SW86 Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 i know I'm the only guy in the world to say it but the KM2s failed me in mud sooo many times. one point in time i threw on some cheap MT spares i had and they blew the KM2s out of the water. went through every hole with ease where i was let down before. that was the only part of them i didnt like. rocks, great. highway, great. sand, great. mud, no go. i mean they did it but left me with a lacking feeling about them. duratracs seem to be decent for offroading. lots of people in my local club run them and beat the snot out of them with no issues. its a good tire because its the perfect balance of A/T and M/T. so someone who runs highway a lot can get away with it but still tear up stuff offroad like with an M/T. i think you went the right way with the KM2s though :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rymanrph Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 My tires came in Wednesday, so I took them this morning to be mounted. I'm very happy with the look. Now I'm in a hold until I can get my axles regeared. The lift will start in two weeks, so It won't be long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COFFMAN Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Thinking you might be right, It will look s#it hot :ack: I'll be interested in you opinion on the long arms, might include them in my suspension up grades :thumbsup: The tyre tread looks like it would be good for road noise :popcorn: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camjeep3 Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I thought your truck looked pretty good... Now its awesome! I normally don't like bushwackers, I can tell on this truck I will like them. At first I wasnt a fan of the color either, but now with the rims and the rest of the black trim it looks really good can't wait to see it lifted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I know the import folks think it may be cool, but you have way too much negative camber!!!!!! :rotf: Really debating these tires or the Kevlar MTR for my truck.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinMJ Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 can't wait to see it complete. Wheels and tire combo look so good. Not going to lie, might have to borrow the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rymanrph Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 I know the import folks think it may be cool, but you have way too much negative camber!!!!!! :rotf: Really debating these tires or the Kevlar MTR for my truck.... I was going for the hella flush look lol. There was a pretty good rebate on the MTRs a couple weeks ago that I passed on. Its a much heavier tire and from what I've read, its street performance isn't very good. I've had KM2s before and other than being a little squirrely in heavy rain, I was pretty happy with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backdraft Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude.........nice! Now hurry up, your audience is waiting! :banana: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmonsm Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Wow, looking amazing so far, your really giving me inspiration for mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rymanrph Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 I can only do little things while I wait, plus with the temp over 100°F its not much fun in the garage or outside anyway. The Clayton long arm cross member has to be bolted on and then welded. I'm going to have the shop weld it on for me when they do the regear, so I thought I'd go ahead and bolt it up. Here it is assembled. Yes the the middle is a hammered metal and the outside it satin black. I had to the leave the outside bare for them to weld. I'll paint it over when I get it back from the shop. Here is a shot of it in place: I also decided to clean up my factory 2wd leafs and paint them so they look good assembled (the paint is still drying). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rymanrph Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 Ok, so I'm going a little crazy with the pictures today, but that's because I can't do any real work. I wanted to see what the offset looked like on the new wheels, so I mounted two. Its still not lifted, but you can get the idea. From the back. Look at the gap between the tires and the leaf springs. Down the side: From the front. I think this looks hysterical. And then a couple posed pics just for fun: They fit pretty well right now, but an extra 3" surely couldn't hurt. Now I'm trying to justify how to spend more money on a front bumper and rocker guards... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camjeep3 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Id lift the front 2 more inches and just rock it like that! :yes: but I think it will look great with the new lift and long arms! and whats to justify about a bumper and rocker guards? it would really tie the whole truck together and give it that finished look, so then you would have no desire to alter, modify, change or spend any money on the truck :brows: Oh and I agree about the heat! its rough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COFFMAN Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Id lift the front 2 more inches and just rock it like that! :yes: but I think it will look great with the new lift and long arms! and whats to justify about a bumper and rocker guards? it would really tie the whole truck together and give it that finished look, so then you would have no desire to alter, modify, change or spend any money on the truck :brows: Oh and I agree about the heat! its rough! :agree: The back end dosent need to cum up a great deal Looking good :ack: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadinator Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 From the front. I think this looks hysterical. ... Never been a fan of those flares from the front. I wish they did a better job of blending them into the contours of the vehicle. I like them other than that. Very nice truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rymanrph Posted July 10, 2012 Author Share Posted July 10, 2012 Murphy's Law has run its course. I just got a call from the shop saying that my 29 spline 8.25 has 27 spline shafts in it. So, I called the junkyard that I got it from and he swears it was pulled from a 2000 XJ. It was my understanding that any 8.25 past late '96 should have 29 spline shafts. So, either my understanding is wrong, the axle didn't really come from a 2000 or someone swapped rear ends on that particular XJ at some point. Since he sold me a working axle from a '97+ XJ like I specified, the junkyard will only sell me another axle for $100. My options are to buy a set of chromo shafts for $240 or rob the shafts from my current axle. I was hoping to sell my current axle to offset the cost of buying this second 8.25. Here are my scenarios: $100 for new 8.25 (27 spline shafts) and rob shafts from other 8.25 = $100 $100 for new 8.25 (27 spline shafts) + $240 for chromo shafts - ~$150 for current 8.25 (29 spline shafts) = $190 $100 for new 8.25 (27 spline shafts) + $100 for another 8.25 from the same junkyard - ~$150 for current 8.25 (29 spline shafts) = $50 I don't really trust this junkyard and they've screwed me before, so I'm not leaning toward option three. Suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenobian_84 Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I keep forgetting how sexy this truck is. I especially like those rims on it. They give it a real tough look ;) :cheers: CL isn't a viable option to get another 29 spline 8.25 on the quick? If not, I'd probably just rob the shafts from the other axle; seeing as how many times you've been disappointed with the P&P guys. :( It sucks, but sometimes you just have to keep going. Irregardless, keep up the good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rymanrph Posted July 10, 2012 Author Share Posted July 10, 2012 I just talked to the shop re-gearing my axles. They can't get the chromo shafts fast enough to have them installed so I can work on it this weekend (I have Friday off). So, I'm just going to plan on robbing my current shafts and pray that the this axle has 29 spline shafts (it came from a 2001, but I got it from the same junk yard). The local pull a part prices on axles shafts are about $20 a piece with the core charge, so I'll just have to hope I can get some from there so I can resell my current axle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rymanrph Posted July 10, 2012 Author Share Posted July 10, 2012 OK, so the re-gear is done, the new perches and shock mounts are welded on and the Clayton cross member is welded on. I picked up a set of longer brake lines for the front yesterday; the longer rear line will be in tomorrow. I originally ordered the Rock Krawler track bar for 4-6" of lift, but realized it wasn't going to be enough, so I took it back to 4 Wheel Parts and had them order one for 6-8" of lift. Unfortunately, Rock Krawler has taken their time and I won't get the new one in time to install it this weekend. It was a long shot that the truck would be driveable by the end of the weekend, but now its pretty much a certainty :(. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rymanrph Posted July 16, 2012 Author Share Posted July 16, 2012 I made some progress this weekend, but not quite as much as I hoped. The front end is pretty close to being finished. The old control arms mounts are gone, the long arms are in, the 4.5" springs and ACOS are in, but I'm still waiting on my track bar to arrive. I need to swap out the brake lines too. Here are a couple observations that made this weekend rather frustrating. First, the Clayton long arm mounts on the cross member were too narrow. I couldn't get the bars in at all. So a little bit of grinding, heat and prying and they found their way home. I didn't have any problems with the radius arms. The kit came with 6 bolts instead of 8, so I had to reuse the factory hardware on the axle side of the lower arms. Secondly, a little clearer instructions with the ACOS could have saved me a couple hours. The directions note that the bump stop cups are either bolted on, or welded on. After observing mine, there didn't appear to be any sort of bolt holding them on, so my brother and I began the arduous task of drilling a hole in the bump stop washer (or what we thought was the washer). Yeah, the whole bump stop cup is the bolt head. It just unscrews. I wish I had know that because I think I dulled every drill bit I own trying to drill through it. Otherwise, everything went rather smoothly. Drilling out all the spot welds on the frame for the control arm mounts was rather annoying, but necessary. I'm planning on going home one day this week to hopefully finish up the front and hopefully get some work done on the rear. I need to get far enough to measure for shock length so I can order those. I took just a few pictures, but forgot my camera this morning. More to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rymanrph Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 Here is a taste: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camjeep3 Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 :drool: :banana: :thumbsup: :wrench: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW86 Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 looking good :chillin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rymanrph Posted July 18, 2012 Author Share Posted July 18, 2012 I got the rear axle out tonight. I was able to swap the shafts from the old 8.25 to the new 8.25. Here is a shot of the TrueTrac: I've got it loosely bolted in the truck. It doesn't have any brakes or shocks, but you get the idea: I think it might be slightly high in the front, but my springs are new so they may settle some. Next I need to install the new adjustable track bar and sway bar disconnects, swap to the new longer brake lines, replace the shoes on the rear axle and then measure for shocks. I'm a little worried that my drive shafts might be a little short, so I'll need to evaluate them as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadinator Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Looks Good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenobian_84 Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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