I've been a lurker around here for a long time (before even having registered).

I figure it's about time to introduce my build

From this: (Circa ~2004/2005 in Highschool: Nice and clean)



To this:



Final Build Specs:
- 4.0L/Aw4
- D60/14B, Detroits F&R, 5.38's
- 16" ORI Struts F&R
- Independent Wheel Cutting Brakes
- 3-link front w/ panhard (1.25 Heim lowers, 7/8 uppers)
- 4-link rear (1.25 Heim lowers, 7/8 uppers)
- D300/NP231 Doubler
- P.O.S. Full Hydro System

A little about me:

My name is Justin, have spent most of my life in Colorado. Grew up in Colorado Springs, did my Freshman year of College in Whittier, CA and finished my degree in Mech. Eng. at Colorado State University in Fort Collins where I still reside.

I've been wheeling since I've had a driver's license, and just seem to have gotten more and more involved in the sport as time has gone on.

The basis for this build was my 1998 XJ.

Some might know of a write up I did way back then (XJ Rear Quarter Cut and Fold)

Specs as it sat like that:
- 7" lift
- 35's
- D30/9" (Locked and Geared)
- Lots of other stuff

This was my DD for several years. I drove it to and from Southern California where I did my Freshman year at Whittier College. Hit up JV, Calico, etc. with the NAXJA crew while I was out there.

Over the years of wheeling and following those who were far more built (friends buggies), the body started to take a quite a beating. The wheeling became more and more extreme, and the body less and less up to it. Flopping the rig on Upper Helldorado in Area BFE somewhat put the nail in the coffin. By the time I started tearing down, the only straight body panel left was the hood.

So, the next phase began.

Originally I never planned on going REMOTELY as far as I have, I had just planned on a rear quarter cut, exo, etc.

This was my first real go at fabrication, so there was a bit of a learning curve I had to overcome. Many hours were spent just sitting, pondering, imagining to try and make ideas come to life.

This build took approximately 6 years. Yes...6 years .

I didn't want to pinch pennies, I wanted this done right the first time around. Between that, shoulder surgery, school, and other factors...it took a while.

Tools used on the build:
- 4.5" angle grinder
- Chop Saw and later Band Saw (wish I had the band saw for more than the last 1% of the build time)
- Drill Press
- Hole Saws
- Hobart 180

Pretty much everything on this build besides the panel tabs and harness tabs were all cut by hand. Never...ever...again.

As time went on, more got cut away, and I ended up where I am now.

All in all, I couldn't be more happy

I'll try and let the pics to the talking. For a FULL build thread, I have it posted in the following:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/jeep-...ggy-build.html

http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1014366

 

I'm going to be copy-pasting a bit of it...so some of the writing might not make 100% sense

Note: This build was done in 5 or 6 different garages (I moved a bit while in college).

The rig was pristeen when I got it with 65k on the odometer, but that didn't last long!

Couple pics before the teardown:

Carnage Canyon in Boulder


Indy in Penrose




Yeah, I abused it to say the least

It looked like this after a flop on Upper Helldorado...and the body damage only continued after that day:



So now to the present...keeping up with buggys and other tubed out rigs has become quite the venture.

Specs on the build:

-HP60 from a '79 Ford F350
-14BFF from a mid '70's Chebby
-16" FOA Coilovers on all 4 Corners
-42" Iroks on 17" Black Steelies (weld on locks in the future)
-Double Ended Full Hydro
-Triangulated Four Link Rear
-Triangulated Four Link or 3 Link with Panhard Front
The list goes on...

Well last summer a buddy and I drove to nebraska to pick this up:


Whats that attatched to the front end!?


Got it all cleaned up and primed, and bottom of cover shaved to match D60:



After a bit of work and a LOT of money...voila!


Specs:
-5.38's, Detroit, RockCrusher Cover, Dedenbear Knuckles, PSC High Steer Arms, H.A.D. Forged 1350 Yoke, Alloy USA inners/outers, Warn 35 Spline Hubs...basically the only things stock left on the axle are the housing, caliper brackets, and hubs...everything else is new. :rock:

As well, a box containing some more toys arrived


P.O.S. double ended Full Hydro Setup

Well this is what it looked like after a day with the sawzall...still more to be cut off:







Got these last winter...42x14R17 Iroks with about 70% Tread

 

Well next was getting the frame rails sleeved...what a B*TCH.

Drilled out all the spot welds on the leafs hangers and the upper control arm mounts



Then got the rails all flap disc'd and cleaned up.






Had to cut some lips off the inner part of the frame rails, weld them together and clean them up...that was oh SO fun.





Once was that was all said and done...it was time to get material for sleeving. What I ended up with was...



4" x 6" x 1/4" box...

Yeah a little heavier and thicker than I would have liked to have gone, but it was cheap, and I will have a lot mounted to it, so the beef will help. Well, got to work on it cutting it in half...



Several HF grinders lost the good fight cutting that sucker in half

Driver's side fitted up





Everything will be tacked up for the time being, then I'll drop everything and weld it up fully...

Now it was time to start on my Tranny crossmember...
I've got 300ft. of 1.75" x .120" HREW to work with on this so most things will be made out of that. I won't lie, getting the logistics worked out on this thing was a nightmare, but I got it to work out.

Started with some tube, and this little sucker I whipped out



I don't have a lot of pictures of when I made this since I kept forgetting my camera, but I'll make sure to when I take it back off since much of the work can't be seen...

Crossmember:


Where bushing attaches to to bolt onto AW4 adapter:






The hex bolts on the bottom allow for the panels to be removed in order for access to the bushing bolt and adapter bolts.

 

Yeah I know many will say I should have started over with a clean body, etc. etc. but that wasn't really an option. I needed the VIN so I could drive it on the street, and I couldn't afford I new rig. I don't want to build anything else either as there are more TJ's, CJ's, etc. on one tons than one can shake a stick at, I wanted something a little more original.


Back onto the building...

I haven't worked on the Jeep in a little bit now as I'm still working on moving, but I'll at least share more of what I had gotten done.

Did some more trimming and looked at tire placement








　
　
Now onto the 4-link. I'll be going with a double-tri setup with 2.25" x .375" DOM lowers and 1.5" x .25" DOM uppers. I'll have a mix of Ballistic and Currie Joints in the 1.25" flavor on the lowers, and 7/8" ballistic uppers. Here's the numbers i will be running on the 4-link, they took me a while to get but AS goes up during bump, and drops during droop.




My workstation and mock setup. I'm using pieces of PVC for mock up arms and to make sure things work.


　
　
Started working on the frame side setup for the links. This was interesting to tackle to say the least. Started with one tube, which I then notched to move it as far back as possible to allow driveshaft clearance....and then cut away a bit more floor





　
Then I took some 3 x 3 x 3/16 and made the brackets
　
　


Added some bracing



　
　
It then occured to me one hit to where the notch in the cross tube, and i'll have a good and bent crossmember. So I added this...
　



I think that should hold up pretty well. Might be slight overkill but oh fawkin well...


Starting on the truss for the 14 bolt...

　


My first real attempt at bending tube. I will say this, bending tube is hard to repeat when you've never done it before, and notching is pain in the A$$ and can be VERY time consuming. This shouldn't be as much of a problem as I get more experienced with it.

Once I have some time I'll work on getting the rest of the links done.

 

Finishing up the 14B:

Top plate welded on...this is where the upper link mounts will be. Welding isn't the greatest like but i'll live









Oh, and dimple dies arrived!

Finishing up the truss:

 

Lower link mounts top part:





Now to my subframe rails...theres a LOT of work into these. I'll try and let pics speak for themselves. The smaller holes are the 5/8" bolt through holes for the tranny crossmember and rear four link crossmember. The bigger holes will be welded, they are all 1.5" via holesaw.













Still gotta finish the other side...about halfway done with it but it takes for fuggin ever to get it done. I had them on the frame for mockup and pulled them off for final drilling and welding.

 

Top view of the rear crossmember as its coming along





Braced the top of the link mounts for some added strength











Getting the bottom plating (1/8") started



More finished product...









Installed...





Starting on the upper link mounts....got the brackets all sketched and ready to be cut out, just have to make a steel run tomorrow.







Overall i'm pretty happy with how its turning out. I'm pretty picky with things so when they're not perfect it bothers me, but i'm accepting things not being perfectly symmetrical in areas as its hard to make them perfect with limited resources. Welds aren't as great as I would like them to be, but I just need to work on consistency a little more, haven't welded this much in a while...

 

Axle side upper link mounts halfway done, still have to get them plated...


Frame side upper mounts...really pleased with how these turned out




















Got em burned in...









Not too much flex steer





Next step is to get it rigged up and over to my place...then some more finishing such as removing all the shatty weld spatter.

 

Got some work done on the 3-link front...
Decided to make my own sheet press




Some mock up...






Frame side lower link brackets, not 100% complete



















Rear near full bump...



Then the craziest think happened...all this sheet metal and frame fell off










Oh YEAH...its really begun now

 

First off I finished up some work on the rear 4-link, so other than getting the links 100% welded the rear 4-link is DOOOONE!

"Boxed" in the upper mounts:



Well I had started work on sleeving the rest of the "frame," which to say has/was a nightmare is an understatement. I can't count the number of times I had to play cardboard mock up to get things right...and I've still got some fixing to do. I'll kinda let the pics speak for themselves as usual.

Decided to gain a little clearance on the "frame," as it would help my lower link not too hit it:




Driver's side getting done:


This is what took for-***king-ever, well at least part of it. Its a two peice sleeve for the frame rails, with the out edge being bent in my press to keep it down to two peices. I made these out of 3/16", not 1/4" like the rest of my sleeving.





Installed and connected to the frame sleeves, but not yet fully welded on.




"Finished" products...though they're not truly finished since I had to modify them more since my lower link are hitting the recessed portion as seen in a couple pics. Overall i'm satisfied with them, but not 100% happy how they turned out.








Oops...



And FINALLY...


Yeah...the tubing has some rust on it. Thats what happens when its been tarped up the best possible but sitting outside since the summer. FINALLY got it from Evans house to my place last wednesday...never would have thought it that hard to get the tube moved a whole mile

 

Got the front frame done, just need to lathe out some peices before I get the engine back on its own weight.







With winch mounted:

 

Engine mounts...



Had to turn these out on a lathe for the poly bushings I'm using for the engine mounts...I don't even want to mention how long it took me to turn 4 of these out.


Frame side upper link mount started...still need to finish it up...


Some views on how fun this link was to fit, mind you this was a basically full bump



Starting ram mock up...



And ding...done!



You can see in this picture that me ram is well...rather close to the diff cover, but something I'm willing to compromise with for better steering angles.


And finally...some rough previews of what it will look like

 

Put a little work into the panhard...its been rather interesting to get done

Frame side bracket started:
Jeep001-5.jpg?t=1271188562

The Panhard...now dubbed "the snake"
Jeep002-5.jpg?t=1271188650

 

Starting the boatsides:



But then...well..I decided toooo














































Cut the rest of the roof off and rip the rest of the dash out

Yeah, in the end I know I'll be a LOT happier. It was going to be far easier to start with a clean slate than try and get the tube to contour to a pretty beat up roof.

For the most part I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. There is still quite a bit of tubing to add (obviously).

Overall I'm happy with how its turned out, especially for my first time even remotely touching tube. All my welds aren't as good as I would like them to be (at least cosmetically), but they'll hold and I'll live with it.

Starting the A-pillar:


B-Pillar (a lot of masking tape was used in this as you'll see in pics for viewing discretion ) Couldn't decide how I wanted to run the tie in back...






Most recent:





Seat mounts: (not 100% done)


Of course I had to get things bolted up to see how it would look


This pic makes this look like it sit really far back, but it doesn't really look as dramatic in person:





Seat mounted:


The tubes that took much longer than I care to divulge (well the notching not so much the shape of a 3 plane bend). I had to start/stop a couple times on this one since my gloves wanted to nearly catch fire




So that's where it currently sits after about a months worth of on/off work. I'm only able to crank on it a few hours a night since my internship has me getting up at 5AM and not getting home till 5:30PM.

Going to try to CHUG on this thing after memorial day weekend since I will be getting a call from one of the ORI Vendors asking me for specs for the ORI's to be built to.

 

Picked up an 8 Gallon Action Packer Baja Bin, and some sweet "Swag" to go with it.





That, along with a radiator, battery, and fuel cell will all be sitting in the bed of the buggy...which I have also made a little progress on

Pics show ways i've mocked up the fuel cell and Baja Bin...









As well...its come time to start the tube work on the front...so I picked up some new parts from CertiFit to be narrowed



Hopefully I should be able to get cranking on it again after this weekend