Project “Tomahawk”

[ghetdjc320]

Second coat complete. Under cab is finished. 
 

 

[ghetdjc320]

All raptor liner up to the firewall is complete. The only items left to coat are the front wheel wells and the underside and inside of the bed. Was going to work on the front end next but the rear leaf spring bolts were completely seized in the spring. So I’ll have to work on the springs and might as well do the rear axle since there’s no reason not to at this point. 

Rear axle is a KJ 8.25 with disks and 3.55’s. Will remove all the bracketry and install the ARB along with new brakes and bearing/seals. Also have a non disco HP30 front along with bracket gussets and another ARB. Might just do both at the same time. Give the raptor liner plenty of time to fully cure 

[ghetdjc320]

Axle building time 

[ghetdjc320]

I know some have asked about how to setup gears on an 8.25. Here are some pics of the adjusters that screw into the carrier bearing journal. You use a long wrench through the axle tube and use them to set your backlash then preload. A very simple and effective design. As I was going through the shop, I also realized I had an extra D30 ARB clone locker (made in China). It’s in the classifieds now if anyone is interested. 

[neohic]

Definitely a great aspect to the 8.25. Gotta make sure those gears are setup right if you’re planning on pulling a trailer. 

[ghetdjc320]

6 minutes ago, neohic said:

Definitely a great aspect to the 8.25. Gotta make sure those gears are setup right if you’re planning on pulling a trailer. 

Most definitely! I have set up a great many diffs though. I think this will be about my 20th 

[ghetdjc320]

Backlash set to .008 carrier bearing preload adjusters set to 70lbft each. Air locker installed. Ring gear bolts set to 55lbft with blue loctite after removing all oil from threads and bolts. Bulkhead fitting tapped and air line routed. 
 

 

[ghetdjc320]

All bracketry removed and axle tubes polished. Also removed a couple of cast-in tabs on the pumpkin that were part of the KJ link mounting points. 
27 grit flap disks followed by 80 grit DA. 3m zinc primer followed by Rustoleum industrial gloss black (easier to touch up and won’t be exposed to UV). Will set pinion angles and weld perches tomorrow. Also prepped the springs for a rebuild. New bushings, paint and and extra leaf going into each side.

 

Please excuse the mess lol. We have a shop for the master dirty work and one for clean work. Suffice it to say, even the dirty shop needs a cleaning after this. 

 

 

[ghetdjc320]

Bushing removal carnage

 

 

[ghetdjc320]

And more carnage

 

 

 

 

[ghetdjc320]

All the leaf spring hardware was severely rusted and seized. Had to cut off all the hardware. Then I disassembled the springs and flap-disked them all down clean. I noticed that the main spring in one of the packs had about an inch more free-arch then the other. So I spent an hour working on it and straightening it out. I have nice full-length add a leafs from BDS I’ll be using to reassemble this pack. Should net about 1.75” in the rear. I’m adding an air lift in the back also for towing as I want to keep the truck level and I do a fair bit of towing but the loads aren’t very heavy most of the time. A simple bag system will work well for my purposes as long as I can still keep my full suspension travel. Front is getting a 3” BDS coil but with the Warrior bumper, winch and all the reinforcement, i suspect I will not net a full 3”. Thats I asilo adjusted with a small coil spacer though. I really wanted to add ACOS but couldn’t find a good coil spring that could handle full coil bind (no oem spring) with less then 2” of lift to make up for the 1 3/8 from the ACOS. Ultimately quite satisfied with this setup. It’s a full BDS kit with all the options. 
 

By the way, has anyone ever re-drilled the BDS AAL to line it up with the offset in the MJ leaf pack? I know a few here run the BDS setup but hadn’t heard if they just installed it as is or drilled a new hole. The BDS MJ kit comes with a AAL for an XJ but nets just a bit less lift on an MJ.

 

 

[Torq_Shep]

Man this is a great build!

[ghetdjc320]

6 hours ago, Torq_Shep said:

Man this is a great build!

Much appreciated sir! 

[89 MJ]

7 hours ago, Torq_Shep said:

Man this is a great build!

I agree! I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes. 

[ghetdjc320]

All new bushings installed. Leaf pack assembled. I redrilled the BDS springs with a 2” offset to correctly center on the MJ pack. The BDS springs don’t really have more than maybe .5” free arch than the oem pack. They also aren’t any thicker. Being that we are adding 1 leaf to the main 3 leafs that support the weight at ride height, I believe we are just increasing the overall load capacity which should net approx 1.75” of lift. This is similar to what happens when swapping in a 4 leaf General Spring set. The actual leaves are thicker on the GS set though making it a much stiffer pack. This BDS setup is exactly what I was looking for overall. 

[ghetdjc320]

[ghetdjc320]

It’s a roller again! Took a few shots for reference as to how a KJ 8.25 fits under there. It’s a better width for the rear of an MJ than even the stock axle which always looked too narrow to me with the stock wheels. Really like how the springs turned out also. installed all new spring tip glider pads as well. 
 

For reference, I used grade 8 9/16x4.5” bolts for the shackles and 9/16x5” for the front leaf eyes. Nylock nuts and washers.

 

 

[EUREKA]

Beautiful!

[ghetdjc320]

Ready to start on the front

 

 

[ghetdjc320]

Front axle being built. An important reminder that I had forgotten myself is that the factory had a set of different sized oil slingers to choose from. When I pulled the pinion, there were no shims to set depth, only preload. Turns out the oil slinger was .058” vs the one in my kit which was .030. Had to add .028 in shims to get the correct (or at least maintain factory install spec) pinion depth. Preload was non existent as the bearings were shot. Aimed for 20 in lbs of rotating torque. 

[ghetdjc320]

And front gears and locker complete:

 

 

[ghetdjc320]

Pic time. Been carrying these pre-90 knuckles all over the world for a future project. These will be running a big brake setup with dual piston calipers and 13” rotors. These barely fit under these turbines once clearancing the calipers slightly. Will be using these with my G2 1.25” wheel spacers which will match the back track exactly. 
 

All the reinforcements to the HP non disco housing are complete. Inner C’s, track bar, lower control arm skid and passenger side upper control arm reinforcement. I’ve used Artec inner C brackets in the past but the clearance with the coil springs is not good. These Barnes inner C brackets are a really nice design. In theory, they should actually provide better support for the inner c than traditional reinforcement designs. 
 

Took a pic of the off the shelf part number for the caliper bracket bolts you’ll need if doing this big brake swap with pre-90 D30 knuckles (YJ and XJ only, CJ 30’s aren’t compatible). If anyone needs part numbers for the whole swap let me know. 
 

Also clear coated the top sides of the ball joints so they don’t start rusting right away. 

[ghetdjc320]

Here is an idea of the size of the brakes. Honestly even puts the Wilwood la to shame. These are some huge brakes for an HP D30 with 31’s. But with all the extra power from the LS, steering and brakes are a priority.

[ghetdjc320]

22 minutes ago, saveevryjp1998 said:

Holy cow! Are those the knuckles I sent you many moons ago? 

That’s them! Media blasted twice then buffed up with the flap disk and dremel. Coated with zinc based primer, cast iron engine paint and clear coat that’s used for wheels. 
 

 

[ghetdjc320]

35 minutes ago, saveevryjp1998 said:

media blasted twice. I'm surprised those didn't needed melted down and recast. They look great. I'm watching this big brake setup take form since it's very nicely documented. Looks to be much easier than the wj and for running 32s on 5.5" lift xj and mjs, this might be a sweet easy mod for guys without going deeper with fabrication.

Agreed. The outer circumference of the unit bearings needs to be shaved to fit the rotor but it’s not too bad. Several small parts you have to track down for the swap. It’s nice to use off the shelf components though. Easier to replace if needed while on the road.