Jeepman Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Empty Post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW86 Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 man id be fixing that rust issue. was there even any frame left to bolt it to.. :rotfl2: jk jk, looks good. rough country is local (well sort of) to me and quite a few in my local club run the RC stuff and are happy with it. i hated my short arm lift from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepman Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 OK Now that the Front is Done here is what I did to the rear a Few Months later... Took a little drive to Cleveland to pick up this Gem... An 08 WK SRT8 Rear D44 with Brembo Brakes Now to the removal of the rear ZJ D44a.. New Axle all cleaned up and ready to roll under... New OE Rear leafs instllaled for a SOA... Temp New Wheels as the 16's I already had will not fit the SRT8 so a Minimum of 18" Axle Rolling under with the new wheels... Axle installed and ready for some brake lines and Shock mounts... Rear Axle allmost done and sitting on the ground with a little more lift then I had ever expected... All sitting on the ground and Done just need the Rear Driveshaft and Shocks installed but done... Needed to add ACOS spacers in the front for now to bring the front up 2" but good enough till I order in some new Coil springs for the front and I figure 6" coils should do it... I am pretty Happy with it at this point and the ride is now much smoother then before the Long arm upgrade and SOA and will be better when I get the new front coils and Better Shocks all around which will be Bilsteins for sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepman Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 The rust there is minimal and I will be fabricating full length custom Frame Rail/stiffeners in the near future... man id be fixing that rust issue. was there even any frame left to bolt it to.. :rotfl2: jk jk, looks good. rough country is local (well sort of) to me and quite a few in my local club run the RC stuff and are happy with it. i hated my short arm lift from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 So what are your wheel/tire package plans?.....I gotta be honest, the 18" wheels just don't flow with that truck at all :ack: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGHEEP Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Looks like you need to adjust out those arms out a bit. Your axle is shifted way back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepman Posted October 7, 2013 Author Share Posted October 7, 2013 As with everything to each thier own but these wheels are temp wheels from an 08 JK as I need to drive the truck till I Sort out exact wheel offset i want/need if any, then order my wheels which will be a 5 star type alluminum bullet style wheel and 33 or 35 Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ's... I havent decided exactly on the size yet but I am not in a real hurry since the wheels will take some time to order in so offset is my primary concern and I still have to measure that up and decide how much tire I want at or ouitside the flares and I am not really a huge fan of too much tire outside the flare... As it sits now with the new axles are wider then the stock axles and the wheel width is a about where it was on the old axles with a 4" backspaced rim so I will not likely go too much wider stance but again I havent sorted all that just yet... As for the 18" size well I only wanted to go as large as 17's but there is NO way to fit anything smaller then 18's with the Brembo brakes so 18's it is... The RC Kit is not a very good system and the arms are right where they should be, any farther forward which is not a good idea because the upper arms don't adjust well and the axle can't be pivoted to correct for the coil spring... I will be fabing New arms in the near future to adjust the axle center better but its just fine as it is now if I wanted to leave it as is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crosbike Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 What kind of welder did you use to weld on those leaf spring perches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Sounds like a plan bud! Keep up the good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Nice work! The WK44 sure looks bare without all of the brackets. That truck will look stellar with 35's and those SRT8 wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepman Posted October 7, 2013 Author Share Posted October 7, 2013 As with all our Comanche's this is a labor of Love and creation for me, plus it is also used to test new products I sell in my shop... As for the Welding Question, Normally I use my big 220V Mig but its in storage so i used my 120V Flux Core Mig which works fine for welding especially if you know how to weld... Yes it is Bare and must have dropped 75lbs in just brackets... My Next MJ build I may keep the axle coil sprung instead of cutting off all the brackets... Not going with SRT8 Wheels, I am going with these Wheels... Image Not Found Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDirtyJeep401 Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Looks good! :thumbsup: Just wondering but how long did it take to do the swap??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepman Posted October 7, 2013 Author Share Posted October 7, 2013 Well the front took me about a week to do in days but I only spent maybe 3-5 hours a day and the rear took me 2-3 days and again I only spent about 3-5 hours each day working on it. Obviously still not done and a few kinks to work out and the e-brake cables go on tomorrow morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 you know the front axle is low pinion right? the extra height is gonna be a ton of strain on the front driveshaft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepman Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 Yes I know what I installed and it's not an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 *shrug* if you say so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepman Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 Thanks and yes I say so. It is my truck after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guanaco.13 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Sick build so far man :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepman Posted October 9, 2013 Author Share Posted October 9, 2013 Thanks. It's been fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepman Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Ok not the greatest quality pic but it will do till the weather warms up and I can wash my Truck... I decided on a +10MM offset and 35's Image Not Found Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebvance Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Looks great! may have missed it but what log arms are you running? Also you are currently sitting at 8 inches of lift? If so how are the angles of the front drive shaft and where you still able to use the stock one? I'm about to put a 8 inch long arm lift on mine in the next week or so and I have a LP30. Just wondering if I'm going to need to get another drive shaft or not. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebvance Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I see now that it was a RC long arm kit. I'm guessing it was for a XJ? and you modified the cross member to work? If you have pictures I would love to see what you did. The long arm kit I have is serious offroads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepman Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Yes it is a RC XJ Long arm kit and NO modifications needed to the cross member as it is the same as an XJ but what you do need to do is remove the 2 extra support brackets that are attached to the MJ Unibody which just unbolt... It is 8" because the front axle I installed has the coil buckets 2" higher then a stock MJ/XJ axle and Only issue I have with my front drive shaft (which is a stock shaft) is that the RC long arm cross member lowers the trans about 2" and when the driver side wheel articulates the front double carden end hits on the cross member so I need to either a) move the trans back up or b) mod the cross member to allow more articulation... I haven't decided just yet which way I will go... Overall I can't say you will have the same results or not as your setup will be different then mine.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebvance Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Yes it is a RC XJ Long arm kit and NO modifications needed to the cross member as it is the same as an XJ but what you do need to do is remove the 2 extra support brackets that are attached to the MJ Unibody which just unbolt... It is 8" because the front axle I installed has the coil buckets 2" higher then a stock MJ/XJ axle and Only issue I have with my front drive shaft (which is a stock shaft) is that the RC long arm cross member lowers the trans about 2" and when the driver side wheel articulates the front double carden end hits on the cross member so I need to either a) move the trans back up or B) mod the cross member to allow more articulation... I haven't decided just yet which way I will go... Overall I can't say you will have the same results or not as your setup will be different then mine.. I'm not sure of the support brackets you are talking about. do you have pictures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepman Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Sorry I do not have any pictures but if you have ever removed a Cross member you will have removed the mounting bolts... An XJ uses only 2 bolts per side to mount the cross member however the MJ uses 4 per side and the two closest to the trans (inside bolts) are attached to the mount you need to remove... Next time you pop your head under your truck you will see what I am talking about... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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