[Ironhead]

drove my friends tj the other day (05, auto, 1.25" BL, 1" MML, 31x10.5 goodyear SA, 3.73) and it felt super heavy. a few weeks back my jeep was the heavy one and this one felt really light while stopping. what was i thinking waiting so long to upgrade breaks. I have no doubt that my jeep has more breaking power, even w/35's vs 31's and hard top vs soft top

they really are magic

 

[Ironhead]

installed a set of 3" BDS springs for the front tonight. got the front back up to a reasonable height after adding over 150lbs on the front bumper.

5.25" between front tire and flare - 3" uptravel, 6" down
5.75" between rear tire and flare - 4.25" uptravel, 3.75" down
24.25" ground to slider
19.5" ground to frame
18.5" ground to skid

engine skid should be in on wednesday. I grabbed the aluminum one from UCF. seems like it may be time for a new radiator. 140k isnt a bad life

 

[Ironhead]

modded the stock gas tank skid so it sits up an inch higher and i was able to move my axle back about a half inch to get the wheels centered in the wheel well and didnt have the track bar rubbing

also, rebuilt my front drive shaft and its ready to install

 

[tyvanwie]

Any pictures of the GTS mod process?

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[Ironhead]

a few. just cut all the mounting brackets and welded them back on an inch lower

i smoothed out all of the welds because of the nylon tank

notched this area for added track bar clearance

hit it with some spray paint, that looks like crap because it was 34 deg out and just a torpedo heater in my garage

installed, i sprayed the cross member and diff cover while i was in there

also had to cut the tank straps and add about an inch of some mild steel scrap i had laying around. was trying to get everything done before a st pattys day party so i stopped taking pics
took some effort, but only cost me some time and some welding wire to gain an inch and let me position my axle the way i wanted

 

[Ironhead]

also got the winch mounted and motor cover replaced

 

[_KONG_]

Get the engine skid mounted up yet? I'm curious to see the clearance at the trans

 

[Ironhead]

Just got done painting the brackets. I test fit it and everything cleared nicely. Should have it up tonight or tomorrow. Also just finished moding a windstar airbox. Waiting for the rtv to dry. Then its just cutting a 3" hole

 

[Ironhead]

got the engine skid installed, rebuilt the front drive shaft, replaced the radiator, and massaged my tub a bit.

 

[tyvanwie]

Looks good.

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[Ironhead]

hit the badlands with a large group yesterday, something like 25 jeeps

finally made it up this without hitting my skid or rear control arm mounts

and it was rather muddy. i hate the mud

now its time for a good cleaning and checking on a few new noises

 

[tyvanwie]

Yeah, there's a bit of mud :laugh:

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[Ironhead]

lights got stuck on high beam last night. replaced the Left side multi-function switch and i'm back in business. did the rear pads and rotors too

 

[Ironhead]

finished my cowl induction mod. intake temps are down by quite a bit and shouldn't ever have to worry about sucking water into my engine


currently working on a rapid air down/up system with on-board air

 

[Ironhead]

exogate install

 

[Ironhead]

Dropped my gas tank to prep for the genright comp tank to go in and was reminded that i had some frame rust to take care of. dropped all of the skids and went to work. This is my first attempt at frame repair, so I have no idea if this is going to work for the long term. I do know that it will be stronger than what was there and only cost a few bucks in steel



I'm using .185" 1018 steel bars at 1.25" width to patch the frame

I drew out a rough outline around the rusted areas



then cut out the bad areas with a jig saw

I made sure I got through the thin areas and got to some thicker frame material to hold the welds

all three holes cut


Then i scraped as much of the rust as I could off the inside of the frame and fit the new patch pieces


Thats where I ended last night. I am planning on tack welding the new pieces in place and then slowly burning them in by making several short welds so I dont warp the steel in the process. then i'll grind down all of the welds to give it the more oem look. after that will be self etching primer and rust preventative flat black as well as cleaning the inside of the frame and coating it with eastwoods internal frame coating spray

 

[Ironhead]

also did some repair work to the rear part of the frame



My helper


theres a little bit of extra space between the diff and the tank now

 

[Griff1918]

Looks great

 

[Ironhead]

thanks griff

went a lot smoother than i expected, and glad i took my time and went nice and slow

 

[bobthetj03]

Nice job on repairing those rusted out areas. Jeep's solid!