yellaheep Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 When envisioning the build for this project, I'd hoped to find an'89 - '90 2wd 5spd Eliminator truck as a base. Pretty few and far between out in this part of the country (In the eastern states they're plentiful but all I'd found were VERY used, beaten and rusty..... and shipping them was $$$) but the idea was that it'd already have the AX15 and a D44 and buckets......This truck wasn't exactly what I'd hoped to find specifically, but this is a real solid truck to build on. Short of the D44..... it's almost an Eliminator..... so here we go.'88 MJ short bed, 4x4, 5spd, non-A/C truck. Absolutely rust free. 270K miles.-Rebuilt 4.0 with unknown miles since rebuilt was installed 2 owners ago.-Late model AX15 with external slave bell housing swapped in with new clutch.-Runs and drives beautifully.-Bonus: this truck already has the bucket seat interior and full gauge cluster. Also nice newer tires, a custom off road rear bumper and bed mounted tire carrier I can use for other projects or sell.Biggest mental hurdle with this truck was coming to terms that I'd have to remove the 4x4 parts. What helped me with that hurdle was a ComancheClub member in Pueblo who's an even bigger parts hoarder than I am, was willing to sell me all the bits I need to go 2wd. So, next week I'll be hauling off to Pueblo to get these things.The bigger challenge will be the suspension. Ideally it'd be great if I could source the parts to duplicate the SCCA trucks the Archer Brothers used for their trucks - custom front coils and fiberglass mono-leaf rears. Dunno how successful I'll be in coming up with those or items similar. Rumor has it that certain years of the Astro van used similar fiberglass mono-leaf rears that are the right length...... For now, I have several sets of off-road front coils that I can cut down to see if they provide the stiffness and drop I'm looking for up front. The rear may just see the removal of the overload leaf and one additional leaf from the middle. :dunno:The 2wd front axle will get outfitted with WJ knuckles and brakes. I have 16" wheels already to clear those brakes. I'll have to see if the WJ steering will work with the lowered suspension..... may end up going to a simple heim setup for steering and track bar.Rear axle thoughts: Since I won't have D44, I can do one of two other builds....-Keep the D35 and do the Liberty rear disc swap-Get an Explorer 8.8 with the discs.The 8.8 might be a bit on the heavy side but I wonder how a D35 would stand up to all the throttle work and up/down shifting abuse........ I believe the Archer trucks used D44's but those trucks were running the 2.5 4cyl engine........I'll put a cage in it, move the fuel tank and battery into the bed and use a YJ Hurst shifter for the trans.Anyway........ the truck:I'm using their photos as the truck is currently filthy and frozen..... :DJohn and Brad were so concerned with the upkeep of this truck that when they went to replace the doors (had minor rust along the bottom from rotten window seals) they held out until they found red doors..... and got lucky to find another Pioneer so the doors even had the stripes! The rear bumper may look familiar to some of you....... It's a Custom 4x4 Fab rear bumper for the '97-'01 XJ and it fits the truck perfectly. John and Brad made custom brackets to mount it up but it looks like it's made for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellaheep Posted December 8, 2013 Author Share Posted December 8, 2013 The wheels / tires for the truck:245/50/16 Firestone Firehawk SVX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 ... I believe the Archer trucks used D44's but those trucks were running the 2.5 4cyl engine........ Nope. Their trucks all had 35s. I'm definitely watching this one! :popcorn: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 :agree: This is setup to be pretty awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellaheep Posted December 8, 2013 Author Share Posted December 8, 2013 Ugh..... The NAXJA folks are trying to talk me into keeping it 4x4 (go figure).... They're suggesting swapping in a 242 t case and the low pinion D30 with CV's from a WJ....... I dunno how I'd get the suspension low and not have contact issues between the D30 and engine mount bracket and/or oil pan..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalob Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 Stick to yer guns Troy you know what you are doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexia Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 Ugh..... The NAXJA folks are trying to talk me into keeping it 4x4 (go figure).... They're suggesting swapping in a 242 t case and the low pinion D30 with CV's from a WJ....... I dunno how I'd get the suspension low and not have contact issues between the D30 and engine mount bracket and/or oil pan..... While it would be really cool that oil pan is a problem. PseudoSport's build shows just how much trouble it was with a 2WD axle beam. Those look like some nice wide tires. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellaheep Posted December 18, 2013 Author Share Posted December 18, 2013 Thanks for the link to PseudoSport's build! I forgot about it. Good info I can use on mine. Yesterday, I got word that a junk yard that I frequent just got in a '91 MJ. I work graveyard shift, but hauled out there after my 15 hr shift to go see what I could snatch from it. Turns out, the info was bad....... it was the same '91 I'd scuttled 4 weeks earlier..... But it wasn't a total lost trip out there. Found a 2wd '98 ZJ (pretty rare around these parts) that also had a D35 with NEW brakes and rotors on all 4 corners! I snatched the front brake parts for another rig, then took the front unit bearings with the stub shafts. I'll need the stubs when I build a 2wd front axle with WJ big brakes. I then grabbed the rear disc set up with brake lines and e-brake cables. I've got another decent MJ D35 that I can put these on to swap under the race MJ when I get to that point. I decided against putting in an 8.8 for now as I believe most racing rules don't allow wheel spacers... and if the Archer Brothers ran D35's........ no reason I shouldn't. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny quest Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 look up the XJ-R build. theyre dominating the east coast grassroots motorsports challenge in a 2wd cherokee. lots of awesome tips there, especially suspension stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Here's another interesting thread to peruse: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=952132 It says the Archer trucks used "D35 rears(!), with 4.10, or 4.56 gears". Good suspension info in there too..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pseudosport Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Cool build, I'd go with the 2wd setup for the weight savings alone. Here is a shot of the XJ-R's front axle to give you an idea of how much space there is. We did clearance the front axle but the suspension bottoms out before the axle would have hit the pan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellaheep Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 Thanks for the pic! I'll have a 2wd axle pulled here shortly and my intention is to get it cut and sectioned in similar fashion. Then get the WJ brakes/knuckles set up. Put it in all at once. Any thoughts on eliminating the OEM track bar and steering in favor of a simple straight tube set up with heims? Seems the lower that axle gets, there's quite a few steering component clearance concerns..... everything is all bunched up close together and the track bar really doesn't need that bend and outward bow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pseudosport Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Suspension components defiantly gets bunched up but it’s not too bad. It’s even tighter when you try to run turbo plumbing through it, lol. Since nothing has been hitting we have left things alone. Our logic was that if anything breaks we can find stock parts pretty easy then upgrade if needed. A straight tube set up should work and simplify things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 ... A straight tube set up should work and simplify things. Agreed. I'm sitting on genuine Archer springs with tons of room: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny quest Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 ...I'm sitting on genuine Archer springs.... why don't you rub it in? :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 why don't you rub it in? :yes: :D I could've said... ... I'm sitting on GENUINE ARCHER SPRINGS... Any plans on what you're doing for the cage yet? Really curious if you're going to match the SCCA trucks or something else. For that matter, are you keeping things in the cab or do you have plans for going through the rear window? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellaheep Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 Yeah the cage design is something I'm not yet set on. SCCA rules seem fairly simple. Not a fan of a plexi rear window ....... But going through the cab seems a bit daunting as well. I have an idea to make the top of the cage in a "U" shape where the two ends go through the upper cab corners and become the down bars into the bed. The rest would be easy enough. Not sure if I'll go through the dash or drop the "A" pillar tubes down in front of the dash. All this is a little ways down the road still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellaheep Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 Picked up seats for the race MJ.New in the box 2009 Drag Pak Challenger seats. The guy immediately went with aluminum racing seats for his Challenger. These are flip-forward too. :thumbup: This is the guy's car....... Awesome. Runs 10.7's.Image Not Found Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuit Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Nice seats, beautiful car, even better MJ and a great build. Subscribed. :thumbsup: What are the plans for the buckets that are in it now? they look fairly clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellaheep Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Those buckets will find their way into another MJ at some point..... Probably be stored in my basement until someone buys them or I find an MJ to put them in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellaheep Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 Got some progress on the race MJ. About 2.5" drop up front by cutting 2 coils from the OEM springs. Added stiff shocks front and rear as well. Unfortunately I couldn't find any long u-bolts to get the rear done. Front done with rear at stock height and 235 75 15 tires: Rear with the race wheels: What I cut out: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellaheep Posted February 23, 2014 Author Share Posted February 23, 2014 Dropped the rear. 3" block for now. I may play with removing the overload leaves and the mid-leaves to see how it sets and go with a 1.5"-2" block this summer. I've learned that the rear sway bar from a ZR1 Blazer, the stock links from a WJ and XJ rear link brackets makes a sweet setup. So I plan to get that fabbed up, then I'll play with the leaf packs & blocks. I'm probably gonna have to shorten that load sensor valve rod...... lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 The stance looks very good to me! Any chance you could snap a picture of the front suspension/steering/etc like you did for the rear? My mind wants to see what kind of clearances there are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjy_26 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Holy Crap that looks mean! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellaheep Posted February 23, 2014 Author Share Posted February 23, 2014 The stance looks very good to me! Any chance you could snap a picture of the front suspension/steering/etc like you did for the rear? My mind wants to see what kind of clearances there are. Yeah it's tight in there, particularly on the drivers side. It's bump-stopped to keep the UCA from hitting the motor mount bracket. The trackbar bracket is an inch or so from the diff. The D30 and all that OEM steering and stuff will be tossed in favor of a 2wd axle, rod ends and DOM links. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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