JeepcoMJ

Exactly how I would build one, but maybe about 2" more in front of the rear wheels for the bed. That one looks GOOD. it's a piece. at least re-do the door to cover the old wheel-well spot....

had to fix the rusted out rockers beforehand...otherwise I wouldn't have gotten to it til after winter, and they were BAD.

not even close...still have to lift the truck, buy new front shocks, finish the body work, por15 the floor and then put the carpet back in, and clean off surface rust on the bottom then undercoat it... all that in the next 2 weeks. I probably won't get the undercoating done but the interior and exterior body stuff has to happen as well as fix the vac. disco and lift...

nice. twins.

I agree 100%. BUT this thing needs to be ready to go by august 10th, and budget is constraining as I have some paint to buy still, and a few other things are needed. It will be changed later and upgraded to nicer shocks, and I'll be buying new front ones next week. so the main reasoning for doing that is just to save $$$ now and get it done quick. not exactly like I have alot of time to work on it, and while my shop is ginormous, shop space is kinda limited for long periods of time.

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No problem!!! If you want me to get some more detailed shots of LWB shock set ups...I would be glad to! hehe, no need. I was too lazy to take pics...I own 3 longbeds with stock shock setups, so it's not as if I couldn't have taken them... thx for the offer tho!

yea, I'm building my own. not even interested in spending money on control arms as it will get a TNT y-link system in the next year. the whole lift project, including tires and rims, will cost me just over $600. that's a 6.5" lift, and 33x12.50 tires. that's with home-built control arms (lengthened aftermarkets I got for cheap), SOA rear, and my own swaybar links. I bought the lift coils and the trackbar, and will buy a rear brake line but lower the fronts to work.

longbed mounts as I believe were suggested here...on project tatersalad this is hard to tell...but a longbed the shocks mount in front of the axle tube, rather than behind. sorry twist for stealin a couple of your photos... this is what a shortbed one looks like...the shocks mount to the back of the axle, rather than the front like a longbed... So, if I put the stock one on top of the springs, then this being a shortbed, the shock would end up mounting in front of the axle on the bottom, and behind it on the top of the shocks. BUT I think I am gonna sorta reverse-flip this and do what Petes is, except with the shock pllate mounted on top of the spring (by cutting out a good chunk of it). someone else did that idea on here, can't find the pic. but that's probably what I'll end up doing....

there's a blue relay next to it behind the kick panel...and there's also the blue door chime module...

hahahahaha! quote material!

for a 6.5" lift the lowers need to be 17.18" center to center, and uppers should be 15.625" center to center. according to that link, that's what it needs for normal operation.

doors are staying on it for now, I have a set of doors to make half doors for it and I'll have to alter the hinges to work so they're removable to swap to full ones, and also mount the speakers behind the kneeboard. no power windows/locks on this beast! oh, here's the LCA's and UCA's I got from $500 MJ. thx brent! and no, you're not trippin on acid, this next pic is terrible... gonna bend them 12* about 1/3 of the way up from the lower end in the next day or so (to allow for coil bucket clearance on articulation), then cut off an end and mount them to the jig to figure out the 17.18" center to center, and make the piece to fit in there. the filler piece will be solid round stock, I'll turn down the ends to fit into the existing tubes, after I cross-drill the tubes (4 holes per side). the drilling will give me excellent points to weld to the solid stock, then I can weld to the seam as well and it will be bulletproof!

alright, how do you know? :P fyi a nice air ratchet gets in there snug and saves you smashed fingers and lots of dinkin around. I find that there is enough room for me to get it done even with a ratchet and no extensions...and I have big hands. I figure the reason I can do it that way is cause I'm norwegian.

if you simply flip it, doesn't that put it on the other side of the axle? what I mean is, say the lower shock mount was in front of the axle before. then you flip it...well, it's still in front of the axle, but now pointing toward the brakes. so you have to turn it 180 degrees and then it is now on the inner side of the leaf springs (as desired), but now the mount is behind the axle. I have no explicit problem with this, BUT I want my shocks to work properly. discuss. p.s. if anyone has done this, you will know what I'm talking about. if you're scratching your heads, back to geometry 101 for you (don't put the square plug in the round hole...it won't work :P)

I agree with previous post. I like my sheetmetal, so I am inclined to lift higher. others don't, so they can pull off my choice of tire with less lift. my 89 right now is getting a 6.5" front lift and a spring-over rear lift. the only things that I have bought (new) are the front lift coils and the adjustable trackbar...$280 for the pair. add $31 for $500MJ's used 2" lift LCA's and stock UCA's, and $35 for a trackbar drop that I don't need any longer. so I'm building my own swaybar links, and I'm re-building the 2" lift LCA's from a 16" center to center to a 17.18" center to center, and bending them for more axle-side mount clearance during articulation. the front brake lines just have to be dropped down a few inches, and the rear brake line will have to be extended. then $15 for new axle perches (longer ones and beefy to eliminate axle-wrap) and some for paint too... so that gives me my lift kit for all of $400 at most, at a 6.5" lift. then the tires were $200, and the rims were $10. $610 in a lift. I'm just saying explore your options, and if you have any proficient fab. skills, you may be able to fab SOME of your own parts. I don't suggest building your own lower control arms unless you are a REALLY really good welder, and you have extremely good heavy-duty non-tempered steel to work with.

that's cool. for the price, I'd buy it...the time on install alone would be worth the $$$. I could just work at a real job instead of fabricating the parts, and that time working would pay for the kit alone...and then some. I hate fabricating completely custom things...it takes too much measuring.

...if you drop them in you will be removing the inspection cover, that's about it...

Does that mean that the possibility of a roll over contest is out of the question? :roll: can't teach a new dog old tricks... I think I got that right...in my mind :P

monarch in my town has them... any good paint/body supply place will have it in black. there is a silvery-black as well I believe. to spray this stuff, it has to be thinned. ALOT. because it hardens after a few seconds contact with air. remember, when using por15, you CANNOT sand it once it's done. it's near impossible with how hard por15 is, so clean first, THEN put the por on.

hey Pete, Just wanting to know what you advise when doing a spring-over and setting up your shock mounts with the factory plate... I'm planning on putting that plate on top of the stock 4wd leaf pack for now, but flipping it over and cutting it like you did. that would allow me to run with the current shocks (as I will be short $$$ for them) and while less than ideal, I am certain it would work. any advice?

I go where Wade goes... partly because I have no idea what's goin on there.... and partly because he knows his truck is too nice to f*ck up and I feel the same way about mine.

roof rack with lightbar, mount the tire on the roof, and use that as a tool storage unit. it's not like the thing will get gas mileage anyways...

he built the whole thing....it's a Hi-lift jack mount, military spade mount, clevis mount, gerry-can holder, and toolbox all in one. the wheel hinges up on the door to the toolbox. obviously, the toolbox isn't done yet, it will have a stainless and sealed bottom and back, with a diamond plate aluminum top and sides. we just have to get the sealant and start drilling for the rivets. the latch system is a xj 4.0 hood latch and hood latch handle, and will have a cherokee rear liftgate strut on it to raise it up. triangular in shape. that would solve BOTH your toolbox being in the way issue, and your tire-mount issue, but not the amount of bed-room left. it could also have down-tubes added to make it a full rollbar...