LJ on Tons

Feb 2022
With the front axle buttoned back up, I loaded up the dogs and girlfriend and we hit the road to go pick up a new trailer I ordered from Kaufman Trailers in NC. A bit of a haul but well worth it. The trailer was finished just in time for the OSCAR trip coming up in April.

The trailer is a 20ft (18ft bed with 2ft dovetail), stow away ramped in the rear, LED lighting, Trailer brakes on both axles and 5000lb axles to accommodate the hefty LJ.

Glad to see some updates

April 2022 (2 weeks before OSCAR)
So I lied. To finish up the front axle before OSCAR I added some gussets to the spring perches where the Artec kit originally had sway bar connection points. This should help prevent the perches from deflecting/flattening out.




I removed the recently added upper control link from the driver side and built a longer one on the passenger side, added some limiting straps to protect the shocks from being pulled apart.




I replaced the drag link bracket at the axle.



I swapped my steering from TREs to Heims and built some double sheer parts to add to the stock knuckles. I cut the old tie rod down and reused it as a the drag link to save on some tubing.




Some scrap steel to determine thicknesses/orientation of the double sheer bracket.

April 2022 (3 days to OSCAR)
I went ahead and started cutting out the pieces I would need to stack my Heims on the passenger knuckle and create a partial double shear. I do hope to go back and add a top plate to the passenger side and do a double sheer set up on the driver knuckle to prevent the bolt from ruining the hole. I also had to go by Tractor Supply for an insert as the TRE previously used had a hole larger than the new grade 8 bolts I was using. Extra Steps.

With a few days before our trip can you tell I'm no where near ready to go? I still had driveshafts, seats, wheel bearings, crossmembers and other bits pulled out of the Jeep!

April 2022 (3 days before OSCAR)
With the front axle and steering now buttoned up for our trip, I turned my focus to the doubler, its crossmember and some other components. Since I installed the doubler, I've never been fully pleased with the set up. Having a driver side front axle with a 231/D300 caused a lot of clocking issues. BOTH cases were basically upside down. The smarter thing would have been to convert the front to a Chevy passenger drop axle or get gnarly and chop up the HP Superduty axle to make my own.

Obviously that didn't happen and instead I reclocked the transfer cases to get them out of the floor boards. This resulted in more holes in the back of my transmission. Lowering the transfer case also caused my transmission crossmember to interfere with my front driveshaft, So I went ahead and modified that to have a kick up in it. For last second alterations, it seemed to all work out decently okay. But don't be fooled I was stressed and frustrated. Nothing like waiting to the last minute to prep for a wheeling trip!




A little floor modification to make that flipped 231 fit under the passenger seat.



The transmission crossmember prior to reclocking the t cases.



The hoop I had bent at the local muffler shop so the front driveshaft had clearance.



Glenn's Muffler Shop was also kind enough to bend me an offset for my exhaust to clear up and over my transmission and 4 link crossmembers.

April 2022 (2 days to OSCAR)
The doubler was sorted out (for the most part) so I threw together a new tail housing support using a a TMR kit. The kit worked out great and allowed me to get rid of the old 'custom' fit stuff I made back in college. it was a much needed improvement for the driveline support. I did however extend the bushing piece at the bottom to fit around the cutout in my 4 link crossmember.





With the upgrades to the crossmember and tail housing supports it only made sense to finally swap the rubber motor mounts for poly ones. Doing so ensured that the drivetrain would not twist and possibly crack a bellhousing due to the different materials in the mounts.



Driveshafts were put back and two of the three shift cables were reinstalled. I wrapped up the installation of some of the interior bits and I drilled out the stripped/broken skid plate inserts in the frame and welding in some new ones from McMaster-Carr. Skid plates were loaded into the truck bed and I installed them on the trailer in Harlan!

@GlipGlop got any updates on the LJ?