Tapping the Knuckles

I've been running 3/4" chromoly heim joints on my steering for quite some time now. They just had 5/8" bolts with bushings inside. Well I decided to upgrade the bolts to 3/4". We decided to tap the knuckle to 3/4" thread with minimal loss to the knuckle strength. This also distributes the force on the bolt more evenly over more threads than just the nut. This also eliminates the slack in the steering which was due to the drivers' side tie rod bolt needing to be loose so the heim had room to work.

Of course the new bolt is too long. I'm just showing the difference in width.

Minimal loss of material from knuckle

Rock Rail Skid Plates-Final Install

David installed the passenger side yesterday. Used 3/8" countersunk bolts. Some of the areas (including the front spring hanger) needed to be reinforced so the skid plate didn't crush inward. He used some steel angle to fill in those areas.



We still need to trim this piece off. (Passenger wheel arch)

Manual Brakes-Unboxing

Purchased these yesterday. Manual brakes from Wildwood and US Brakes. This setup is designed around working when the motor isn't running. That way you still have brakes coming down a steep hill if the motor cuts out. In addition, I"m going to run two master cylinders. One for each axle. If one quits, the other will still stop.

This will allow me to remove the stock brake booster, proportioning valve, and the adjustable proportioning valve I had on the rear brakes. Basically freeing up alot of space under the hood in preperation for front shock hoops.

Rock Rail Skid Plates

Don't know what to call these. Not really boatsides, but it's the same idea. I sourced some 1/2" polycarbonate skid plates to cover the distance between the rock rails and the frame. Yes, I said frame, because I now have one.

Mitered to a 45 to keep anything from catching.



Notched out to accomodate the front spring hanger.

Front passenger side.

Traction Bar-Final Install

Wrapped around the axle to prevent the mount from busting loose.

Change the design to a high clearance design. 1.25" .120 wall DOM

Body mount. We had to push the floor pan up a bit to accomodate the height of the shackle. Gusseted across the back.

David welded a 5 " piece of DOM into the frame. Tapped it and now the shackle has something to thread into.

Soft Doors-Handles Installed

These have been put on the back burner for quite some time now. Pulled them out and David welded some crane handles on them. He also welded some 1" stock to the body to act as a stop. They work very well.

Rear Truss-The Beginning

Began the process of trussing the rear axle. Used 1.75" electric weld tubing to span the distance between spring perches. We intend on boxing in the tubing on both sides.


Something had to give. Since the traction bar was already installed and wrapped we decided to cut it out of the truss.



View from inside the right rear wheel arch.

Rock Rails-The Beginning

Raw 2x4 steel.

Mock-up.

End caps.

Another mock-up.

Struts to the newly stiffenned frame.

Pull it off to finish the welds.


I still plan to come off the 2x4 with 1.25" tubing at an upward angle running the entire length of the rail.

Traction Bar-The Beginning

Frame Mount. We had to cut the shackles down quite a bit.

Axle Mount. Cut from a d60 axle mount. David brought this down in size to match the proportions of the axle.


Design decisions.

Mock-up.

Receiver hitch grill

Built this a while back. It's proven itself quite useful during trips to the river.

Frame Stiffeners-Main Subframe

Grinding off the undercoating. We had to drop the transmition crossmember 2" to be able to slide the frame support in.


The long arm support that went here will be returned. It had to be slightly modified to accomodate the extra thickness of the subframe after adding the stiffeners.


Unlike the front and rear stiffeners, these cover both the side and the bottom. Lots of plug holes.


David behind the whip. He makes this job go a lot faster/smoother than I thought it would. Plus he has 20+ years of welding experience.


The gap between the front and side stiffeners on the driver's side.Weld it up, grind it down and you'll probably never see it again. These stiffeners were very well designed. On a side note, I have to grind down the lower control arm mounts. With the time/money being spent on the frame I def. need to clean it up a bit.

HD Offroad Engineering Frame Stiffeners-Front End

Finally we have begun to install these. David trailered the Jeep over to his garage, aka Skinny Pedal Racing. He pretty much started on it right away.

Front passenger side. The easy side, considering there was no track bar mount.


Front driver's side.


Driver's side bumper mount.


Driver's side where the two stiffeners will meet. I still have to grind down the stock lower contorl arm mounts.


Driver's side front.

Mountainside Offroad Park

What a great ride. Josh and I stayed at JJ and Angie's place. We had our own wing. We woke up saturday morning and cooked a great breakfast. People started showing up. Cliff, Ricky...familiar faces. We were already loaded up on the trailer from the day before. Josh's truck gleaming in the morning sun. That thing was amazing!
We headed to the park to meet RJ and friends. Parked the truck, headed up the hill, signed in, and proceeded to whip shitties within 5 mintues of being there. High banked turns, a race course, I was in heaven. Then we went on a trail ride around the 100 acre park. What a great place.
Carnage:
-Sliced lower radiator hose
-Sliced front right brake line
-Jammed the front bumper mounts downward from a hard landing on the ledge in the picture below.