chaplinfj60
Well-known member
what spindles did you use? maybe i messed it
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Last Call Guest on these Group Buy Deal Items from Baja Designs
Mittnz
Resident AI Shill
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- #122
I don’t remember if I even mentioned it.
I used Grand National hubs.
Not IDEAL for off-roading/crawling, but they made the most sense.
They are super popular, many different manufacturers, and are relatively cheap (about $250 per hub assembly.)
Because they are so popular there’s a ton of info online about them, which makes the fact that a year ago I could barely even tell you how a differential worked, and now I’m building (and swapping!) axles by myself, a little easier.
They also have a ton of easy/cheap brake options. 8 on 7” rotor pattern, the hubs are designed to work with 11/12” rotors. I could have just welded the GM brackets on and used any GM brakes with the metric spacing, but, I got carried away and liked the idea of having “nicer” brakes on it.
And, most importantly (to me) they keep the same 5x5 bolt pattern as the WJ axle I put up front. Because I had bought a set of 17” wheels a few months ago, and I ordered them in 5x5, thinking I would just run adapters in the back on my C8.25, which would also help account for the fact that the WJ D30 is 4” wider than a stock XJ. But, I ended up building a whole new axle for it haha.
The GN hubs also come in 5x4.5 most commonly, so I can always switch back to original XJ bolt pattern if I ever need to.
All of the really cool “off-road” floating hub options were $2,000+ for the hubs alone. Not gonna happen!
New hubs and rotors up front, (I bought this whole axle from fl0wen) and I also got some aftermarket reman Akebono calipers, since the ones that were on it apparently have all sorts of issues. (Teves?”)
Here’s where we’re at so far:
It’s not all tightened down yet, you can see the RCV axles aren’t even in yet, I just got excited and wanted to see what it would all look like. I’m also debating moving to an actual tie rod end at the pitman end of the drag link.
My track bar and drag link are waaaaay more parallel than they were before, and I’m really hoping that this crossover steering will get rid of my giant dead spot and bump-steer that I had with the Y link. I set my phone up a while ago and took some videos of me turning lock to lock, the tie rod roll was super bad. Yes, I know it goes under the pitman arm, it's just resting there for now.
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chaplinfj60
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super cool
i am still on the path of a junk yard 9 inch for the rear. i will have a new thread starting when i get some other things out of the way. but i too picked up a rusty Cherokee to use as a giggle machine and all this cool tech your doing is playing right into my ideas. thanks
i am still on the path of a junk yard 9 inch for the rear. i will have a new thread starting when i get some other things out of the way. but i too picked up a rusty Cherokee to use as a giggle machine and all this cool tech your doing is playing right into my ideas. thanks
Mittnz
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Awesome dude, please feel free to hit me up if I can help with anything. I have no idea wtf I'm doing, but I can probably at least tell you how NOT to do it lol.
I also have a TON of spare/leftover parts. The kind that aren't worth enough to put on Marketplace and deal with answering 50 questions about something that they aren't even going to show up to pick up in the end, but that you also don't want to just throw away (I'm a bit of a hoarder especially on this project.) I'd give a lot of the stuff away for free if I knew that someone actually would use it!
chaplinfj60
Well-known member
too cool too cool. first i need to fix rust. lots of drama in the unibody frame rails and rockers / floor is gone.
picked up a 12 foot piece of 2x6 last night so there is a start. once i get it in and start getting carpet pulled i will get a thread going to document the drama. hahahahh
gt1guy
Apparently a racist
You can also get NASCAR take offs on Ebay for dirt cheap. Same hubs all the CUP teams use.
The Freeak
Pro-Crastinator
Rockwood Not sure I even answered, but Yeah, stock ish. Probably going to build a custom tank that uses ALL the space under the OEM floor. But the stock tank does fit.
Mittnz
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Updates:
WJ axle swap is finally complete*!
* with some issues lol.
I got it all hooked up, drove down the street, bad driveshaft vibration at about 25mph, as everyone expected. I brought the lower arms in a bit, got the pinion angle higher, pointed straight at the transfer case, and now I have no driveshaft vibration (so far I have only gone about 55mph though.)
But my new problem:
Coil spring is rubbing on my sway bar. What's weird is that it's only on the passenger side, and others have had the same problem but just on that side. Anyway, I suspect it's because in order to solve for pinion angle, I'm got the axle rolled so far forward, that the spring perch is also leaning forward. I should have welded the spring mounts on tilted a little bit more. It was dark by the time I got to this point, so I parked it and left it for another day. Tomorrow afternoon I'll have to play with the control arms a bit more and see if I can get it to even out. This is also with the Skyjacker 8.0" long-travel dual rate springs. These are the tallest springs that I have, just because I wanted to start there and see what problems I had. I also have 4" springs, so I may put those in and run a 1.5" spacer, bringing the front lift down to 5.5" from 8".
Ford 9" is mostly done, got brake brackets mounted on both sides, that went well. Managed to get them on perfectly at 90 degrees, etc.
I forgot that my housing is pinion centered, rather than pumpkin centered, so, whatever truss I put on for the 4-link seems like it looks weird, but it's sort of an optical illusion.
I have a couple of different truss options. This is the Ruffstuff Ford 9" truss, but I had to kind of hack it up a little bit. I'm not sure if I'll end up going with this one or not. I have some 16ga sheet metal that I might cut/fold to fill in the space between top and backbone truss.
I got a 12" Fox 2.5 coilover, just cause I wanted to be able to physically mock it up and start planning for how I want to make this happen...
More to come...
WJ axle swap is finally complete*!
* with some issues lol.
I got it all hooked up, drove down the street, bad driveshaft vibration at about 25mph, as everyone expected. I brought the lower arms in a bit, got the pinion angle higher, pointed straight at the transfer case, and now I have no driveshaft vibration (so far I have only gone about 55mph though.)
But my new problem:
Coil spring is rubbing on my sway bar. What's weird is that it's only on the passenger side, and others have had the same problem but just on that side. Anyway, I suspect it's because in order to solve for pinion angle, I'm got the axle rolled so far forward, that the spring perch is also leaning forward. I should have welded the spring mounts on tilted a little bit more. It was dark by the time I got to this point, so I parked it and left it for another day. Tomorrow afternoon I'll have to play with the control arms a bit more and see if I can get it to even out. This is also with the Skyjacker 8.0" long-travel dual rate springs. These are the tallest springs that I have, just because I wanted to start there and see what problems I had. I also have 4" springs, so I may put those in and run a 1.5" spacer, bringing the front lift down to 5.5" from 8".
Ford 9" is mostly done, got brake brackets mounted on both sides, that went well. Managed to get them on perfectly at 90 degrees, etc.
I forgot that my housing is pinion centered, rather than pumpkin centered, so, whatever truss I put on for the 4-link seems like it looks weird, but it's sort of an optical illusion.
I have a couple of different truss options. This is the Ruffstuff Ford 9" truss, but I had to kind of hack it up a little bit. I'm not sure if I'll end up going with this one or not. I have some 16ga sheet metal that I might cut/fold to fill in the space between top and backbone truss.
I got a 12" Fox 2.5 coilover, just cause I wanted to be able to physically mock it up and start planning for how I want to make this happen...
More to come...
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Mittnz
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Yep! I have already seen some pretty cool ****, and yeah, way cheaper than new. I'm looking for billet hubs, but the ones that I got (from Speedway) seem plenty strong. A lot of the Grand National stuff is more geared toward saving weight, which I don't care as much about.
Might snag these:
Mittnz
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Oh yeah my arms were just ****ed.
All better:
Dirtbound FINALLY sent my gas tank skid that I ordered almost 3 months ago. I hit it with self-etching primer, then a 2K epoxy primer, then some leftover "Gloss Black" acrylic enamel that I had. It should be called "mirror black" because it is insane even without a clear coat:
It's a little orange peely but, no one will notice when it's underneath...
We do a little a l i g n i n g:
My previous steering stabilizer (Rusty's) had like a 6.1" stroke. This is normally the default length for XJ steering stabs, and should be universal. But, it no longer works. I don't know if it's the WJ axle/tie-rod being longer, or if it's because I relocated the mounting point for it, but, it bottoms out before I can turn all the way left (or right, doesn't matter which side I put it closer to). So, I got another steering stab with an 8.1" stroke on the way, which should be fine. My steering is WAY tighter now, thanks to getting rid of the stupid crossover steering, and the terrible tie rod role with the tie rod ends that I had on there...
All better:
Dirtbound FINALLY sent my gas tank skid that I ordered almost 3 months ago. I hit it with self-etching primer, then a 2K epoxy primer, then some leftover "Gloss Black" acrylic enamel that I had. It should be called "mirror black" because it is insane even without a clear coat:
It's a little orange peely but, no one will notice when it's underneath...
We do a little a l i g n i n g:
My previous steering stabilizer (Rusty's) had like a 6.1" stroke. This is normally the default length for XJ steering stabs, and should be universal. But, it no longer works. I don't know if it's the WJ axle/tie-rod being longer, or if it's because I relocated the mounting point for it, but, it bottoms out before I can turn all the way left (or right, doesn't matter which side I put it closer to). So, I got another steering stab with an 8.1" stroke on the way, which should be fine. My steering is WAY tighter now, thanks to getting rid of the stupid crossover steering, and the terrible tie rod role with the tie rod ends that I had on there...
RunningProblem
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Just do hydro assist. It will probably work better than a stabilizer.
gt1guy
Apparently a racist
Yep! I have already seen some pretty cool ****, and yeah, way cheaper than new. I'm looking for billet hubs, but the ones that I got (from Speedway) seem plenty strong. A lot of the Grand National stuff is more geared toward saving weight, which I don't care as much about.
Might snag these:
That's great. I've actually bought a ton of parts from that seller.
gt1guy
Apparently a racist
No, I was buying other parts, mostly R07 engine stuff.
I certainly wouldn't be worried about running steel GN hubs on a wheeler though.
Mittnz
Resident AI Shill
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- #136
Been kind of slow going lately,:
Ended up just going with a Barnes “Universal” 9” truss, as it was the only thing that I could get to fit this “stamped reinforced” housing without having to hack the **** out of it. It puts the uppers at the same height as the IRO truss (that this kit/crossmember was built for) so those dimensions stay the same.
Basically all XJ 4-link setups require some exhaust modification that the manufacturers of the kits leave up to the end user (because in the end, you have to delete the cat…) The good news is that I have to smog it this month for reg anyway.
The crossmember goes RIGHT where the giant catalytic converter is, and because I am in CA, there’s really no “universal” option that is smaller. It’s funny because I’d happily use a smaller cat, but that would be illegal, so, no cat it is.
I got some 2.25” DIY exhaust mandrel bends and straight pieces, I will delete the cat as it passes over the (rear) crossmember and then it will run through a small Flowmaster FlowFX glasspack and probably dump out the side, forward of rear passenger side tire. I will have to play with it, I haven’t dealt with smog
Yet.
I was drilling into my front axle, sitting down, to relocate a steering stabilizer mount, and the drill caught and ripped me in the face. #greentoolactivities I guess…
Gonna be a few days of “you should see the other guy” jokes when I get to the office.
I’m not sure if I mentioned earlier, probably did, that I got some 2.5” 12” FOA coilovers to play with, I’m gonna get things actually working well at ride height with this WJ axle though before I start cutting irreversible holes in things.
To answer the question, before it is asked; “because they look cool.”
Edit: The dirtbound gas tank skid that I ordered 3 months ago was finally delivered about 2 weeks ago. I’m gonna coat it in raptor liner like the bumpers, but, before I do, I was playing with some metal flake stuff. Have never sprayed it before. There are runs and imperfections galore in this, but, it’s neat I guess.
Ended up just going with a Barnes “Universal” 9” truss, as it was the only thing that I could get to fit this “stamped reinforced” housing without having to hack the **** out of it. It puts the uppers at the same height as the IRO truss (that this kit/crossmember was built for) so those dimensions stay the same.
Basically all XJ 4-link setups require some exhaust modification that the manufacturers of the kits leave up to the end user (because in the end, you have to delete the cat…) The good news is that I have to smog it this month for reg anyway.
The crossmember goes RIGHT where the giant catalytic converter is, and because I am in CA, there’s really no “universal” option that is smaller. It’s funny because I’d happily use a smaller cat, but that would be illegal, so, no cat it is.
I got some 2.25” DIY exhaust mandrel bends and straight pieces, I will delete the cat as it passes over the (rear) crossmember and then it will run through a small Flowmaster FlowFX glasspack and probably dump out the side, forward of rear passenger side tire. I will have to play with it, I haven’t dealt with smog
Yet.
I was drilling into my front axle, sitting down, to relocate a steering stabilizer mount, and the drill caught and ripped me in the face. #greentoolactivities I guess…
Gonna be a few days of “you should see the other guy” jokes when I get to the office.
I’m not sure if I mentioned earlier, probably did, that I got some 2.5” 12” FOA coilovers to play with, I’m gonna get things actually working well at ride height with this WJ axle though before I start cutting irreversible holes in things.
To answer the question, before it is asked; “because they look cool.”
Edit: The dirtbound gas tank skid that I ordered 3 months ago was finally delivered about 2 weeks ago. I’m gonna coat it in raptor liner like the bumpers, but, before I do, I was playing with some metal flake stuff. Have never sprayed it before. There are runs and imperfections galore in this, but, it’s neat I guess.
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RunningProblem
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Mittnz
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Yeah, I have read a few horror stories.
I managed to find some Fox 2.5’s on sale so I may just sell the FOAs.
Can you link this video? I watched a few on YT and it seemed like it may be possible to mitigate some of their ****tiness by rebuilding them with a rebuild kit from a higher quality company?
They are the 2.5’s, not the 2.0’s if that matters. I got them for pretty cheap on fb marketplace, and I had never physically owned any coilovers to actually get my hands on and start learning about them, so, I picked them up. There are a lot of things that have to happen before I’m ready to install coilovers, so hopefully I can find some better quality in the meantime.
RunningProblem
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Pool boy
After waiting more than a year to get them, I have no complaints about the shocks themselves. Granted I did have them rebuilt using all king internals parts
Mittnz
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The guy I got them from seemed to be really knowledgeable about their history, and he showed me pics of what he said was their last rebuild. He also gave me the valve sheet.
But, he said the same thing when I mentioned that FOA’s get a bad rap for being pretty low quality, that their rebuild internals are trash, and most people will rebuild them with King/Fox/whatever parts and that pretty much takes care of it.
He was also using them on some giant Chevy truck, with a cantilever setup in the rear. He threw in a box of springs and stuff, but they are all like 500/600, waaaay too stiff for me.
Mittnz
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Anyone have any idea what this clicking/skipping could be?
It happens both directions, I didn’t notice it while driving, but notice it while parked. It almost feels like when you have air/bubbles in your power steering lines after you replace a steering box, but, that can’t be it.
It’s hard to see in the video, but I can see the tire sort of “skip” when the click happens.
Something is binding and then unloading, causing a weird skipping.
It still happens even after I disconnected the steering stabilizer.
Jacking the driver side front tire into the air, causes it to not happen. (All weight resting on passenger side tire, no noise made.)
I jiggled the driver side tire side to side and top to bottom, like you would to check for a bad wheel bearing, and it’s perfectly tight. Also these unit bearing/hubs are both brand new.
It happens both directions, I didn’t notice it while driving, but notice it while parked. It almost feels like when you have air/bubbles in your power steering lines after you replace a steering box, but, that can’t be it.
It’s hard to see in the video, but I can see the tire sort of “skip” when the click happens.
Something is binding and then unloading, causing a weird skipping.
It still happens even after I disconnected the steering stabilizer.
Jacking the driver side front tire into the air, causes it to not happen. (All weight resting on passenger side tire, no noise made.)
I jiggled the driver side tire side to side and top to bottom, like you would to check for a bad wheel bearing, and it’s perfectly tight. Also these unit bearing/hubs are both brand new.
RunningProblem
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Coil spring noises maybe?
Mittnz
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I guess it could be, but it’s not just a noise, it’s the actual tire not turning smoothly, and I can feel it in the steering wheel.
Also, taking one tire off the ground an inch would still result in the same amount of weight on the coil springs, so I don’t understand why it would stop, if it was just the coils. The coils are rubbing the frame a little bit for sure, and it is a little noisy.
Idk, I am replacing the pitman arm today because I used the wrong reamer when I did the current arm, so the TRE was sitting in there a little sloppy. I’ll diagnose further when I have **** all disconnected.
RunningProblem
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Are your ball joints or the new knuckles causing the problem?
I doubt it is the RCV doing anything.
Any way to have a neighborhoood kid sit in the seat and turn the wheels while you feel around? Maybe have a lady friend come over?
I doubt it is the RCV doing anything.
Any way to have a neighborhoood kid sit in the seat and turn the wheels while you feel around? Maybe have a lady friend come over?
Mittnz
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Damn, I have been busy lately.
Couple of updates:
Took the XJ to work (Marin County, north of San Francisco, it’s 3 hours from my place) and drove up to the top of Mt. Tam with some chicks from the graphic design department, who snagged some great pics.
Let’s see, so I finished all the automatic windows, they work great. I also put in electric locks with a $25 universal kit from Amazon, it works surprisingly well.
Couple of updates:
Took the XJ to work (Marin County, north of San Francisco, it’s 3 hours from my place) and drove up to the top of Mt. Tam with some chicks from the graphic design department, who snagged some great pics.
Let’s see, so I finished all the automatic windows, they work great. I also put in electric locks with a $25 universal kit from Amazon, it works surprisingly well.
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Mittnz
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The 4-link project had been delayed because I needed to pass smog. 3 O2 sensors later, she finally passed, with flying colors!
Since driveline stuff was on hold, I mostly had been working on the interior.
This was an unrelated project, but turned out pretty sick. Girl I work with bought a Honda Monkey, but lives at an apartment complex and didn’t have anywhere to lock it. I made this anchor to run a chain through, and brought a hammer drill to secure 4 fat concrete anchors, and smashed slightly oversized stainless ball bearings into the hex slots.
I finally got to try my hand at powder coating, and other than the part that I hung it from and scraped some of the powder off, this came out rad! I bought a Used - Very Good countertop pizza oven on Amazon for like $60, and I can PowderCoat pretty much anything smaller than 16”x10”x8”.
So, if anyone local needs anything coated, happy to do it for free!
Since driveline stuff was on hold, I mostly had been working on the interior.
This was an unrelated project, but turned out pretty sick. Girl I work with bought a Honda Monkey, but lives at an apartment complex and didn’t have anywhere to lock it. I made this anchor to run a chain through, and brought a hammer drill to secure 4 fat concrete anchors, and smashed slightly oversized stainless ball bearings into the hex slots.
I finally got to try my hand at powder coating, and other than the part that I hung it from and scraped some of the powder off, this came out rad! I bought a Used - Very Good countertop pizza oven on Amazon for like $60, and I can PowderCoat pretty much anything smaller than 16”x10”x8”.
So, if anyone local needs anything coated, happy to do it for free!
Mike Honcho
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In for pics of co worker
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