Thanks man! Congrats too you as well! Yeah, the pipe is cut, then slid down over the arms. I will then weld the pipe to the arms, on the other end will be a tube adapter, then a Ballistic joint. Pretty simple really.

Go for it man! I love the looks of it, it's functional, and it was easy to build. Mine has carried around a 35" tire, on a steel rim with beadlock, with no issues.

 

So u cunning a full width D44? What's the length difference? I wanna run a D44 and 9.25 from a full size dodge. If it's got uca's and lca's then I'm gonna run the ironman4x4 adjustable long arms but if it's like the fords with single arms then I'll have to run ur setup. I haven't even checked out the design yet just trying to get a heads up on length tho

 

My 44 is from a 79 Bronco, it's about 65" WMS. About 6 inches wider than my 30 and 8.25 were. In 78 and 79 the wedges for the arms are cast into the axle tube so I had to maintain the factory ford arm on the axle side. In 76 and 77 ford welded the the arm mounts on, so you could cut them off and use your own tabs to do a long arm.

 

Had some free time on my lunch break today, headed out to the shop to work on the radius arms, I did get one of them welded up.


These things are stout! :headbanger:

 

I like the approach your taking with the use of radius arms. Looking forward to seeing how it works on you rig. Having had a Bronco I know it should work well. never thought of doing so on an XJ.

 

Your jeep is so sick bro. I am going to have my neighbor fab me a front bumper close to the design of yours! I love the rear design but not so much mounting it to fiberglass. I think i will have my neighbor figure a way to make it look similar and make it hold the tire under the entire bumper's weight.

 

how does the rear hatch open? or does it open at all? very nice design btw

 

The spare folds straight back, and the hatch opens normal.

 

So... I've been getting a lot done lately. I picked up a 2000 Expedition. With the 3rd kid, and me going to be needing a tow rig, this was perfect, especially for the price. 2700 bucks because it needed some body work. Loaded, has leather, 3rd row seat, rear heat/AC, 4.6L Triton, should be a decent DD for my wife, and do ok pulling the XJ.

Fixed everything, painted it all except the roof. New grille, opted to paint it. New head lights.

when I got it...


NOW...

 

Here's what I got...

Went into work on Thursday to fab on my own stuff for a change. Wanted a flat surface to mount the uppers on.. so I built a little truss on the 9".



Built the uppers and lowers for the rear four link. I am using a bushing on the axle side, once I get the axle mocked up and know my lengths I will cut them to length and I have Heim's for the frame side.




Did some paint work on my buddies YJ while he started on the stiffeners.


The flow control valve on my new welder quit working... pissed me right off. They are shipping me a new part next day, should be here tomorrow.

One 38" mounted up... turquoise bead locks = sickness. :headbanger:


More updates this week...

 

simply amazing

 

Great looking build! i am subscribed

 

A few pics of the rear four link brackets. I bought the lower link mount/coil buckets combined from ballistic. For the price you cant go wrong. Drew up the others and had my buddy cut them on his water jet at work.

These are for the upper's on the axle side...


These will be for the uppers and lowers on the frame side.


Ballistic Fab's lower link/coil bucket combo set..


Heim's for the frame side of all four links...


So I pretty much have everything I need to put this beast together now. My part for the welder came in today. So watch for a ton more updates!

 

should be awesome!

 

Got some more done on the XJ last night. I got the new part for my Hobart Tuesday. I do have to say, it sucked having your new welder take a crap after 20 minutes of welding last weekend, but Hobart backed their product up very well. A couple calls on Friday to track down the problem. I called them Monday morning to tell them the none of the local service centers had the part, they shipped me the part next day, had it Tuesday like they said. Installed it and away I went. Works like a champ again.

So my buddy is better with a welder than I, so he came over to give the new welder another workout. Finished welding up the passenger side unibody stiffener. Got the trans mount in and welded up the cross-member. Fits perfect. We should be able to get the arms mounts on the front of the cross-member between the frame and the drop out section of the cross-member. This is what I was shooting for as i can still drop my trans out without having to drop the arms/front axle. I've seen my buddy do this a couple times and I want no part of it. I am going to tie the ends of the cross member into the sides of the "frame" for more bracing. But I honestly would feel safe leaving it how it is, it's not going anywhere.

Here's a couple crappy cell phone pics..



I'll get some better pics today.