmember on the outside bottom and inside I attached it using the circles burned out of them

xj wheeler

Nice plating! Can't wait to see more.

Thekid320

After that I decided to cut the rockers out because the pinch seam I between the rocker and the inside floor was rotted out so I did some research and didn't want to spend the money on a kit so I made em!

Cut the rocker out right below the door:



Spot welded a piece of 1" x 1" x 1/8" angle iron on the bottom of where I cut it seats almost perfect on the inside of the door channel:








Here is a shot from the bottom:




Then I grabbed a 12' piece of 6" x 2" x 3/16" box tubing and cot to fit each side and mitered the ends of each piece on a 45 and capped with a piece of 1/4" plate:
















While installing the rockers I had a lot of rust in the outside corners of each foot well so I decided to rebuild them while I was at it and did so using some 3/16" and 1/8" plate and some heat and persuasion:








When I welded the rockers in I just welded them to the 1/8 angle under the sheet metal and the welded that weld to the sheet metal that way it is spot welded and seem welded and beefed up all at the same time and here is how they turned out:

Thekid320

After the rockers were in it was time to start on the floor I decided when I made the frame stiffeners to extend the back deck a little farther forward and get rid of the backseat:




Also decided to recess the fuel tank inside a bit:






So after the back deck was done I put bracing in frome side to side and started working on the rest of the tranny tunnel:








And then last was the floor pans going down:



And the finished floor:

Thekid320

I also built a set of axles for this project they are out of a 79 f-150 supercab and they are a hd 44 from and a 9" rear the nine inch is done and it has a strange third member with a Detroit locker and 5.13 gears and has 35 spline moser shafts and every nut and bolt is new!
Started:




Finished:







The front is still stock but there is a lot to come on that! The only thing I did do was put a TNT truss on it and mounted some custom sway bar mounts:




For The front suspension I reused the re control arms and jks quick discos and bought some 5.5" teraflex springs and a set of acos spring buckets:




And supporting the rear is a custom leaf setup using 63" leaf springs some friends of mine at HFO fab burned out for me:



Attachment 154370

JakeWI

looks pretty good so far. you arent going to be running 5.13's are you?

Thekid320

Yep I'm going with 38s and I'm not going with a 4:1 low range

ptofoc

Looking good so far, can't wait to see that interior done!

Thekid320

Thank i will try to post up more tomorrow

Thekid320

So the next thing I did was make all my new steering components and my new track bar for this I used all 1.5" x .250 wall DOM and ruff stuff inserts and 3/4" heims I'm running a crossover set up with a Reid knuckle on the passenger side because I never realized that when I bought the axles the. Guy I bought them from had a 250 knuckle on that side and none of the 1/2 ton brake parts would work with it so I had to go with the Reid for the high steer arm, also when I did my setup I threaded all the points the bolts go through like the high steer arm and the knuckle itself is all drilled and tapped to accept a 3/4" bolt they don't just slide through, they actually thread through and then get backed with a nut. that way the sheer strength is higher and they can't work themselves lose or pull out.








Also made some drop brackets for my sway bar mounts because I thing I snapped every bolt off trying to get it off so instead of drilling them out I just made it so the nuts are accessible and I added some gussets to the knuckles just to be safe




Still have to do the hydro assist on the front so that's to come

Thekid320

The last thing I did was make some fenders because here in the great state of pa you have to have your tires covered up and I couldn't find anything to cover up the full widths so I just made some out of 1.5" x .120 hrew:






After bending the tubes and welding the to the rockers in the front and the frame in the rear we wrapped them with 16 ga. Plate and pushed it all the way through to get the tubbed look:









After everything was closed up she got a fresh coat of Berliner to keep the rust off and here is how she looks now:






And for now that's how she looks sure I'm forgetting stuff and I will start updating as I go now I got a good bit more to do so if you have any questions let me know and I will try to dig up more or better pictures

N20jeep

i like it!

i wish i would have just tore everything out and rebuilt my floor and fenders like you did, instead of the way i did.

Thekid320

Just started on the front fenders hoping the get them all welded in today

Thekid320

Got the fenders all mounted and welded up:






Also adds some tabs to attach my sway bar links to when disconnected:




Still have to add a support to the middle of the tube fenders

Thekid320

No love for the build thread!! Hahahaha