good progress Roni!

 

Thanks.

My 4 day weekend is gone, however. Yesterday took care of that. 2 major breakdowns, leaving them 2 trucks short. Was asked what I wanted to do, since we had to work Saturday. So scrapped taking my B-day off on Friday, so I can get paid OT for Saturday. Also talk of Sunday work. So it's possible my 4 day weekend just turned into 1 day...FML

 

Thats a bummer! I guess if you look on the bright side, it's more money for other jeep stuff.

 

That's jacked up

 

man.... that sucks a lot! I know what it's like to watch your anticipated time off get shorter though. Turn over around here makes the shift's days off very unstable. You could be lookin' like you have a month of zero overtime and then someone quits and someone else takes vacation or goes on FMLA... then suddenly you have 2-3 spots to fill.

 

Lookin great in Spite of all the BS haha 👊🏻

 

Happy belated birthday! Hope they don't have you working too hard.

 

Thanks for the well wishes, guys...

Actually had 2 days off this weekend, but yesterday was some fam time, and just had to chill. Today, though, I did get some chit done.

So, the major welding is now done! Concentrated on the rear stiffeners today.

Drivers side tacked in



Passenger side clamped and tacked in





Did the stitch welding and rosettes





Random weld ****...LOL



Rosettes ground down...





Wanted to get some more done...but the damn heat. Started at 6:30am, stopped at 11. Too damn hot already. I did get the axle re-positioned in the garage, but need to crack the cover and drain the oil before I continue. Left it for next Sunday, as Saturday I have to work. So I think next Sunday, I'll get the cover off, oil out, remove the c-clips, pull the axles, and do all I can to swap the discs over, and get the rest of it cleaned up, and possibly painted. Then I can start thinking about re-assembly...

 

Awesome!

Are you doing anything additional to brace the rear against flexing? Those stiffeners just go along the sides, right? Don't cup underneath like the mid section?

 

Neither do the fronts. I'll run it. See what happens. If it's sufficient, I'll leave it. If not, I'll get some flat stock and work it. Plenty others have run this setup, and I haven't heard any complaints...

I don't recall seeing any fronts or rears that feature that, like the RS mids do. But, that was a while ago. Remember I got most of my parts more than 2 years ago, LOL

Maybe time to start designing some? LOL...in all my free time, haha

 

Yeah, me neither. The front seems to be strengthened enough with all of the assorted bracing, under the factory LCA mounts the steel is layered quite a few times, and the rails are quite tall, but south of the transmission crossmember there's only some piece of crap that the shocks bolt up to and then the rear bumper lol. What caught my attention is that a significant chunk of the plate has to be cut out for the various mounts as the frame rails make their way over the axle. I always wondered.

 

Looking good! Good thing you remembered to stitch weld them...I hope I don't get carried away when I decide to do mine, forget, get in the zone and do a solid bead. Find any soft spots or did it go pretty smooth? I think I need to buy another Jeep to DD while I tear down the XJ...but then I'm going to want to build that one too. I think I have a Jeep problem.

 

Hey Roni, is there any reason why you can't wait until all the metal and welds cool down and keep stitching until you have a solid enclosed bead? I was never really clear on that.

 

Went smoothly. Had both burned in, in about 3 hours. Trust me, you won't want to be doing a solid bead...really easy to burn through the base metal. When you get ready to do it, take your time with prep, set your machine for the thinner metal, and weld in short bursts...
I don't see why you couldn't, but I do see why I wouldn't, LOL

First off, a lot of the areas aren't really that comfortable to get to, unless you have a lift, lots of contorting and holding odd positions, a lot of overhead welding. Plus, it really isn't necessary. Stitch welds are good enough, especially with all the rosettes. Just my .02, though

 

I read somewhere that running a solid bead runs a greater risk of cracking than stiches. Something about the structure of the metal changing when heated? Does that sound right?