Whitesnake 3/4 ton build

[Lake_v2]

So goals for this weekend is to finalize rear end, finish lower spring buckets on front axle, and start on upper spring buckets. also strip the differentials out of the axles to start doing the gear/locker installs.

Shocks for the project will be 12" fox remote resevoirs in rear, 12" remote resevoir with compression adjusters in front.

Got the steering ram kit from poly also this week, 8" 1.5" ram, will be running that from tapped astro box.

Still need to order the heims for the steering and get rolling on that as well.

[REDxj5150]

I'll come over this saturday. PM me an address.

[Zak.Taylor]

It's looking good! Ur going to have a hell of a rig.

[Beck*A*Poo]

THANKS TO TREVOR FOR THE TREMOUNDOUS HELP TODAY.....

IT WAS NICE TO SEE CHRIS & TRAVIS TOOO............




TREVOR YOUR THE BESTEST......

[Beck*A*Poo]

So todays progress was bunch of brackets cut off , trevor is very familiar with matts grinder. The spring perches are welded in and shock mounts are half done. The lower spring buckets for the front are fully welded. Tommorow is finsihed the rear shocks and move on to welding everything onto the front axle.... So if ya'll want to stop by or give a hand or just hang out drink beer then whatever floats your boat . Will be in garage from 10am to 7 8 ish...

Oh yea i painted my bumper....

[Lake_v2]

Made some more good progress on Sunday, Aj stopped by and we fabricated the upper spring buckets, and got a lot of the thinking/planning for the front end done.

If everything goes halfway smoothly over this week and next weekend, the suspension and steering should be completely done. Which will leave brakes, drivelines, and gears.

[Lake_v2]

Random pic

[Lake_v2]

Some more progress, upper spring mounts done, then mounted front tires and did some mock up to check clearances.

lower control arms will clear tires by abount 1/4-1/2" at full lock,

Need to trim the front bumper for clearance at full lock.

The jeep is set at ride height with everything where it should be when completed,

[Lake_v2]

more

[Lake_v2]

one more

[t_long927]

lookin good man. Its been along time since there have been 4 tires on that beast.

[Beck*A*Poo]

So.... matt finished up the 3 link this weekend

[Lake_v2]

3 link

[Chicken Hawk]

It's looking good.

[Lake_v2]

finally more progress, had a hold up with parts for steering, had ordered a whole steering kit but someone in ups chain decided that the tube adapters and steering ends didnt need to be shipped. I called the company that I ordered from, they overnighted the parts that were missing and took up the issue with ups. Thanks again ECGS.

Once i got all the steering parts in, I was able to mock up the steering and check angles for the trac bar. Found I needed a 7* angle on the trac bar to match the steering angle. This was a tight fit to get the angles right.

I first mocked it up with panhard in front of axle but there was not enough room between frame and diff to get the 5" uptravel I am shooting for. Moving the panhard behind the axle made it very close to the upper link mount but was just enough room.

So the panhard is tacked in, and the axle was flexed out to check clearances, it just barely clears by about an 1/8". The panhard frame mount will be moved just a bit more to make the panhard parallel to the axle.

Anyways on with the pics, its time to brace in all the mounts, finalize the steering linkage, install the hydro assist, then on to brakes.

[Uncle Cracker]

looking bad ass dude
now,,,,,,,,,, hurry up

[Lake_v2]

for the first time in 4 months, there are no jackstands under the jeep....

and it sits level, I was stressing this moment because the measurements for the coil springs and the coil buckets was done with measure 3 times and wing it.

I had to put a bend in the panhard/trackbar to clear the upper link and also had to notch the upper link mount for clearance when the drivers side of the axle is drooped out and the passenger side is fully compressed.

I will be using the coil springs as the limit straps, found that the max droop of axle/shocks is almost even with max extension of the coil springs.

When fully compressed there is tons of clearance between the mounts and axle.

Did I mention it sits level? lol with coil springs being a semi unknown it was a big concern

[Lake_v2]

Left on to do list...

finish bracket bracing for axle side panhard

gusset axle side coil buckets/link mounts to inner c's

make bumpstops/coil guides for upper coil buckets

tap ps box for hydro

mount all steering/ram

install/hook up brake lines

install proper brake master cylinder for 4wheel disc brakes

install ebrake cables into cab for turning brakes

regear/install lockers

install front shocks/make upper shock mounts

clean and paint all parts.

[REDxj5150]

It's days like today that keep you going through these projects...

Good to see it back on solid ground. I'm excited to see that the panhard worked behind the axle.

That list of to dos is definitely getting shorter.

[Lake_v2]

steering linkage is in and welded up, need to mount the steering ram and tap the box, but made some more progress

[munepit]

Looks good. The paint on the front springs looks awesome? Someones got some skills!!



What size dem tars?

[chrisrigby]

is there any truth to the whole cross over steering hype over what you have done just running from the box to the link like normal?

[REDxj5150]

[quote="chrisrigby"]is there any truth to the whole cross over steering hype over what you have done just running from the box to the link like normal?[/quote]

I think it all depends on how drastic of an angle it is. I had a similar 1 ton set up like matt's build here on my xj for a while. I found the angle was too drastic which would cause the tie rod to roll when I turned. I had just about a quarter of steering wheel play before the wheels started turning. I added some rubber bushings that reduced the amount of roll, but it was marginally better. In fact my jeep was down right dangerous to drive, I just became very accustomed to driving it. I eventually went back to the stock Y-link steering, and matt hooked me up with a solid tierod from a v8 zj. I no longer have anything to complain about.

I'm sure matt's won't roll very much because it has a very mellow angle, and his track bar is just about the same length as the draglink which will add to the stability too.

[Lake_v2]

went to mount the hydro assist steering, welded the tabs to diff cover, put the diff cover on, checked travel.

uh new diff cover is much larger and hits the tierod... solution... torch+plate+welder hahahaha

also checked clearance again to tires and lower links, its got tons of room.

[Lake_v2]

travis is correct on the steering, with only at 10* angle on the draglink and the panhard being parallel and same length there should be no worries on bumpsteer or tie rod roll. the other helping factor is the hydro assist, the tie rod will be recieving two inputs one from the steering box and one from the ram.

If there was a steep angle on the draglink then the tbar style steering wouldnt work as well. I considered crossover there are two options on the ford axle i have to run crossover, either get the knuckle machine for highsteer arm or double stack the steering on the stock knuckle location. both of those didnt fit my needs for this build but would be needed if I had the steering steeper.