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EndIsNear One Ton Build

21K views 255 replies 17 participants last post by  EndIsNear 
#1 ·
I suppose its time to make a build thread to document my progress on building my ZJ one ton. Bear with me as it may take me a while to fully get it all on here since I'll be doing it from my phone. So here goes:

My ZJ is a 1993 Laredo with the 4.0L I6 and AW4 transmission, and came with the NP242 with a Dana 30 front, Dana 35 rear, which was swapped to a HP30 and Ford 8.8 before this build. She sat on a 4.5" short arm lift from Rocky Road Outfitters with their high steer kit.


I started buying and accumulating parts for my build since around September 2015. I went mostly Ruffstuff Specialties on all my linkages and specialty items like my shock tabs and such. So my parts list so far includes:

1995 Ford Dana 60 Balljoint Axle
1979 Ford Dana 60 Rear Axle
RSS 3 Link Front Kit
RSS 4 Link Triangulated Rear Kit
RSS 7/8" Heim Steering Kit
High Steer Knuckles Machined
Motive Gear 5.38 Ratio
Detroit Lockers Front and Rear
Master Install Kits from ECGS
Rear Disk Conversion Kit from Lugnut4X4
14" Travel Fox Racing Air Shocks
ECGS Hub Conversion Kit
Trailworthy Fab Double Beadlocks
DBM Frame Stiffeners
TNT Frame Stiffeners
Iron Man Motor Mounts
Hanson Offroad Front and Rear Bumpers
Yukon 1350 Yokes
Yukon Rear Chromoly Axle Shafts
Summit Racing Chromoly Outer Stub Shafts
Unknown Brand of Longside Chromoly Axle Shaft
Artec Rear Full Width Truss
 
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#3 ·
Well, after I rebuilt the top end, it was time to start prepping the axles. They were in fair shape, but it still took a ton of work to get it done. We pulled the rear Dana 60 out of a '79 Ford F350. My buddy got dibs on the kingpin, and got his other '95 Ford Dana 60 balljoint axle for a fair price. First things first, cutting all the old brackets and junk off:

Wheel Automotive tire Motor vehicle Wood Gas

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Then we stripped the spindles, hubs, etc off the axles, ground/buffed all the dirt and rust off, and got them primed.
Wheel Tire Wood Yellow Flooring

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We then began installing the Artec rear truss I needed for attaching my upper triangulated links to.
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And then got it all primed up and ready for mockup.
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But before all that, came the hard part. Since this rear axle had 30 spline axle shafts, I wanted to upgrade them to handle larger tires. So I bought 35 spline chromoly axle shafts from ECGS. But in order for them to fit, I had to bore out the spindles. Luckily, East Coast rented the tool for me to do that for a better price since I bought my axle shafts at the same time. We had to slowly drill out the spindles and we tried keeping tension on it with a ratchet strap since it gets tiring pushing for that long...
Wood Machine tool Gas Machine Auto part

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#5 ·
Finally!

'Bout time you moved all this sexy out of the chat thread and into something that can contain it properly.
 
#6 ·
Thanks guys, sorry this took so long.

So it was finally time to take the ZJ to the chop shop. My buddies have a small shop that they build out of called CBF (Country Boy Fabrication).
Tire Wheel Car Vehicle Land vehicle


I didn't want to get rid of the Hanson Offroad bumpers I had, because I like them. But I had to modify them to clear the tires and stretch she was gonna get, as well as maintain the look I was going for. So I chopped the ends of the front bumper off, and then followed the body lines for the front fender.
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Little teaser with the rims and tires I'm gonna run.
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#7 ·
Now it was time to put her in surgery in her permanent spot for a while. We backed her into a corner in the shop, leaving enough room to build, and still bend tube on the opposite side.
Tire Wheel Automotive parking light Car Land vehicle


And then the chopping began. I'm not ENTIRELY impressed with how I chopped this from the beginning, but I think with built fender wells later down the road it'll look much better. I was trying to stray away from the typical rounded style cuts.
Tire Wheel Car Vehicle Automotive tire

Tire Wheel Vehicle Car Automotive tire

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Then it was time to rip the old Ford 8.8 I had built by ECGS less than a year before.
Automotive tire Gas Wood Automotive exterior Machine


And throw the new Dana 60 rear in its place.
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#8 ·
I didn't get any pics of the mockup for the arms, but we mocked up the arms and mounts locations, and built the arms.
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So then me and my buddy began chopping the rockers. I wanted more clearance, plus we needed all the strengthening we could get. We simply followed the body line for the top side of the rocker, and cut it as close to the body as we could underneath. I then cut all the stock control arm mounts off to prepare for the long arms.
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So we put the arms on, moved the perches into the measured position, and tacked them into place.
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Definitely a lot longer than stock.
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#10 ·
So at this point, this is how she was sitting.
Tire Wheel Car Vehicle Automotive tire


I already had TNT frame stiffeners installed in my previous setup, so they provided a very solid mounting point for the lowers. But they did not wrap around the inside. And we needed structure there to support the triangulated upper control arm mounts. So we plated in about a 2' area on each side, tying it into the TNT and then the seam at the top. We cut holes and tried to get as much weld area as we could.
Motor vehicle Mode of transport Wood Gas Auto part


The upper center point on the axle was tacked into place and we mocked up the uppers and tacked the frame side mounts into place.
Motor vehicle Automotive exterior Auto part Automotive wheel system Automotive tire


Then a little flex test to check our clearances.
Aircraft Military helicopter Hood Aviation Vehicle

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And then how the arms sit with the measured vertical separation.
Automotive tire Motor vehicle Gas Engineering Bumper


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#11 ·
My buddies made a special trip to Dallas to pick up some axle shafts this dude was selling for dirt cheap. He had a new chromoly long side shaft for my front 60, and I think I bought it for like $75.

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So while they were gone, I did some of the small things I wanted done. So I painted my hubs and did some more body work on the front to clean up the look.
Tire Wheel Vehicle Automotive tire Hood

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I cut the inner fender wells out to gain clearance for the front stretch.
Tire Wheel Vehicle Car Automotive tire

Hood Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive air manifold Automotive exterior


My painted hubs and axle shafts.
Automotive tire Cylinder Gas Paint Auto part

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#13 ·
Thanks! So the ZJ's unibody needed all the help it could get, so I ordered some full length cut to fit stiffeners from DBM.
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I began by buffing off all the paint where we were gonna be welding.
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And then we used various C-clamps and hammers and got them formed to the body lines and tacked into place.
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My buddies came up with the idea of a higher clearance transmission crossmember using thick box tube and utilizing it for the front upper control arm mount as well. And then I worked in the design for the bushing to work.
Table Wood Tool Saw Gas

Tire Hood Automotive tire Tread Motor vehicle

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We gained a lot of clearance and strength with this mod. The crossmember is now straight across, and pure beef. It will also be welded to the frame for extra measure of precaution, but will be done in such a way that it can be cut off easily if need be.

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#15 ·
So after the axles were in place it was time to start the cage. This was tough but 90% done in one weekend.
Automotive tire Motor vehicle Gas Automotive exterior Rim

Vehicle Grille Hood Car Automotive lighting

Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive design Engineering Automobile repair shop

Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive tire Automotive lighting Hood

Vehicle Car Automotive parking light Hood Automotive lighting

Car Vehicle Hood Automotive lighting Automotive design


I ended up finally getting my Fox Air Shocks in the middle of the cage build, and got too excited to not put them on. So we did. We used brackets from Ruffstuff Specialties for both the axle side and shock hoop side mounts.
Musical instrument Wood Bumper Automotive exterior Art

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Automotive tire Motor vehicle Hood Bumper Automotive exterior


Then we moved back into building the cage. So far we were in it about 8-10 sticks of tube in these pics.
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#16 ·
We got the shock hoops bent for the front and then installed the shocks using the same Ruffstuff tabs from the rear.

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Then it came time to install the gears and such. In went 5.36 gears, master install kits, Detroit lockers, and new 1350 yokes for both the front and rear. And then covered with a beefy Ruffstuff differential cover with Lubelocker, and then painted up.
Motor vehicle Automotive tire Vehicle Tire Automotive exterior

Wood Motor vehicle Automotive tire Gas Automotive wheel system

Wood Gas Motor vehicle Machine Automotive tire

Automotive tire Motor vehicle Gas Rim Engineering


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#18 ·
And now I'm finally caught up to what I did last! I put together my chromoly inner and outer 35 spline shafts with Spicer U-joints, and built my shock hoop brace with tube clamps so I can remove it if necessary. I also modified both the box and bracket of the fuse box and welded it to the body. I also made a mount off the shock hoop to mount the AC accumulator. And then I installed my Moog balljoints into the machined knuckles and painted them to match the hubs!

Bicycle Automotive tire Crankset Bicycle chain Vehicle brake

Car Automotive tire Hood Motor vehicle Vehicle

Motor vehicle Automotive tire Hood Automotive design Automotive exterior

Blue Azure Wood Gas Electric blue


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#21 ·
Yeah, thats how airshocks work, they just use compressed gas to hold the vehicle up.
 
#23 ·
Currently working nights on a turnaround. So I haven't been working on the Jeep. Only thing my buddies were able to do was get the knuckles on and get it pushed out of the shop so they could work on other things. So I suppose it's officially a roller, although I haven't seen it yet myself. Will update soon when I'm off this job.

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#25 ·
Nah bud, I'm actually off nights as of a few weeks ago, but unfortunately money has slowed down for a while :/ I'll be aquiring the remainder of my parts for the time being as I can, and then throw the ZJ back in the shop and hit it all at once again. In the meantime, we're gonna start on another wheeling buddy of mine's Jeep. I'll be updating when I can. Thanks for the compliments

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#28 ·
Well, I was Blessed into a little more money. Not enough to finish, but it'll get a lot out of the way. So I ordered battery cables, since the battery is being relocated, a Trailworthy Fab fuel cell mount, a Motobilt fuel pump clamping ring, a Poly Performance nitrogen regulator fill kit, and will be ordering my Atlas II and hydro steer hopefully later this week. That should get some of the large things out of the way. Just odds and ends from there :)

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