wheelsaz08

the rear cross member is 4x4x0.25 wall square tube that i notched to fit the end of the frame from both the rear and the bottom so its plenty rigid. i then added ruffstuff shackle hangers and have been playing around with shackles. i started with 6" and i didnt like how tall the jeep was (one of the reasons im doing this is to lower it 2ish inches) then i made some 5"and 4" shackles out of 0.375 plate. the 5's were still a little tall but travel was perfect. the 4's sit just right but dont allow the travel i want. so i pulled the overload out of the spring pack and then tried each set again. i left the 4's in for now but think i may make some 4.5" ones and try those, we'll see. i still need to cut some pieces to fill gaps and finish welding but heres some pics. i ran into porosity issues (bad prep0 and ground some of these out and rewelded























rolled the jeep outside, this is with the 4" shackles and no overload. im also thinking about hitting the junk yard to find some long flat springs to make a bastard pack

TFitzPat87

Sweet man! Nice work!

wheelsaz08

thanks!

TFitzPat87

This is random, but in the 3rd to last picture you posted (the one almost straight on from the back), it looks like your rear DS is jacked at the slip joint. Is that just the camera angle, or something going on there?

wheelsaz08

must be the angle of the pic/lighting? cause its straight. zoomed in it looks better

wheelsaz08

got some mock-up work done. cut out 16 inches lengthwise and about 13 inches of width at the rear. i regret cutting the bed sides completely off now, but ive got plenty of metal to reattach them. just going to take longer

wheelsaz08

getting closer

bad_idea

Good work. I have fit up my fair share of sheet metal, I know the amount of work involved.

Bit of criticism, meant to be constructive. I think the vertical gap between the cab and the bed is too wide. Is the gap on the stock truck that wide? I think it is that wide because you cut the bedsides off and put them back on at an angle without cutting the forward end of the bedsides at an angle. Minor detail, awesome work so far. Keep up the good work.

wheelsaz08

thanks! and you are correct. if i were to do it again, i wouldnt have cut the bed sides completely off, and would have cut notches at the front and angled the sides like you mentioned. another reason for the large gap is the front wall of the bed is bowed pretty bad.

i havent welded the front back on yet, just a couple small tacks, so i can still play with it a little. im going to try and get it closed up some more, but in the end its a wheeler not a show rig lol

wheelsaz08

got the tie in mostly done and started blending. not to happy with how it came out, and will probably add some body filler to make it smoother, or just say screw it and throw some spray paint on for now. we'll see.

didnt get any pics but i also swapped out the stock pump for a walbro 255lph unit and added a fuelab regulator i had laying around. (for those who may not know, the xj i robbed all my wiring and fuel system from was a 96 with the regulator built into the sending unit) i have an aem wideband to install and hope to do a lil fine tuning on the regulator. the new pump definitely supports the stroker alot better than the worn out stock unit, but im still chasing a random miss down low somewhere. the tank is now recessed in the bed vs sitting in the "stand" i built for it. i moved it back a good foot and the straps bolt through one of the bed crossmembers in front and a 1/4 thick piece of 1" strap at the rear

put the doors back on for now since ive still yet to pick up cage tubing. and gave er o good ol windex spit shine lol


























oh and i trimmed my ubolts, but after i took these pics lol