71 CJ5 build

Glad to see there is light at the end of the tunnel for this build.

You spinning donuts yet ??

She's a runner! Flowmaster exhaust for the win! It had a Magnaflow on it before and it crackled and popped horrible. I loaded it and unloaded it and drove around without brakes. I broke a bleeder off and had my cutting brake plumbed wrong so I'll fix those this week. Still have to finish my skid plate and tie up a few loose ends. The coilovers need adjusted. I just tightened the coil nuts to the top of the coils at full droop. It's sitting a little low and hitting the bumps in the front at ride height. I think I just need to adjust the preload? So still have to figure that out and get my oil pressure sensor working. Other than that I'm going to bust my ass this week and try to get down to Wind Rock on Sunday and Monday to ride for a little bit. Either way, my wife and I are taking the RZR down at least to ride with some friends that are going down Thursday through Monday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1jPV9TN_90&feature=youtu.be

wayne86 said:

She's a runner! Flowmaster exhaust for the win! It had a Magnaflow on it before and it crackled and popped horrible. I loaded it and unloaded it and drove around without brakes. I broke a bleeder off and had my cutting brake plumbed wrong so I'll fix those this week. Still have to finish my skid plate and tie up a few loose ends. The coilovers need adjusted. I just tightened the coil nuts to the top of the coils at full droop. It's sitting a little low and hitting the bumps in the front at ride height. I think I just need to adjust the preload? So still have to figure that out and get my oil pressure sensor working. Other than that I'm going to bust my ass this week and try to get down to Wind Rock on Sunday and Monday to ride for a little bit. Either way, my wife and I are taking the RZR down at least to ride with some friends that are going down Thursday through Monday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1jPV9TN_90&feature=youtu.be

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1-2" of preload and 150psi of nitrogen and see where it sits...... what ive found to work. Have you messed with the valving yet?

bbtank45 said:

1-2" of preload and 150psi of nitrogen and see where it sits...... what ive found to work. Have you messed with the valving yet?

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I went ahead and did that. We had put 150 psi in it but it was sagging still pretty bad. I went to 200 psi which (I think) is what Radflo fills them too. It's sitting good now. They have not had any revalving or anything. I would be interested in getting somebody to tune them for me down the road. At this point I just want to wheel it for a good day of riding and see how it handles before making any more changes. Only issue I can tell so far without wheeling it is that when I jump in and out it sags really hard to the driver side. I'm about 190 pounds so I would expect it to level back out. Maybe they just need broken in? This is my first experience with coilovers so I'm learning on the go (like most of the build).

I'm no expert by any means but it sounds like your spring rates might be a little light. Did you add any more preload? Also, a little driver's side sag when you get in is probably normal. Even then, it probably squats the passenger side as soon as you hit the gas anyway. By the way, great build!

Beerj said:

I'm no expert by any means but it sounds like your spring rates might be a little light. Did you add any more preload? Also, a little driver's side sag when you get in is probably normal. Even then, it probably squats the passenger side as soon as you hit the gas anyway. By the way, great build!

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Yeah, adding more preload didn't seem to help the driver side sag. Adding more Nitrogen didn't either. Woodlee sent me the spring rates based off of the weights I sent him. I am running a 14" lower and upper spring. I've seen several guys run 16" lowers and 14" uppers. My rear coilovers sat at 7" up travel with no preload, just tightening the collars down to the spring at full droop. I went ahead and added an inch of preload thinking the springs would settle a bit. The front I cranked down about two inches from zero preload and it's sitting at 7" uptravel now. If I'm reading right you don't want more than about 4" of threads showing above the collars with no pre-load. I'm at 3.5" with my added preload. So, if I had to crank them way down I'd need a 16" spring...if I'm understanding what I'm reading. I hope that all made sense. I drove it around the yard and it feels pretty decent. I also lowered my bump stop pressure to about 125 instead of 200. I was hitting the bumps before and it was riding like a log wagon. I've still got a lot to learn! Thanks for the comments and compliments. While building this thing has been fairly rewarding but mostly frustrating, I think my next rig will be professionally built by the likes of M&M or WOD. lol But, at least I can say "I built it" with the help of a few good friends.

I think the 4" of threads showing part is basically their way of indicating either too light or too short of springs. I believe 16/14 springs are the norm for 14" co's but I think even then it's really only to keep the springs from jangling at full droop. With mine (Fox's), I set them to the minimum 1/2" of preload. That sat nearly an inch high but they quickly settled right on at 7" up/down.

Beerj said:

I think the 4" of threads showing part is basically their way of indicating either too light or too short of springs. I believe 16/14 springs are the norm for 14" co's but I think even then it's really only to keep the springs from jangling at full droop. With mine (Fox's), I set them to the minimum 1/2" of preload. That sat nearly an inch high but they quickly settled right on at 7" up/down.

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I decided that the front driver side shock was the culprit of my lean and sag. I hooked the Nitrogen tank to it again and it fixed it. I was having trouble with the needle sticking the first time I filled it. Now I can climb in and it bounces back to ride height. Good to go. I just have to change the oil and load up. I'm not sure an 8 hour drive to Windrock is the best idea for a shakedown run but I think it will be good to go!

Saw your vids on Instagram, looks like it worked well for ya

The buggy worked great on it's first trip out! My brakes pretty well sucked but other than that it did everything I wanted and more.
Items to address:
Brakes: I have a two master, single pedal setup with the factory one ton calipers. I think I'm going to try half ton calipers front and rear and re-bleed the system. IF they still suck I will go down in master cylinder sizes OR look into hydroboost. I think I can squeeze a hydroboost system in it.
Trans Cooler: I mounted it under the passenger seat. While climbing the main road up the mountain at WindRock my passenger had his feet in the dash because the heat was so intense! I'm going to try to mount it under my "trunk" area between the upper links.
Trans tunnel panels: I HAVE to put some sort of heat shield behind the panels. It was almost unbearably hot especially since it was 90 degrees out. My leg brushed the tunnel a couple of times and damn near gave me first degree burns.
Spark plug wires: I need to put boots on them. One got up against the header and melted a little bit. Nothing horrible but I want the piece of mind of having them protected.
Steering: I would be open to your input on. I have a single ended ram and a CBR pump. It was hissing quite a bit. I don't know if that's normal or if I have an issue. The system is bled very well and I didn't notice any bubbles in the reservoir when it was hot. I'm using the Elixor fluid from WOD. Also, if changing the front calipers frees up some room on my reverse high steer arm I'd like to double sheer the mount where the ram bolts to it because it worked loose over the day.

Other than that I'm very happy with the machine. Can't wait to get out there again!

If you guys are on Instagram or Facebook I posted a few videos as well. Nothing too crazy. Just videos going up trail 15 at WindRock.

Couple of short videos from the weekend. The rig is working great! I lost a wheel stud and almost lost my lugnuts so I'm going to pull the hubs off and drill them out for 9/16 studs to match the rear. I also need to change my heim on the ram to a 3/4 heim instead of 9/16 so I can get a bigger bolt in there. It keeps wanting to back off and I have no good way to double shear it because the caliper is in the way. I called up Lugnut 4x4 and got a 3/4 ton caliper and rotor conversion hoping it would help my lack of brakes. It's better but not good. I need to keep trouble shooting it. Probably go to smaller masters and do a pressurized bleed so I know I have all of the air out.
https://www.facebook.com/13737614/videos/10110680508167948/
https://www.facebook.com/13737614/videos/10110680504625048/

Got any updates?

ridered3 said:

Got any updates?

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I've had it out twice. Had an absolute blast both times but my brakes still suck...BAD. I'm not real sure what to do next with the brakes. I'm about to take it to somebody and let them deal with it. Other than that I just need to start tearing it down for paint. I'm thinking about relocating the steering ram to the front and building a guard for it. Behind the axle is cool but I have to take the high steer arm off to take the brake calipers off. I think it also needs a tune. It sounded and felt a little under power on the last ride. So once I get all back together I'll get it in for a good dyno tune.
I started my own business June 1st too so I've been a little behind on getting any work done on the buggy.

wayne86 said:

I've had it out twice. Had an absolute blast both times but my brakes still suck...BAD. I'm not real sure what to do next with the brakes. I'm about to take it to somebody and let them deal with it. Other than that I just need to start tearing it down for paint. I'm thinking about relocating the steering ram to the front and building a guard for it. Behind the axle is cool but I have to take the high steer arm off to take the brake calipers off. I think it also needs a tune. It sounded and felt a little under power on the last ride. So once I get all back together I'll get it in for a good dyno tune.
I started my own business June 1st too so I've been a little behind on getting any work done on the buggy.

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Glad you are still tinkering with it whenever you have time. Bebop is a big fan of hydroboost and was talking about it some this past weekend at RBD. He'd probably be able to help tech wise on that front.

Congrats on the new business!

ridered3 said:

Glad you are still tinkering with it whenever you have time. Bebop is a big fan of hydroboost and was talking about it some this past weekend at RBD. He'd probably be able to help tech wise on that front.

Congrats on the new business!

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I'm strongly considering it too. I like the assurance of knowing I can lock them up when needed.

Saw some of your pictures from riding last weekend.

So updates on the juggy are needed in the build thread.

ridered3 said:

Saw some of your pictures from riding last weekend.

So updates on the juggy are needed in the build thread.

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Ha! I've had it out a handful of times. Hit Harlan back in March and had a blast. I came home and cleaned it up and noticed my rear upper link mounts on the frame were starting to tear off. I built new ones and tied them into the frame and cage so they are much stronger now. I went on a couple of day trips over the summer. Had a sapling or something brake my trans fan and cut one weekend short. Other than that I'm just wheeling it and having fun. We will probably go on a good trip the last weekend in October. Not sure if we'll do AOP or Harlan. They are 7 and 8.5 hours from me. Either way, after that trip it's getting torn down for paint. I'm strongly considering doing a double ended ram up front. My single ended ram behind the axle makes it hard to work on and the steering is slow when you are trying to recover from a bounce on a hill. We need to clean the wiring up a bit too. So hopefully in 2020 it will have a few minor mods and a new look. May even throw some stickies on it. :smoke:

I also wanted to add...the Hydroboost is badass! I have 100% confidence in my brakes now. I tore a front brake line in Lion's Den and crimped it shut with vise grips and zip tied it to my lower link. We probably wheeled three hours like that. Even with only three calipers grabbing it would hold still on steep inclines.