I've never been harassed. I don't even have front fenders anymore.

 

Nice work J! Glad to see you get that solid axle under it in a weekend How does the turbo like the 35's and 5.29's? Are you still able to pull the long grades no problem?

When does the auto to manual conversion start?

Oh yeah, let's go snow bashing

 

very nice. seeing how fast you make progress is very cool....i can't wait to get mine back....

 

Ive never been harassed either, that's without front fenders too! I once got pulled over for no doors, but that's it (I told the cop that Jeep's do it all the time, why can't I ). The extra width makes a HUGE differance, especialy with how low the last truck sat.

The 6" shackle plates should be here this weekend, along with a couple other things, that should help to level it out a bit. Along with the winch and front bumper in the front, one day it would be nice to have a spare tire carrier in the back. The added weight to both the front and back should keep it level (once I get the stance right ).

 

When you build a rear tire carrier, build one for me too

 

Thanks, when it's your only vehicle you have to work fast, or take the bus . I have not taken it on any high speed test drives yet, I had to work out some details this last weekend with the steering (I'll be posting that soon) and I still need shocks. Overall, around town it does good, it seems a little slower going up some of the hills, but between the snow and the extra people up here for the holiday it's harder to keep a steady speed.

I'm actually thinking I'm going to keep the auto , for a while I was thinking going to a manual but I kind of like the auto. Power wise the auto sucks around town, but cruising down the highway it does pretty good. On the trail the auto is awsome, I was really surprised how many places it went stock. It's also easy and comfortable, just push the gas and go (while holding your coffee, etc )

I'm still doing a lot of research, but I'm thinking I'll go with the Inch worm adapter (HERE) and use my dual cases, or go with a single 4.7 case. I also want to add something like THIS by AWShifting, it allows you to shift the trans whenever you want at the touch of a botton, or you can drive it just like stock. It looks like he is no longer going to offer it as a complete product, but instead as a make your own kit. Either way it seems like a really cool idea.

I'd love to go snow bashing but I don't think that I'll make it very far without a front driveshaft ! It will still be awhile before it's ready for the trail, but I can't wait!



It doesn't seem very fast (or should I say fast enough), but thanks!

 

Ok, first, if you use the IWG auto to dual adapter Make sure you do a detailed write up. I want to do this in the spring. Second, here is another product for the auto trans shifting. I think this would be good simply for driving around town, since that is where the trans does most of it's searching.





Welcome to the club. I decided I liked it and didn't want to smell burning clutch all the time. And now that there is a gearing option for the t-case...

 

This last weekend I worked on the steering. I got the steering box moved forward and got the hydro assist hooked up.

I started by removing the grille and front bumper, while I was there I installed my new PIAA light bulbs



And I installed my power steering cooler





I then trimmed a small amount of sheet metal around the steering box (it looks like more than it really is). I really wasn't too excited about it and I'm sue it could have been done without it, but it would had been a royal PITA. It was hard enough the way it was and if I ever have an issue down the road (or trail) I don't want it to take forever to fix.



New plate installed



Box mounted, I will be running a flat pitman arm (should be here Friday), that's why there is so much space between the arm and frame

 

What hydro assist are you using? Is it really worth the upgrade? I will assume so, since you took the time to switch from your old rig to your new one.

 

Joe (guy you met in Breck last month) is going to convert to auto. He's going dual ulitmate crawler behind the auto is isn't ever planning on having both cases in low. He wants 2.28 for the wheelspeed (think snow ) and the 4.7's for the rocks. 4.7 behind the auto almost makes it impossible to stop and 10.7 to 1 is impossible without always shifting into neutral.

I think having an auto for rockcrawling would be nice. Most of the Jeeps I run with have autos and they do very well in the slow, techincal sections of the rocks. But a 5-speed with a dual ultimate crawler is basically like having an auto also

 

Almost nessessary when turning 35's or larger on tough trails. One handed steering in the rocks is so so so nice Plus it acts like a giant steering stablizer, making bump steer and death wobble (if you've got it) dissapear.

 

Drag link and tie rod clearance at full droop, the tie rod moves back even more at ride height.



There was really no way of running the hydro lines without triming a little body, in the last truck the whole front clip was cut up. This time I wanted to do a cleaner job. I was able to use a hole saw, which made it a lot cleaner (although a lot more time consuming).







For example, this is how most people trim the front. Since I rotated the steering box flat, it allowed for less trimming and just as much tie rod clearance.



And on the last 4Runner

 

So, how far overall did you move it forward? I need to do this to mine before I seriously wheel it again. Mine contacts and I only need about 1/4" of clearance. I was thinking about just rotating the box down to see how it clears.

 

Then it was time to start putting everything back together. I mounted the PS cooler the only place it could really go (within reason), but without removing the AC, clearance was really tight. To get the grille to fit back on (I knew this would happen when mounting the cooler) I had to trim a little bit off the back of the grille. The grille was already cracked and pitted, so I wasn't to concerned. The way I did it you can hardly tell anything was done to it at all.









Back on the truck, it's even less noticable in person, the flash on the camera lights up the gloss black paint

 

That should work. Maybe a shorter pitman arm could work as well so you don't have to redo the PS box mounts.

 

Nice work on the wholesaw!

Here's mine

My dad was worried about cutting this much of the front support out. I drew out the lines with a marker and he kept asking if I was sure. I told him it wasn't a dang show car

 

While the stock steering shaft reached the box, to be safe, I added an extra inch to it. That was how far the box moved forward at the steering u-joint.

I also cleaned up the splines on a wire wheel to help it slide back together smoother.



After I got all the hoses hooked up, I wrapped the hydro ram hoses in fiberglass exhaust wrap. In case the hoses bump the turbo (which they shouldn't) or sit close to the turbo, it will help to keep the heat down. It should also prevent them from getting cut or wore through.

 

And at last, with the front bumper on DONE

 

Measuring at the steering U-joint it was about 1", the rotation with the flat pitman arm is what gave the most clearance. My front axle is around an extra 1 1/4" forward of yours (I think), so you should have plenty of room without getting into the front support.

 

a shorter arm. That will just require 3pt turns at every corner.......

I just need to move it. Besides I think that I need to get the draglink more parallel to the axle anyway to eliminate what bumpsteer I do have(not much though).