Baystate Jeepers

damn, that is one sexy build! can't wait to see the "new" ol' girl at rausch with the 4.0 bouncing off the rev limiter...

Certainly looking forward to wheeling it for real and not just in my imagination
Spent late yesterday figuring out what to do for air shocks and towers for them.
Will be frenching them into the frame like we did on yours. The towers will have to protrude thru the top of the wheel wells about 4-5 inch's.
Ordered the 1/4" steel to fab the towers and air shocks last night.

lemme know if you need a hand, i owe ya one after the help with my 60!

nice rear winch by the way

first I'm all

then I'm like

and now I'm just

not sure what my favorite part is - the steel from the recycling yard for the rear bumpah, the fab work, the line-lock e-brake, or the..... yeah, the line-lock brakes do it for me. BRILLIANT!

Just one question....... you putting a passenger seat in dat betch?

Baseshakers wrote:lemme know if you need a hand...

Will do if I hit a point where I need more hands to git-r-done.
So far just taking my time doing the work. No need to hurry cuz I need it for "Monday".
Makes working on it enjoyable. Have time to ponder approaches, try things, sleep on it and then decide.

Carl McFly wrote:....... you putting a passenger seat in dat betch?

Absolutely!
It'll always be open for anyone who wants to ride shotgun

It's coming along great Kurt!

Part - 4

Another update on the on going winter project.

Received a pair of Fox 2.5 Air Shox for the rear. Fab'd up a pair of shock towers out of some 1/4" angle steel.
Got the steel from Speedy Metals. A great source for steel or other metal of any size and description!
No minimum order either.
The towers were frenched into the frame and extend above the wheel wheel in the tub about 6".
For now the lower mounts are tack welded to the axle housing. Will need the tire mounted on the rim to verify clearance before doing the final weld. Also mounted the rear cage to frame tie ins.







Also installed the front cage to frame tie in's now that the body in finally on for the last time.



Since the real axle was relocated back a foot the stock gas tank had to go. Ordered a RCI 2161 fuel cell and fittings from Summit Racing. Fit's nicely behind the seats.




Also had to add an external fuel pump courtesy of Summit Racing and re-used the almost new stock fuel filter assembly. Tucked them up under the body where the rear floor of the tub steps up. Modified the stock stainless supply & return lines to get them routed to the new pump & filter location.


Did the final install and wiring to the rear winch.


With the relocated axles a pair of driveshaft were in order. Took my spare Tom Wood CV shaft, cut the stubby tube between the CV and the slip yoke and extended by adding a ~12" section of DOM tubing again courtesy of Speedy Metals.
Here is the rear DS all done, painted and installed.


The old front DS was stock and not a CV style. I replaced the tcase front yoke with a CV yoke from JB Conversions. Fab'd up the front DS by again chopping up a rear CV drive shaft and extending it with some more DOM tubing like the rear DS.


Since the body was back on for good the brake plumbing was tied into the line locks, system bled and tested.
Assembled the rest of the nose, cooling system, steering, OBA system, fenders, battery tray, battery, PDA, etc.


Also received the Allied beadlocks. Still need to prime & paint the locking rings.
The Interco SX stickies are on order. Will mount them up on the beads once they arrive.
Still need to order some comp cut body protection for the rear.

Nice..

Beast....Like it.

You have been a busy guy! Excellent work, my friend! Have you thought about adding a brace between your rear shock towers? Lots of engagement through the frame, but a whole lot of shock tower without any support at the top. Could also run a spreader bar between the B and C pillar on your cage above the shock tower and tie it in that way.

I don't believe it will be necessary. The force on the top of the shock tower is virtually straight up from the frame putting the tower 99% in tension. The shocks are only angled about 2-3 of degrees from vertical. At that angle and a assuming a 1,200 lb load the sidward force on the top of the tower would only be ~40-60 lbs.
If the shocks were highly angled front to rear or side to side then bracing certainly would be warranted.

Of course I'll keep a close eye on them and add bracing should it be needed.
Easy enough to add some tOOb from B to C if needed.

Cool! They definitely look like some solid mounts, I'm loving watching this project.

Kurt, meant to ask, how much travel on the new shocks?

looking good kurt! question, are you going to do anything about your shocks up front? since you've gotten practice at building towers now, you could add a lot of flex if you extend the fronts up a bit to fit longer shocks... just curious.

i'm thinking the narrow wedge in the middle of crawler ridge is going to be a great test for this beast! that and trail 5 hill climb, otter's, and most importantly shoot the moon!

ArticRubi wrote:Kurt, meant to ask, how much travel on the new shocks?

I was on the fence of 14's vs 16's. Finally decided 14's were adequate for my application.

Baseshakers wrote:looking good kurt! question, are you going to do anything about your shocks up front? since you've gotten practice at building towers now, you could add a lot of flex if you extend the fronts up a bit to fit longer shocks... just curious.

Maybe in the future if I 3 link for front. Currently the leaf springs limit the travel so longer shocks aren't needed yet.

Baseshakers wrote:...i'm thinking the narrow wedge in the middle of crawler ridge is going to be a great test for this beast! that and trail 5 hill climb, otter's, and most importantly shoot the moon!

I'll certainly need some seat time with the new setup to get to know it's capabilities and limitations (and mine )