Renovation of a YJ

Damn that allot of bad welds and rust. Good job at saving another rig that could have hurt someone.

Thanks!:beer:
Yeah, there was a lot of that as it turned out...been working on getting rear shocks mounted, which has been a bit of a challenge---trying to keep the top mounts low enough to remove the body lift in the future while allowing for as much articulation as possible...It's been a challenge to say the least, but it should be good---
Got the sliders built and installed...
Moving onto the front some more-got the new steering built and installed, along with removing the winch plate only to find....you guessed it, more bad welding!:haha: removed the front tube bumper and plated the front frame horns and the existing front 2x4 .250 wall crossmember someone welded in place of the original, and fashioning some ends from .187 wall 2x4, I think it tied everything in nicely! Also got some clevis mounts built/installed for the front....still need to do these on the rear bumper. Have some pics, but need to take more of the progress to date...will post up in the next day or two...:awesomework:

I picked up a new tub today. Actually I made a deposit on it and will pick it up on Saturday. It comes with a dash and heater assembly.

I will run the current body at least for our Halloween Run and then start the process of swapping the tub, adding tube fenders, etc. My stepson, who does high end street rods and antiques, is going to put a special paint job on it, even though I pointed out that it might not last a single run. He said that if he can paint it once, he can paint it again.

When we replace the tub, we will remove the body lift which isn't needed. With the work that Kevin has done on the suspension and the removal of the body lift we will have lowered the overall height by 4", with no reduction in flex. There was a lot of unneeded height there.

Lee and I ran up to Kevin's to pick up my trailer today. Tomorrow we pick up the tub and assorted other parts.

The OME shocks arrived today. Kevin had calculated that we needed an extended length of 24", compressed length of 14" and a 10" travel with eyes at both ends. I called up ARB in Kent and they were awesome!!! I gave then the specs of what I was looking for and they dug into the books and came up with the model I needed - 60058. They had me wait until they went out to the warehouse and confirmed that the book was correct.

Kevin called back this evening to say that the shocks were everything we hoped that they would be.


The picture shows where the shocks will be. We will probably Add a leaf or so to the rear packs to account for load. We also need to work out something on bump stops.

No pics of the shock setup, but I have some of progress to that point...will upload shortly...not to mention I need to upload pics from the show-n-shine (or not so shine! :redneck

Few pics of the finished sliders/bumpers...also some re-enforcement plating at the back of the frame in front of the rear bumper---note in previous pics there were hooks bolted on thru the frame...no sleeves, just crushed the frame back there about .5"...all better now! :awesomework:

Pic of the finished steering...couple more of the sliders....Keep in md, the reason for the space between the body and the sliders, as well as the rear shock placement, is for the future removal of the body lift when the new tub goes on it...

We gave up on the idea of using the sliders and bumper for air tanks. I have a cousin who is a brilliant mechanical engineer. I sent the specs to him and the answer came back that there wasn't enough safety factor to use the sliders or the rear bumper. I will stick with the existing air tank.

looks alot better:awesomework:

I actually did pick up the tub today. It is as clean as I remembered. Ended up negotiating with my wife as to what color we are going to have the tub painted. It is going to be some variation on black.

Got a chance drive the rig a bit today at Kevin's place. What a change from when I dropped it off there!!!

Few pics of the rear shock setup...it's dialed. Also took out the overloads in the S-10 pack, and swapped them for the 3 bottom leaves from the old pack...it's now a 6 leaf pack. Doing this raised the rear 5/8" at the rear bumper corners (perfect for comesating for being loaded for the trail)... axlewrap is very minimal in 2wd, and almost non-existent in 4wd==sweetness... And yeah, almost couldn't get him outta the seat this afternoon! (and not just because he's old :haha.....Sorry about the winch! :redneck:

The winch Kevin is talking about is the one is set in place in the shop to show fitment. However, we both forgot it was there. He made a couple of relatively high speed passes up and down the drive. He then started to drive again and the winch fell off. DUH!!!

jimpaget said:

The winch Kevin is talking about is the one is set in place in the shop to show fitment. However, we both forgot it was there. He made a couple of relatively high speed passes up and down the drive. He then started to drive again and the winch fell off. DUH!!!

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Weeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......BANG!..............Whooopsey! (it was when I stopped rather quickly when it slipped off....) :redneck:
Oh, and if anyone out there has a grey driver's side sunvisor for a YJ, please hit me up...I kinda fuggered up the one on the new tub with the tractor...:booo:

zukkev said:

Weeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......BANG!..............Whooopsey! (it was when I stopped rather quickly when it slipped off....) :redneck:
Oh, and if anyone out there has a grey driver's side sunvisor for a YJ, please hit me up...I kinda fuggered up the one on the new tub with the tractor...:booo:

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I know exactly what your talking about with the winch, I watched you set it there.... that's a bummer.:booo:

Should of called and I could of braught out the crane for the tub.....
:haha:

I actually removed it after you were over---then put it back up there yesterday to show Jim...then forgot! :haha:.... O well, it still works, I think! :redneck:

Ordered new tires and wheels today - BFG KM2s in 37/17.

Bump stops showed up today (well, yesterday! :redneck...NEED those tires so I can get these puppies on! :cheer:

Came down with a nasty cold/24hr flu thing this weekend---didn't get much done; but today, feeling a little better, I managed to get the bump stop mounting brackets cut/drilled...yup you guessed it, frame extensions are square tube! :redneck:
Pics coming tomorrow...

zukkev said:

Came down with a nasty cold/24hr flu thing this weekend---didn't get much done; but today, feeling a little better, I managed to get the bump stop mounting brackets cut/drilled...yup you guessed it, frame extensions are square tube! :redneck:
Pics coming tomorrow...

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I love it........:haha::haha::cheer:

Looking good. :awesomework: