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CJ5 wild stretch and full build (Big Booty Judy)

gt1guy said:
Looking good. Those sway bar arms look beef.

Glad there's a few people building arms right now. Now I can just copy what you guys came up with and look like a hero.:flipoff2:
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No fair! It took a lot of pondering and several changes to finally come up with something decent. Now you come along and copy my homework.

Glad it helped
 
Ok. So I may be a masochist. I went to my step daughters volleyball tournament with my wife this morning. Got home around 2 and started in on this thing again. Got all the rear suspension and brake lines reinstalled. Permanently. These are the first parts that don't have to come back out of the chassis. I'll just tape everything off when I paint the frame. Everything looked centered and plenty of clearance when I checked it again at full stuff. Sway bar end links will be 8.5c eye to eye with plenty of angle through full travel. 6" up, 17" down at ride height.
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made the nifty lille forks to drop in the rod end pockets and hold them square while i torqued them.
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a drop in for the upper end so both sides stay square
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Really nice to see some finished parts in this thing.
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Then, i thought to myself I still have some time, so lets tear the front axle out and start prepping for the regear. So I did.
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and we're back to having the front end out again
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Then this happened.
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Need to spend a lot of time cleaning up parts, but its ready for a new set of gears, fresh new knuckles, ball joints, seals, bearings, and locking hubs. 4.88s and a truetrac here we come.
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Nothing exciting today. Was able to set and install/ pattern the gears. Got lucky with the stock shims transferred over with a good pattern on the first go. Re-installed the pinion with crush sleeve/seal but had to stop because my seal kit did not come with inner axle seals. Bummer. So I set about cleaning all the other hub end parts and assembling the new knuckles with fresh ball joints. So now waiting on seals before I can finish assembly and prep for paint. But another big step forward to getting it sitting on its own weight.

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Axle seals came in last night so I started tossing this thing back together
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Ended up being really frustrated with the high steer knuckles I bought a couple years ago from ebay (my fault, fleabay, I know) but the center bore for the spindle was almost a ¼ inch too high so it wouldn't install with the axles actually installed. So then I had to tear them completely down, strip and clean the original knuckles and then rebuild and install the originals. Too far gone to return as well so on the scrap pile they went. Later, if I build a camp trailer to pull behind this thing I may ise them to build that axle so I'll have spare identical spares (spindles, etc).
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Fresh joints, bearings etc, throughout
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Everything hung for sandblast/paint
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Taped and prepped but didn't have time to blast this morning.
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my ultra ghetto setup to turn down the the rear lug studs since they were 3/4" longer than the original front studs ( I was going to buy longer ones for alloy wheels, but when I realized the rears were the right length but the wrong large end OD, I figured this would save 100 bucks. Of course they're 9/16 so they wouldn't just fit in the drill. I had to rig a little tool from some emt conduit the fit snug on the splines.
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Turned down all 16 to fit the front hubs.
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After paint, everything will be ready for final assembly under the front and I can finally get this thing sitting on rubber.
 
Got up first thing this morning, sand blasted and painted the axle and links.
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Once dried, I prepped the outer hubs, greased the bearings, installed fresh seals, and finally got to throw the hubs on. Feels like a 4wd now. Might not be the strongest hubs on the market, but damn, they look good.
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Close now......
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Then, as of 4pm, September 24th 2023, it officially sat on its own weight for the first time and is now a roller.
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Riding a little high in the front (I pushed the bumps lower) due to a clearance issue with the brake line brackets on the track bar. Hopefully fix that next weekend and drop it down fully.

Now I need to get the rear shock mount plates installed, so I can trlhrow the bare coilovers on it, put it on the lift and check clearances all drooped out. But the axles and most of everything below the frame is done.
 
Looks great. I have so many things to paint on mine. I'm thinking about making a paint booth out of a HF car port.
 
Boy did I get a bunch done on Judy today, New tie rod for the front axle, tilted the steering box and pushed it forward to make it a single piece shaft instead of some crazy two piece with a carrier bearing, cut a pocket in the frame for clearance.

Mounted the stainless dash I made so I could install the steering column.

Threw the steering wheel on for fun.

Tossed the master cylinder and brake pedal assembly in for good measure then made the steer box to tie rod crossover link. All in all an extremely productive day.
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1Sinner said:
Front bumper in progress. Found these neat little threaded inserts in 1/2" - 20. Come in useful a few times.
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Ya, those inserts are great. I've used a ton of them in different sizes. I like that they have a lot of thread engagement.

Where are you getting yours? I've been going through A&A Mfg.
 
gt1guy said:
Ya, those inserts are great. I've used a ton of them in different sizes. I like that they have a lot of thread engagement.

Where are you getting yours? I've been going through A&A Mfg.
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I believe that's where I got mine as well. No one else carried fine thread. And almost my entire rig uses fine thread bolts.
 
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