Howdy all, I'm new here, but not to wheeling...

Picked this up back in June:



MY wife and I are expecting our first child in January, so this needs to be a STREETABLE family wheeler!

Specs:

It's a 1992 Cherokee, 165K miles, Five speed, 6 cylinder.

Stole it for $800!

Just a little rust in the DS rocker and the PS rear wheel well.

Sits WAY low on some worn out springs...

Drivers side rocker height:



And another overall from the drivers side:



Rear bumper... (It's not done)









Gonna get tapered on the ends, and a side guard run forward to turn in to the frame rails behind the rear tires.

BTW: Tractor supply is a friggin ripoff:

They wanted TWENTY FIVE bucks for a 12" x 2" trailer hitch tube.

I needed three.

Instead of spending SEVENTY FIVE bucks on three feet of square tube, I cut up a piece of 2.5" x .25" square tube (approx value: 15 dollars) , and will reinforce the ends with a couple pieces of strap.

Gotta build a cooler/ cargo/ bike rack next!

That's what the two extra holes on the bumper are for.

 

Ingredients for a wicked drive train:


One 1979 Ford D60 rear axle assembly (4.10 gears)
One 1979 Ford D60 front housing.
One complete GM D60 front axle assembly.
One determined fabricator
Welder
Plasma cutter
Assorted sheets of steel
Grinder
etc.

Cut Ford housing 4 inches shorter
Weld Inner C back on.


Disassemble GM D60, install knuckles and all outer brake components
Build axle brackets for a three link front.
strip down and install disc brake brackets on rear axle
Mix vigorously with XJ in garage.

 

Got all my tires .

MANY THANKS TO TIMMAY and Liquid Iron Industries for the excellent service.

Went with Maxxis Trepador Radials, in a 35*12.50*17 flavor.

 

Got Dana 60?



Got the rear mocked up with the new brakes, found out the one caliper I bought was assembled wrong, and won't mount up on the Ruff Stuff Brake Brackets.

Of course the store was closed when I found out (2PM on a Saturday), so my first stop tomorrow morning will be to drop that off for a new one.

BUT! I was able to assemble the rear hubs/ 75 K20 rotors/ 9/16 studs with NO problems what-so-ever! I was expecting to need to machine and drill the hubs to fit the rotors/ studs, but as it turned out, it went together PERFECTLY without ANY machining required.

Then I moved on to the front axle:
I used my buddy's plasma (THANK YOU JEORGE!) and trimmed off two offending pieces from the Ford D60. NICE AND SMOOOTH!

Once the brackets were removed, I grabbed the grinder, and wire wheeled 30 years of crap off it... the garage looks like hell, but the housing is clean.

I mocked up some brackets, stared at it for a while, and left it as is for the time being.

Need to order King pin kits, and assemble it.

My Ruff Stuff Chassis Stiffeners arrived on Friday, but I didn't even open the box yet. I have seen them before, so I know they will be fine.

Bought a can of "Silver metallic" spray paint to spray my H2 wheels, but didn't even get to mess with them. I also discovered I need to machine the ID of the wheels, so I need to source a router bit for my router.

More progress as it occurs.

Later...

Chris

 

Well, three steps forward, four steps back...

I pulled off the front bumper, and the front fender flares.

Then I marked out the intended wheel opening (to fit 35's) and grabbed the plasma cutter.



After the smoke cleared, and the "Extra" sheet metal fell away, the front brake line was leaking.

So, I cleaned out the garage (thanks to my Brother for his help) and pulled the XJ in.

The PLAN was to yank the rear axle, and install the new D60.

That was before I found this:



And this (the rear shackle was fuxxored):



Which led to THIS:



And... well, I guess I need to buy new rear leaf springs.

 

It started out well enough, but then a power transformer blew up nearby, and I lost power.

So this was the end result:

Passenger's side slider installed



Floor patched:



Old cruddy spring mocked up:



Started on opening the wheel opening, but decided to wait until the rockers are installed, and then make all final cuts.

 

Busted a$$ tonight and knocked out one rocker.

I'm using 2" x 6" x.188" wall rectangular tubing.

It will be tied in to the frame rails with 2" square tube.

From the front, before trimming:



Side views:





From below:

 

Rear axle is under the jeep...I have it sitting on some old 3.5" XJ springs a fellow wheeler gave me... thanks Joe!

I installed the rocker to frame tie ins for the front (rear) spring mounts.

They came out well, and will serve as a future outrigger for my B pillar hoop in the future cage.

While I am working I keep finding more and more little spots of rust...it's pissing me off.

I started on the DS rear wheel opening, and found rust.

Moved to the passenger's side, and found more rust.

So I cut out the whole rear wheel house on the passengers side.

And started bending tube for the rear fenders/ flares.

I even was able to use one of my buddy Timmay's tricks to put two bends RIGHT on top of each other, to form an offset in the fender flare tube.

The tube work was going really well... until my arm started cramping (from pulling the bender lever) so bad I couldn't move it any more.

So I called it a night.

Tomorrow:

Finish the PS fender flare

Bend DS fender flare

Clean frame rails in prep for installing sub frame stiffeners

MAYBE pull the front axle out.

MAYBE install the new steel brake lines throughout the jeep. (They are all alarmingly rusted... two front lines are broken since I pulled it into the garage.

Going to bed now.

Chris

 

And in no particular order... pics:





















Which brings us up to date...

More progress as it occurs...

 

when you're done with yours, you can start on mine. (lol) that thing will be awesome when your finished, you have some mad fab skills.

 

its almost like i was just reading through a similar thread on pirate...

 

uhmazing so far keep us posted

 

Looking good man, what are your plans for the front? Long arm? 3-Link?

 

Thanks guys, yeah, it's on Pirate too... I just found this place, and figured I would post up some tech that leaned a little toward the "hardcore" end of the spectrum.

The Front will be getting a three link with a track bar.

I just loaded the tires and wheels onto the trailer, they are getting mounted tomorrow.

The custom length inner axle shaft was sitting on my front porch today, along with a set of king pin kits, the gears, and a 1" x 4.5CLR, 240° die for my bender!

I'm hoping to have all my fasteners and what not tomorrow, along with a hone to make set up bearings for the Dana 60.

Then Joe from Endless Mountain Fabrication is setting up the front gears over the weekend.

Then Monday night or Tuesday the front axle goes under the jeep and brackets start getting mocked up.

I was shooting for it being done the weekend of the 7-8, but I just dont see that happening; I am now aiming for the weekend of the 14-15 for completion.

 

Very cool. Ya I have seen your pirate post too.