Jeep buildup...day by day steps

[ford381stroker]

Steering started to go and the Hi/Low started not working so Nylint said they would send me the new Chassis. Now i can start modding this one til I get the good one.

Mods on this page as follows: (with pics)

Cut tabs (more flex)
Trimmed Wishbone (more flex)
Inboard Shocks (more flex)
Tummy Tuck (more ground clearance)

narrowed wheels (more ground clearance)
1" control arm lift (more flex)
bedliner paint job



Above---pic of the mounting bracket I made for the front. Some metal I purchased at Lowe's. Cut it with some aircraft snips and bent it with some pliers and vise grips. Drilled holes with the Makita and wallah.. With the flex I was getting the shocks were seperating so I built the bracket to drop them about 3/4 inch or so.



Pic of the rear bracket I fabbed up. Same metal I purchased at Lowe's. $6.78 for a 24" x 36" 26 guage metal. I used the existing mounting hardware from the Crawler. There were existing mounting holes in between the shock mounts so I used them for the bracket to mount to.



I cut all 4 tabs off below the Blue Fabtech Wishbones. Took my Dremel and sanded them down smooth. I then unscrewed the blue wishbones from the center support bar (blue bar in the middle of the wishbones with 3 screws on each side). I noticed that the blue center support bar that pivots doesn't pivot all the way. It was hitting something. I looked further and noticed that the axle housing has a bump stop molded into it directly underneath the support bar on both sides of the rear axle. I took my drill with a small drill bit and just drilled it out and then used the dremel to smooth the insides so the center support bar will flex both ways and actually touch the axle housing.



Here is a pic of the paint I just put on today. I purchased some Dupont Truck Spray on Bedliner. I sprayed the cage and body. Put it together quick so I could take pics. I will make the cage and the rock sliders this week. I will take pics and have them up by Friday.



Well guys...did some more work on it tonight. LOOK BELOW. I built some brackets for the Fabtech Rear Wishbone that gave me NEAR 90 Degree articulation. (SEE PIC)
I unbolted the wishbone and found out that if you relocate the Fabtech arms above the pivot bar then you get much more articulation. I have enclosed some pics. Check them out cause with this you can see that you don't have to Four Link to have Flex. The only thing holding me up now is the body. Sucks I just painted it cause now I need to bob it.



If people are interested I can take closer pics of the brackets. Another cool thing is you can stretch your wheelbase easily ..... just unscrew with a drill and slide either way.



Just did my tummy tuck this evening and here is the first pic. The results are good. My undercarriage is almost flush with the body. Only do this mod if you are going to Wal-Mart and going to purchase the Fast and Furious battery.




The next pic shows the flex you can get with the mods I have done so far.



This next pic shows the tummy tuck and the drop brackets I made for my fabtech arms. Metal from Lowe's and some screws and bolts I had laying around and I am getting close to being done.



Got done with the tummy tuck and wheel paint. Still gonna do some more painting though. Here it is as of tonight.



Did something else today. I found a way to narrow the wheels. I disassembled them to put them in the dishwasher before painting them.

NARROWED WHEELS:::::

I pulled the center plastic support out of the tire then bolted the gray back of the wheel on backwards. The tire footprint is large when it flexes. The tire won't come off of the beadlock no matter how hard I tried. Here are the pics. You actually gain @1/2 " taller tire.

[BigYellaJeep]

Details of the TT? I've already done one, but just curious.

Great job btw.

[Dana44]

To much black! :eek:

I like the flex, I cut the tabs out, but my shocks kept on coming apart

[ford381stroker]

For the tummy tuck I used my Dremmel I got for my wedding gift. I cut off exactly 2" from the base of the truck.



I can post pics of the boards and battery if need be. All the tummy tucks I saw on here were not drastic enough for me. I went very close to the control arms. I wanted lots of clearance. Right now the bottom of the belly is even with the stock sliders.

[1MUTCJ7]

Could you post pics of how you mounted the battery and boards? I want to do this, but I don't want to get into cutting the body to make it all fit.

[ford381stroker]

Here is a pic of the Jeep tonight. I bobbed the tail. I also created the lift L brackets for the front. Now having the lift for the front and the back has created the flex you see here.





Here is a pic of the Jeep this evening. Did some painting etc.

[Dana44]

That is crazy flex.

[Got Rocks?]

how does the tire mod work it looks pretty sweet

[ford381stroker]

tire mod works well indoors. I haven't used it on my rock pile yet. Will this week. I will definately let you know. I have a mod I am working on for steel beadlock rings. Keep Watching.

[ford381stroker]

[SlammedMini469]

looks like you have to much flex

it looks sweet though!

[ford381stroker]

Built my front control arms tonight. Started building my rear ones also. Had to build a new front shock mount because my old one wasn't low enough. My springs wanted to pull apart. Doing this actually lifted the front of my jeep @ 1/2 inch.




Built my front bumper also. Need to grind down the welds and the seems. Wanted to shoot it quick and get a pic. Still needs to be mounted properly too.

[Wookie3100]

you said you got 1/2 inch out of the tires when you narrowed them. Me and my roomate zack just narrowed one of his tires yet there was barly any difference in hight.

[zach3713]

Not only was there no difference in height, the inner beadlock won't seal. It's just flimsy....can you get us some pics please? Or describe a little bit better how you accomplished this?

[ford381stroker]

Finally finished the rear control arms. I also decided to build a full center section skid plate. Turned out good. Mounted the on/off switch right at the top of the side skid.







Following is a pic of me going out and playing this afternoon. I built a mini rubicon. Works until I find one somewhere local.

[run2jeepn]

Damn those look pretty good. I'm going to have to steal the control arms from ya. I'm doing that to the front of mine now. Good job. Lets see a vid. Man we need to get together and run them some time soon. I'm working on my 2nd 1:6th Nylint now.

[ford381stroker]

Hey, I appreciate the props. Since I put those control arms on I have notice I am not getting the axle wrap I was getting before. I can get in the rocks and just hammer the throttle and it doesn't try to flex apart like it did with the stock control arms. I can get more of the aluminum if you want it. should be able to get some this week. I am tearing down a store and there is always some left over.


Looking forward to crawlin. Let me know when you want to.

[Going Up!]

Hey, where is the Exo Skeleton????

[ford381stroker]

Got to go get more brake line tomorrow at work. What do yall think of the front bumper. Tried to scale is to some of the Stinger front bumpers in the magazines and on the internet. Works just like the real one.....see pic above..... Brake line is so strong but kinda hard to bend and work with. Not as easy as when replacing them on a truck.

If anyone has any ideas or sketches of what I should make the exo skeleton look like please send them to me at ford381stroker@aol.com I am going to start tomorrow night

[Going Up!]

Originally Posted by ford381stroker

Got to go get more brake line tomorrow at work. What do yall think of the front bumper. Tried to scale is to some of the Stinger front bumpers in the magazines and on the internet. Works just like the real one.....see pic above..... Brake line is so strong but kinda hard to bend and work with. Not as easy as when replacing them on a truck.

If anyone has any ideas or sketches of what I should make the exo skeleton look like please send them to me at ford381stroker@aol.com I am going to start tomorrow night

Be creative........Look at 1:1 rigs, and decide what you like best.