New guy building his first jeep

[jhoe_20]

My first jeep build its an 89 yj body i put in a new rebuilt 4.3 roller motor with the TBI and a 700r4 and a np231 transfer case out of an 89 s10.. I bought a 77 f150 and got the 9" rear and a high pinion dana 44 up front I spooled the rear and and eventually going to go with 5:13 gears its got the 6" skyjacker monoleaf kit with 2 inch shackles and a 3" body lift and a set of 35x12.50 mud kings that were on the ford when i bought it. I also reverse shackled the front springs so i think its going to be pretty cool and my buddy and i are almost done with it,but i am looking for a stock roll bar that goes back farther like the newer yj's had i believe so i can add onto to make a good cage. also if anybody needs stock yj parts i have a ton of them so let me know what you need because basically just the body is all i used from the jeep. Its been alot of work so i hope offroading in a jeep is as fun as you guys lead on,but basically i just listened to a couple buddies that have jeeps and they told me what it would take to build an awesome wheelin rig so i hope i am doing it right and not putting the wrong stuff in it.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Welcome to the Z, sounds like a cool jeep. Post some pics when you get a chance.

 

[pitbulld45]

Welcome, sounds good to me.

 

[jhoe_20]

Here it is it finally drove out of the garage on its own for the first time yesterday

 

[SteelHeadz]

That looks Pretty Wicked cool!!

 

[jhoe_20]

its getting there. i still need to hook up the front driveshaft and figure out a better shifter for the transmission. it looks like my big problem is it is extremely light in the back end. it just fishtails all over the place when i gas it. I also still need to find a stock cage so i can add to it and also a winch. but i jacked the front tire up 2 1/2 feet and all the other tires were still touching the ground so it has some good flex to it. I beat on it pretty hard today hitting some big stumps in the back yard at about 15mph and nothing broke so i guess all my welding must be better than i thought.

 

[currupt4130]

I'm gonna go ahead and be the bad guy, but that thing needs some work. Ditch the 3 inch body lift (go to a 1 inch if necessary), ditch the 2" shackles unless you really need them to clear your shackle reversal, relocate your spring mounts so the shocks are aligned correctly, and for your own good, please have someone competent weld that stinger on the front by attaching it correctly to the front bumper and the frame.

You need to relocate the shock mounts on the axle even more so since you have a shackle reversal. When the front axle compresses, it is going to travel rearward and upward. This will exacerbate the angle of the shocks extremely, potentially causing failure at the stud.

Body lifts that big cause undue stress on the body mounts and can be potentially dangerous in an accident. I have seen on two separate occasions the effects of body lifts that big. The first was via the internet so maybe not as credible, but the vehicle had been in an accident and the tub actually separated from the frame. The dynamics behind the whole thing make it credible in my opinion. The other was personal. I was wheeling at Tellico when my buddy got on this really steep rock face. his tub actually shifted back enough to allow his fan to hit his radiator and gouge it enough to cause it to leak in several spots. EDIT: I see that you have your grill hard mounted, so you might not have the problem my buddy did.

And if you ever need to use that stinger, you're gonna want it welded onto the bumper properly. Take it from a guy that has used his, seen other people use theirs, and rolled over more than I can count.

Also, please make an attempt to use some sort of paragraph structure and punctuation.

 

[jhoe_20]

Well Like I said before its a work in progress, the stinger is just a homemade thing we made in about ten minutes and it is going to be tied into the cage once i get that in it. Its welded to a piece of angle iron which is welded directly to the bumper right in front of the frame and i hit a tree with it about 5mph and it never budged and like i said its not done.

I understand what you mean by the shocks, that was a concern of mine. As for the body lift i dont see the big deal. My cage is going to go through the floor and tie into the frame, so i figured that would hlep hold the body into place.

But i like the bad comments about it so i can see where the flaws are. But you have to cut me some slack i built it in my garage with hand tools and a hobart 220 mig welder, and i only have $1500.00 in it and $800.00 of that was the new motor. So tell me who else can build a rig that cheap.

 

[currupt4130]

Well Like I said before its a work in progress, the stinger is just a homemade thing we made in about ten minutes and it is going to be tied into the cage once i get that in it. Its welded to a piece of angle iron which is welded directly to the bumper right in front of the frame and i hit a tree with it about 5mph and it never budged and like i said its not done.

I understand what you mean by the shocks, that was a concern of mine. As for the body lift i dont see the big deal. My cage is going to go through the floor and tie into the frame, so i figured that would hlep hold the body into place.

But i like the bad comments about it so i can see where the flaws are. But you have to cut me some slack i built it in my garage with hand tools and a hobart 220 mig welder, and i only have $1500.00 in it and $800.00 of that was the new motor. So tell me who else can build a rig that cheap.

If you're tying the cage into the frame it's not as big of a deal. I personally just don't like body lifts. As for the stinger, I can see how it is welded very clearly. I'm just trying to make the point that I don't think those welds will hold if you ever wind up standing your Jeep on its nose.

 

[jhoe_20]

Yeah it probably wont handle something like that, its only made out of 1" gas pipe, but i dont see it breaking at the welds. I see it getting the crap bent out of it before the welds snap. I mean i'm a decent welder i worked at a welding shop for a year and a half so i have quite a few hours under a welding helmet, I just dont have a machine shop in my garage to build flanges and things like that to do a professional job on it. I'm also trying to keep the price under $2000.00 for the whole thing since i'm just going to be beating the hell out of it so i have to cut a few corners on it and hillbilly rig some of it(like welding my own driveshafts and steering arms).

 

[xt master]

As far as weight in the back.The cage should add some weight.Maybee a heaver rear bumper,also will you be putting a spare on the back,that shouls add some few extra pounds to the rear tires.

Other than that it looks like it could be fun jeep to wheel in.

 

[SteelHeadz]

If you're tying the cage into the frame it's not as big of a deal. I personally just don't like body lifts. As for the stinger, I can see how it is welded very clearly. I'm just trying to make the point that I don't think those welds will hold if you ever wind up standing your Jeep on its nose.

That's Good advise Sam. Welding is an art of Being able to fuse two pieces of metal together. When in doubt, test it before you get in a bad situation. if i was the one who mounted that stinger, i would cut out some gussets as a re-enforcement.

 

[currupt4130]

If it were me, I'd match the tube to the bumper minus the angle iron. In otherwords, cut the end of the tube at an angle to match the bumper. That way the only leverage going on if you tip it forward is on the welds on the bumper. Not the welds holding the stinger to the angle and the welds holding the angle to the bumper (which consequently are now under more load because there is an extra torque applied to the welds on the bumper).

 

[jhoe_20]

Yeah it doesnt have a rear bumper yet.. I still havent decided what i'm going to use to make one out of ,and i'm hoping with a bumper, a rear seat, and the cage i will have enough weight, but still be light enough if i get in deep mud. As for a spare tire i probably wont have one, the tires on it are old and dry wrotted so once they give out i'm going to put 38x11 boggers so i probably wont get the 5th one since they are kinda pricey.

 

[mrkltj]

hey this off the subject but i see that you are from indiana. what part of the state and where do you wheel at iam lookin for some good spots in the southerrn part of the state.

 

[Collin the Hen]

I agree with Sam. In my eyes, that would have been easier anyways. The only thing you would have needed is a torch and an angle grinder. Also, on the rearward weld, I would at least gusset it for good measure.
As for rear bumpers, I made a really heavy duty rear bumper out of a 1/4 in. square tube. It only cost about $70? or so.
Nick, Haspin Acres is south. I've never been there yet, but I would love to go there in the spring. You can just google Indiana OHV and you'll get all the sites.

 

[jhoe_20]

yeah when i built the stinger i didnt have a torch i did it all with a sawzall, and we ran out of blades, but thats beside the point, but yeah i am going to be adding tubing to it once i get the more important stuff out of the way. As far as places to go wheelin, I dont really know, like i said this is my first build i've ever done, i use to take my 4 wheeler to The Badlands in Attica IN and it was fun. My buddy took his jeep there and said he liked it, but yeah i've also heard good things about haspen acres as well.

 

[jhoe_20]

Anybody know where to get a stock roll cage like the later yj's had??

 

[jps4jeep]

Holy stinger batman.

And like corrupt said, loose the body lift and shackles. get your self a good set of small lift boomarang (sp) shackles. it will help keep the shackle from inverting.

Also, trim out your wheel wells a bit. I have just over 3" of lift and run a larger tire than what you have there. If your trying to make a decent offroad vehicle, loose the excessive lift, if you simply are going to drive around town in a "big dumb jeep" (not calling yours that, just a term) then fine, leave it.

Here is a pic of my junk for reference purposes.

 

[jps4jeep]

oh ya, roll bar, try craigslist, people sell them around here all the time.