DrThunder Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 Figured i'd start a thread on the build up of my comanche. I already bought Rubicon express 4.5 coils and skyjacker shocks, not running a swaybar so i figured stiffer shocks may help a little, plus they were cheap. Dana 44 for the rear(out of scout II), 4.56 gears, possibly detroit locker if funds are available, spring perches, YJ brakelines, wheel adapters/spacers(to adapt 5 on 5.5 to 5 on 4.5), and have miscellaneous metal needed. For the long arm setup and custom trackbar i have johnny joints, poly joints, .25 wall DOM tubing, etc. All my joints that have studs are 1 1/8 thick fine thread 13 TPI. I am going to run one y-link on the pumpkin side of the diff(driver's) and on lower control arm on the passenger's side. Once I have all the parts I will begin the build(about two weeks), it should only take a few days for everthing seeing how i have all day everyday to do it. Here are some of the parts i got today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oizarod115 Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 oooh ahhh... can't wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrThunder Posted December 23, 2007 Author Share Posted December 23, 2007 tacked one of the lower arms together tonight to see what i would have left over and if there would be enough to build the uppers. looks like there will be plenty which is great cause i won't have to buy any more pipe for the track bar. still waiting for jam nuts and another j-joint, gears, springs, shocks, spring perches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feerocknok Posted December 24, 2007 Share Posted December 24, 2007 What are you doing for frame side mounts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrThunder Posted December 24, 2007 Author Share Posted December 24, 2007 all quarter inch plate. unsure if i'm going to make the mounts directly under the frame or to the side and up like TNT, probably just go under the frame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrThunder Posted December 29, 2007 Author Share Posted December 29, 2007 more goodies, gears came in today. also got my shocks and RE springs. here's pics of all the goodies. check out the size difference between the 30 and 44 gears. does a dana 30 have the same inch size ring gear as a 35? thats pretty unreal how small that is all i need now is brake parts for the 44 and perches which i'm still waiting for. looks like i'll be doing this next week!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 I just heard someone wallet scream... keep the pics coming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrThunder Posted December 29, 2007 Author Share Posted December 29, 2007 total cost of parts so far, exactly $1000.52. i still need two more joints and a foot of pipe to add to the bill so probably close to 1100 when i'm done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1999MJ Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 what size springs are those? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrThunder Posted December 30, 2007 Author Share Posted December 30, 2007 Rubicon express 4.5" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrThunder Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 workin on the 44, still in the garage. gonna bring the manche in soon and start cuttin it up. i don't have an inch pound torque wrench today so i couldn't set the pinion completely yet but i got a pretty good wear pattern and backlash. more pics later but i'll be out her for a while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrThunder Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 done for the night. spent most of my time figuring out what to do with the long arms. i mocked it up with the mount under the frame but noticed that i would have bad tire rub at full lock so i decided to put the mounts more towards where tnt put them. let me know what you guys think. looking for people's thoughts on strengths and weaknesses of this setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 well, that setup is really not gonna cut it as it is. hopefully that's a complete mockup. superior fab skills you're showing but the factory crossmember isn't gonna hold the abuse that the longarms will give it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86FUBAR Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I'm no expert but i don't believe the stock crosmember is sturdy enuf for what ur tryn to do, i would ditch what u got right now and start fabing from scratch . but since u got money flying around try picking up a pre fabed one . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrThunder Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 i am going to beef it where it looks like it may be sub-par. the way i looked at it was the crossmember is pretty beefy where it needs to be and theres no sense in re-inventing the wheel. plus i don't have any square tubing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 i am going to beef it where it looks like it may be sub-par. the way i looked at it was the crossmember is pretty beefy where it needs to be and theres no sense in re-inventing the wheel. plus i don't have any square tubing. save yourself a bunch of trouble and a walking death trap. for your nice fabbing, there is absolutely no reason to build something sub-par. the stock crosmember is thicker formed sheetmetal, and is definitely not up to the task of handling weight pressed against it in a manner other than intended. so, you'd not be reinventing the wheel, but inventing something for dual purpose. the stock crossmember is not, in any aspect, dual purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheon33 Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Man that crossmember looks scary. Stop what your doing and throw that away. It will never hold. Its only thin sheetmetal and only has 4 bolts holding it in there. You need to build a new crossmember with way more bolts than holding it in there. The forces of the suspension will rip that right out from under. Hurting yourself and possibly other because you built an awesome long arm off of a POS crossmember. I am knocking your skills everything else looks great but that. On everything else keep up the great work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrThunder Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 after a night of research and thinking here's what i came up with. i mocked clayton a little bit and made a "three piece crossmember" it all fits up there. now all i have to do is make the ends way stronger and weld them to the frame. the end pieces are going to be 3/8 thick all around or thicker and will be welded directly to the frame. should be more than strong enough looking at clayton's setup. the actual middle piece is obviously strong enough to hold the transmission up cause it's been doing so for years. i'll post up pics later once they are beefed and welded to the frame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I wouldn't trust those 4 bolts that the factory crossmember uses to hold the front suspension on. You at least need to weld it (I'm assuming you had that in your plans). A photo of the clayton's kit welded up. I still think for all the work that they have in their design that the mounting points are some of the worst on the market. I know they have a good rep, and their arms are bomb proff, but you'd think they would of designed the mounting system a little better. Just my $0.02 worth though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrThunder Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 finished the crossmember tonight but am having trouble with the welding to the frame as you can tell from the pic. some sections were coming out nice but others weren't. i need to grind a lot of the weld off and re-do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 that's a very interesting way of doing it. never thought of it that way. much better than before. food for thought: the clayton kit has a heavy duty center piece, which acts as a cross-support between both ends of the crossmember. without that center support, the stress put on the mounts becomes "pivotal", or "directional" in more ways than one; oncoming force to the mounts not only apply pressure backwards but in a pivot to the side as well. in light of that, while I do think you're on the right track, I do think that the center crossmember will need some attention. not much, but for sure if you have flat stock and some angle iron laying around, I'd pay some attention to it. keep up the good work. think about also adding some braces from the outer ends on back a good 4" or so on the frame. that will give it a bigger footprint on the sheetmetal frame, and less shear force applied over one area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minydigger Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Not to bash but the amount of effort you have put into that thing would't have been easier to have just picked up a piece of say 2x3 and started from scratch that way the entire crossmember was beefy. I only say this because I am getting ready to do a similar project on my grand and thats how I plan on doing mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrThunder Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 agreed but i can't find anything around here like that for under $55 and thats a lot of cake. i already had tons of thick flat stock around so.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
500 MJ Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 I had similar problems welding my clayton kit on the frame of the MJ. Make sure its ground down good and burn it in nice and hot were the solution I found, after it was mostly done :roll: Looks good though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regger Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 My.02 on the subject... and my plan for my own long arm build up Is to use some large angle iron(like 1/4"thk 2x3 or 3x3, etc.) and totally plate the bottom and outside of the frame rails. Using every single threaded hole on the bottom of the frame, and then bolting through the frame rather than welding. I say to bolt to the frame, only because those uni-body frames are as thin as paper, and unless your are an absolute solid welder, you run the risk of making the frame weak, and causing heat affected zones that could easily tear under minimal force. Then you'll be in a real pickle at that point. And when bolting through the frame, sleeve it so as not to crush the frame. Now you have a very strong and easily weldable mounting face as well, it acts as frame stiffener and protects the bottom of the frame from wheeling damage. HTH Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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