Louie4's YJ by Louie4

9 minute(s) of a 411 minute read

Not sure why I keep updating this thread since it's so sporadic. I guess so I can have some kind of record.

My buddy had about 6-8 sticks of these things in his garage he's getting ready to tear down. They are very stout too weighing approximately 35 lbs each and they are galvanized on top of that. I took a couple with me to my apartment and they stayed on my deck for several months during which I got some nice trail damage on the rockers.

Anyway I'm planning on a trip to Gulches ORV in Laurens, SC and I figure I would need them so here's how it turned out.

Here's a before shot after I had set up the rockers near the jeep. I put a 2.5" x 45* bevel on the top corners for aesthetics and I think it  looks good. After looking closely I think these things are more like 5/16" thick.



As you can see there is some good bent metal under there. For backing plates I used some 2"x3"x1/4" thick steel angle of my buddies also. I cut them to 2' long so they would fit inside the tub and rest against the support bradce on the front and be near the seatbelt in the back. I also cut some 2" x 2" 1/4" plates for the front since I couldn't get the angle length was limited by the support brace. Here's some pics of the angle after I flapdisc the galvanizing off the side facing out. I was told the primer would stick better.

To get everything lined up I set the angle inside the tub and the angle on the outside (sorry no pics) clamped down with some panel style vise grips. I then drilled pilots holes with a 3/16" drill bit and I used some leftover engine assembly lube and it cut like butter.

I originally planned on putting 3/8" hardware but I found that the smallest punch and die set we had for the the punch machine at work was 17/32" so I decided on 1/2" hardware. The punch saved lots of effort in drilling the hardest part was moving the big 4' piece of angle around. I also removed the burrs on the hole edges. Then I painted it all up with flat black that my buddy had as extra.

Keep in mind I haven't spent any money thus far.

I got it all painted and was able to bolt it on last night. I used 1/2" x 1-1/2" long stainless steel bolts, flat washer, lock washer and silicon bronze nut that I borrowed from work. I also washed the jeep so I didn't have a bunch of dirt and crap in between when I bolted it down.

Here's the finished product. I think it looks great for the amount of money I have in it which is $0.

After my last wheeling trip I noticed my front shocks were spewing fluid out of the top seal. Upon inspection the seals were cracked and the piston shaft was pitted. I took the front shocks off and found they didn't have near the resistance going downward versus upward. Also one piston sank down by its own weight when I unbolted it from the upper mount. Not good. They also look like pure doo doo.

So I took my old shocks to the Summit Racing store and found out they had the same Skyjunkers for $45 each. I didn't want to put those back on so I tried to size up other ones but Summit wasn't able to do so. So I whipped out my phone and pulled up the Monroe shock catalog with all the mounting and length data and I found some Sensa Trac light truck shocks that matched what I needed. They were $25 a piece with a lifetime warranty from Autozone. I know you get what you pay for but I'm about to on a wheeling trip to SC, they are better than what I have and gas isn't getting any cheaper. On top of that Rancho, Monroe, Gabriel, etc are all made by the same company anyway. I just wasn't ready to throw down $80 a shock yet. Here it is.

I'll have them mounted this evening.

Here's some carnage pics from my recent wheeling trip at Durhamtown Plantation. This is where I noticed my shocks had crapped out on me. Oh and just for reference the rockers were after this trip. Funny how that works.

Durhamtown is mainly a quad, dirt bike place with race tracks and rental stations for the bikes and quads. The have a 4x4 section that does not allow the bikes or quads and they are making an a new 4x4 section with more rocks. Cost for entry are $25 a day and $10 a night for primitive camping. I think passengers and spectators pay $5.

Overall I wasn't very impressed with the experience. The old section was mainly mud (even though it's been dry for 2 weeks) and some hill climbs. Very few rocks. There was a little rock garden area but I wasn't that impressed. I mainly just dirtied up my jeep with mud, I figured I should get my $25 worth.

Another thing that bothered me was the new section was closed off after 1pm the day we got there. It was the one with all the rocks. Anyway I went riding there around 11:30pm because that's why I wanted to go in the first place and the security manager (who is the club leader for the ride, former club for me atleast) was wasted at the lodge and wasn't about to go out on the trails. I went up the only difficult trail called Slippery Nipple. It was 3' rock stairs up an old creek bed.

Now for some carnage pics. Actual riding pics will follow at a later date.

Here she is after getting home:

Overall my jeep took some minor beating but nothing its not used to. Here's the shocks I will be replacing soon. The top seal is shot and the shaft is pitted plus it was spewing fluid with all the bumps. I took them off and pulled it in and had a lot of resistance. I pushed it in and it was noticeably less resistant.



I overfilled my P/S reservoir and the heat spew the excess out. The levelis good now.



For some reason I thought it was a good idea to put the bolt in the tranny torque arm this way. It wasn't and as a result it was smashed. I had to cut it off and when I did the nut fell on my shoulder and burned a hole through my shirt and then my skin.



Here is a good reason to do a u-bolt flip on the back. I keep snapping these u-bolt studs off. I finally got off my butt and cut the other down to 1/8" of thread sticking out.

I'm sure this helped climb the 3' rock walls.



Found out my driveshaft yoke was hitting the exhaust hanger on the flow master. Need to get the hammer out.



My SOLID 8.8 diff cover showed up. I didn't smash any big rocks with it though...yet.



Tagged my gas tank.



I also tested my free D30 diff guard I got from a club ride raffle. Worked great!

And finally this happened about 2 miles from my apartment.