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Project MJ for 2011 Ultimate Adventure - Update for '12 Trip


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Do you plan on making a set of unibody stiffeners to sell for the MJ? ie: from the LCA mounts and back to the rear bumper?

Our original plan when we started this was to develop some product from the build. As we got into it we went a little crazy. Now everything is so custom on the vehicle that the parts we are making for this really wouldn't work on most "stock" MJs. But, we do have another MJ setting in the shop that we plan to play with after the dust settles. So later on down the line some of our ideas from this build will probably get applied to the other MJ in the form of production prototypes.

 

Also, the guys were working on yet another video yesterday since we are moving along fairly quickly. That should be posted up on our Blog sometime today.

 

 

good stuff. I'm sure your busy as hell but why not snap a few pics along the way too. after all it is the internet, thats all we have to look forward to :yes: :shake:

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good stuff. I'm sure your busy as hell but why not snap a few pics along the way too. after all it is the internet, thats all we have to look forward to :yes: :shake:

 

The marketing guys should be getting more up for you today or tommorrow. I don't want to steal their thunder quite yet. After we get a little farther into it if something was missed or becomes a hot topic I will see about getting more pics up for you. I can assure you over the next couple weeks you will get to see it all through video and pictures. The stuff you guys really want to see is coming up over the next few days. Coilovers and bumps showed up today from Fox as well as the air compressor/accessories from Warn.

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:drool: :drool: sickness at its finest

This is only the start of the good stuff. It has been 90+ in the shop here the past few days which has slowed us down a bit. Not good welding weather. Going to be cooler the rest of the week so we should start moving faster.

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Newest video is up.

http://zoneoffroad.com/blog/?cat=188

 

More pictures will come as we button up the various areas. Every project effects that other since they all tie together at some point. The uni-body reinforcement will be finished after the suspension is fabbed up, cage is waiting on suspension, seat and bed details to be finished. Bed is waiting for fuel cell/air compressor layout to be done. Bumpers will be close to last as the body is finally assembled for the last time so we can match them to the body lines. This leaves us with a lot of projects 50-75% done. You will be seeing a lot of progress really quickly as we get closer to our paint/graphics deadline in a couple of weeks. Only about 17 work days left to get this thing out the door.

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Nice build!

 

What shafts and spline are you running in the front 44? Or....did I see that wrong? 40's being turned on a 44 for ultimate adventure seems daring!?

 

If your doing the 44 have you thought about Dana 50(jana 54, jantz) gears as well as bobbys shafts?

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Nice build!

 

What shafts and spline are you running in the front 44? Or....did I see that wrong? 40's being turned on a 44 for ultimate adventure seems daring!?

 

If your doing the 44 have you thought about Dana 50(jana 54, jantz) gears as well as bobbys shafts?

 

Thanks, you have a pretty amazing MJ yourself.

 

The 44 is actually a HD44 built by Dynatrac specifically for the J8 military Jeep. We will be running Superior Gears as well. Basically Dynatrac figures the 40s are no problem with that axle. We won't be running extreme power really...about 270hp, 310ft-lbs out of the Golen stroker.

 

One of our sister companies has run the UA for the last couple of years. Two years ago they ran built 30/35 combo (now that is daring) and last year ran a built HP30/44 combo (not too much better, but was an upgrade). Both years running 37 MTRs and surprisingly never had any problems to speak of or that they mentioned. Mind you they were conscious about the weak link but the second year they really went hard and held up fine. These axles are much stronger. The rear axle is a non-issue. The front, once we are done with it will run all day long and be reliable. The front axle shafts are 1.31" - 30 spline with 1350 u-joints. For the rear the shafts are 1.50" - 35 spline. We will be running Superior 5.38s on ARBs. We should have them set up by Monday/Tuesday.

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question on the stroker was there a reason you guys went with golen vice building one.

btw great work :cheers:

 

2 reasons:

 

1st - Time....don't have a lot of it

 

2nd - Promoting someone else's product to this extent usually greases the wheels for a discount. This MJ will be at several shows around the country for the next couple years after UA is over. Actually, the week it gets back I believe it heads to PA Jeeps. Will also be in our SEMA booth this year and probably at the Indianapolis Jamboree in September.

 

So, quicker and cheaper. Otherwise we would have built our own. Afterall, we are a suspension/offroad products company, so are times is better spent in those areas.

 

Thanks...hope to have more to show off for everyone early next week.

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Thanks everybody for the compliments. It has been a long week. I am ready for a couple days away from this project to clear my head a bit. I have been a man down for the last 3 days so that slowed us up a bit but nothing we can't catch up on next week. Suspension and the motor swap will be the main focus of next week...at least the first couple of days. Should have a video update for you sometime mid-week. In the meantime I will harass the marketing guys about getting you teaser pics along the way when there is something exciting to see.

 

Thanks again and keep checking in. I don't think you will be disappointed with the final product. We have been able to get a lot of companies on board to support this project and we look forward to getting their products installed. Thanks to: Fox Racing Shox, Warn, PRP, Maxxis, Mickey Thompson, Inner Air Lock, Superior Axle/Gear, Reid Racing, HighLift, Bubba Rope, Rigid Lighting, Blue Torch Fabworks, JE Reel, Optima, ARB, Golen and Hannemann Fiberglass.

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Thanks to:, Inner Air Lock.

 

I'll be very interested to see your opinion on these. (Hope you can give an honest one even though there a sponsor)

I watched a guy have issues with them mounted on 17's with 39.5 Iroks on memorial day weekend. He could not get a accurate pressure reading when he airs down...I think it would not read once below 15psi or so, along with that he finally had to air down the inners so he could even get the tires to fold. (although thats partly the iroks) We spent some time helping him mess with them at camp before finally getting them to work. In the end we had to completely deflate the inners, put the iroks to 4psi and then put the inners to about 15psi. I personally felt the tires were still not folding well enough. I'll be curious to see how you like them on your setup.

I do say all of this not knowing the proper procedure for install and using them. I had to just go by idea being in the woods and without service for my smartphone.

 

Cheers, Jason

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Thanks to:, Inner Air Lock.

 

I'll be very interested to see your opinion on these. (Hope you can give an honest one even though there a sponsor)

I watched a guy have issues with them mounted on 17's with 39.5 Iroks on memorial day weekend. He could not get a accurate pressure reading when he airs down...I think it would not read once below 15psi or so, along with that he finally had to air down the inners so he could even get the tires to fold. (although thats partly the iroks) We spent some time helping him mess with them at camp before finally getting them to work. In the end we had to completely deflate the inners, put the iroks to 4psi and then put the inners to about 15psi. I personally felt the tires were still not folding well enough. I'll be curious to see how you like them on your setup.

I do say all of this not knowing the proper procedure for install and using them. I had to just go by idea being in the woods and without service for my smartphone.

 

Cheers, Jason

 

I was actually just messing with these. Going to be a bit of a challange properly placing the valve stem with the Mickey Thompson Sidebiters and still get proper brake caliper clearance. He does have a pretty specific air up procedure, that might have something to do with the issues you were encountering, but I don't know. We should be getting to that project next week. We decided to try them out for two reasons. One, we really wanted to run Mickey Thompson wheels since we sell their product and they don't offer a traditional, functioning beadlock. Two, Inner Air Lock is a Michigan company and we like the idea of supporting a local guy when we can. We'll see how they work and let everyone know.

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We would be ok with daily picture updates......just saying!....lol.

 

I'm way to excited about this build and seeing the final project.

 

Who is the lucky driver for UA? Can I buy a raffle ticket or something for a chance to wheel it? Any crazy chance you'll have it in Moab between Aug 26th and Sept 12th....I would love to see it. And last, can I buy it in 2 years after it finishes its circuit around the shows?!?!?!?!

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