So now its time to get down and dirty. Plan for this rig is the opposite of my old XJ. LCOG. Right now I want to run 5" of lift max (was going to be 4" but the truss adds 1/2" of lift) and 35-37" tires. Needless to say, the XJ is going to have to go on a sheet metal diet. But big tires means beefing **** up. I will eventually build a set of narrowed tons but that is nowhere near my price range right now so I want to build the beefiest cheapest axles I can. I didnt trust the D30 in the jeep for fear of it being bent and there was an XJ at work we were scrapping so I got this out of a 94:



I stole the carrier out of it and shafts/hubs for using to role the jeep around and tossed it, then picked up this 98 30 just a bare housing, chopped off the LCAs and welded in our HD LCAs



Then came the rear end, picked up my old 8.8 back, bought it for what I sold it for. Its out of a 97 exploder. Got disc brakes, 31 spline shafts



Then chopped the coil buckets and sway bar mounts off my 30 and had my buddy weld on our new IRO box truss. This truss moves the coil buckets back, raises the shock mounts and ofcourse, does what trusses do best.







Also put in the new IRO prototype UCA flex joint



Cut off all the old brackets off my 8.8. Will get started on that soon enough.



And that pretty much leaves us as to where we are today. I guess I will give a run down of whats in store for the XJ.

4" lift, IRO adjustable long arms, 3.5" IRO leaf packs flipped for stretched wheelbase, prototype boomerang shackle, relocation brackets, IRO OTK steering, custom made flat belly skid, fuel cell in cargo area (or at the least, gas tank lift), full exo cage,

I am making my own bumpers for it. The goal on the front bumper is to have it sit close to flush with the grill. I will be cutting out the front cross member and build a winch plate out of 1/4" doubling as a cross member and the bumper will be built around that.

Axles are ofcourse, HPD30: 4.88 gears, chromoly shafts, ARB air locker (eventually), MOOG ball joints, IRO over the axle truss, HD LCA mounts, inner axle sleeve.

8.8: 4.88 gears, spool, over the axle truss, HD leaf perches, raised shock mounts, etc.

I will update more as I go but over all, the rig will be a toy, dont plan on it being very street legal. My truck did great towing it, did 65 just fine the whole way home and it never complained. So that is my tow pig for now.

 

[QUOTE=aircruiser;2197513]No problem I actually came to bump this thread haha.

Loved both, the OTK is very stout, took some head on hits to the tierod with rocks and never once did it complain. Only issue if any is the heims are squeaky when they get muddy but that is easily solveable with a shot of dry lube. I think the new heims actually combat this problem however and I would definitly take heims over tierod ends anyday with strength and reliability.

As for the track bar, same deal never any problems and its all beef. Put one one my ZJ too (ZJ is for sale btw). I would highly recomend both the steering and the track bar and im not just saying that because I work there now. Oh yeah, I work at iron rock now haha but all the stuff on my old xj and my zj were bought before I worked there. After working there I realize just how much actually goes into making these parts and they do not skimp on quality at all. I will continue to run their parts in my rigs and design my own.

Also in case you didnt know, free shipping right now on orders over $100 too!


Sweet!! Thats what i was hoping to hear!!! I have a V8 ZJ tierod now, but its been bent a few times, and all my tierods are shot. I figured why not just upgrade, instead of getting replacements. And from what I've been able to find IRO is the only company that makes a true bolt on OTK kit that lets you keep the stock sway bar mounts, which is a plus for me.

BTW, on your new front D30, you welded on new HD control arm mounts. Why did you choose those instead of the ones IRO sells? And you said you are getting a spool for the 8.8, what brand?

 

They are the IRO brand just didnt put that in the description haha, they are the IRO HD LCA mounts. I plan on going with yukon for the spool. Just a mini-spool. Have never heard anything bad about them.

And I did the 5/8 hardware upgrade with my OTK for peace of mind so I had to drill out the knuckles and pitman but other than that, fully bolt on with no mods necessary and I beat the **** out of it. I was about to just get the HD tie rod but ended up splurging. I bent my V8 ZJ tierod to many times to count

 

Picked these up tonight, now to find some rims and I can really get going

 

Any fancy plans on how to bumpstop those 36's on a 5 inch lift? Air bumps maybe?

 

In due time yeah but for now I am gonna do some major fender surgery. I wil be cutting up the wheel wells and making my own so that will help alot.

 

Ya right now mine is only cut. The typical cut/fold in back, and trimmed in front. The rear doesnt rub too bad, but the front.... thats another story lol

Im lookin into the Daystar Stinger bumpstops. A lot cheaper than air bumps, and still rebuildable. JP did an install on thier XJ, and it looked really easy to do on the front. The rear would be a bit difficult I think, but not impossible.

I cant wait to move back to the states where I can really get my XJ built the way I want...

 

Yeah I ghetto rigged some bumpstops into both of my old ones but yeah I will probably put more effort into it since its not a DD

 

Some more goodies! Got riddler covers for my birthday for my D30 and 8.8



Finished welding the truss, made a suck down winch mount and some gussets, then painted it up







8.8 ready for some love



Wheels came in too, custom made from bassett, 15x7 with a 2" back space. Mounted them up which gives me the final motivation to get the guts back in my D30 so I can put it back under the jeep for now so I can put the suspension in the front and start mocking up for the fenders.







I wanted to do gears before I put the axle in but might wait until its under. I found a D30 with 4.56s in it complete that the guy wants $100 for I might just go get the whole axle and have spare shafts and use those gears.

 

dang Grant. been a while. thanks for those IRO arms. workin' good. my rigs come a long ways, but i got a busted flex plate that's gotta get fixed soon, probably friday. one of these days we should meet up with some people from fargo, down in Gilbert! =D

 

Yea man its been awhile, good to hear I will be putting the same ones back in this rig haha. As soon as the jeeps done I will be itching to do a trial run, just let me know when you guys are going

 

Glad to see your back why did you sell the ZJ and get another XJ though?

 

Personal preference. I wanna get another ZJ some day with the 5.2 for a daily, they are sweet DDs. But it was way to nice to wheel and I liked the way the XJ wheeled better, plus the ZJ is a fat pig on the trails.

 

sick wheel/tire combo man

 

Thanks man I havent seen to many people running bassett wheels. Good price and they are good looking wheels.

For an update, while waiting for gears for my other D30, I got impatient and went in to work and threw in my lift in the front. Just coils, double sheer track bar and long arms for now, I have to measure for shocks later. Current D30 is definitly bent lol.



You can see the stock tierod is bent, happened when PO hit the ditch









Bumper dragged while I was pulling it out on the snow lol









I stretched it 3" in the front when I put the arms in, rear will get a spring flip so that will be stretched 6" for a total 9" WB stretch.