87 Overland Build

[Pete M]

yeah, the tow mirrors are becoming very hard to find.  there's a corresponding bracket inside the door that goes with them.   

[NorthwestMJ]

Haven’t posted in a bit…. Been busy with school and work…anyways, made a little hoop for the front bumper!

[NorthwestMJ]

Also made some armor to protect the bed. Kind Of thinking I might make a new back bumper but not sure… it’s not straight because it’s held on with masking tape! 

[NorthwestMJ]

Overall it’s coming along. JL Rubicon axles are happening! They’re coming this weekend! Going to strip off the XJ axles and put them on one of my XJ’s. Going to wire up the Rubicon axles so everything works. Just no antilock as my harness won’t work with it. Truck is finally sitting on two of its own tires for once while I prepare to move the MJ to let my buddy swap 60’s and king coil overs into is JL in my shop…. Hence the axles! 

Also those wheels aren’t the ones going on the rig…. I’m using 2021 Rubicon wheels and some sort of 35” tire. I’m planning on going SOA in the rear and ACOS spacers and my 4.5” springs up front.

 

 Earlier picture but it’ll be these wheels with 35’s.

 

 

 Snagged ACOS spacers and 4 pretty dang new OME shocks off of an XJ at pick n pull last week. 55 bucks OTD for everything!

 

 

[NorthwestMJ]

Sitting on all 4 tires for the first time! I’m thinking I may go SOA in the rear and figure out a way to get 8” front and rear and 37’s. Going to get rid of the u-bolts on the rear axle. Also starting to plan the new brake system to make the JL brakes work!

[buxmj]

This is an amazing build. I just read through the whole thing and can't imagine the number of hours you have into it. Thank you for saving the MJ and sharing the journey!

 

Buck.

[NorthwestMJ]

12 hours ago, buxmj said:

This is an amazing build. I just read through the whole thing and can't imagine the number of hours you have into it. Thank you for saving the MJ and sharing the journey!

 

Buck.

Thanks so much Buck! Your kind words are much appreciated!

[NorthwestMJ]

Got the JL Rubicon 44’s!!!! The rear is prepped and almost ready to install! Strangely enough, for anyone ever considering these axles, the front UCA mounts are only one inch wider than the MJ  and strangely enough, the front LCA mounts are exactly the same…36 1/2 inches outer surface to outer surface! We will see when the install happens if I am right.

[Pete M]

[NorthwestMJ]

Kind of a mixed bag lately. The front axle lines up perfectly control arm wise with the coil perches the only thing being moved inward about 1 1/2”. The sway bar mounts will also need moved later. Getting it bolted up, I realized my Control arms are all now too short due to the locations where they mount to the axle. I’ll have to make longer ones. Other than that, been busy making the required bracketry for getting everything to work correctly.

This is the bracket I made to make A Evo JL Track Bar mount on the Comanche.

 

 

Homemade U-bolt Delete with rear axle almost ready to weld. Still need to add bump stops to it.

 

 

[Pete M]

nice welds.   

 

why are there so many helper leafs?

[NorthwestMJ]

35 minutes ago, Pete M said:

nice welds.   

 

why are there so many helper leafs?

I honestly don’t know!!! They were like that when I got the truck and thought they might’ve been like that for a reason?  I figured they would help eliminate spring wrap! 

[ThatJeepGuy]

Quite the transformation, good work! i aspire to turn my Orange 87 into an overland capable rig and am always keeping an eye out for a potential deal on a rooftop tent. Keep us updated even on the little things!

[NorthwestMJ]

3 hours ago, ThatJeepGuy said:

Quite the transformation, good work! i aspire to turn my Orange 87 into an overland capable rig and am always keeping an eye out for a potential deal on a rooftop tent. Keep us updated even on the little things!

Thanks so much! Will do!

[NorthwestMJ]

Ordered up a three link crossmember and rock sliders from Dirtbound Offroad. While I wait on everything to show up, started with the bracketry I’ll need. Made these little shock converters.

 

Everything is grade 8 and seems to fit well!

 

 

 Got the rear axle in and ready to adjust suspension height in the rear. That bump stop is an Evo one made for the JL.

 

 

the rear has 3 bolts on each side. In the picture the center is out so I could access and tighten the bump stop. I later found out this was unnecessary as the wrench still fit with the bolt installed. Next up, finish up gas tank skid and get fuel tank installed and plumbed in!

[NorthwestMJ]

 Got the front axle hung and steering on its way to being dialed in. The steering is Yeti XD steering for the JL Rubicon. Everything seems to work on the Comanche fairly well. Had to shorten the Evo Track Bar by a little over an inch and thread the joints in nearly all the way before centering the axle. Had to ream the pitman arm quite a bit to get the one ton drag link end to fit. Thinking I may get an arm with more drop to make the drag link and track bar more parallel again. The front end is now pretty much done until I get 3 link the cross member.

It’s currently sitting at 8” front and soon to be 8” rear. Right now the rear is like 10” until I remove the extended shackles.

[NorthwestMJ]

Got rid of the canopy today and hung out with WrangerMangler from here on CC for a bit! Thanks to him I have more space to gather more Jeep treasures! Finally started really going on the gas tank skid/mount. It’s coming together well, but is definitely not light!it’s built out of 1/8th but the mounting bracket reinforcement is 3/16 and the stiffeners are 3/4 solid stock. It’s designed to support the track inside and leave a gap between underneath the tank and the floor of the skid to allow it to shed water and mud. The stiffeners are meant to work like mini rock sliders and also add some rigidity to the bottom plate.

[NorthwestMJ]

Got this thing running for the first time today! Got a couple fuel leaks I’m going to have to figure out before I run it again. One is the Schrader valve on the fuel rail, the other night be the plug in the junkyard tank. Either way I’ll get it sorted out! She runs pretty decent though!

 

 

[WranglerMangler]

Heck yeah! Glad to see you got her running! Always a great feeling getting a project started for the first time. Especially when you have as much time and work into it as you do. Hopefully you had someone come over to help you lift your gas tank skidzilla up into place. 
Keep up the good work buddy and keep the posts coming!

[NorthwestMJ]

4 hours ago, WranglerMangler said:

Heck yeah! Glad to see you got her running! Always a great feeling getting a project started for the first time. Especially when you have as much time and work into it as you do. Hopefully you had someone come over to help you lift your gas tank skidzilla up into place. 
Keep up the good work buddy and keep the posts coming!

Skidzilla is temporarily on the back burner until I get a rear driveshaft. I really think I’ve got clearance issues. Truck runs good, but I think I may or may not have screwed into my overhead harness while installing the Dirtbound Molle panel! 😩

[oldskool]

You have done a great job saving another MJ !  I like all of your work and choices for this build . Got some good ideas off of you and that helps . Good luck with everything and keep posting

[NorthwestMJ]

16 hours ago, buynandsellen said:

You have done a great job saving another MJ !  I like all of your work and choices for this build . Got some good ideas off of you and that helps . Good luck with everything and keep posting

Thanks so much! If you have any questions on anything feel free to get ahold of me

[NorthwestMJ]

This weekend I got my 3 link pretty much done! Really the hardest part was cutting the factory LCA mounts off of the frame. I still need to paint the upper one, but otherwise, got them buttoned up!

[WranglerMangler]

I’ve had my fair share of fun cutting and drilling those stock LCA mounts off the unibody. They really don’t want them falling off. The upper control arm mounts suck just as much. 
What rod ends are those? Johnny joints? Did you build and bend your own tube or buy some LCAs? They look good 👍 

[NorthwestMJ]

12 hours ago, WranglerMangler said:

I’ve had my fair share of fun cutting and drilling those stock LCA mounts off the unibody. They really don’t want them falling off. The upper control arm mounts suck just as much. 
What rod ends are those? Johnny joints? Did you build and bend your own tube or buy some LCAs? They look good 👍 

I bought Barnes Enduro Joints (a knock off Johnny joint) and built my own. I used .250 wall 2” DOM and my little harbor freight pipe bender and went to town. Believe it or not, it did great, although the bends were not tight at all. The upper arm has the most bending.