[Bryson]

Originally Posted by Sierra Drifter

Well its tough to weld through the paint. I follwed TnT's instructions and removed everything to bare metal in the areas they indicated. The heat from welding removes all the paint in the immediate area anyway. I guess I could have used weld-through primer. I will paint after I'm done stitch welding. I will also seal the top and bottom edges to prevent water from getting between the unibody and the stiffners.

I think he's asking why you painted the TNT stiffener, but didn't put a coat of paint on the factory unibody at the same time? But I think it's because you only took the grinder to the areas that will see welding.

However, I would have drilled some 1" holes all along the siffener before mounting them to allow for rosette welds. From an engineering standpoint, just stich welding the plates isn't going to reinforce the chassis nearly as well as doing both stich and rosettes. Just stiching the ends of the plate will simply attach it to the unibody, but using rosettes allows it to actually "become" apart of the unibody. I hope that makes sense lol. I've seen a lot of guys do this mod to those siffeners, and I'm not really sure why TNT hasn't incorporated this into the deisgn.

If I were you, I would use a 1" holesaw to drill out several places in the plate (but not the unibody) so you can get some welds in there. I'd then use a dremel or a sander to get the paint/coating off the unibody behind the plate.

You obviously don't have to do rosettes, but you'd be surprised how those simple welds will stiffen the chassis.

BTW, pics of the vette?

[Sierra Drifter]

Originally Posted by Bryson

....I would have drilled some 1" holes all along the siffener before mounting them to allow for rosette welds. From an engineering standpoint, just stich welding the plates isn't going to reinforce the chassis nearly as well as doing both stich and rosettes. Just stiching the ends of the plate will simply attach it to the unibody, but using rosettes allows it to actually "become" apart of the unibody. I hope that makes sense lol. I've seen a lot of guys do this mod to those siffeners, and I'm not really sure why TNT hasn't incorporated this into the deisgn.

If I were you, I would use a 1" holesaw to drill out several places in the plate (but not the unibody) so you can get some welds in there. I'd then use a dremel or a sander to get the paint/coating off the unibody behind the plate.

You obviously don't have to do rosettes, but you'd be surprised how those simple welds will stiffen the chassis.

BTW, pics of the vette?

"Just stiching the ends of the plate will simply attach it to the unibody... "

The stitch welds are supposed to go all the way around the top edge, the bottom, and the ends. The stitch welds from top edge to bottom edge are only about 4 inches apart, I don't know how much more strength would be gained by putting a rosette weld between them. I really dont' think the stitch welds are going to rip out.

I could add in a few, I'll give it some thought, then again I'm pretty damn lazy.

[Bryson]

yeah. It's not that stich welding it won't allow the rail to do it's job, its simply that using rosettes add torsional rigidy to the chassis. If you just stich the top and sides, the entire rail can still twist to an extent because its really only going to transfer that stress to those weld points. If you put the rosettes along the side and bottom, it will actually transfer the stress to the entire surface of the rail making it much stiffer.

[iwishihad1]

what kind of trackbar mount is that on the axle end. i saw a mention of RE but didn't see anything like that listed on their site

[Sierra Drifter]

Originally Posted by iwishihad1

what kind of trackbar mount is that on the axle end. i saw a mention of RE but didn't see anything like that listed on their site

It's a JKS over axle trackbar relocation bracket.

http://store.jksmfg.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=FAB_920_925&Store_Code=JKS01&C ategory_Code=FABParts

[Sierra Drifter]

Originally Posted by Bryson

BTW, pics of the vette?

Ok, here ya go, it's not anything special, 99 C5 Coupe, mostly stock.



I'm selling the Vette, I bought an old man's car, 745i.

[ChiliPalmer]

Originally Posted by Sierra Drifter

Ok, here ya go, it's not anything special, 99 C5 Coupe, mostly stock.

Attachment 44203
Attachment 44204

I'm selling the Vette actually, I bought an old man's car.
745i with the sport package.

Attachment 44205

I hate to sell the Vette but I have too many cars right now and my insurance is killing me.

Ooohhh, 745i - way better then that Vette in my opinion...

[Sierra Drifter]

Back to the tcase install....
I anticipated some difficulty isntalling the 241 tcase by myself. (someday I'll make a friend )
With my luck I'd drop the tcase and crush my chest.
So while I was at Kragen I saw this hydraulic lift cart hmmm... so I bought the cart.



and did this...





The cart worked perfectly, I lined it up and slid it in.



Then bolted it up and that was it.


Tomorrow I'm returning the cart.

[white_elephant]

Originally Posted by Sierra Drifter

Back to the tcase install....
I anticipated some difficulty isntalling the 241 tcase by myself. (someday I'll make a friend )
With my luck the I'd drop the tcase and crush my chest.
So while I as at Kragen I saw this hydraulic lift cart hmmm... so I bought the cart.

Attachment 44217

and did this...

Attachment 44218

Attachment 44219

The cart worked perfectly, I lined it up and slid it in.

Attachment 44220

Then bolted it up and that was it.
Attachment 44221

Tomorrow I'm returning the cart.

so the rubicon case just..bolts in? and then...just go use it and abuse it?

[Sierra Drifter]

Originally Posted by white_elephant

so the rubicon case just..bolts in? and then...just go use it and abuse it?

If you have a 23 spline output shaft on your transmission, the Ribicon transfercase will bolt right up. However, there may be issues with speedo and shift linkage. As far I as know, everything works in a 97 or newer XJ with the AW4 auto transmission. I'll know more after I hook everything up and drive it, hopefully the speedometer and 4wd dash light will work. The output yokes on the tcase are different so I will have to make some changes to my driveshafts and/or u-joints.

[bmyohn]

does it mount to the TnT Belly pan the same way. Or do you have to customize it to fit the mounting brackets? what skid did u order, the NP231 one?

[white_elephant]

Originally Posted by Sierra Drifter

If you have a 23 spline output shaft on your transmission, the Ribicon transfercase will bolt right up. However, there may be issues with speedo and shift linkage. As far I as know, everything works in a 97 or newer XJ with the AW4 auto transmission. I'll know more after I hook everything up and drive it, hopefully the speedometer and 4wd dash light will work. The output yokes on the tcase are different so I will have to make some changes to my driveshafts and/or u-joints.

i suppose all aw4 of 97 and up have the 23 spline output shaft...or is there a way to find out?

[Sierra Drifter]

Originally Posted by white_elephant

i suppose all aw4 of 97 and up have the 23 spline output shaft...or is there a way to find out?

From what I've read all 1992 and up AW4's have 23 spline output shaft. However, I believe only 1997 and up have the correct speedometer sensor connector. But, I have read that older XJ's can be adapted, it just requires that you replace the electrical connectors on the tcase.

[Sierra Drifter]

"does it mount to the TnT Belly pan the same way. Or do you have to customize it to fit the mounting brackets? what skid did u order, the NP231 one?"

Actually the t-case doesn't mount to the stock cross member or the TnT Belly pan, only the transmission actually mounts to either. I ordered the NP231 belly pan. The Rubicon t-case is larger and it does hang down just a little more, but I think at most I might have to trim the belly pan just a little. I'll find out very soon as I'm planning on installing the rest of the TnT Y-Link today.

[Bryson]

Very nice. I'll be waiting for pics