stock w/t-case drop:



2x6 3/16 wall tube cut:



top of main crossmember drilled:



bottom main drilled for socket clearance:



test fit drops drilled and sleaved:



test fit in truck and tack weld:



side plates i had cut from diamond plate:



test fit 2 side plates drilled out rail for nut and bolt tack it together:



crossmember all welded up..had to go home last night thats as far as i got:

 

Looks good n beefy. What kind of joints and what tubing do you plan to use?

 

1.75 DOM .120 wall with poly bushings

 

thats some thin tubing...

 

x2. you want 0.25 for your uppers and 0.25 for your lowers minimum. i wouldnt even hesitate one bit to run 0.375 lowers.....

 

1/8 wall tube is more than enough...to start stock we run on 16 guage stamped steel and if the tubing is good enough for nhra cage and chassis specs in a 9sec. car it's good enough for my jeep..if i bend it i'll make new ones.

 

but there is a difference. in the 9 sec car you probably do not have a span of 32"-35" of ungussetted strait tubing.

it is the length of the tubing that requires the thicker tube. The reason being with that thin wall you nail a rock in the center (and you will) it will bend. I can promise you that now. and I suggest you play safe and run atleast 0.25" minimum.

 

its not if they bend, they will bend. yeah NHRA may use it but all of there stuff is triangulated and what not. not just one long stick of it.

 

and just to reiterate some more. my short arms are 1.5"x0.25 DOM and i have gouged, slid, banged them up. and they are fine, but if it was 0.120 tubing they would have been bent already. that is with a short arm. the long arm again i would not hesitate to run 0.375 tubing. the cost difference is not that much.

 

one other really important detail..i don't have rocks..and this is for dd use ride quality and wooded trails if i were to go for rocks i would use thicker tube.

also it's 1 3/4 that was my typo

 

hey eliminator: off topic do mj's have frames or are they 1/2 unibody never had one and was just wondering i know the beds come off

 

wooded trails even still. i strongly suggest 0.25 or 0.375. you can do what you will, but please stay off the roads if you do use 0.120.

and MJ's are unibody on the cab side then go to frame rails directly after the cab

 

well i'm not gonna be one of the idiots that don't listen, i'm gonna run to my steel shop see if he has 6ft of 1/4 wall around.. i plan to build the lower arms tonight..


and as far as the MJ that would explain my confusion

 

yup. its unibody from the cab forward. and the portion that is unibody is stronger than the XJ.

 

Why stay off roads ?...it would be fine for driving just not bashing . Not advocating it but it would not be a highway safety issue.