[dell2028]

So many people ask about SOA and what it takes. Martin already did a parts list and everyone can search about what is really needed. There are some who say it can be done “on the cheap”. I bought my Jeep (95 2.5L w/ a 3”BL) about 2 months after I got out of college. So the first thing I do is an Aussie Locker. I research about the BL and want to take that off. I had to add 2” lift shackles to barely clear the tires. After a quick read about SOA and moving the perches over the axle gets you 5.5 – 6” of lift I was sold. Being on a budget and everything this sounded like the way to go. I talked to some guys in my local Jeep club and one agreed to help me do it. He told me we could do it in a Saturday and should be able to get by under 300 dollars.

I started prep Friday and to make a long story short it took all weekend to get the front done. Drove it around with only the front lifted for about 3 days then did the rear in an evening, a late evening, but an evening. Keep in mind, traction bar wasn’t done no steering correction and the stock shocks were still on the Jeep. Well, it didn’t steer the greatest. I didn’t have bump steer, but I hear a lot of people do without correcting the steering. I guess I got lucky and the homemade perches were just high enough to keep the drag link out of harms way. The brake lines were removed from the frame to keep from tearing they were so short.

Keep in mind that I had only been doing this for 6 months and I had no idea what I was doing or how dangerous it was to have it on the street. I had to drop the transfer case because I had the stock driveshaft. I was on a budget after all. I bought a straight adjustable bar off a guy on ebay. He called it a traction bar and I took his word for it. I bought a welder and made some brackets and welded on the axle tube and on the body. Got the mounts on and it really didn’t solve the problem of a rolling axle because I didn’t research it. I can think of at least five times off the top of my head that I braked hard, not even slammed on, and the pinion rolled so much the driveshaft came out of the transfer case. Of course all the ATF in the transfer case same along with it. Obviously this was not the safest thing in the world and I wasn’t really happy with it.

I figured the SYE and driveshaft were things that should be addressed first. After more quick reading I found the RE Hack n Tap. The idea of cutting off the output shaft and placing a flange on there was written about all over the internet with mixed reviews. I heard enough positive things, about the first one was all it took at the time, and went searching for it. The kit for a YJ was about the same as a full on SYE. Well this is no good since I’m on a budget. And its not fair the kit for a TJ is under a hundred. Miffed I began to search where all good Jeepers search, Ebay. Finally won one off a guy that had removed this from his Cherokee. I got it in the mail and started figuring my plan to solve the issue of the stock driveshaft. I read about how to make your own driveshaft from an XJ front and went with it. First I was looking for any driveshaft that might fit without modification. Thought I had found one off a CJ on Ebay, of course. Got it in the mail. Went to the driveshaft shop and got the flange that mate to the RE flange. Had gotten an XJ shaft and was going to add the CV joint to the CJ shaft. Got it all bolted to the Jeep and took it for a ride and guess what happened. I made it about 20 feet when I heard a nice wack wack wack noise. Turns out, the joint needs to be limited or it flops all around, which is why Spicer puts the other end of the CV shaft on the CV shaft. So I cut down the XJ shaft down and got the thing under the Jeep. Success. Or so I think. I had no 4WD, but 2WD worked fine. I had to place shims under the leaf springs to correct the pinion angle. This all worked alright until I noticed a lot of noise from the transfer case. I tried to adjust the linkage and ultimately had to take out the transfer case.

Up until this point is a perfect picture of how NOT to do things. Please shreek, laugh, and tell you friends about it. I don’t want anyone else to make the same mistakes I made in my do it cheap and quick attitude. I made a lot of mistakes to this point and hear about people trying to do this cheap and just sigh because I know the heart-ache that awaits by taking the line I took. From this point on I got smart did much more research and put the money into the rig that it needed to finish this project.

When I pulled the transfer case I found the forks for the transfer case had chewed themselves to pieces because the pads had been worn away, probably from improper lubrication from when the driveshaft came out. Forcing the forks into 4WD positions and improper linkage adjustment only made the problem worse. Thought about getting new forks and everything, but thought about the potential damage that had happened with the gears inside it and decided to get a new NP231 replacement. There was a guy who had a Reman NP231 in town and I got it for a 100 dollars. Thought I was going to have to swap input shafts, but got lucky and didn’t. At this point I had commited to doing this right even if it wasn’t easy. So instead of throwing the NP231 back in the Jeep I waited until I could get the SYE for it. I installed the SYE and made sure things were smoothly and put it back in the Jeep. Driveshaft I had made, which was probably the best job of fabbing I had done at that point, was still alright so I was finally about to drive my Jeep around again.

One additional point that needs mentioning is that having a DD and a toy is nice for this type of project. I had another car to ride to work by the time I had gotten here and could work on the project like I needed to.

I got an 8.8 from an 84 F-150 when I was still in cheap mode because, an axle is an axle. I did get a tremendous deal, under 10 dollars, and it worked out alright for me even now, but I’m really lucky it did. I bought gears for it and the D30 under the Jeep. I had never done a gear install, but heard to take it slow and have the right tools. It took a while due to other events, but I got the gears in the axle and the axle under the Jeep. Instead of going to homemade perches and cheap u-bolts I used parts from Ruffstuff, very nice and thick material. Looks so much better than the cheap stuff I had before. There was no point in having the old brake lines at this point because I came to realize this was a big problem. I ordered extended stainless brake lines. I got some steel tube to make a real traction bar as well as link parts to properly mount the bar to the axle.

Next, I pulled the D30 which still had stock steering and swapped the gears on it. The gear swap was much easier after doing it once. I ordered the BTF crossover steering arm for the D30 and some 1.5” x 0.25 wall tubing for steering links. Also needed link parts, mounting hardware, and 9/16 and 5/8 drill bits for holes to fit the heim joint hardware.

After all of this I have learned quite a bit about safety and how not to do an SOA lift. I have also learned that the do it right the first time attitude is the way to go. My point to writing this is to show others that the cheap way is not the best. Hopefully this will be a sticky topic and others will see it as a reminder the cheap way is not always the best way. When you read about someone trying it, it sounds like they aren’t thinking clearly. You get out of something what you put into it. I love my Jeep and I’m stretching it soon. I’ll be using BTF rockers, comp corners, and rear stretch bumper. I’m also getting new RE 1.5” SOA leaves and new HD XJ springs for the rear as well as a 19 gallon RCI fuel cell. Here is a list of the parts I used and some ideas about how much each should cost. Also is a list of what I used to start and the Hack n Tap I used in the middle.

Origonal SOA Parts List Cost
Homemade Perches 30
Shocks 120
Transfer Case Drop 20
Straight POS Traction Bar 45
Hack and Tap 80
TJ Housings 100
Seals 15
Replacement shocks 25


New SOA Parts List
Ruffstuff Perches 65
Shocks 120
Brake Lines 100
**** SYE 175
XJ Driveshaft 50
Ruff Stuff U-Bolts 100
Ruffstuff U-Bolt Plates 60
Traction Bar Homemade 20
BTF Steering Bracket 150
Traction Bar Link Parts 60
Draglink and Tie Rod 1.5x0.25 DOM 65
Link Parts for Steering 170
Ford 8.8 200
Gears and install kits 400
Misc Fluids, Spray Paint, etc 100
Posi Lock 100

[Tomb Raider]

With all of what you typed, one thing comes to mind.




If you had not done it the way you did.....you would ultimately learned less. Take pride in...while it was not exactly the best way to do it....it was in fact the most educational. Now you know things you didn't beforehand, and you can build on those, and help to keep others informed. Guess now you can say...."Been there, done that." It's good to see that you learned from your experiences. While I find I screw up alot....I also realize, I'm learning from them at the same time. Keep up the good work.


-Scott

[98formulaLS1]

can we see some pics of this rig now?

[BlackRhino]

That's crazy. I've been thinking abort doing a SOA conversion, I'm glad I read that. I probably won't be doing it for a while though.

[dell2028]

Originally Posted by Tomb Raider

With all of what you typed, one thing comes to mind.




If you had not done it the way you did.....you would ultimately learned less. Take pride in...while it was not exactly the best way to do it....it was in fact the most educational. Now you know things you didn't beforehand, and you can build on those, and help to keep others informed. Guess now you can say...."Been there, done that." It's good to see that you learned from your experiences. While I find I screw up alot....I also realize, I'm learning from them at the same time. Keep up the good work.


-Scott

I feel the same way about learning as I went. I know its a long post, but its worth the read for those interested in going SOA.

BlackRhino That's crazy. I've been thinking abort doing a SOA conversion, I'm glad I read that. I probably won't be doing it for a while though.

One thing I don't want people to think is that this wasn't worth it. The flex I get out of this now is just crazy. I want people to know what it is they are getting themselves into before they start.

[BlackRhino]

Originally Posted by Canadian89yj

still doesnt cost as much as that should cause theres axle swap in that list, soa has nothing to do with ford 8.8, most money spent on you soa is on 8.8 and the 8.8 has nothing to do with a soa... you can use a dana 35 with soa and still have to done properly for cheaper, jeez

So don't add the $200 he had listed for an 8.8. What's your problem?

Originally Posted by dell2028

One thing I don't want people to think is that this wasn't worth it. The flex I get out of this now is just crazy. I want people to know what it is they are getting themselves into before they start.

Oh I know it's worth it, that's why I'm still planning on doing it.

[dell2028]

Originally Posted by Canadian89yj

still doesnt cost as much as that should cause theres axle swap in that list, soa has nothing to do with ford 8.8, most money spent on you soa is on 8.8 and the 8.8 has nothing to do with a soa... you can use a dana 35 with soa and still have to done properly for cheaper, jeez

That is a good point. Didn't take long for someone to throw that in there. You do not HAVE to upgrade axles to do SOA. However, I have taken it out with the D35 and stock gears with the 35 Pit Bulls. I was so scared I was gonna break a shaft or shear a ring and pinion. As far as money spent, I got the 8.8 for less than 10 bucks which is a huge deal and no one should count on being able to find one that cheap. The price in the list is an estimate for an average 8.8 from what I have seen. Might be more, might be less. Only other thing for the 8.8 was the gears ~200 (rear axle only) and locker (~100). To me and for most, its well worth it to feel more secure in what you have.

One thing I left out was when I went to River Rock with it it still had the D35 in the rear with the homemade perches. I'll have to post some pics of how those perches faired without a traction bar. Then show the new perches. Well worth it. I would have had to get new perches anyway after finding that.

[dell2028]

Originally Posted by BlackRhino

Oh I know it's worth it, that's why I'm still planning on doing it.

Great, don't want to get people to not do an SOA, just to be prepared for what goes into it. When you think you know everything, read some more.

[rustywrangler]

Originally Posted by Canadian89yj

still doesnt cost as much as that should cause theres axle swap in that list, soa has nothing to do with ford 8.8, most money spent on you soa is on 8.8 and the 8.8 has nothing to do with a soa... you can use a dana 35 with soa and still have to done properly for cheaper, jeez

Here we go again....

[rustywrangler]

Originally Posted by dell2028

I feel the same way about learning as I went. I know its a long post, but its worth the read for those interested in going SOA.

One thing I don't want people to think is that this wasn't worth it. The flex I get out of this now is just crazy. I want people to know what it is they are getting themselves into before they start.

Very good read man. Learned a few new things myself by reading what you went thru.

Waitin for the pics.

[dell2028]

At the moment I'm working on finishing up the front. Bracket is on just need to drill and tap holes. Hopefully I can get some time to get in bolted back together this weekend and take some pics to go with the tread.

[crb577]

i have seen SOA done on the cheap and it's just not worth it. this idea has been thrown around many different times by multiple IMO very good sources on here as leftlanetruckin, tombraider, joe dillard, etc... I know it may be expensive as many of my friends have found out. But, it's worth it to do it right and safe than to have a rig that performs as the op has found out.

I'm glad to see people that I know and you have figured out do things right and share you experiences to help people that are researching this exact topic because many people want to do it but don't realize exactly what is involved in this process. an unsafe rig with any driver = unsafe anywhere whether it's on the trails or on the road. That's why forums like this exist and also google so that people can share their own experiences to help other people.

This is a very good thread to have started and I have learned a lot from experience as well as from this thread. Happy wheeling

[leftlanetruckin]

good job on the learning experience!

at least you had the common sence to know what you did wrong, and are man enough to admit it, in public no less!

again congrats, thats what its all about, screwing up and learning from it...well done mate!

martin
ps, canadian89yj, have a look at mean90yj's signature.....there is a saying in there that is very pertinant to yourself...

[rustywrangler]

Originally Posted by leftlanetruckin

ps, canadian89yj, have a look at mean90yj's signature.....there is a saying in there that is very pertinant to yourself...

[leftlanetruckin]

Originally Posted by rustywrangler

i assume you know the phrase i am reffering to then huh?