KMA Krawlers 93 YJ Coil Conversion

KMA Krawler · 02-23-2010, 02:18 PM

This is my first write up so bare with me as I try to document my YJ Coil Conversion. Also....first off I must thank my Klub members for all of their help with this project.(thanks Krew)

I had been thinking about this conversion for some time. I do alot of rock crawling and I had problems with one or two wheels losing contact with the rocks plus the ride was rather rough. After acquiring a donor Dana 30 and 3.5 inch RE coils (thanks Rich)I was off to a good start. I ordered most all of my builder parts from Ballistic Fabrications as well as tubing for my long/mid arms(thanks Andrew).

For this build you will need pleanty of cutoff wheels, welding wire, and grinding wheels(flapper wheels work best).

Now you need to lift your jeep from the front bumper/frame to be able to remove the front axle, don't forget to place the floor jacks on the frame around the TC skid plate(Safety First). Once in the air with the front tires off the jeep, place a jack under the axle to hold the weight and remove the leaf springs and shackles. Next disconnect the steering from the axle and the drop pitman arm. Then slide the axle out form under the jeep. Next you will need to cut off the frame brackets from the frame.

(I will write more soon, I am havng problems with my computers)

**ZeroGravity** · 02-23-2010, 02:29 PM

This should be good

If you're trying to get your axles off the ground I've always found jacking from the axle itself works pretty well.

KMA Krawler · 02-23-2010, 09:52 PM

Yeah...if your working on your axle or wanting to change your tires...but I'm removing the axle so you have to lift it from the front bumper/frame.

YJ Nate · 02-24-2010, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KMA Krawler

Yeah...if your working on your axle or wanting to change your tires...but I'm removing the axle so you have to lift it from the front bumper/frame.

To each their own.
I've always found it more stable to lift from the end of the axle, remove tire, place stand under frame directly fore or aft the skid plate, lower jack, move to next tire.

So, for the front axle for example, lift axle at the front drivers wheel, place stand under frame directly in front of the skid plate, behind the front drivers spring hanger. Remove tire, lower jack, move to pass side, repeat. When you're done, you end up with your front end off the ground, no tires, on stands. Nice and stable.

ends up like this: (not the best pic.)

Anyway, not terribly important, just throwing in my 2 cents.

I almost slid my jeep into a set of shelves in the garage once lifting by the bumper with a hi-lift. So i'm very conservative when it comes to supporting my jeep by anything other than its tires. :P

KMA Krawler · 02-24-2010, 01:20 PM

I hope you guys are going to let me finish this before you critique it. The reason I was lifting from the front bumper/ frame is because I am doing a coil conversion....the jacks will be in the way of my long arms so I placed the jacks under the TC skid plate where the frame is and supported the jeep under the front bumper/frame. I am doing away with the my Dana 30 and putting in a Dana 30 from an XJ.

YJ Nate · 02-24-2010, 01:48 PM

Sorry, got carried away in my helpful nature...

Write-up away.

TSEJEEPERS · 02-24-2010, 01:51 PM

Why are you using a Dana 30 from a XJ?

bigorangeyj · 02-24-2010, 01:59 PM

^ ya i was wondering that too

YJ Nate · 02-24-2010, 02:02 PM

I'd bet for the high pinion. And no disconnect.
Need something with TJ-like coil buckets to make the swap simple, the XJ axle is very similar, but high pinion.

bigorangeyj · 02-24-2010, 02:04 PM

Ooooh. makes since, kinda what i figured too.

KMA Krawler · 02-24-2010, 07:33 PM

Thanks nate that is correct and it was free!!! I'll do more on this tomorrow. I am a firefighter and am on a 24 hour shift, when I get home tomorrow I'll post more.

YJ Nate · 02-24-2010, 07:37 PM

Looking forward to it!

Ive got a shell of a YJ in the garage that's getting built for daily driving. I'd like to put a simple reliable coil suspension under the front. This seems perfect.

Not to mention the possibility of an upgrade for my crawler.

msprooch · 02-24-2010, 07:38 PM

In,this should be good. Tag.

KMA Krawler · 02-25-2010, 07:01 PM

The first two were before pictures, the third picture was how I held up my jeep while I worked on it. I also had floor jacks back by the TC skid plate.

YJ Nate · 02-25-2010, 07:12 PM

ohhhhh you're killin me! Get into the juicy stuff!!