Had to clearance the fenders a little more for the 35's. It was rubbing in turns at both ride height and flexed. Shaved it at the back, relocated one of the fender mounts, and cut/fold the pinch weld. Not pretty, but will do the job.




Also, finally got around to replacing the electric fan. It's ceertainly seen better days and has been clearancing itself against the power steering pulley for quite some time!

Side-by-side:

Been band-aided for quite some time!

Much better!

 

Another project in the books. I rceived my Clayton drop trackbar bracket, RC drop Pitman arm, and 4 hockey pucks to complete my bump stops.


Upon taking the old trackbar bracket off, I found one of the lower bolts had rusted awa to half of it's original diameter. Luckily, I had some new gade 8 hardware laying around to take it's place.
Cleaned to bare metal where the stitch welds would be going.

Got it in place.

Little primer and paint.

Time for the bump stops.

Drilled and tapped.

All mounted up.

Reaming out the pitman arm

Everything done. Angles look pretty good.

Test drive went great. Felt good all the way up to 70mph.
Took it to a local spot to check how everything moved and if the bumps were enough.

Everything looked good and it performed great.

 

Tranny cooler started leaking, so I bought a new one and added a fan. Little massaging and everything went back together.

 

Where'd you get the fan? I really like that idea

 

I bought everything off of Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TI0APQ2?psc=1

 

My buddy and I went to do my inner axle seals up front and noticed my pinion bears were bad. So, now I have new seals, pinion bearings, and the u-joint at the yoke. No pics this time.

 

Picked up this diff cover at Jeeptoberfest. Factory one was all tweaked.

 

Wow! A cover with a plug that you can change oil with ease! Looking good

 

Thanks! Not bad for $90.

 

Teaser!

 

Well. It took 5 years, but I finally bit the bullet and pugraded to long arms. This was a bigger pain in the *** than it needed to be due to, as always, not having everything I need to do the job and having to struggle in the driveway alone. I am used to it though! The instructions call for some oddball drill bit sizes to be used for mounting the new cross member, which I didn't have. Also, the holes that were supposed to be tapped from the factory weren't. I also didn't have a drill with a 1/3 chuck. So, I bought a drill from harbor freight. A 10mm x 1.5 tap, a long 1/4" bit for pilot holes, and a pack of sawzall blades from Rural King. Taking the studs out wasn't happening with instructed method so, I just welded a nut to the studs and out they came.

Hacking off the factory control arm mounts wasn't diffucult, just time consuming and tiring.
Once that stuff was done, the rest of it went together pretty smoothly. Between, ratchet straps, jackstands, and a floor jack, lining everything up wasn't bad at all.
The end result? WOW. It's so much better I can't even describe it. The ride is amazing. All vibes are gone! The suspension now works as it's supposed to. I should have done it form the start.

 

I had previously attempted to use some pre-fabbed mounts that sit parallel with the axle, but I quickly found out it gave me no up travel at all with my 4.5" lift shocks. I sifted through bunches of shocks and couldn't find anything that would allow me to effectively use them. I ran stock length shocks for about 6 months, but I had no down travel. They actually were fully extended at ride height, actually limiting my lift. So, I had finally had enough and decided to make my own since I couldn't find anything that work for my needs. Made them from 2x4" box and some plate. Bought some new shocks that work with 6.5" of lift and they seem to work great.