Project -XJ Evolution

[Dirk]

front drive shaft

We worked on the front drive shaft design yesterday.
to achieve a longer slip we used some agricultural pto shaft parts.
After much time spent at the tractor dealer we found the best deal on parts at TSC.
Instaed of using a square outer shaft we opted for a square slip joint. This is what most AG equipment is going to.

We'll reuse the Cherokee front shaft, cut off the factory slip joint, and rplaced it with the square slip joint. We also cut the yoke of anothe slip joint and will have the splined hole machined square today. Tis will allow the 1 3/16" square shaft to slide into it and be welded on both sides.
This will result in a shaft with 13" of movement while maintaining all 5" of spline contact.

 

[Steve B]

Dirk looks like he's going to pound ya

 

[Dirk]

well...he did ask me to hold his shaft on camera....

 

[dwcjwerfner]

A whole bunch of pictures of the long arm together.
Getting tired and out of time so not much narrative.

With custom made panhard, draglink and tierod.

Sitting on the suspension with springs installed.

Dwayne
:beer:

 

[Farm Boy]

Lookin good Man!

Doesn't look like you have much uptravel before the tires rub. Camera tricks or are you going to cut a bunch?

 

[dwcjwerfner]

Thanks Jon
You are correct, that is the downfall of full body and big tires I have known this from the start. I do still have to trim where I moved the axle forward though. To compensate I do have a ton of droop though as they are 27" shocks and I cycle them from bumpstop to full extension.

Dwayne

 

[dwcjwerfner]

Ok so after Spring Fever and The Gorge I am really happy with my new front end. I do not have a lot of unloading on climbing and the ride is very good. One thing I am very happy about is of course how stable my full size track (it is wider than my Excursion) is on climbing and specifically being able to choose a sideways line to get over a bump on an obstacle.
I have had several occasions where I can't drive straight up because of a 3 foot bump on the rear wheel or a multiple step location with both wheels right on the steps and because of my enhanced stability I can most of the time not have to back all the way down and take a new line but simply back up and crank the steering hard and go "sideways" up the obstacle so that the truck is only dealing with the rises 1 tire at a time. This is of course is made easier because of the crawl box which allows me to also do this very smoothly and doesn't cause me to sway while on this side angle.

Ok so this leaves me with the fact that I need more clearance for my tires, specifically in the rear as I only have about 2" in the rear which I have compensated so far with bump stops so although my tires are rubbing a bit on the fenders that is not what is stopping them from stuffing even more.

Since I am so stable now I decided of course that means I can go higher :lmao:.
Ideally I believe I am going to buy new RC 4.5" rears to run with a shackle and spring mount relocation and end up with well over 6" of lift without a block on the rear spring. Then buy 6.5" RC front springs. Since my truck is nowhere near stock, specifically my custom front axle spring mounts being at least 2" higher over stock location it is not like you can just buy everything to "fit" an XJ anymore. So I am currently piecing together what I have to make sure that I am ok with the extra height before purchasing what I figure I will need.

I would like to point out to all XJ owners that this guy http://go.jeep-xj.info/ has some great ideas and on this job I specifically used this write up:
http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoRearLeafMounts.htm

Well...... I followed it loosely, without all the fancy measuring and nice straight edges, if it all works for me then I may take the grinder and make mine look nice later on .

I only dropped my spring location by 2.5" as I was/am concerned about being to low below the frame. And not shown in the pics are the shackles http://www.roughcountry.com/jeep_xj_shackles.html.

Here is what it looks like back on the springs. I have to still install the front 1.75" spacers.

 

[blair_b]

Dwayne,

That thing is a freak.... I love it. Have you tested out the shackles yet? I've got a "shackle meets mounting box" issue that is driving me insane. I'm looking at replacing the shackles with longer or adjustables... or having some fab work done to move the mounting forward a bit for a better angle and solve the contact issue at the same time.

When compressed the shackle rises and hits the box... bang, bang, bang. I'd love to hear your feedback on this. Thanks!

 

[dwcjwerfner]

Hey Blair
Yeah it is a terrible "mall-crawler" design never expecting for the shackle to move back that far. So the ones I bought are ok, I think they might still run into the back of the box, but that is on full compression and I will have to find a really good place to stuff and have daylight to check, but the reality is that I don't need anymore upward travel as I run out of room with my tires. Also in their defence I did move the front shackle hole back about 1" which force the shackle back even in a stationary position. Boomerang style from somebody like RE would be probably that much better but these were $50 CDN from PJF and RE's are over $100 USD.
As for your's banging that sounds odd, I am pretty sure the spring should not be moving that far back and forth as for that to hit it assumes full compression. Now you just put that all together so I would guess that the rear springs are not sacked? I would like to actually like to see it stationary and in motion before drawing anymore conclusions.

Dwayne
:beer:

 

[dwcjwerfner]

Ok so here are some shots with the front 1.75" spacers reinstalled:

So I went up to Dirk's lot by myself to play and so far am very happy with how far the tire stuffs, no rubbing front or rear so far:

Of course you should not wheel alone and especially in the dark even if it is only 2km from home lol.

I ended up here driving down from the ridge and trying to come back over that rock without a spotter and fell off the rock, those of you that have been there will know what I mean. And I should have just winched then but "screw that" I said and backed down into the ravine which then hung me front, rear and centre lol. So then there was alot of harsh winching and the reminder that I really need to build skid plates.

Dwayne

 

[Twinkie]

I ended up here driving down from the ridge and trying to come back over that rock without a spotter and fell off the rock, those of you that have been there will know what I mean. And I should have just winched then but "screw that" I said and backed down into the ravine which then hung me front, rear and centre lol. So then there was alot of harsh winching and the reminder that I really need to build skid plates.

Dwayne

Ouch! I know exactly where you were stuck!

 

[mucovich]

XJ is lookin good!

 

[dwcjwerfner]

Thanks Mark.
And thanks Blair

Dwayne,

That thing is a freak.... I love it. QUOTE]

I like that......yes it is a freak....kinda a Frankenstein XJ. It ain't pretty but it does whatever master says. Arrrrgh!

Out to do the skid plate, reposition the rear shock mounts and new electric fan today.

Dwayne :beer:

 

[Cochise]

Dwayne,

Which electric fan did you get (and where)?

This is next on my list of things to do.

Cheers.

 

[dwcjwerfner]

I will actually have to look at it as Dirk was buying some from Summit and I just had him add one on for me and with my breakage I did not end up getting it installed. Also because I was home instead of wheeling I cut my 200' of 3' high weeds on my 60 degree slope ditch, boy am I glad I only do that 2 or 3 times a year. After that I took the rest of the day off. Wife is travelling this week so I will get back in the garage tomorrow and let you know at some point this week.

Dwayne

 

[Cochise]

Thanks Dude. No hurry needed. :beer:

I had already been to that Australian guy's site you mentioned before, and had a look at the Taurus dual speed fan install.

I'll have to look into this sometime this week, I busted the cowl on the stock mechanical fan, so it ain't working as it should.

Great build thread BTW!

</end hijack>


:beer::beer::beer:

 

[dwcjwerfner]

Hey Dan
Sorry man, I remember reading this post and then I just got busy and never responded. Ok here is what I know, we bought ~$40 offshore fans from Summit, I think they are 8". They are ok, but I have commented out on the trail that they are nowhere as strong as a factory auxiallary Cherokee fan and I am actually keeping my out for one.

Dwayne
:beer:

 

[Cochise]

Ok here is what I know, we bought ~$40 offshore fans from Summit, I think they are 8". They are ok, but I have commented out on the trail that they are nowhere as strong as a factory auxiallary Cherokee fan and I am actually keeping my out for one.

Dwayne
:beer:

Thanks for the input Dwayne, good to know!

I haven't gotten to this yet either. Lift kit is in progress of being installed.

Anybody out there got a 10 foot long breaker bar? :banghead:

 

[dwcjwerfner]

I actually came across the bill last night in the garage, they were $48.88 USD. But I would still go with the OEM.

Dwayne

 

[mucovich]

hey Dwayne, is the XJ ready for PJF? Man i wish i could go!