I vote fix roof

 

must be a plague

 

Well I hope to avoid said plague

 

glad your okay

 

Haven't posted for a little while, as I have been working on the rig. Then I get busy, then I forget. It appears I have a short term memory problem...
But I've gotten to a point where I think I can start to give you all some updates.

So I searched around and it seems that the lower control arm brackets getting tweaked is a lot more common than I had realized. So I decided to upgrade the brackets, and ordered some heavy duty 1/4 steel lower control arm brackets from Iron Rock. They are beefy, and I like them. They definitely instill confidence over the thin stock ones.

Disconnected the long arms from the axle and proceeded to cut and grind off the old bent ones. I was a little surprised at how thin and flimsy the stock lower control arm brackets actually were. Once I cut them, I could bend them by hand.

Cleaned it up, made some marks, did a mock up and liked what I saw. Until I noted a little bit of rot on my shock perch which the drivers side control arm is butted up against. So we had to clean it up and tack some fresh metal on it before we could continue. My buddy did the welding, as that skill is not one of my strong points. Got them all welded up, primed and painted, and good to go. But before we put it all back together we decided to take my long arms completely off to check the joints. We had been eyeballing them while we were under the rig, and the ones mounted to the transfer case cross member looked a little blown out. Good decision, because they were bad.

This was my second rebuild kit from Rough Country. While I liked the long arm lift itself, Their joints and bushings on the kit left a lot to be desired. The threaded retainer ring that keeps the ball joint in had bent out, being blown out by the force of the ball. This is the second time this has happened. Granted this was a roll over, but they were just replaced a month prior. And they were replaced with a rebuild kit because the last threaded retainer ring also blew out through normal wear and tear and wheeling. So I decided to upgrade and ordered some heavy duty Johnny Joints from Currie. Had a little trial and error getting the right ones for a correct fit, but once I dialed in on the correct part, they were a perfect fit.

Decided to spray my long arms while they were out, they definitely needed a few coats. So I sanded them down and hit them with some yellow paint, same for my cross member/skid plate.

It was some driveway rig work on some hot days. Grilling and cold beer got us through this project. Couldn't have done it without some help from some good friends, can't stress that enough. Had to make some tarp sun shades to keep us from being cooked. If I ever have a shop, I will most likely still end up working in a driveway more often than not, simply because I have just become so used to crawling around in the dirt working on rigs.

 

The new mounts look beef, man.

 

Chop Top

So this is the first phase of the chop top. I stripped the interior from the rear seat back to the cargo area. Carpet, head liner, plastic trim panels, seat belts, seats etc.

Then we removed the rear hatch. Then the two rear cargo windows. We then decided where to make or cuts, and have at it with the cutting wheel. Definitely helpful to have to people for this project. I had a good friend help me out. We are now calling the make a Cheromanche, and it's name is Kickflip.

This is just Phase 1 of the chop top.
We are in the process of deciding what kind of interior roll cage and exterior Wrangler style rear roll bar to fabricate. Basically a roll cage for the A, B, and C Pillars, with a rear roll bar, tired together on top as a kind of roof rack/roll cage. It will be completely caged, yet completely open, with canvas cover with snaps to protect from the rain.

Tail Gunner

Trail tested our makeshift "Tail Gunner" seat. (basically we just threw the rear seat backrest down in the back and sat on in 3 wide) If we can make it work with a removable seat and backrest on the tail gate, we can seat 6 comfortably, 8 maximum capacity.

P.s. I have notice that I'm having some issues with my photo hosting site. Looking to get it sorted out. In the meantime, most of my previous pics are temporarily disabled.

 

They are rugged man, no doubt about it. Couldn't believe how flimsy the old lca mounts were. Once I cut into them, I could bend them off by hand. I will upgrade these on any future Jeep build for sure.

 

On mine I still have the stock brackets, but they have a 3/16" skid welded to the bottom/front and it ties into the axle tube in the front. Beefs them up and boxes them in.

 

Kick *** updates as always

 

Thanks for the reminder on trail safety. Can't wait to see what you do with the rig from here.

 

Well, that escalated quickly! Can't wait to see what's next.

Where in NH are you, up north? I grew up in Milford and am now around the seacoast area.

 

Don't think you two noticed the dates of his last post, over a year ago now.

 

Ha! You're right, I saw the 7/6 and stopped there...

 

Yep, same haha. I thought it was just a few weeks.