If I take the trackbar loose and also the LCAs will the axle seek its correct position?

 

You can find LCA's and track bars for your lift height that will even everything out, and when you get the proper LCA's to get your axle pushed forward to where it should be, it will level out more since currently the springs are angled back at the bottom. Also if you disconnect all your links it may find it's natural spot our will bevery easy to persuade to that point but be care full and **** the front and back wheels or you could risk dumping the body off the front axle since the springs are not a solid point for stability on their own and may fall forward, back etc. great build can't wait till my boys are a little older to get them in the garage with me!

 

Chock* damn phone auto correct, as well as other mishaps in there, sorry haha.

 

No. It's not going to magically go back. From what I've seen you have to hammer the axle around a bit before it will go back to center.


Watch this to see what I mean.

 

Shims under the springs? Not sure what you mean. The coil springs? You shouldn't need to once you get the track bar and coil spring situation fixed. Like I said, I'd go with an adjustable track bar. IRO makes one. Fairly sure there are adjustable LCAs too. But if you think you can do it and do it right then go for it..

Edit: OH, leaf springs. Duhhh. Nevermind.

http://www.rustysoffroad.com/rustys-...r-arms-tj.html

http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merch..._Code=IR-STBCK

Will recommended something other than IRO's offering to me... may have been Rusty's. His name on here is 94XjSport94 so if you wanna ask him what he thinks...

As for the making them... you can make whatever you want but (personally) if I were building a Jeep for my teenage son I'd buy beefy parts just for safety reasons... wouldn't want to be going down the road and have a LCA break or something like that.

 

Every scrap of info helps me get closer to where I want to be. Thanks for the help about the axle geometry. I thought the axle looked farther back... now I know!

No worries!!

Awesome! We just got DSL, and I have been watching YT vids like they were just invented. Kind of addicting!

Definitely would be beefy. I don't, and won't, skimp on my boys. My 2nd son is a certified welder pursuing a welding engineering degree. Attached is a pic of the 5 we built from scratch, a 3+ year project. My chief concern is getting the geometry and positioning correct. I have the donor I can measure from. Not saying I AM going to build my own, only that I will investigate it. If it saves some dough, and it is not beyond my capability, consider it done!

 

If you have a son that is a certified welder than making a set of control arms is a piece of cake. Here is a link to a chart which give the eye-to-eye length of control arms for both upper and lower based on lift height. This is just a guide line however but, it will get you started.

http://www.xjtalk.com/showthread.php?t=9520

As for the track bar, once you get lower control arms in, take off your factory bar. You can start the jeep and turn the steering wheel to get the body centered over the jeep.

Now, my recommendation for a track bar is the Rubicon Express double sheer. I recently purchased that for my rig and it is fantastic. I picked it up for around 150 shipped to my door with the frame mount included. It is adjustable so it will allow you to get the body perfectly aligned over the axle.

Check out www.seriousoffroadproducts.com for good priced parts. I've ordered from Frank numerous times and I'm very happy with his communication, price, and shipping.

 

Disregard that link to the control arm lengths. Upon further inspection, I've found errors in it. Here is a correct chart.

Lift...........Lower Control Arms/Upper Control Arms
********Decimal**Fraction**Decimal**Fraction
Stock........15.75.......15 ¾........15.00.......15
2”.............15.92.......16............14.88.... ...15
3”.............16.09.......16............14.92.... ...15
4”.............16.33.......16 3/8......15.03.......15
4.5”..........16.47.......16 ½........15.11.......15
5”.............16.62.......16 5/8......15.21.......15 ¼
6”.............16.97.......17............15.44.... ...15 ½
7”.............17.36.......17 3/8......15.74.......15 ¾
8”.............17.81.......17 ¾........16.09.......16
9”.............18.30.......18 ¼........16.50.......16 ½
10”...........18.82.......18 ¾........16.96.......17

 

Making the lca's would be cool if you can.

Another option is WJ rear lca's. I believe they are 2" longer. Not sure if that would be enough though.

 

Just another one of the reasons why not many people like Rusty's... Bad advice on top of poor quality parts... Seems as though their coils are the ONLY good part they make...

Short arms on a 6-7" lift is going to ride like a log wagon.
You said you have a son who is a certified welder, have him weld up some radius arm style arms and a new transmission crossmember to hook them to.

All you need is 5 joints, some weld in threaded bungs, and some 1/4" tube for the arms. Then some 1/4" 2x6 tube and 1/4" 2x2 angle for the brackets to attach them to the XJ. Use some of the 2x2 angle for the link tabs as well. While you're at it, pick up 2 more joints, 2 more bungs, and some tube and have him put together a correct length track bar and build a double shear track bar mount for the "frame" end. You technically COULD splice the two bars you have together, but it's not exactly safe

Not only will this fix the problem of the tires being sucked back toward the doors, but also your driveshaft length problem as well as the trac bar. Joints, steel, and bungs total shouldn't run you over $500 and you will get a better/safer ride to boot. In the end, isn't that what matters for the boy?

 

Seems like you are wanting to keep the larger lift, but I'm going to throw this out there since you said its going to be a DD and you need to get it on the road. Also, just in case the $$ outlay is starting to look overwhelming.

IIRC, you said your BP's alone gave you 4" lift and you have 6" Rusty's springs. You could make your relocators into no-lift ones or simply remove them and put it back to stock. This would probably make your XJ sit level, and still fit 33's no problem. May not even need to trim fenders much or at all. Smaller front springs may be necessary. Someone chime in if they know specifically.

This would alleviate many of the issues you are running into now, while keeping your wallet fatter. You would still have a great DDer and capable trail rig. Most of the things you would still need to replace can be easily found at the JY.

This is just my 2 cents so dont think I disagree with more lift. I just know how things can add up and the list keeps getting longer and longer.

 

Thanks for the link. I just checked out the web site. Hard to beat $150 for an adjustable trackbar. I don't think you coould make one that cheaply.

And I REALLY, REALLY appreciate the length chart. That is great information and just what I needed to investigate construction.

There are a couple at our local JY. I can go and look at them. I'm guessing they will need to be longer, but I don't really know that yet.

Sure enough!?!? My experience has been limited, but good.

Is this like a 4 link for the front?? Radius arm style... I hate to show my complete ignorance, but I can't help it! What is radius arm style? I will Google, but I'd rather talk to you.

Any chance of you drawing a sketch of what you are talking about? I have the mental picture of the tubing with the joints welded in, but what about mounting points at the crossmember? Can they be mounted wherever I want to mount them as long as it is symmetrical?

Man, here's hoping. I knew it would cost more than early projections (wife knew it too!), but I'm all about saving money. Unfortunately. Looking hard at a tubing bender I saw in Summit catalog. But it's hard to justify expense when I would only use it a couple times a year. UNLESS- we loved this stuff so much we sold bargain parts!!

 

If you google Xj long arms most of the images will be of the radius arm type. To simply put it, the lower arms mount at the tranny crossmember and the upper arms mount to the lower arms and then to axle. I currently run a 3 link and like it.

 

Okay... got it. I saw LOTS of those images. Do the arms attach to the exact same spot on both sides of the crossmember, symmetrically? Anywhere on the crossmember?? What I meanis... is there a "sweet spot" on the crossmember for links/arms?

And if attaching to the crossmember, how do you determine length from eye to eye?

I didn't see the answers to these questions in my reading. Sorry to ask so many.

Thanks

 

Wasn't trying to insult you, sorry if it came off that way.

Now that you're getting into long arm territory I can't really give any input anymore, other than that I'd probably copy measurements from a kit if I were going to do it.