Picked up a Hayden 403 trans cooler and a trans temp gauge this morning. Also picked up front YJ brake lines. My BPE's should be here today. Parts are piling up in the garage. Need to get to work on the Jeep

 

Came home from work this morning and pulled the Jeep in the garage. Will be starting tear down this weekend. Probably gonna be a while since I have alot of parts to throw at it. But when I'm done, it'll be road ready

 

So, I got the leaf spring shackles adjusted. Still has some rake, but not as much. May get some measurements and order some coil spacers just to level everything out. Still not sure about the shackle angle, though



Then started taking out the front axle. Got it dropped in no time. Now to determine what I want to upgrade as far as steering, and go ahead and paint the inner fenders and take care of everything before my new axle goes in.





May get some more time this evening to work on it. In-laws are in town this weekend, so we'll see. If anyone has any suggestions for steering upgrades while its apart, let me know. Rather go back together with new stuff now than have to tear it down again

 

Well, a friend came over yesterday. He just got back from King of The Hammers and we were talking about his trip. I decided while we were in the garage to tackle the brake lines. Driver side came off no problem. Passenger side was a different story. Rounded off the fitting. Ended up cutting the line and trying to reflare it. Flaring tool I bought is just a glorified paper weight. Ended up buying a 8in section of brake line and a compression fitting to get it back to where I needed it. Then out came the new YJ lines. Wouldn't you know it...wrong lines. They ordered the lines for stock suspension. Promptly returned them and ordered Rough Country extended lines. Should be here tomorrow. Also decided on steering. After talking with some guys at East Coast Gear Supply, gonna pick up a kit that they have for under the knuckle 1 ton steering. Probably gonna pick up a RE trackbar to finish it off. Will probably be a couple weeks since I plan on buying tires first

 

How did you manage to get away with running those long arms and not have to cut your LCA brackets off? Mine might have cleared but I just opted to cut them out. I still need to clean up the cut and prime so no rust starts in that area. I like the helper blocks under your jack stands!!

 

Oh and for steering if you have not already I would just go with your typical 1 ton steering now that you have axle out.

 

I plan on cutting the mounts while the axle is out. And Im gonna paint the inner fenders and where I cut the mounts all at the same time. As far as steering, I think I've decided on steering. Now just gotta figure out a good track bar to get

In other news, my extended brake lines showed up. Hopefully get some time to get them put in this weekend and get some more done on the Jeep

 

I have a IRO track bar that came with my long arm kit used. If I were to spend the cash over though I would purchase the Rubicon Express track bar. They are solid and have not heard anything bad about there products. In fact I just installed 4.5" coils in mine last night from RE.

 

Got some more work done on the Jeep. Finally took the plunge and cut my lower control arms. No going back now...



Got the driver side completely cut. May try to grind it down a little bit more. Still need to cut the passenger side. My arm was killing me after doing the driver side. Also need to throw some paint on it when I paint my wheel wells



Now that its cut, I went to mounting my brake line. Went smooth on the driver side



Picked up a flaring tool kit from my Cornwell guy. Hopefully can get the passenger side flared so I dont have to run a compression fitting. Then I can hook up the passenger side brake line. May cut the passenger side mount tomorrow.

Also rode out to my buddy's house and signed the title over for the 01 XJ I sold him. Part of the deal was he threw in some parts from a 99 he had. So now I have some spare parts. Also picked up a set of JKS boomerang shackles from another buddy. Gonna swap those in and see how my shackle angle is before I decide on HD Offroad shackle boxes. Still some work to be done, but should be wrapped up in a couple weeks. Then its just tags, insurance, and inspection. Can wait to get it on the road

 

Nice job! I know the feeling of cutting those LCA's brackets off I did my long arm kit just over a week ago. The first blade I had it seemed to cut almost like butter and I let the saw do the work. I have a Dewalt cordless sawsaw. Bad part about it being cordless was my second batter took a **** prior to this build so I only had one battery which drained quickly.

Funny part is I had to attack those LCA's from multiple angles to get them fully cut. Came out in pieces basically.

 

Yeah, I used a corded angle grinder. Cut in a total of 6 pieces I believe to get it as close to unibody as possible. Then went in with a flap disk to smooth everything down.

 

So, I got alot done yesterday. Finished cutting my LCA mounts. Took a new 40grit flap disk to them to clean them up. Then painted the inner fenders and where I cut to keep from rusting



Then mounted my extended line on the passenger side. Used part of the compression fitting since the Robinair flaring tool I got from my Cornwell guy didnt work. Then in went the axle. Took a little work to get everything set. Installed my Teraflex BPE's on the front. Found the coil retainer clip on the driver side is stripped, so I'll have to fix that. Also found my coil posts need extended. My coil falls completely out at full flex. Had to use a ratchet strap to pull the axle to the driver side to get my steering installed. Putting the inverted T back in for right now. Then put on new brakes and rotors. Found upper caliper bolt on driver side is stripped out, so I gotta swap knuckles off my old D30. Mounted my Solid diff cover with the Lube Locker. Also mounted my trans cooler. Had to piece together some brass to plumb in my trans temp gauge. With the set back on the coil retainer and caliper bolt, I didnt get the Jeep out of the garage. Also need to get it on its weight and do a final torque on everything. Should have a new set of tires this week. Hopefully can get it on the road and test it out. Then a full tune up. New filters, fluids, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, etc. Should be done in a month or so (fingers crossed)

 

When you say you're not sure about the shackle angle, do you mean you're not sure if it's okay? Or not sure what you're going to do about it? Because that shackle angle is way bad, the bottom of the shackle should be pointed toward the back of the vehicle, at about a 45 degree angle. Was that picture taken with the weight on the ground? or was the axle hanging?

 

The Jeep was on its own weight. I'm not sure what shackles these are. They came off my 89. But I wasnt sure what to do to remedy the angle. I have since picked up a spare set of JKS boomerang shackles to swap in. Hopefully that corrects the issue. If not, maybe the No Lift Shackle relocation boxes from HD Offroad

 

The shackles themselves won't do anything for the angle, you will either need different leaf springs (longer) or shackle relocation brackets. Although thoth appear to be cheapo rough country or no name shackles that have been known to bend, so it won't hurt to replace them.