kcdt58

Installed the roof rack this morning. Fit great but was a pain to mount using the gutter mounts. I'll reinforce it in the spring and make some small changes to it.

cico7

Were you able to trim up the bumper?

kcdt58

No, I will do it in the spring when I repaint it. I just used plastidip on it for a quick paint job.

Houston Kid

Nice build. What size is the roof basket and what gutter mounts did you use?

kcdt58

The roof rack measures 48x60. I bought it used for dirt cheap and the gutter mounts came with it, so I don't know much about them.

Houston Kid

Thanks. I will keep looking. Now I know what size I need anyway.

kcdt58

Sounds really simple, but I finally got around to installing new lift gate shocks and am really wishing I would have gotten to it sooner. No more holding it up with my head when trying to get groceries out of the back!

kcdt58

Came across a HP D30 and 8.25 with Yukon 4.10 gears for $200. Guy says they're in great shape. I'm not expecting much, but for $200 I'll take my chances. Picking them up this week hopefully.

kcdt58

Well I spoke too fast...I had the guy crack the 8.25 open before I made the hour drive and one of the pinion teeth was broken so I would guess he didn't set these up right...I might still go look at the D30 since I want the HP and go from there. It's a safe bet it wasn't setup correctly either.

If nothing else I can get the set for $100 probably and still be able to drive my XJ while I re-gear.

kcdt58

Next thing I want to address is my horrible shackle angle which is about 90 degrees after the 4.5" leafs. I've been doing research and can't decide between installing some shackle relocation brackets or just a slightly longer shackle. Any thoughts from anybody?

I'll have to compensate by adding a coil spacer up front for the time being as well. SYE will be done at the same time - planning on doing it in the next couple of months as the weather warms up.

drhoward1988

Go with brackets. Longer shackles won't help your angles nearly like the brackets will.

kcdt58

That's what i was thinking. I'm really liking the Liquid Iron brackets. Simple, strong and bolt on.

Plummer

Diggin the white! My next one will definitely be a whitey! Rad build so far man

kcdt58

Decided the route I'm going with shackles & relocation brackets. Going with the LII brackets shown above and a set of RE 5" shackles. The RE shackles look very robust and are greaseable. I want to limit the amount of lift as much as possible while greatly improving the flex and ride quality. Based on how much height I gain in the rear, I'll install spacers up front to try and level it out. Might even throw on some RE 5.5" coils instead, just depends on how much height I need.

At the same I do the rear I will throw on an Advance Adapters SYE and a front driveshaft that I'll rebuild. Pretty excited to get this started!

kcdt58

Build has been pretty stagnant as of late, been too cold for me to really do much to the Jeep. The radiator sprung a leak over the weekend so I replaced that last night but in the process twisted the upper transmission line that mounts to the radiator and it leaks, so I ordered another one last night. Should be here this week and I can get it back on the road. I need to order another electric fan as well since the one I currently have has both tabs busted off and I have it held on with screws and zip-ties...