[Imped]

Yeah, what are you talking about?

[fratis]

if you mount the oris on the axle in that orientation you might be galling the built in joint and putting more pressure on them then needed. looks like at ride height you have a foot and a half between tire and tubefender but only one inch potential uptravel on the ori. possible that could be a clunk-maker?

[silverjeep]

I actually have 3"-4" of uptravel on the ORIs, they were low in the photo. Love them by the way.

[silverjeep]

Well the next upgrade is going to be my rear 44. It's getting gutted and a new giant JK ring gear and pinion are getting installed with the Jantz Engineering kit. A set of 35 spline axle shafts and a spool will also be installed. A truss and some ORIs.

Why? The 39.5 inch Iroks and Trail Ready Beadlocks are calling my name. This is going to take a while.

NO, I don't want a 60 or 14bolt.

[silverjeep]

Now that it's too hot to wheel IMO in Texas I been doing a few odds and ins. I added a V support on my roll cage. I almost rolled it and started wanting to beef up some areas for more piece of mind. I have many more cage mods I want to do.

[Imped]

Load bolts? Nice.

[silverjeep]

For Fathers Day me and my family went to our usual Fathers Day run at still water ranch in Llano, Tx. We had a great time. Jeep did great but the boggers just plain SUCK on the rocks. I have some Iroks coming for the fall wheeling season. I did do some damage to the Jeep. Guess it's time to comp cut the rear and get some armor to cover up the existing wheel wells.

[silverjeep]

After the Stillwater Ranch run the jeep started to really drive rough and squeaky. I decided to spray the rubber bushings with some lube but found the rear control arms and frame brackets beat to hell. I did drive pretty hard at Stillwaters. Replacing these is long over due so I'll have to add new control arms to the list. Since my long LJ rear kept getting stuck on the large waterfalls and also slams on every single rock, I decided it's time to push the rear axle back about 5" and remove the tank from under the jeep. I'm also loosing the rear bumper that sticks out about 6" and adding a frame crossmember bumper, some savvy rear tailgate armor and a tramp stamp. This will give me a much better approach angle. I mocked up the tire to show where it would be.

You can see where I push in the rear panel below the gas filler at Stillwaters.

[silverjeep]

A buddy sold me a really cool hood louver, it's similar to the poison spider louver. This should help the engine with the heat we get here in Texas. I think it looks tough. I also cleaned the jeep up and got some poser shots. It's been a while since it been this clean.

[silverjeep]

Also worth noting. My app worked great at Stillwater Ranch. I was able to successfully trail lead a group of 8 jeeps all day simply using my app, no map. If you ever wheel at Stillwaters it's a very helpful tool.

http://itunes.apple.com/app/lets-go-...ign-mpt=uo%3D5

[LilSteve97TJ]

Are you still running stock control arms?

[silverjeep]

Ya, they are still stock. Not for much longer. I wanted to see how long they would last. 5 years isn't bad.

[silverjeep]

I finally dumped the boggers and picked up some 37" iroks. I have to say I think these look and perform much better. Plus, they are a much lighter tire. Time for some beadlocks.

[silverjeep]

Took the Jeep out for the first time with the new meats. I was wheeling about 20 minutes then I heard a clunking sound. Turned out the nut from my rear control arm fell off, which allowed the bolt to work its way out, which some how ripped the control arm bushing out, which bent the arms mount. Talk about butterfly effect. I limped back to camp and replaced the arm with a spare someone had. Bonus to running stock parts, everyone has them. I think it's time to bite the bullet and build some new arms for the rear.

I also had some trouble steering these bigger tires. A PSC hydro assist ram is on it's way. I'm going to tap the stock gearbox and run the ram similar to the Redneck ram setup. I'll post some pics.

Also had some u-joint troubles.

My 1 ton steering seems to not be as strong as I had hoped. I managed to bend both of the TRE on the passenger side. They still work but I thought these would hold up better. They are the MOOG brand.

Now for some pics of my Memorial Day wheeling weekend. The big hill climb is called I Scream Sunday and it is much steeper than the pic shows. Pro rock crawling buggies were having trouble on this thing. I only saw one person make it up.

[silverjeep]

I decided it was time to start my new rear axle build. I was looking at several options (14 bolt, d60, d70, 9in) but a great opportunity showed it's self. A club member offered me a ford 9.75 axle for FREE!!! Yes ladies and gentlemen FREE!!! I wasn't sure I was going to take it since I hadn't heard much about the axle on forums and such but after some research I found this axle to be comparable to a a D60 semi float. Some say better in some ways. (LETS NOT START A AXLE WAR HERE). Below are some specs on the axle:

http://www.fourwheeler.com/techartic...d/viewall.html

I guess the biggest downside to the axle is the C-clips but its freakin huge mother of an axle. I don't think I will have an issue with the clips. It also has disc brakes to hold the axle shaft in the tube.

The plans for the axle are:
Narrow to stock width
Shave for clearance, I think I can take 2" off the bottom. Maybe need to turn the Ring gear and will need a custom cover.
Weld the spidergears/Lincoln Lock
Yukon 4:88 gears to match my front
Truss (since the tubes are / can be a weak point)

Pics coming soon.