GOLD MEMBER Build up

Whats up guys & gals?? I have 90 2wd long bed 4.0L low output (renix) Comanche. My goal is to build a highly capable off-road vehicle that is good on the road too. Ive had a trailer queen in the past, and ive learned that half the fun of wheeling is getting there. So no more trailer queens for me.

This is how it looked when i first got it.

AX-15, NP231, 8.8 w/ 4.10 LS

JUST INSTALLED AN SYE WITCH WAS EASYER TO DO THAN I THOUGHT. It took me about an hour and a half, of course the case was free from the jeep. That always helps.

HP DANA 30

While having some time to kill I thought about making some bump stops. I like the thread on here were they use hockey pucks for an adjustable bump stops. That’s pretty cool. I always try to think of how to do something cheap and easy, with out sacrificing function. I would have done this but theres not too many places that sell hockey pucks in South Carolina. So I looked around and found some scrap round stock Delran 5.75” long, perfect. I’m not quite sure how tall they need to be but I can make more shims or cut some off when its time. I made them 2.25”.

I think my bump stops are SEXY, even if they don't work. Ha Ha.

Looks like a good foundation to start.. I'm looking forward to this build because I'm working on a build to achieve similar results with the exception of the 8.8 in the rear we're pretty much on the same page..

What are your plans with having the long bed? I understand you want a highly capable truck offroad but the departure angle is not good on LWB comanche's. I'm in the same boat so I was just wondering.

Good luck man... Jeep on!

I really like the ol jeep bed but I'm afraid I'm going to have to toss it to the side. I plan on doing a tube bed. I will make it proportional to the truck and chop off the rest. I was going to shorten the wheel base but after looking at it with the bed off it doesn’t look so long. But thats kinda still up in the air. I will be listing some parts on the classifieds soon.

Once I took the old transmission out, I noticed that the main shaft was different from the ax-15. I needed a pilot bearing with an OD of 1.055” and a ID of 0.75”. After search around I come to realize that they don’t make one that size, or at least I couldn’t fine one. Pete told me that he had the same problem and used a pilot bushing out of a CJ. So I went to the local auto zone and picked one up for $3. The OD was right but the ID was 0.625 or something like that. So back to the machine shop I went.

I also have to convert the slave cylinder to an external mount. I got kind of worried about this one. But with the help of a few buddies I found a quick, easy, & reliable answer for this.

We machined it out of stainless steel then welded it to an adapter.

I finally got the pilot bearing out. Man that thing was a pain. I started off doing it with the rod but then it got stuck. So I looked some more for a puller. I finally found one. After 15 or 20 minutes of no success with it I kinda broke it. @$#!%. Now I was really hot so I packed that bearing full of grease again and I beat that rod in there like it owed me money. Then what do you know, the bearing popped right out. And its been smooth sailing ever sense then.

All the time I was spending under the jeep helped me to notice other things. Like this front exhaust pipe. This has to be watering down my already low output renix motor. Does anybody know were I can get another one pretty cheap.

I keep moving the parts closer to the jeep in hopes that they will just magically be installed when I come in the shop the next day. Yeah, well it hasn’t happen yet. But theres a first time for every thing.

I really like the ol jeep bed but I'm afraid I'm going to have to toss it to the side. I plan on doing a tube bed. I will make it proportional to the truck and chop off the rest. I was going to shorten the wheel base but after looking at it with the bed off it doesn’t look so long. But thats kinda still up in the air. I will be listing some parts on the classifieds soon.

I had at one time considered doing a "Mod Stock" type build with stock looking skins. I still have the .040 5052 bed side skins and front fenders I formed up...

--ron

Looking great, you have a really nice shop, too.

I think teamcherokee has the fron exhaust pipe for like $25.

That bed is in to good a shape not to use.

the pilot bearing can be such a pain. between mine and my friends jeeps I've spent quite a bit of time and several different methods trying to get them out.

Hey guys thanks for all the comments and input. Well I didn’t get too much done scene the last update. I slapped the ax-15 into its new home.

I was wondering what yall do for rear drive shafts. I’ve heard of people doing a TJ front driveshaft and having it shorten or lengthen witch ever you need.

Well I have finally decided to go ahead and order my springs, shocks, track bar, and control arms. I was really wanting to do my own long arms but with the amount of time you have in them and material its worth an extra hundred bucks just to order some. Plus you know what your getting is tried and true. At least I hope so. Hopefully I will get a lot of cleaning up done on the back of the jeep this weekend. I wanted to get some work done on it tonight but I had to put that aside and spend time with my old lady. Sometimes you have to do stuff like that, even though you don’t want to. :D

I didnt get too much work done on the jeep this weekend. but i am happy with what i did get done. i cleaned the snot out of the rear frame and painted it.

Well I'm still waiting on my front suspension. I ordered it two weeks ago. I called last Friday to get a tracking number and they told me that my control arms were at the powder coater, and that they would ship out on Monday. So hopefully ill get them tomorrow and ill be able to get something done this weekend! Below is a funny pic, something about it says Speedy Gonzales !! Ha Ha

:chillin:

I was wondering what yall do for rear drive shafts. I’ve heard of people doing a TJ front driveshaft and having it shorten or lengthen witch ever you need.

What I did when I first did my SYE was get a measurement and called Tom woods. Then when I truggied my rig I just had it retubed (only cause it had trail damage, otherwise it would have been just shortened).

BTW I am Jealous of the fact you have a Lathe :oops:

I made mine from a shaft I found in the junkyard driveshaft bus. I got the conversion joint to convert the joint on the axle end from the Ford to Jeep size and then cut the shaft down on the other side of the splined area to weld on the Jeep CV end. It came out pretty cheap and I learned alot by doing all the work myself. After everything was said and done I bet I probably had ~$140 into it with all brand new parts except for the tube itself, the spine and the yoke on the axle end...

Good news, my front end suspension components came in yesterday. Now we can finally get the ball rolling!! :cheers:

well crap i can't get this thing to show my pictures i have on photobucket!! what do yall use??

you can copy it and past it into your address box, but thats crap!

Good news, my front end suspension components came in yesterday. Now we can finally get the ball rolling!! :cheers:

 

well crap i can't get this thing to show my pictures i have on photobucket!! what do yall use??

 

you can copy it and past it into your address box, but thats crap!

I use picturetrail.com

Maybe photobucket is doing maintenance?

Here is your pic.

Interested to know what you think of the longarm setup. They don't have a very good reputation as being a quality product. Curious to what you think of the build quality? Not a huge fan of the design as the upper arm should be longer and mount further back to keep the axle correct during suspension cycles. The flex joint should be on the other side (poly/rubber should mount on body end). Do the mounts have any side support to them or do they just mount to the bottom of the frame rail?

Non the less, interested to see another longarmed MJ!

Thanks for posting that for me. I don’t know what’s up with it not working for me.

You know I haven’t heard much about Iron Rock. I was looking around one day and come across there site. Every thing looked pretty clean and simple. And that’s what I was looking for. I really didn’t want to get into swapping out the tranny support and all that jazz. Originally I planed on making my own aluminum long arms but after much contemplation I decided it wouldn’t be much more to just order some. And heck it would be a lot quicker. Well I was wrong about the quicker part, but that’s ok. This kit may not have “show truck flex” like every one wants to have but I think ill be satisfied. As for the build quality a lot of it looks really nice but on the control arms they could cut the ends of the tubes better. From a manufactures stand point they can cut them easy and are still functional. But from a customers stand point you always want nice clean cuts with a perfect roll of dimes (tig of course). And that always shoots the price ski high. But for what it is and what it’s to be used for I don’t see anything wrong with them. I’m pretty excited to see how they perform. I hope they have a smooth ride with the Johnny joint on the frame rail. I once had a rock krawler lift on a WJ and it was piss poor. With there little special junk joints I was able to feel every little bump in the road. I hate to say it but I didn’t even consider them this time. I have heard that they have re-designed there joints but still i get pissed when I think about it. Also there damn springs made my wj sit up like 2 inches more in the front. No offence to anyone who has there stuff. I'm sure they have come along way sense then.

By the way I was getting on here tonight to read your write up about the hood vents.

:D

I had never heard of iron rock so I took a look at their site. The arm brackets to the frame will work on the MJ? it says on their site it bolts to the factory lower control arm bracket on the XJ. Is their one for the MJ and did not see it?

This will answer your questions young grass hopper!

Try deleting everything in that line after the ".jpg" so it looks like this:

CRAP! i can't get any pics to post!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3201/273 ... db.jpg?v=0

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hmmm...the last time I went grinding with shorts on.....lets just say I hopped up really quickly!! :eek: