My 2-ton paperweight

[Axle]

 

[Posimoto]

Good progress

[rich]

looks wicked pissa

[j-dawg]

nice john, looks real good

[Bradman]

Haven't been on this thread in a bit. Your really beefin the out of that truck. Looking shaweat John. Nice work

[jps4jeep]

Thanks guys, still keeping an eye out for Ford 60

[Sparg93]

I had no idea where you were doing this to your truck - very nice work so far!!

I'm definitely interested to watch this shape up.

[jps4jeep]

Was able to swing over to the shop today after work for a couple hours. I cut off and moved the radius arm mounts, also was able to get the upper coil spring retainer tacked up. Tossed the springs in and started to see how things are lining up. I am very please with how it all looks. Also started mocking up the track bar, going to have to put it just behind the axle, but works out better.  I did not compress the spring a whole lot since everything is just held together with a tack weld here or there. the coil mounts are as low as I have currently trimed them to go, they can go up several inches.  if I can not get these springs to work, I also have a set of stock ZJ coils sitting in the shed if I need to try them out. The coil isolators I got from Jeff at Crown worked the nuts, thanks dude!

People like pictures.

[Bluerocket]

Are you going to be running a swaybar as well?

[jps4jeep]

Yes, stock way bar, it is in good functional shape, but the factory coating is poor, I'll wire wheel it, I had some greesable bushings that fit perfect left over from an old project. I think I can make TJ sway bar links work.

[jps4jeep]

I did more stuff.  I took pics and stuff, I am having issue with photobucket and will post pics later.

But I got the shocks and sway bars all figured out. also mocked up my steering and checks for clearance.  I was trying to avoid curring the factory cross member simply because I am lazy and didn't want to, but it appears I will have to, at a minimum, trim the old LCA mounts.

I'll get pics soon.

[jps4jeep]

Got the TRE flipped, drilled out the knuckles to 7/8 and used a set of JK 1ton TRE conversion bushings.





Tony gave me several beer to lower my inhibitions and then reamed me good..
The XJ pitman arm reamed for the 1 ton TRE

[jps4jeep]

To make the sway bar work, I flipped the sway bar upside down, and used rubicon express disconnects for a TJ. I drilled out the links to 9/16, with some clearancing to sit flush as well as keyway off the sway bar. Bolted up no problem. Then I had some old poly sway bar links from a previous project that I never used. They look like they don't fit in the pic, but the fit the nuts, I just need to tighten them up. I had to do a little clearancing and re-drilling, but they came out pretty clean.

[Axle]

 

[jps4jeep]

Got everything back into the truck and got it sitting on the suspension. This is at ride height. Then I stuck a tire into the wheel well and this is pretty much what it will look like. It sits about an inch taller in the front so I might toss some 3/4" zero rates in the rear to level it.




I finally started in on the shocks. I used some 3/4x3/4 stock to make a fake shock for mock up because those bilsteins are heavy. The shocks are 16" compressed and 26" fully extended, I set them at 20" at ride height.



Initially I tried to get the shock in front of the axle. But it would have been very tight between the sway bar links, steering, and the shock itself.