1beastmj

[Esechuy]

Great news!!! I'm taking the "screw the rent" route to 4 link this sucker. If you read the previous post yesterday I wasn't being myself. I had scrapped the rear 4 link suspension plan and was gonna go soa but today It feels like I'm back on track. I removed the fuel tank and the driver side leaf spring bracket. I destroyed the brackets and trashed them this time, to prevent me from getting second thoughts. I won't be doing frame stiffeners until maybe after I have the truck drive-able. I was gonna go with T&M stiffeners but instead I'm gonna cut my own. Sorry for the last post but also thank you for the support. Stay tune for more updates.

 

[Smokeyyank]

Damn jeeps. Damn kids. Just when you think your on track.....

 

I haven't built mine yet...clearly, but I do like to dream about the "if I was doing it tomorrow what would I do". At first when I got my MJ I was like let's cut this b*@ch up make a sweet truggy, got a bunch of parts to start building then I started to kind of like just driving it as is.

 

4 links rear are awesome and if you wheel it should be a nice choice. I've decided I'll never wheel my MJ, they are just too unique and mines in decent enough shape that I'd rather just have a restomod pavement pounder. I'll be keeping leafs but if you can link it go for it!

 

Before my wife decided she was better at spending my money than I was I had this beast. I'll admit I cheated and bought it with most everything done, especially the body work,  but the price was so good I just couldn't justify restoring the other one I had.  

 

[Awinski]

jeep is coming out awesome! glad you decided to 4 link it, it's not that bad when you are done with it plus itll drive like butter with the right setup. planning on doing coil overs too or are you gonna do a coil and shock setup? side note, from someone who fabs for a living if you want to remove the factory paint faster than a wire wheel and not remove material like a flap disk a "stripper disk" like benchmark works wonders. don't hit a corner with them, instead of kicking like a wire wheel theyll just wear down super fast. but they do leave nice clean metal which is nice. just incase you were getting tired of wire wheels but they do last a darn long time.  your friend is a great welder as well on that front long arm setup. 

[Esechuy]

13 hours ago, Smokeyyank said:

Damn jeeps. Damn kids. Just when you think your on track.....

 

I haven't built mine yet...clearly, but I do like to dream about the "if I was doing it tomorrow what would I do". At first when I got my MJ I was like let's cut this b*@ch up make a sweet truggy, got a bunch of parts to start building then I started to kind of like just driving it as is.

 

4 links rear are awesome and if you wheel it should be a nice choice. I've decided I'll never wheel my MJ, they are just too unique and mines in decent enough shape that I'd rather just have a restomod pavement pounder. I'll be keeping leafs but if you can link it go for it!

 

Before my wife decided she was better at spending my money than I was I had this beast. I'll admit I cheated and bought it with most everything done, especially the body work,  but the price was so good I just couldn't justify restoring the other one I had.  

 

 

I know the feeling of driving a clean stock mj. people love them just as much and compliment all the time. I recently sold my stock Eliminator last year; a decision I still regret to this day. cool blazer by the way bro.

 

8 hours ago, Awinski said:

jeep is coming out awesome! glad you decided to 4 link it, it's not that bad when you are done with it plus itll drive like butter with the right setup. planning on doing coil overs too or are you gonna do a coil and shock setup? side note, from someone who fabs for a living if you want to remove the factory paint faster than a wire wheel and not remove material like a flap disk a "stripper disk" like benchmark works wonders. don't hit a corner with them, instead of kicking like a wire wheel theyll just wear down super fast. but they do leave nice clean metal which is nice. just incase you were getting tired of wire wheels but they do last a darn long time.  your friend is a great welder as well on that front long arm setup. 

 Thanks bro I went ironman4x4fab xj spring rear brackets and bilsteins in the rear. maybe in the future ill upgrade to long travel shocks but i kinda want to keep it daily driveable and be able to go fast with it. i bought one of those flap disks at harbor freight but haven't used it yet. 

[Esechuy]

City official says my mj project is a " junk vehicle". I've been working on the truck on my driveway for about 6 months now and today they wrote me a warning notice. If you scroll up to my previous posts you can see that I'm preparing to 4 link the rear suspension and that I removed the leaf spring brackets permanently. The note says I have 30 days to do something with my junk mj. I can't fix it in 30 days and moving it seems impossible. The truck has no brakes, no fuel tank, and no differential. Also I don't have u bolts big enough to temporarely secure the 8.8 to the leaf springs. Me and my wife decided to move it to the back yard one way or another. If you look closely at the pics below you can see what I did and what happened lol. I bolted the oem leaf spring to the rear factory shackle bracket but up front there is nothing to bolt to so it just rests on the bed. We started moving it little by little choking the tires every ft because the drive way and street are on a slope. My fear was the truck rolling away down the road possibly running into a home. All was going good until I pulled it with my other mj over the curb by the access gate to the back yard. The differential slipped out of position and almost came completely off the truck lol. It was a lot of hard work but we got the job done. Now I will have to work on the project, on the back yard, on the dirt, but under the shade of a huge pecan tree well, until its fall and I loose the shade. I could be saying that all this was a bad experience but it was actually funny and fun all throughout. Damn city official doesn't have a clue how much I love my junk vehicle.

As far as progress on the 4 link goes, I haven't done much. I did worked a little on the exhaust setup but I can't really make any permanent mods as I need the 4 link brackets to check for clearances. I should be ordering those next week. Below are some pics of my side exit exhaust.

 

Stay tune cool stuff coming soon

[Esechuy]

 It's time to get the ball rolling. I recently received some components for the 4 link and this weekend I finally began working on the project. Yesterday I ground off the oem spring perches from the ford 8.8 and the shock mount brackets. It was a very sketchy task; you will see what I mean in the pics below lol don't try this at home fellas. Today I mocked up the 4 link brackets and tack welded the passenger side. I ran out of time because I got distracted with the exhaust set up. Yup the bracket interfered with my side exit exhaust. I had to modified everything again. I even had to chop a piece of the bracket but it won't affect anything. Feel free to ask questions or comment on the post. Stay tune for more updates. 

 

This is were she has been sitting all this time after they insulted her saying she was a piece of junk.

 

 

I'm very impressed with the quality of these comonents. Ironman4x4fab nailed it once again; It was definitely worth the long wait.

 

 

8.8 spring perches removal.

 

 

Always wear ppe and never remove the guard on a grinder.

 

 

8.8 is now ready to mock up the coil conversion brackets and all the other stuff

 

 

This is the part I had to cut to clear the exhaust and also to prevent from notching a piece of the frame. The only thing that I lost here was two points of anti dive tuning.

 

With the 4 link bracket on the frame I can still come back later and install rear frame stiffeners.

 

 

All looks good but I won't weld all the perimeter of the brackets until I mock up the differential under the truck.

 

 

Here I have finished welding the Super 44 flowmaster side exit setup. It took me about 3 hrs to make it fit right. All I need is to add a hanger but I won't do that until I paint it.

 

[Awinski]

21 minutes ago, Esechuy said:

 

 

 Thanks bro I went ironman4x4fab xj spring rear brackets and bilsteins in the rear. maybe in the future ill upgrade to long travel shocks but i kinda want to keep it daily driveable and be able to go fast with it. i bought one of those flap disks at harbor freight but haven't used it yet. 

Should be able to handle way better in the future with links all around. A flap disk is great for removing metal. But they'll gum up with anything else. I understand the desire to just get it done and drive it though

[All around mj]

I used to get pretty butt hurt when someone would call my Comanche a piece of junk. Usually the comments would come from my wife because I was working 60 hr weeks at my old job and I was still in the reserves. So, between work, drill weekends and annual training it didn’t give me much time to work on the truck or spend time with the family. After I had fixed some collision damage and completed the HO swap she apologized because she thought I was wasting our time and that I would never get it running again. So no matter what people say around you never let it get you down and know that one day everyone else will get to see your plans become reality. I can’t wait to hear what happens when people find out your truck can out flex a bodybuilder lol. Keep up the great work.

[Smokeyyank]

 

[Esechuy]

15 hours ago, All around mj said:

I used to get pretty butt hurt when someone would call my Comanche a piece of junk. Usually the comments would come from my wife because I was working 60 hr weeks at my old job and I was still in the reserves. So, between work, drill weekends and annual training it didn’t give me much time to work on the truck or spend time with the family. After I had fixed some collision damage and completed the HO swap she apologized because she thought I was wasting our time and that I would never get it running again. So no matter what people say around you never let it get you down and know that one day everyone else will get to see your plans become reality. I can’t wait to hear what happens when people find out your truck can out flex a bodybuilder lol. Keep up the great work.

Thanks for your service brother. My neighbors thought I was crazy but as soon as I put the new tires and got her rolling everybody was stopping and saying that it looked badass. I've never gotten so many compliments with any other vehicle i've owned. I work in Ft. Hood and there's many jeeps out here but only about 3 comanches. The attention she gets is unreal.  I can't wait to make it look like I envision it. I'm very near as far as cosmetics go.

 

[Esechuy]

(Rear 4 link update) Winter progress is going slow but I think I'm getting somewhere. I still haven't finished the 4 link and I have a feeling it will take a few more weeks, mostly because I changed my mind with the coil spring setup I was gonna use. Before I was gonna notch the frame and install the xj rear coil conversion kit made by ironman4x4fab shout out to them. These brackets are well made an will definitely fit with very minor modification on the mj but I didn't want to mess with notching the frame at least not at the moment. Anyways most of you are familiar with jcrmanche and have seen how heavily built it is; shout out to Daryl the owner. The 4 link I'm using was pretty much design on that truck and I'm gonna do what they did with the coil mount setup. It will probably cost me more in parts but that's the route I decided to take for now. So far I have welded the rear truss and mocked the 4link brackets with arms. I need to adjust the lower arm brackets and do other mock ups before I burn everything permanently. I recently finished the tank setup too and it worked out great. I mounted the dakota 23 ga tank inside a tool box in the back of the bed. It might not be dot approved but I don't see why it couldn't be. Also today I moved the truck from the backyard to the driveway and that was a big moment because for the first time I tested the 4x4 on the truck. I had to because the rear drive shaft is not even connected and she pretty much dragged her self out of there. This time city ordinance can't say anything because the truck has both axles, license plates and everything up to date. With the truck in the driveway progress should move more steadily now. Stay tune for more updates. More details on the pics below.

 

Mocking up the ironman4x4fab rear 4 link kit this guys always impress me with their products

 

 

 

I welded the tubes to the diff housing

 

 

4 link diff truss

 

 

Lower arm brackets, I had to cut them to fit the 8.8 tubes

 

 

I have to adjust these lower mounts I want as much clearance as possible and they are sitting too low.

 

 

This is the kit I was gonna use and migh return it for a refund. These are v8 wj coils.

 

 

This day I was moking up the piece and decided not to take this route.

 

 

Who would guess there is a 23 gallon tank in there.

 

 

Got some straps from the junk yard and bent them to the shape of the tank

 

 

I welded flat head ss bolts to the straps.

 

 

Then installed the strap on the tank. Drilled holes through the tool box and bed of the truck for extra security.

 

 

It ain't going nowhere

 

 

My friend Chris Migl hooked it up with a 90 degree fuel hose. Thanks brotha

 

 

And here it is fully connected you can't smell any fuel vapors or anything. Fuel canister is under the truck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[All around mj]

I’m still trying to track down my old pictures so I can start a build thread. It doesn’t look like much yet but I’ve at least gotten it to daily driver status for about a year and a half now. I can’t wait to see your finished product. 

[All around mj]

You’re making me want to buy a welder and start learning. Eventually I’ll have to do it anyway. 

[Esechuy]

It sure was a long weekend; here's what happened. I had spent a couple of days mocking up the 8.8 under the truck making sure everything was aligned and making sure the pinion angle was close to its final position. Since everything seemed good, I went ahead and welded the truss to the axle permanently. Well this Friday I made the discovery that the axle was backwards. I wanted to get mad but I couldn't stop laughing; I can't believe I got so far without noticing it what a d* a* but oh well $#!& happens. Anyways this Saturday I took it off and ground off the truss. It took me about 2 hrs to hide all the evidence of the f**up but after that all went smooth, I mocked up the axle and fixed the lower arm brackets which were hanging too low before; everything is looking way better now. I installed zj ebrake cables and since they were kinda short I made a little custom plate and modded the mj ebrake junction plate to connect them to the xj hand brake cable. I also installed the 1310 flange that I got from a ford ranger and used the 2wd xj drive shaft. I also installed extended front brake hoses and many other little things. Project is not far from being drivable and I'm very happy. Tires and wheels have been ordered and should be here anytime. I need to buy the tera flex speed bumps that I'm gonna use for the rear coil upper mounts. After that it will be shocks and bump stops but first things first.

 

Brake bleeders always go on top of caliper that's one clue that i didn't catch early.

 

 

Axle vent tube was pointing down the whole time and I never paid attention to it.

 

 

Here the axle is off awaiting surgery.

 

 

Like nothing happen but it was a pain in the @$$.

 

 

Both yokes are from a 2wd xj but i had shortened one when I first did the aw4 2wd conversion more than a year ago. Now with the 8.8 I had to get an original yoke. I thought I was gonna have to cut the 2wd xj drive shaft but it works really great with the 8.8 on this shortbed mj. I will do more testing at full flex but so far I'm satisfied.

 

The truss here is just tacked along with the lower arm brackets which you can't see from this angle because they are parallel to the ground.

 

 

Here you can see them. I might move them just a tad down to raise pinion but this is close to how I wanted them.

 

 

This is the mj ebrake cable junction plate. It took me a while to figure out how I was gonna make it work. Look at the pics below.

 

 

I welded this hook just for extra security

 

 

Lock tite for extra security as well

 

 

Looks and works like a factory setup

 

 

I will have to extend the shocks about 2" but I'm gonna have to make those decisions once wheels and tires are installed.

 

 

Here I was installing the front brake lines leaving plenty of room for flex.

 

 

This is how she sits right now. There's no springs on the back just a piece of wood between the rear truss and the bed. I don't want city ordinance to give me $#!& anymore so this is what I do instead of using the jack towers throughout the week.

[Esechuy]

22 minutes ago, All around mj said:

I’m still trying to track down my old pictures so I can start a build thread. It doesn’t look like much yet but I’ve at least gotten it to daily driver status for about a year and a half now. I can’t wait to see your finished product. 

stick around I should finish posting everything through the weekend then i will be up to date. 

11 minutes ago, All around mj said:

You’re making me want to buy a welder and start learning. Eventually I’ll have to do it anyway. 

Yes I definitely recommend you get one. I have learned a lot with this project specially welding.

[Esechuy]

Rear 4 link is finally coming to an end. Last post I had messed up with the axle but after I got that fixed, things started going smooth. I'm so happy with where I'm at with the build right now. Here's what happened in the past few weeks.

A couple weeks ago I bought tires and wheels and that was a big moment because the truck's appearance changed drastically and I love it. If you've been following the build you probably remember that I wasn't gonna go bigger than 33s but something happen in the purchase process and I ended up with 35s. With the tires installed I could finally make real adjustments to the 4 link bracket angles and all that crap. I decided to go with the ironman4x4fab xj rear coil conversion kit after all. The main reason I went with this setup is because I wanted a low center of gravity and I wanted to stick with the original plan of 4.5" of lift. The only way to have good spring travel and staying low was going this route plus this coil kit is badass and I love the beefy spring retainers. The only sucky part was notching the frame but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I will reinforce the notch with 1/4" steel plate; it will be like nothing happened there. Today I installed the rear shocks and they look awesome. I still need to weld all the rear suspension components and do minor adjustments but this 4 link conversion part of the build is finally coming to an end. The next thing will be bump stops and limiting straps then gearing. Stay tune for the next update.

V8 wj front coils net the same lift as the front with 4.5 Rubicon express coils, with spare tire and full 23 gallon tank plus 50 lbs of tools.

 

 

Best coil retainers I've seen. I'm see if I can mount bump stops inside the coils.

 

 

35/12.5r15 km3 with mamba m13 wheels with 3.52" backspace

 

 

Let the trimming begin

 

 

I plan to weld these tabs to the inside later on then install some fender flares.

 

 

For the front I cut right at the imprint mark left by the original fender flare.

 

 

I took of the coil and lowered her just to see what was gonna hit but truck will never make it this low.

 

 

I have room for pretty much all the essentials.

 

 

I was hesitant but I had to do it.

 

 

I will cut the skull piece off then weld a 1/4" steel plate to reenforce the frame.

 

 

This will be blocked off later

 

 

[Esechuy]

After almost a year messing with suspension and swapping axles I finally get to take her for a spin around the block.  I'm still have many things to do to consider the suspension completed but I'm getting there little by little. This is how I Re enforced the notch on the frame with 1/4" steel plate. I did one side to see how it would work out check it out I think I nailed it but I'll let the pics do the talking if it falls apart I will let y'all know I promise.

 

[Esechuy]

(Overheating problem solved) Its been about one month of daily driving the beast and It's been a constant battle trying to keep her driveable. Everytime I fix one issue, another one pops up, and then another; its never ending. The major one was the over heating; I almost seized up the engine twice. I thought it was the transmission overheating due to the 35s on the temporary 3.55 gearing. Someone told me that they had ran 37s on 3.55 and didnt have overheating issues so I decided to freshen up the entire cooling system first and the problem went away completely. Now she runs about 200 degrees in normal driving conditions and only one out of the two electrical fans is always on. Items replaced were
Radiator
Water pump
Thermostat 
Radiator cap
Transmission oil cooler 
Radiator hose
Heater core flush
Coolant

 

[Esechuy]

Aside from the cooling system problem. I also addressed some issues I was having with the exhaust system. The old setup was a catless 2.5" pipe with a super 44 Flowmaster and dual side exit. I loved this setup, it sounded very aggressive with a deep low tone, but for daily driving it got annoying and for a long trip this would not be fun. I decided to go with a Magnaflow muffler and cat. I've used this setup before and knew exactly how it would sound. It's definitely more mellow and has a higher/gayish tone. Does sound nice when you floor it and pleasant for daily driving. While I was at it, I decided to modify the dual exit setup. I was having rattling issues when it made contact with the bed. I had to space them out in order to have space to cut around them for movement. Since I couldn't find any dual tips with these angles and measurements I had to modify a new one to taste. Also I took into consideration the installation of some Notch custom flares in the future. With the old setup this would not work since they sat too far back. I asked around for measurements of them installed on a swb thanks to Jerry Bain for taking the time to get those measurements. It took me about two weeks to finish the exhaust and It was well worth the trouble because it came out exactly how I envisioned it.

 

As much as I loved this setup I had to fix it.

 

 

After an unsuccessful hunt for a dual tip with a horizontal slanted cut I ended up getting this one. The guy at the shop said no refunds lol;

 

 

I got to work on it right away.

 

 

My wife throwing a bead.

 

 

Not the best looking welds but definitely very functional and I added the two bolt flange for easy removal later on plus it allows for fine adjustments at the exit point.

 

 

Since I had to relocate the tip I was gonna have to cover the old hole some how. I cut a template on cardboard and transferred to a piece of sheet metal.

 

 

Here I was using my work bench to bend the plate.

 

 

Not a very sharp bent but it works.

 

 

Admiring the piece after a few coats with vht header paint.

 

 

Here i was painting the panel. I did not take pics of the installation process. I used high temp silicone in between the plates to prevent rattling then I tacked the piece one inch apart all the way around then filled in the rest with fiberglass filler. After it was nice and smooth I sprayed the panel with spray can bedliner.

 

The tips have about 3/8" of play and never make contact with the panel. They look frkn badass and will definitely clear the massive Notch Custom flares now.

[All around mj]

Do you have any detailed pics of your final exhaust setup? I plan on doing a super duty axle swap, hopefully in the not so distant future, I’ve been researching for a couple years on the swap. I haven’t found a MJ specific swap build and if you don’t mind me using your exhaust masterpiece for an example to go by. That is if you don’t mind. 

[All around mj]

Rereading my previous post several times, it is really unclear. Maybe after I get my head unclouded from everything that’s going on today I can make sense of what I was really trying to ask and why. I like your build and the triumphs you have had to overcome with it. Great job!

[Jeep Driver]

Question for you-

 

I like the Ironman long arm set up.....however.........

 

What is the likelihood of getting dual exhaust pipes past the new X-member? 

 

I'm going V8 and the X-pipe will be after the X-member. 

[Esechuy]

3 hours ago, All around mj said:

Do you have any detailed pics of your final exhaust setup? I plan on doing a super duty axle swap, hopefully in the not so distant future, I’ve been researching for a couple years on the swap. I haven’t found a MJ specific swap build and if you don’t mind me using your exhaust masterpiece for an example to go by. That is if you don’t mind. 

That is not my final exhaust setup but yeah I don't mind you use my setup idea just give me credit if you post it lol. I can take more pics if you need.

3 hours ago, All around mj said:

Rereading my previous post several times, it is really unclear. Maybe after I get my head unclouded from everything that’s going on today I can make sense of what I was really trying to ask and why. I like your build and the triumphs you have had to overcome with it. Great job!

Thanks its been fun all along except when I have to weld on my back or when I have to drill out spot welds while on my back that sucks lol. 

1 hour ago, Jeep Driver said:

Question for you-

 

I like the Ironman long arm set up.....however.........

 

What is the likelihood of getting dual exhaust pipes past the new X-member? 

 

I'm going V8 and the X-pipe will be after the X-member. 

This is an excellent question, because I'm going v8 in the future and I'm gonna mirror the side exit I have on the driver side. You are the first one to know about this. It's a tight fit for a single 2.5" pipe over the subframe I can just imagine duals. But I'm all up for the challenge. On the driver side there is no space what so ever for a pipe to go through there specially since many essential wires and hoses go through that area like fuel lines, brake line, and wire harness for fuel pump etc. If you go x pipe 4 link will  be near impossible and side exit as well specially if you don't relocate the fuel tank to another location. 

[Esechuy]

Hood and tailgate makeover. After messing with the suspension for more than a year It was about time I showed some love to the exterior. Here's what I did in the past few weeks. 

[Esechuy]

Home made heavy duty tire carrier for the beast. I just finished it right now and I'm very happy with the outcome. It took me several days of mocking the pieces and figuring out the best way to anchor it to the truck. Also the tool box lid was another issue but I manage to clear it. Next step is to buy a hi lift jack and decide were to mount it. One possible area is right behind the spare mounted to the carrier.