So i finally decided to start a build thread after having my jeep for a couple months. im building this to be a pre-runner for my brother and I's King of the Hammers jeep we are trying to race in a couple years.

the day i got it


Im building an 89 cherokee. the first thing i did was strip the interior for the cage




Then i picked up the T&J rockcrawler cage kit and before i intalled the cage i decided to paint the interior black


then i took my jeep to my buddys house to weld up the cage


got all of the roof tubes welded on the cage and started mounting 2 twisted stitch seats


then i finshed the cage and took the jeep out to truck haven and caught my bumper on a rock


so me and my brother went half on a pro tools tube bender



then we bought a welder and i started to build a new rear bumper. i decided to tie the bumper into the cage




i didnt like the first design and decided to add to it
first


second


for my build im going to be running a HP44 up front and a ford 9" in the rear. i picked up a HP44 for 350


then i went and picked up some tube with my brother. i got about 150 feet of 1 3/4 .120 wall for the rest of my cage im also gonna be starting my 4 link up front soon so i also pick up some 2" .250 wall tube for the lowers and another 20 feet of 1 3/4 120 wall for the uppers


i also got some heims. I got all 4 for 100 bucks


well when i first got this jeep the plan was to do a simple build and i decided to get the T&J cage but because im building it to be a pre-runner for KOH im going to be building a bumper to bumper cage. the T&J cage goes around the stock dash and for me to be able to ie my cage into my engine cage i need to cut and sleeve my A pillar about half way up. so today i decided to take ot the front windshield so i can start cutting up the A pillar and start removing the dash


me and my brother had a little trouble getting the glass out but we eventually got all of it out


I started by cutting out my A pillar.




then i started to take the dash apart. i didn't realize how long it would take to take the dash apart


i finally got the dash out today. i still need to take the heater out



then me and my bother started to strip the wiring harness. im trying to get rid of all the unnecessary wires and hopefully it will look alot cleaner when we get done. also this is our first time wiring anything besides offroad lights so we will see how it turns out


i also decided to pull the ford 9" from the back yard and start working on it.

 

i got most of the wiring done


i also pulled the heater


today me and my brother wen to ventura and picked up some parts
i bought some deaver leafprings for 500 dollars



we also picked up a couple parker pumpers for the race "car"...we bought them for 200 bucks with 8' hoses


i got my spring perches from ruffstuff today


today me and my brother went to the miller offroad poduct offroad swapmeet and i picked up some jks manufacturing boomerang shackles for 50 bucks and a front diveshaft out of a TJ for 5 bucks


got some parts today.
HD offroad engineering frame stiffners


ruffstuff's spring plates, shock tabs and U bolts



tomorrow im gonna start tearing the jeep apart so i can put the deavers and the 9" under it

first thing i did was remove the axle/suspension



the stock shackle next to the JKS shackle


then i put the JKS shackle in and made sure it would clear when the suspension cycled...........it didnt the first thing to hit was the bolt for the bumper. after i cut the bolt it started to hit the body. im not gonna start cutting that unti i can cyle the suspension


the cut bolt


then i bolted up the leafsprings


i cut the spring perches and shock mounts off the ford 9" and started to clean up the axle to get it ready to go in



i got a PORC slip yoke eliminator


started to pull the transfer case apart


broke a couple harbor freight wrenches while removing the front diveshaft


i picked up a spool for the ford 9"


also picked up some 35x12.50x15 bfgoodrich baja TA's :drool:

 

I got the ford 9" under the jeep




I still need to take the leafs apart and cycle the rear suspension and set up the bumpstops but I should be able to get about 7-8" of uptravel

I decided to put the frame stiffners on today since I had it off jackstands.
I used torch and putty knife to scrape off most of the under coating and then used a 24 grit sand paper flap wheel


Then tacked the stiffners on


I got most of the welding done but had to stop early because the wind was blowing the sheilding gas away

PARTS!!!

I got everything I need to start my 3 link except I forgot to order the coil spring bucket

 

Coming along good cant wait to see it done

 

got some parts today, some autometer procomp guages (tach, speedo, volts, water, fuel, oil, and trans temp) and a lowrance 3500c GPS with external antenna and some race maps loaded onto it

 

Looking real good man! Keep the hard work up

 

Wow you have one hell of a build going on good luck cant wait to see the finished product.

 

got the rest of my parts so i can start my 3 link.



polyperformance 6" progressive rate coils



bought a plasma cutter



i cut the radius arm mounts off the dana 44




ride height



removed the dana 30

 

thanks guys.

i got a little bit done today, started by getting a scrap piece of 1 1/2" tube and cutting it to 2 5/8" to use as a spacer to help keep the brackets from warping.



artec's upper link bracket for the axle end.




ruffstuff's upper link bracket for the frame end.

 

nicee

 

got my 7/8" heim steering kit from ruffstuff today.




took some measurements and drew up my passenger side frame stiffner on some cardboard.



traced it on some 10 guage and cut it out.

 

drilled holes in the frame stiffners



cleaned up the frame



tacked in place



i started mocking up my front 3 link and ran into a little problem, im shooting for about 6" to 7" of up travel up front but at about 4.5" of up travel my upper link mount starts running out of room. so it looks like im going to be building a shorter link bracket so i can get the up travel i want



i got my steering box brace from JKS



and a drop pitman arm from polyperformance



i got the danna 44 set up under the jeep



i ended up having to build my own upper link bracket



my upper link mount is gonna end up going through the floor so i cut a hole



im gonna plate around the hole so i had a plate cnc plasma cut out of 12 gauge



while i was waiting for some parts i decided i would start finishing up the cage work. i ended up having to cut out more of my cage than originally planned




i got my A pillars tacked in place




and just a picture of me welding link brackets

 

a little progress on the new cage work

 

finally started making some more progress on this thing

cage to cab plating


new cage work



1" tube gussets




started adding tubes for the dash

 

This thing is going to be BAD ***!