Sounds good man. Thanks. I look forward to getting this out on the trail and learning the area around here for sure.

 

Hey Kris,

Just checked out this build and your previous build as well. Amazing rigs. I have no doubt that someday when I can afford it I'll be ordering your 3-link long arm setup and steering as well. Beautiful work!

 

Thanks Pockets. I have been so busy I haven't even been able to work on my rig lately.

 

For any of our existing customers, check out our thread dedicated to sticker we will be distributing.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f10/fst-merch-168555/

Kris Froehlich

 

May 25, 2013
Well, it sounds like I am officially done with Holland after doing the rotation for the past year and a half. Yay to not being constantly jet lagged.

This means I actually have the time and energy to work on this thing as well as a nice pay raise for taking over the Bellingham/Canada accounts.

No pics on progress yet but I did order a nice list of parts.
1-1/4" wheel spacers all the way around.
5.13 gears for the front 44.
2.5 18" coilovers for the front
2.0 14" coilovers for the rear.

Need to do some research to get some ideas on what the front and rear sprung rate of these XJs are. I think I am going to have to order just one coil for each coilover (the heavier lower coil); then use that to calculate what I should run for the upper spring after the rig is complete.

 

K so I have been doing a BUNCH of reading up on coilover rates and such. Mainly in this thread.
http://www.pirate4x4...ech-thread.html

So lets assume that the front of my rig has a corner weight of approximately 800lbs.
With an 18" coilover I want about 6" of bump left at ride height.
Thats 12" of compression on the shock. 800/12=66.6lbs/in to give me my desired ride height.
Doesnt that seem REALLY soft to you guys? Im gonna get into the rig and the drivers side is gonna sink down 1-1/2"!!

 

Forgot to add preload.

Thought this was pretty helpful.

Initial spring rate=(Main spring rate * Tender spring rate)/(Main spring rate +Tender spring rate)
Shaft showing= Shock Travel – ((Corner weight/Initial spring rate)-Pre-load distance)

So for my front spring example
Initial spring rate=(100 * 150)/(100 +150)= 60
Shaft showing= 18-((800/60)-1.66)
Shaft showing=18-(13.33-1.33)
Shaft showing=18-12=6

 

Worked on this the other day.
The copper air line on the used ARB I bought was pretty kinked. So I went ahead and replaced it.

 

Got some goodies in.

 

Put my front axle back in place for mock up. Put my coilovers on there. All I have to say is today I officially decided this will be the last full body rig I build.

My truss is about 4" from the bottom of the oil pan. I know I can get at least an inch more of clearance by building some raised motor mounts like Brown Dog offers. I dont know if it is possible to massage the pan on the 4.0 or notch it in any way to gain any more clearance.





The next problem, the master cylinder is right in the way of where I would like to be able to lean the coilover back a little. Right now it is almost perfectly vertical and barely able to clear the proportioning valve.







This is about what we are looking at for mounting height. They wont be leaning in quite as far as right now at ride height the outside of the dual rate slider is resting on the side of the frame rail. Still working on some designs in my head to figure out how the mounts will come out of the hood.



As a side note, the spacers took my track width in the front to about 78.25". Just a tad wider then I wanted to be but definitely alright.

 

Lookin good.
What was that front 44 out of again?
You dont look terribly wide.. About the same with as me with a 30 front and 3.75 BS

 

Lookin good as always! Looking forward to future updates. And x2 on the axle. Am about to start narrowing a dana 44 to waggy width and will be taking plenty of ideas from your setup of mounts and truss.

 

HP44 out of a 76 Ford F150. Narrowed to 80+ Wagoneer width. Waggy Chromos with CTM joints, ARB Locker, 5.13 gears, Chevy flat top knuckles, high steer arms, Chevy brake calipers and brackets, Ford 5 on 5.5" rotor. 1.25" wheel spacers.

I dont think its horribly wide either. We have really tight trails around here and my brother has had to turn around a couple times being 81" wide. I just wanted to be below 78" for sure so Im good.

Thanks for the compliments. Let me know if you have any questions man. I can help out. Its not as difficult as everyone makes it out to be. Just measure 8 times, cut once. We do sell the trusses if you want one or I could make one to work around coil buckets.

 

Cool so my axle is pretty much gunna be the same set up but on a budget lol. 1990 wagoneer axles in a 77 f150 dana 44. 4.88's 1.25 spacers. Spartan locker. And a home built truss/mount setup.
Everything on my Jeep now is 100% custom built by me so why stop now?

 

yo kris. looks good man. i was surfin the web when i saw you going coilover and started thinking about how hard it would be. also just like to read up and learn a bunch of stuff. but i dunno what company you went with, but f-o-a looks like they make pretty awesome stuff. but even if thats not what you went with, they have some pretty sweet tools on their website to pick out which springs you need. check out their spring rate calculator.

http://f-o-a.com/calculator.html

that thing might help you. might not. anyway, keep it goin man!