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"Flirtin' with Disaster"

16K views 127 replies 29 participants last post by  ThomasYJ 
#1 ·
Note: This started out as a SOA Ton swap and some cloaks/armor. It has spiralled into the misadventures of a full on tear down & rebuild/LS-NV4500 swap.

JF has been a huge resource for me in the past. It played a large roll in learning the intricacies of Jeeps. Guess I thought it would be a good idea to put up a build thread in the hopes it might help someone else out there. The purpose of this build is to create a tank, essentially. Not so much the M1 Abrams type but more a well-rounded performer (mud/rock/snow/camping/cruising) that will shrug off some beatings while providing the foundation for expansion down the road. How easily that comes to fruition remains to be seen, so stay tuned.

BACK STORY:

Bought my Jeep around SEP08 off CL from a fairly well off couple in TX who intended to use it as a "beach toy" but found it didn't have the space they wanted after loading it up with their stuff, so it sat in the garage. Bone stock except for some worn 31's and a front bumper put on by a PO.



Returned from one of my deployments and threw some money at it. Rubicon Express 4.5 HD, Adv. Adapters SYE, ProComp MX-6 shocks & 31x10.5 Pro Comp Xtreme Terrains. (I figured they were a good all around performer since it would mostly be seeing street use at the time. I was wrong, they're terrible. Everywhere.)






Then life happened: Installed the "wife-mod" in MAY '10, got out of the military the following September, and subsequently had that marriage fall apart. Go figure lol :rolleyes: I removed the wife-mod towards the end of 2011. :wave: "Bye Felicia."

Long story short, a split Tcase, and a fragged D35 and I swapped in one from an '88. While it was a bolt in replacement, it was SIGNIFICANTLY heavier, and more stout than the factory. Anticanman helped me out on here. Stayed that way for a few years and performed well enough.



Fast forward to the day after New Year's 2013, I told civilian life to kick rocks and re-enlisted into a different branch. It sat in a storage unit all buttoned up for about two and half years while I was completing the training pipeline for my new career.

That's the gist of its past, now on to the present.

Mobility
-Outboard front springs and shocks
-SOA- RE 1.5 Springs EDIT (28MAR20): Swapped out RE springs for Waggy's F & R
-Crossover Steering (Chassis Unlimited)
-Repair/ Refurb axles and install
-Traction Bar (RuffStuff)
-Establish Drivelines
-TIRES: 37x13.5x17 Toyo MT
-WHEELS: 17x9 Steelies w/ 3.75" BS
-LOCKER: Front: Lock right / Rear: TrueTrac

Up-Armor and Recovery
-FRONT: Arched Tube Cloaks
-REAR: Poison Spyder
-SLIDERS: Poison Spyder
-BUMPER: Front / Rear: KD Fabworks
-WINCH: 9500lb w/ syn line
-OBA: A/C Compressor, ~2.5G tank and req'd fittings
-ACC: Taurus Fan, CB/PA, Gauges/Dash, 6x9 Driving Lights

Re-Power
-ENGINE: 5.3 LM7
--MODS: CompCam XR259HR, Cowl intake
-TRANS: NV4500

A '91 Ford KP D60 and a '96 Sterling 10.25 w/ discs are in various stages of dis-assembly in my garage. A lot of the reading I had done prior to starting this suggested that I should get the '79 due to the diff being more towards the center and the spring perches only being ~.5" wider per side than some of the other years. I spent some time looking for the '79 variant, but all the ones I found were way too expensive.
Something that was pointed out about the later model D60 was that by out-boarding the springs I could take advantage of the cast in perch and have the benefit of the diff being closer to the frame rail and not as close to the oil pan.

I found the Sterling first. Loaded it into my Explorer and lugged it home. Took me and 2 buddies to drag it out.



The 60
It had been sitting for a bit, definitely needs some cleaning... to say the least. :brickwall






Axle comparison


Metal Cloaks showed up



Took me a while to figure how this mess came apart, but eventually I started making some progress. Got the 60 and Sterling broken down for the most part. Suffice it to say the 10.25's got some issues that need to be addressed.

Took this right before I pulled the shafts.. BEEFY


Now, onto my problem child. Evidently, this axle has been like the village bicycle. Remnants of different perches adorn this lovely chunk of metal. Also, one or more of its former owners appear to have gone full retard. :nono:

Problem 1: There are small holes burned through the tube. I know they go through because gear oil was seeping out of them.
Potential problem 2: Some idiot went ham with God knows what and appears to have dug pretty well into the tube.

Proposed Solution: I was told on here, I think, to just burn in the holes and gaps until its sealed up and then grind down the excess until its flush(-ish).
Can anyone Confirm or contradict that?



09MAR2015
After messing around trying to knock the lower king pins loose I got fed up and put the cut off wheel to the knuckles and just cut the F***ers off. Should have done that from the start. It took like 5-10 minutes, seriously. If anyone is ever taking the knuckles off and not going to re-use them, spare yourself some heartache and cut them off.

In other news: OBA pieces have been accumulating.
- A/C Compressor
- Air tank from Ebay
- 3/4-3/8 reducers
- Snazzy manifold from Pnuemadyne
- check valve
- Fogger
- Oil/water Filter
- Gauge
- 175 PSI Relief Valve
- ViAir 120 on/150 off Pressure switch. 1/8 NPT

Other Purchases:
Reid Knuckles: 702.40 w/ S+H
Blue Torch Lower KP: 217.37 w S+H
This Hi- Steer setup with Bronze Reid KP Bushings and a drop pitman arm: 695.97 w S+H
THIS outboard kit for the front springs & some shock tubes from Ruff Stuff.
So, it's on to new brake calipers front and rear.

Sorry for lack of pics, my phone kicked the bucket on friday.. had to add that to the list of purchases as well :brickwall
 
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17
#5 ·
Chopped Knuckles:


U-Bolt Idea
Stock:




Flipped:


The theory, is that I'd stack a plate on top of the stock one for the nuts to clamp down on to.
EDIT: Decided to go the flipped route but won't be stacking the plate (what was I thinking :rolleyes: )

Got the Pig wire wheeled fairly well, took a lot of the grime and surface rust right off. Some of was almost 1/4" in some spots!
Took the grind wheel to the Sterling to work on some of that disaster. I counted remnants of 4... FOUR different sets of perches that have been on this thing at one point or another. Shenanigans.

What's the best way to put a race back in? wood block and a hammer orr.....
 
#8 ·
There's a shop down the road from me that said they'd be able to press the inner C race in. Hubs and lower kingpins came in a couple days ago. Got 3 of my RE 1.5 springs delivered yesterday. Pack job was ****, one box was completely torn open. But I suppose that's what I get for ordering from amazon.
Got 98% of the brackets taken off the Sterling, just have to get the holes filled in.
Sold off the hard top, swapped on a flip top and traded my full doors for some halfs. I'll upload some pictures when I get home.
 
#10 ·
I run the same front axle.

If you intend on tying-in the hysteer arms to the Reid arms (via a 3/4" grade 8 bolt & sleeve), you may wish to reconsider the hysteer arms you mentioned earlier since they are not designed to be used in that fashion.

You may want to consider the Artec Ultimate arms instead. They can be machined to your specs as far as steering arm attachment location(s) etc.

I'm talking about these:



Partially installed - no tie-in bolt yet





Double sheer tie-in bolt & sleeve installed:




Doing it this way not only adds serious strength - it adds a means to tie-in hydro assist easier down the road.

There's a bunch of other stuff I addressed - but this should give you something to consider as far as steering is concerned.
 
#12 ·
Nate (owner of Artec) will drill/machine the arms to your specs. Basically let him know what your goals are & he'll do his magic to the arms.

I drilled the "extra" hole in each arm so that I could attach a 3/4" grade 8 bolt & sleeve between the Artec arm & the stock Ford steering arm forged in the knuckle.

Since you'll be running Reid knuckles - you'll be able to go with 5 flat top bolts (I can only run 4 since I run stock knuckles). Plus with the Reid knuckle you can still add the tie-in arm 3/4" bolt if you wanted to. This adds serious strength & superior load spreading to the knuckles & also to the steering system since it spreads the load across the top of the knuckle & the forged steering arm.

Plus, like I mentioned earlier - if you go with either hydro assist steering or full hydro steering - its easier to attach the ram(s) to the knuckles with the "extra" bolt & sleeve being there & again, the load is spread better.

Here's a few pics of a hydro assist steering system we designed & installed in a friends Rockjock HPD60. Not exactly what I referring to but close. Take note of how the ram is tied-into the knuckles hysteer arm & Currie arm.

I built all the tie-in components from scratch (all brackets, steering links, mounts, sleeves, hydro lines, tracbar, swaybar mounts & links etc). This was no easy task figuring out the geometry from scratch. :laugh:




 
#13 ·
Oh, almost forgot.....if you do decide to run the Artec Ultimate arms, they stick out towards the wheels further than a "standard" arm would. What this means is you would need to be a little more selective on wheel backspacing.


IIRC my Walker Evans beadlocks have ~5.5" BS and I have ~1/4" to spare between the wheels & hysteer arms.
 
#14 ·
#17 ·
Thanks guys.
MamboDave, I appreciate the compliment but I'll be straight with you, I'm just a "new" guy learning as I go along. I went into this with next to zero experience with axles. Only thing I had done in relation to this was the rear end swap mentioned earlier. Just spent weeks, OK months, trying to glean as much info as possible from other threads.

Should hopefully have a pretty substantial update in the next few days.

So, I've got the knuckle, caliper bracket and spindle bolted together. And I've got an idea/question that I need sanity checked real quick:
Is there anything that would preclude me from installing the locking hubs into the rotor assembly so that the whole thing can be slid over the stub shafts at which point the lower king pins and upper steering arms can be installed?

OH and Joe, as per the whole steering arm issue, I've decided skip the hi steer, for now, and attach the tie rods to the arm on the knuckle itself.

Pics to come Gents, stay tuned! :popCorn:
 
#19 ·
As promised, an Update. BE ADVISED: PICTURE HEAVY.

I'm at the point right now where I'm waiting for my F/R Lockers to come in along with some other goodies from Off Road Design (ORD). Highly recommend them! Talked to Steve on the phone and he was very knowledgeable, great to work with, and hooked me up with everything I needed. About 5 minutes ago the Yukon 5.13 R&P for the 60 showed up on my doorstep.

Got new diff covers painted up from Ballistic Fab and Chassis Unltd (F/R Respectively)
Straight outta the box:

Mocked in place

Painted up

Rear out of box


Painted



Some in progress shots of grinding off all the old brackets etc that are obsolete.





Going to finish priming and painting the Sterling this weekend.

Finally decided which front bumper to use. Took forever to find something that I liked, was rugged enough for my tastes and that I could justify paying for. Enter KD Fabworks. I had never heard of them before this but I have to say, I like what they are doing and their packaging job is spot on.
Taken from their website

What showed up at my house





Got the Reid knuckles and bronze KP bushings in as well. I hate to say it, but getting those from Ballistic fabworks was a freakin NIGHTMARE. They took about a month, if not a little over, to show up. I tried calling them more times than I can remember, gotta be close to a dozen, trying to figure out what was going on. Initially I just wanted an update because very little information was sent after placing the order. When looking for reviews (post-order :brickwall) I found that MANY people have had similar problems, which can be found on FB. It was at this point that I decided to cut my losses. I called repeatedly to get a hold of ANYONE so I could cancel my order, ask for a refund and get the knuckles from another source. I was hung up on mid ring a few times. It wasn't until I DID get someone on the phone and explained my situation and intentions was an effort made to rectify. At this point they did a fair job of redeeming themselves, to an extent. End result was free 2 day air delivery to my door. First one showed up in good shape, second was a little banged up (pics below), but still serviceable.
Number 1


Number 2 Sorry for any blurriness


Scuffs and Rust on the machined surface


 
#20 ·
Oh, also had these show up :teehee::cheers:

Those are half tread 33's I traded my buddy for (he needed my 31's more than I did)


Thicc

33x10.5R15 Vs 37x13.5R17




Steering kit from Chassis Unlimited. Of note, it comes with KP spring eliminator High Steer Arms, 2x 4.5' .25" DOM, 3/4T Chevy TRE's etc.



The Peanut Butter is to make sure the TRE's stay put.

1/2" 3/8 NPT air hose for OBA, wanna say 25'


Knuckles, caliper bracket, and spindle assembled with hub and rotor assembly put together










I think that's all the pics I have. Monday I'll be taking the jeep in to get some welding, gear and brake work done. They'll be installing an anti-wrap bar I also got from Ruffstuff. After I get it home I'll be swapping in a Master Cylinder from a 2000 Dodge 2500. And then moving on to installing the front cloaks, setting up the OBA and re-doing some of the interior.
 
#26 ·
>2 weeks overdue for an update. The F and R axles are in and the steering is set up!! Waiting on drive shafts and brake lines to be made up. For those reading who don't already know, the low and long pinion of the Sterling presents some challenges for setting up a drive line. The axle has already been rotated up pretty high but the angle is still stupid steep because it's so short. Down the road I'll probably switch to waggy springs to kick it back a bit but for right now I'm gonna hold what I got. Mechanic said I might get a little vibe but it shouldn't preclude me from driving it on the road.







I freakin love it. It's sitting pretty tall and I'm Really diggin the wide stance. I'm about 6' and the top of the hood comes up around my chest. Can't wait to drive this thing again. I almost don't want to take the front fenders off... Just something about it. But I didn't pay all that damn money for a set of cloaks to not put them on!! :nuts:

ALSO.. I bought a rear diff cover from Chassis Unlimited and I was told that it doesn't fit. As in the ring gear is hitting the cover. Has anyone ever used one of their covers before and run into this issue?
 
#27 ·
UPDATE!!!! It's finally back from the shop!!!

















Runs and drives like butter!! Speedo's about 20mph off though lol. Brakes are mush.. pedal almost bottoms out before I get any braking action but I AM able to stop. I'll solve that by swapping in a 99+ Ram 2500 MC and gutting the prop valve. There's a thread on Pirate with the details. Suuuper stoked to have this thing up and running again.

I've gotta tow it up to PA in a couple days where I'll have to part with it again for a short period of time while I make the move out to WA. Once I get stabilized out there I'll arrange shipping and have it brought out.

The remaining things to be done with the parts I have:
Cloaks
Light bar and lights
Headlight relay mod
E-fan
'04 intake and snorkel
Front bumper and winch
Rear Tire carrier (have to acquire)
Fix radiator (leaking from the drain valve, I think)

I THINK that's it for now. If anyone has any questions, I'll try to check back on here to answer them!

:cheers2:
 
#28 ·
Noticed a gremlin rearing it's head. Surprise surprise!!

Been getting a cough/sputter/ backfire under load in 3-5 gear. Started out as what felt like a dead spot in the power band and then would clear up a bit; but it's gotten progressively more pronounced. Happens right around 2k rpms in 3rd gear. I can take 2nd all the way to 4k (rev limited from the MSD) without too much of an issue. Although as I sit here thinking about it Something does seem a bit "... Off" when I do it. Can't pick out anything audibly, spidey senses I guess....

Immediate google/JF searches link it to a faulty Crank Position Sensor. One thing that makes me skeptical is that this issue was nonexistent prior to working on it and it is popping up just as it's being driven again after not really running for 4 months. I did put about a half tank of new fuel in after the install so I'm ruling out bad fuel. Filter is relatively new, maybe only a few years old and not that many miles albeit lots of storage time. Thoughts?

On another note, prior to starting the build I had disconnected the wire going to the E brake because IIRC there was some slop in the pedal or something and it was making the light come on even though it was disengaged. Lifting up slightly on the pedal would make the light go out. Now the damn BRAKE light stays on all the time. So my question to you all is: How do I turn this fu**ing light out...?
 
#29 ·
The "brake" light that comes on when you engage the e-brake will stay on if your actual brake system needs bleeding. It's sort of like a dual purpose light, it tells you when the e-brake is engaged, and also alerts you to brake problems. With the jeep running, pump the brakes a bunch and see if the light goes out.
Once you get the brakes bled properly it should turn off.

Sweet build btw. Sub'd.
 
#30 ·
The "brake" light that comes on when you engage the e-brake will stay on if your actual brake system needs bleeding. It's sort of like a dual purpose light, it tells you when the e-brake is engaged, and also alerts you to brake problems. With the jeep running, pump the brakes a bunch and see if the light goes out.
Once you get the brakes bled properly it should turn off.

Sweet build btw. Sub'd.
Really? Never heard of that before, I'll have to give it a try! Thanks for the input and the compliment! Oh, and welcome to the forum!:cheers2:
 
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