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Project: The Duke - 56K warning - NEW PARTS 8/04


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Those look swweeett. :eek:

 

I may have to reconsider my tire size now. I'll be running the same coils in front with the SOA in the rear with 31's.

 

Great job. jamminz.gif

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that's real nice, but jebus man...talk about limo tint jamminz.gif

 

you don't get ticketed with that?

 

I'm not sure what the tint is. I think the picture makes it look darker than it is, it doesn't seem quite as dark as limo tint. But MiNi Beast is right, I know people here who have limo tint and have never gotten a ticket.

 

Those look swweeett. eek

 

I may have to reconsider my tire size now. I'll be running the same coils in front with the SOA in the rear with 31's.

 

Great job. rockin

 

I think with SOA you'll be fine with the same tires. I am going to trim slightly eventually, but I want to get it back with the tires, and only hack what I need to.

 

I will probably trim the forward fender straight off under the headlight, as many others have done. I will also probably cut the bed, from the rear fender to the bumper, on that body line.

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Got the truck back on Saturday from having the steering / rock rails built. A full on view of the truck:

 

 

Pictures of the custom rock rails. He sprayed some overspray on my truck when he painted it :mad:

 

 

Its braced to the frame in three locations.

 

 

And the new steering / track bar. Its huge. Heim joints all around. Its almost too pretty to wheel...almost.

 

 

I also replaced the spark plugs and wires. That plug behind the A/C compressor is pretty tough to get to.

 

At this point, I think it's ready to go wheeling. I'm not sure what my next big project will be. I may save up for bumpers front and rear, or just front and a winch, or an SYE. I'm pleasantly surprised by how the 2.5L handles the 33's. I essentially have a 4 speed now, but it's not too shabby at all.

 

Yes, the tires rub in the front. On Sunday I did some cheap easy trimming, just to drive it around town. I am getting an alignment this week. When I have have time, I will be moving the flares up to the body line, and cutting the front straight under the headlight like most people do. I haven't decided what I'll be doing with the rears yet.

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I've watched your project since the first post, clean to begin with and the additions I back 100%. The steering does look beefy and will probably be my new goal for my project truck. Please let us know about the dreaded "Death Wobble" and if you experience it and especially if you don't. Could be the steering system will beat it out on a lifted MJ/XJ.

 

The one thing I did notice was that crimp in your exhaust down pipe under the oil pan. That looks like it's restricted down to 1 1/2 or less. That could cause too much back pressure and not let the engine breath. The results could be noticed as a lack of pick up starting out, lopey idle, long straight aways to pass, a hotter than normal engine or poor fuel mileage. I would weld in a piece that's not so restrictive under the oil pan. I've found that my truck performs and delivers the best MPG with 2 1/4" exhaust pipe and a turbo muffler.

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looking good, although i would use some flat plate to spread out the force on the rock rail braces.

 

I'm surprised he didn't do this, he did on my roommates XJ. The XJ is only attached to the frame in two places though, and mine in three. The front and rear attachment points are the control arm mount and spring mount, respectively. He's got a Comanche on 38's, so I trust him.

 

Truck looks good!

 

Do the fender flares rub on the tires though?

 

The tires do rub in the front. They don't during normal turning, but if I take a corner too fast and the body rolls, they do. I am planning on raising the fenders and trimming in the near future to correct this. The lift seems a bit 'small' for the tires, but I really like the aggressive look.

 

I've watched your project since the first post, clean to begin with and the additions I back 100%. The steering does look beefy and will probably be my new goal for my project truck. Please let us know about the dreaded "Death Wobble" and if you experience it and especially if you don't. Could be the steering system will beat it out on a lifted MJ/XJ.

 

I've had the truck up to 65 on the highway (without the corrected speedo, so probably closer to 70-75) with absolutely no death wobble whatsoever. I actually had a little incident when I was running the lift / stock tires / stock steering, but nothing so to speak of with this setup. It's really beefy.

 

I've got a roommate with an 8" Longarm lift on an XJ with 33's, and one with a 4.5 inch lift on a ZJ with 33's. They both have an older version of the same steering kit, and have never experienced death wobble with it.

 

Real nice man. I like the steering as well, be building my steering here in next couple weeks, doing the same set up. But what do you got on the steering knuckle there? Can you get a close pic of it there?

 

I've got it at the shop right now for alignment / emissions, but I will grab some pictures when I get it back.

 

Anyone interested in the steering, the place I got it from was Phat Jeeps. I live in Colorado, so luckily I was able to drop my Jeep off and have him perform the work. However, I highly recommend this setup to anyone.

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I also replaced the spark plugs and wires. That plug behind the A/C compressor is pretty tough to get to.

 

 

I had the same problem it took 45 minutes to get it changed. Here's how I changed it in 2 minutes. Put the spark plug in the tightest holding spark plug socket you have. I used a 10" flexible twist cable extension from a quarter inch drive palm driver with a 1/4" to 3/8" drive adapter. Use the cable to start and set the plug in the hole, turn it as much as it will go. Now remove the flex cable, the adapter may stay in the spark plug socket. Just get your 90 degree right angle snap ring pliers to reach down and grasp the adaptor by the 1/4" drive hole and pull the adaptor out. Next you will need either a slim line rachet or an offset 5/8" box end to tighten the plug. I had to go by the feel of the torque of the plug because there's not enuff room for a torque wrench. Remove the box end normally or spark plug socket by using the right angle snap ring pliers.

I been wrenching for over 38 years, it is possible to tell by feel when you have reached the formeer thread set or you can bench torque a bolt in the vice with the torque wrench set correctly and use that feel to get it tight. I removed and installed the same plug I had just put in after I figured it out in 2 minutes.

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  • 1 month later...

It's been a while coming. I finally got out wheeling for the first time, here's the pictures. I removed my fenders and cut my flares; no pictures of the cut per se, but you can see the removal of the flares in the pictures.

 

Wheeled in a group of 5 - my Comanche, my roommates XJ, a Pinzgauer, a typical Wrangler, and a newer Tacoma.

 

 

A picture of the cut fender. I'm planning on putting the flares back on and raising them to the body line, as soon as I figure out exactly how I want to secure them.

 

 

I was plesantly surprised by the flex. Before the next trip, I definitely need to get extended bump stops though. Any suggestions?

 

 

And the rest of the pictures:

 

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  • 1 month later...

I've spent the last few weeks blowing money, gathering parts. Here's my haul.

 

JKS adjustable front bumpstops. I like the look, and the fact that they're adjustable from .75 to 4 inches. I'm not sure if I will install them myself though, it involves drilling and tapping the middle of the coil bucket, and I don't know if I want to get involved with that.

 

 

New gears and lockers! 4.88 and a Detroit Truetrac up front...

 

 

And 4.88 and a Detroit in the back.

 

 

Some of you may be gasping at this point. No, I am not polishing my 35, the gears are for an MJ Dana 44 that I recently acquired, sans brakes.

 

 

Hopefully I'll be getting the gears installed in the next few weeks, throw the new axle in the back, and then go to town!

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