Nate's 2002 TJ, Not so simple anymore by gst95dsm

8 minute(s) of a 391 minute read

Well these are sure cute. Pretty necessary IMO. Keep all the crap out of your axle tubes and keep your nice Chromos in good shape.  

4-18-2013

Just drove the Jeep to the gym and back, and must say there is a noticeable difference in how "tight" the front end feels. I don't know if it's the JJ or just the fact that the passenger side bracket was flexing so bad, but I'll take it. My clevites looked good for their age. Happy to be able to tell a difference though. Ok now it's time to do a little suck down winch research and see if I can get serious about making something happen before Moab.

4-19-2013

Doing a little suck down research and came across this....

4-20-2013

Well I guess i'm serious about this project. haha. Picked this up for mock up, if it doesn't look like it'll work I'll return it but hopefully I can find a somewhat elegant solution that I like.  

I think this thing could live quite happily on the inside frame rail with the winch plate mounted to the frame and to the tower at a 45 degree angle. This would allow me to be able to bolt the winch to the plate easily, and also provide a perfect angle for the cable down to the pulley..... hmmm. I think the possibility of it working is so good I'm going to take out the air box and shroud to gain more access.  

Getting the frame prepped for welding on the winch plate. This is probably only an option for 4cyls, but it's looking promising.  

Ok the winch plate is tacked up and the winch is bolted to it..... looking good so far! I even put the shroud back on expecting to have to clearance it a little but It's fine. I gotta keep taking breaks it's hot outside!

Ok the winch plate is welded on, painted and the winch is bolted down. I even get to use the cute little roller fairlead. The line should be coming straight out of the winch, I'm sure the little guy will appreciate that. Now I'm off to tractor supply to see if I can round up the rest of the parts. I don't plan on doing any more welding today, but I'd like to get the parts and maybe work on some of the wiring tonight.  

Due to the angle I was at.... left is a push, right is a pull... interesting to see the difference in the beads.

Just welded the pulley to the axle, Haha..... now I just need to weld the attachment to the driver's side frame and i'll be hooked up mechanically..... then the electrical. Getting a lot further than I thought I would today.

Ok.... driver's side attachment is done.  





Sneak preview is uploading....

I hooked up power real quick for a little test.... it seemed like it sucked her down good with little effort. I haven't even shortened the cable so it's not nearly the full 2k lbs. Pretty neat looking though..... time to clean up and go to bed!  Electrical tomorrow maybe, then work out any minor issues and hopefully this will be a reliable set up, I think the angles are good.

4-21-2013

This is what I used for the pulley on the axle.... I cut most of the bottom tabs off, I just left about a 1/4in. and it set on the axle very nice.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/stor...t?cm_vc=-10005

Then I used this on the drivers side frame to attach the cable. I just ground off the zinc coating for welding.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/stor...-5000-lbs-load

Got the engine bay wiring dialed in tonight. Along with putting my air box, and shroud back on. When the dust settled I did have to trim the shroud a bit to get it sitting perfect. No big deal, just a little irritating taking it off and putting it back on to trim until I had clearance. I also cut down my winch line to about 15 feet. Seems to work well and ends up being two rolls on the drum. Seems to have plenty of power and the brake holds it steady. Now all that's left is to work out the in cab switch.  

4-23-2013

Went trailer shopping today, absolutely nauseating. I'd like to have one, sorta need one but not really, but I feel like I'm just putting off the inevitable and it would be nice to have on the Moab trip. Just can't get myself to shell out the money! I also thought I could negotiate a little on pricing......but everywhere I went to had the same line.. "we can't keep these in stock". Why can't I find a good one used??? Best OTD price I could find local was $2199 for a basic carson. Another builder had one that put the carson to shame, with more options and a wider deck for $2370. Lotta money in my world!

I just kept it simple with the switch for the suck down. It's in a good spot for me to hit it, near the shifter, near the hand throttle..... so it should work good and quick when I need it, and the switch is so low profile and firm, I'm not worried about ever accidentally hitting it.   This project is DONE!

4-27-2013

Took a little day trip to the Ocean... I may or may not have some decent gopro footage..... But it was a nice day!  

4-28-2013

Here's one gopro vid. That constant clicking is my sway bar link that I somehow forgot to secure that was dangling.... oh well, pretty cool to see how active the suspension is in that terrain.

Ok guys, first time using iMovie and actually trying to edit clips together and overlaying a song. Took an incredibly long time to upload for some reason. Oh well..... check it. Sorry it's a little boring.