Teaser.

 

Picked this nasty thing up. 79 kingpin, also got the matching rear.



Had a bit battle getting to it. Lovely michigan snow, add in high gusting winds, and Ice covered highway... made for a long drive. Almost put her in the ditch twice. I lost track at 22 slideoffs/wrecks.

 

O snap!

 

Well had a tiny bit of motivation today, got the shock mounts and spring perchs cut off the 60 rear maybe il go back out and work on cleaning up the rest of the housing later

 

Figured id give a litte more info on this.

Build is in stage 2.
Rear roof is chopped, also plan on cutting the center section of the rest of the roof out.
Full internal cage is in the works, along with some external armor.
Rear dove tail is also in the works.

Doing chevy 63" leaf spring swap.

Debating on air shocks/coilovers for the front.

Full width 1 tons are also in the works. Debating on gearing, either 5.13s or 5.38s

Looking at some 4Ds havent decide on a set yet. Probably will end up on some 17" D windows or soft 8s with DIY beadlocks.

 

Build has been put on pause, or at least 6x slow motion. Found a house I like, with a barn 3 times is size...and a hand full of acres to go along with it. Hoping this realtor can make something happen.

So no jeep money at the moment.

Growing up sucks. Would be nice to be back out of my rents place again though. And with a barn big enough to build 3 jeeps...instead of a cramped 2 stall garage.

 

I wish I could find a house and have my own space to work. Damn!

My .02:

You can find a better rear 60 or even a 14b to build that will be better stock in terms of strength and things that come with it. The 90+ 60u's have big bore spindles for 35 spline shafts stock, stock 32 spline shafts, smooth bottom casting, 1/2" thick tubes, and 99+ have disc brakes. 14b's are just stupid strong obviously but need to be shaved, IMO or else I wouldn't run one. If you were close I would hook you up with my rear 60. Having to do a disc brake swap gets expensive, if that is the route you are taking, and starting with them helps a ton.

I have 5.38's in my axles now with 39" red label krawlers. Don't fear the gear.

I am not a fan of airshocks on anything more than a super light weight buggy. It is just in their nature to unload and not be super stable. CO's or ORI's. If not, spring and shock FTW.

Nice KP. Only jealous of the ease you have to bolt on hi steer. Lol

Can't wait to see your dovetail.

 

Its been a very long search. Ive been looking for the better part of a year now. I kept finding ones I liked (in the photos) and they would turn out the be torn up, either the house was in bad shape or the barn was in bad shape. If i wasnt so picky I could easily already be in my own place. this one i found now has 5.45 acres, 3 bed 2 bath home, and a ~40x50 barn out back that is no more then 5-10 years old. House isnt perfect, but its in decent shape, hell il live in the barn if all else fails. HA!

think im going to look for a 60u. i already ordered disk brake Brackets for the 60, and have some misc. brake parts coming, calipers, pads, rotors. the sound of not having to have the spindles bored is music to my ears. suppose il throw this one up on CL and start my hunt for a 90s+, the E350 vans had these right? is the width on the van 60u the same or relatively close that i could make up for it in spacers? havent researched it at all yet.

and i figured id go 5:38s, if nothing else will just give me a better crawl ratio when i step up the drive train.

Air shocks, ive heard alot of mix. Read a ton of stuff on the unloading... had a talk with a fellow naxja memeber this past fall up at Rocks and Valleys, he was running 16" 2.5 foxs... he seemed to like them, didnt complain much about the unloading...I didnt get his vavling and PSI though. Ive been looking at FOA coilovers...the price..is just..NICE. lol

yea KP high steer arms are super nice. id been looking for the Front 60 for a few months, i seen alot of BJ 60s but everyone wanted an arm and a leg up here for them, besides the fact im lazy and didnt want to gain the XP you gained trimming the cast

basically i got both 60s for the price everyone wanted for just the front, so couldnt pass up the KP and longgg short side.

i cant wait to get it DONE!

i was hoping to have the jeep done for this spring. that now got pushed back to fall/next spring. we shall see.

 

I've got to start looking for somewhere this year. I hope I can find something like that.

I can't recall the width of the 60u's off the top of my head. 99+ has discs stock and yes E350's have them.

Good air shocks like Fox or King even sway a way are obviously better than some el cheapo ones. My buddy had some in his MJ and it was all kinds of awful. Granted he didn't tune them worth a **** but I think they could have been better than what they were. I told him to take those and throw them in the woods and to put a dollar with them so that when someone finds them they can say they found something. I know a few people with FOA's that have leaking issues, but I know Olympus and someone else run them on their U4 cars, I don't know what to think.

 

Well i know i said this was going on pause...but i got my fingers on a new CC...lol and uhh i might have ordered a pair of goodies.

Also ballistic pulled funds...havent seen any shipping/conformation letters yet :/. Grrrr i knew what i was getting into but. Deng.

 

Got a few things done lately

 

I was anxious and welded up it...should have chopped off lower mount first. Oh how i love making more work for myself.

 

Copy cat!!

 

ORIs arnt much then just a fancy air shocks buddy's had them for a couple years and he says it's not much better then and 2.5 airshock

 

I know. it just looked so nice! and the price...couldnt beat it.

I need to get this heep together. id really like to take a few long weekend wheeling trips this year and go all over, heading down south is def on the list. always seeing the pics of the terrain down there and its sooo much better then up here.

would be fricken sweet to come down and wheel with all you goons.