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Easter Weekend Jeep "Build"

M

Marshall

Was That a U-Joint?
Location
Farmington, UT
This Easter weekend I thought I would finally install the parts I have been collecting for a few months:

-Ironrock Offroad 7" Critical Path Lift
-Ford 8.8 Rear Axle: 4.88 gears with Mini Spool
-HP D30 Front Axle: 4.88 gears with Spartan Locker
-Heavy Duty SYE / CV Driveshaft
-Teraflex 2 Low Kit

Here are some picture highlights...

photo (17).jpg

8.8 Mounted...

photo (18).jpg

8.8 waiting...

photo (19).jpg

231 SYE and Tera 2 Low installed...

photo (20).jpg

Old axle out...

photo (21).jpg

New HP 30 waiting to go in...

photo (22).jpg

SYE & 2 Low kit...

photo (23).jpg

Before...

photo (24).jpg

and After

All in all everything went really smooth and was a fun project for a long weekend.
 
M

Marshall

Was That a U-Joint?
Location
Farmington, UT
sixstringsteve said:
is there an easy way to move the rear axle back 2-3" on these?
Click to expand...

A rear long arm kit would gain you some more adjustment, but I don't see moving it much further back without moving the upper spring mount because my spring perch on the axle is pretty lined up with it as is. This lift is long arm in the front and short in the rear, in the picture I hadn't adjusted the rear arms yet, just bolted them up as short as they would go because my cv driveshaft was too short, I got the shaft lengthened yesterday and adjusted the short arms to their maximum usable length as per the tech at Ironrock Offroad so it looks a little better than the picture, but the tire still favors the front of the wheel well. The arms are short however, so as the suspension compresses the tire moves rearward into the wheel well (not hitting the fender as it appears it would). The next upgrade will be long arms for the rear for sure, but for now I will just wheel it and see what works and what needs to be changed...
 
M

Marshall

Was That a U-Joint?
Location
Farmington, UT
I don't have any pictures of it yet, but I also added some support brackets to the rear upper arm mounts as I have heard several horror stories of those ripping off on the trail: basically an "L" bracket that goes inboard about 6", welded to the arm mount (existing rear arm mounting bolt passes through new bracket as well as factory mount) and then bolted through the floor with three 7/16" grade 8 bolts with a matching flat plate support inside the Jeep (like a cage foot, sandwiching the body), and then a flat plate that welds to the opposite side of the factory bracket at the "frame" and bolts into the 2 factory holes for the rear sway bar. Hoping that will help it hold on until I upgrade to long arms...
 
M

Marshall

Was That a U-Joint?
Location
Farmington, UT
Most of the work (setting up the axles with brackets / gears / lockers) was done in the weeks prior to actually installing it all, I took my time setting up the ring and pinion gears since I have only done it a few times, and since this was my first real axle swap (other than a bolt-in 44 swap on my last XJ) I REALLY took a lot of time measuring the locations of all the brackets over and over until I worked up the confidence to burn them on. Also, I ditched the spool today in favor of a more-streetable spartan locker, and I really hope the springs settle a bunch after wheeling for a while, if not then I think I will get a set of 5.5" instead. Sits a little tall for my liking...
 
OrvisKrawler

OrvisKrawler

Captain Obvious
Location
Eden UT
Marshall said:
and I really hope the springs settle a bunch after wheeling for a while, if not then I think I will get a set of 5.5" instead. Sits a little tall for my liking...
Click to expand...

looks great, if you decide you want shorter springs Ill trade ya, Ive got 5.5" with a 2" pucks, I would love to lose the pucks
 
jeep-N-montero

jeep-N-montero

Formerly black_ZJ
Location
Bountiful
Marshall said:
I don't have any pictures of it yet, but I also added some support brackets to the rear upper arm mounts as I have heard several horror stories of those ripping off on the trail: basically an "L" bracket that goes inboard about 6", welded to the arm mount (existing rear arm mounting bolt passes through new bracket as well as factory mount) and then bolted through the floor with three 7/16" grade 8 bolts with a matching flat plate support inside the Jeep (like a cage foot, sandwiching the body), and then a flat plate that welds to the opposite side of the factory bracket at the "frame" and bolts into the 2 factory holes for the rear sway bar. Hoping that will help it hold on until I upgrade to long arms...
Click to expand...

I think I told you, but mine ripped off a few times on the black Jeep and the repair attempts only worked half the time. I will be putting a cheap long arm setup under it soon though, it only sees fishing and camping these days so the Rough Country setup should be adequate.
 
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