s14unimog

I know this subject has been discussed to death, so I am not looking to do much more than share my thoughts and approach. I'm sure others have done it this way in some form or another, so this is not ground breaking stuff. Either the case, who doesn't like some pictures and a little more info to build on this modification.

Basically, this is as high as you should cut if you're looking for that OEM PLUS look. What I did was drill an array of 3/16" holes, every 1-1.5" along the perimeter edge of where I intended to cut. I chose this area b/c it's where the inner fender starts to roll away from the outer body. This leaves you a lap edge for the two panels of approximately 1/8" to 3/16". I then prepped for welding and plug welded each hole. After all were filled and then cleaned up with a flap wheel, I cut along a line I drew in just tangent to each 3/16" hole with a 4" cutoff wheel. This is where I ended up.....

For reference, my truck is at 4.5-5" on 33x10.5's







For the interim, I've just sprayed some anti-rust solution on the area until I get a warm window to shoot some paint. I'll update later with those, along with a full body shot (gigitty )

HS00XJ

good job what is that on your leaf spring? something to keep the shackle from inverting?

s14unimog

It's a RoadMaster Active kit. It's an adjustable helper spring. Helps my truck sit level with a trailer or a lot of gear in the back. I did a thread on it a while back.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/ro...kit-xj-191727/

HS00XJ

cool I just installed no lift shackle brackets and rc 1.5 shackles and my leafs are sitting flatter now.i still got to adjust the shackle to stop the rubbing.

Teephphah

Same thing dang near killed my springs. I'm nervous just driving on it now they're so freakin' flat. Need to get new leaves and ditch the extended shackle, I think. But it's seriously crazy how flat they've suddenly gone.

s14unimog

I hear ya, same sorta thing here.. I chose to retain the pack though and add this extension spring. In my eyes, the combination of the two is a pretty ideal setup. The leafs are still soft enough to flex/travel but yet I can control their stiffness by adjusting the preloading on the helperspring. The reality is that the performance you can get from a coil spring is much better than additional leafs and it avoids me running an obnoxiously stiff leaf pack for those few time I'm towing a boat/car or have the back end loaded down with gear.

Not to mention, it acts quite well in jump and has improved the overall handling on the road.

Teephphah

Really?! That sounds like something I might be really (really, really) interested in! Can I ask where you picked them up?

s14unimog

Yeah man, Roadmaster. I linked a thread up above I did back when I installed them. Check it out.

t_long

Looks good, man. What exactly did you do for the welding? I'm trying to reweld mine now and having some troubles. Mig / tig? Wire size? Amperage? Argon?

s14unimog

Thanks!

Mig unit, 0.03 wire, around 50amps, 75/25 gas. The problem is that there is some seam sealer leaching in to your weld from the inside.

...and the picture from a far. Man I love it when you can go bump to bump without rubbing no matter what you try.

t_long

Thanks for the info. I got it figured out this weekend. Took some finesse but I was running .035 wire self shielded mig and kept blowing through the base metal (obviously wire is too thick but it's all I had). I reeeeally need to invest in a bottle of gas and thinner wire.

Anyway, nice rig! Very clean.

s14unimog

Ya man, that flux is just garbage. You'll never look back once you're on gas.

Thanks again