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

8 minute(s) of a 391 minute read

Haven't been messing with the Jeep much lately, I've been a little focused on picking up a new DD / Tow rig for myself. Well I went ahead and took the plunge and picked a new Ram 1500 Express. Reg. cab and stripped down, just my style but still with a 390hp V8!!! Say what! Also has MDS so the gas mileage is great for a full size truck (low 20's highway). Overall very pleased so far, but hey it's new..... this feeling never lasts! Oh yeah and for anyone else interested in this type of truck. Huntington Beach Ram sold me this truck for 18,000 OUT THE DOOR. full sticker MSRP + tax / title was 27,000 (23,000 after manufacturer 4,000 rebate). How they are willing to sell at a loss I have no idea.... but also no complaints! I highly recommend them. I tried to spend my money in my own town but they were 3800 more OTD

10-16-2012

Well crap this Ram is taking away some JEEP money..... i'm almost done. Leveled, bed liner, tow receiver, alarm...and splurged a bit on some SRT10 wheels haha.... Now just needs blacked out headlights, intake and exhaustthis thing will be just perfecto.... I hope!

11-10-2012

Got off my lazy butt today and started the coil bucket relocate. Felt VERY nice to be back in the garage working on my Jeep again. I love my new truck but there's nothing like working on my Jeep. I've got the buckets moved and re-welded. Now I just need to paint, and clean up. Also need to bring my links in about an 1/8th. Track bar still rubbing gas tank. Here's a few pics... nothing out of the ordinary here.  

I've found the thin 1/16 4" cutting wheels are pretty awesome. They made short work of cutting the buckets off. I just cut right below the weld, being careful not to get in to deep and to my surprise, even on the back side they came off quite easily and much less mangled than I had envisioned.

I had visions of these being unusable afterwards.... they really needed very little clean up to re-install.

Frame cleaned up ready to party.

Welding went well today, the insides are ugly due to it being hard to get to but I was happy with the outcome.





Threw a quick coat of paint on, it was a little cold out so it looks like crap, I'll have to redo that tomorrow.



Overall I got further than I thought I would for one day, taking it easy. Oh yeah.... since I lifted the body WAY off the frame to get to the inside welds, re-aligning it with the body mounts was probably the hardest thing I did today..... I was determined to get it done tonight and I did, just took a little ingenuity with the hammer, a tie down and the high lift. good times.

11-16-2012

It's time to make some decisions. After getting a good look at my rear suspension while modifying my coil buckets I've decided it's just not that well set up. It seems to work fine, and doesn't give me any issues wheeling but there's just a lot of bind and on paper very poor geometry. I still stand behind the R/C long arm upgrade as a GOOD stepping stone into something other than short arm suspension and an awesome choice for someone who doesn't weld and wants to install the kit themselves and get away from short arms. Having said that..... I think I'm ready to ditch that rear track bar, gain back some belly clearance and also try out a 3 link front instead of the radius arms (which have been nothing but great to me). I'm just simply curious to feel the difference between the two at this point. I'm heavily leaning towards this clayton set up... it seems to be some good stuff, and the price is within my budget. I just got to get past the "why do it, it's fine" stage.... and just do it! Looks pretty cool to me!

http://claytonoffroad.com/product_in...roducts_id/355

11-18-2012

Here's my parts list so far..... yikes! Just missing tubing and bolts... and the 3 link bridge from Clayton. I've got to trim some fat off it, but it's all the really neat stuff! After seeing all this.... the other trusses and brackets out there just don't measure up! I'm now leaning towards.... I hate to even use this term, a "MID ARM" set up. Using 1.75 .250 for links.

I need my front links shorter in order to run a higher clearance bracket like the Synergy. If I were to run the same length long arm I have now, at my lift height / bump stop amount.... the lowers would hit the frame. Right now they barely miss.  

I hope this plan actually happens. Just have to start ordering I guess.

Items

Synergy Suspension Universal Rear Axle Truss

$275.00 x = $275.00


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Synergy Suspension Universal 4-Link Frame Mount Brackets

$265.00 x = $265.00


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Synergy Suspension Universal 3-Link Frame Mount Brackets

$235.00 x = $235.00


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Forged Johnny Joints®

Selected options:
Joint Size: 1"
Thread Direction: Right Hand Thread
Add Tube Adapter: [PPM-3610-12]
Jam Nut: 1"-14 RH [FKB-SJNR16-1]

$62.95 x = $440.65


Update


Delete item

Edit options
Forged Johnny Joints®

Selected options:
Joint Size: 1"
Thread Direction: Left Hand Thread
Add Tube Adapter: [PPM-3610-12]
Jam Nut: 1"-14 LH [FKB-SJNL16-1]

$62.95 x = $440.65


Update


Delete item

Edit options


Subtotal:
$1656.30
Shipping:
$52.05
California Sales Tax 7.75%:
$128.36

Total:
$1836.71

11-20-2012

I've been thinking about my upcoming 4 link project and things just started to not make sense! I was thinking about all these pre-made brackets and link length specifically. It then occurred to me that only at 1 length would the Joints be "neutral", using mounts with a predetermined degree of angle in relation to the distance between the center line of the axle and the width of the frame. That leave me VERY little control over things. When I read build threads it seems like the link length is basically a preference, not a length based on many calculations. With pre-made brackets I don't see how you can alter the length and have the joint be neutral in the mount.  

Ok so anyways..... the "real" research has begun! I'm actually really enjoying it so far. I'm a math geek that never liked math unless it was something I was interested in. I found this: http://www.orcfab.com/tech/4link1.html And it's really helping me understand things. Here is my first drawing.



Each square is 3.75". I'm trying to be as accurate to scale as possible to get a better visual. Right now with the lower links at 8 degrees, they will be around 26.25" eye to eye using the factory lower axle mount. Vertical separation between upper and lower will be around 10.5" (a little much??) with a truss 7.5" above axle center line. Upper links around 70% the horizontal length of the lowers from the axle center line would be roughly 18.5" (horizontal length to axle center, not actual length). And if I keep 50% of the separation I would have 5.25" separation on the frame side mounts. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...... whewww. Not even gotten into frame width, axle center or degree of mounts. What I do know now though is..... I should stop thinking about this before my jeep is completely torn apart and on jack stands for a year!