I have no idea what I'm doing aka the worst Ultra4 4400 build thread on Earth.

[DobermanRacing]

Didn't get a whole lot done with the rainny weather we've had here.

I knocked out the door bars, dropped the cage and welded the top. Made some changes to the front end for more clearance where the drive shaft and upper links will be.

Using an adapter from Offroad Design I got the np205 bolted up to the trans.

Started stripping the front axle and cleaning it up for the new 4 link mounts. Went with Barnes4wd mounts, including their lower flush mount 4 link bracket which I had to modify slightly to fit 2" tubing. All 1.25x1 heims with 3/4 high misalignment spacers. 3/8" tabs.

Once I get a but further a long I'm going to redo the ram mount using a BKOR ram mount plate and build a skid for it.

 

[DobermanRacing]

Finally decided on a seat. I went with the RS-PT2 by OMP Racing. They're an Italian motorsports company with a US division.

The reason I went with these is they're FIA rated, super light at 10lbs/ea, removable cushion and cover, hans compatible, affordable, and they were in stock.

I am a big fan of the extra helmet support. That and the fia rating is what pushed me away from Corbreu FX1 Pros.

I will certainly post an update on how these seats hold up for offroad use.

 

[ridered3]

Finally decided on a seat. I went with the RS-PT2 by OMP Racing. They're an Italian motorsports company with a US division.

The reason I went with these is they're FIA rated, super light at 10lbs/ea, removable cushion and cover, hans compatible, affordable, and they were in stock.

I am a big fan of the extra helmet support. That and the fia rating is what pushed me away from Corbreu FX1 Pros.

I will certainly post an update on how these seats hold up for offroad use. View attachment 120991View attachment 120992

That's a cool seat. I know talking with the various classes of Ultra4 racers they've talked about neck fatigue due to the helmets and moving around too much in the seat. So hopefully this seat does the trick.

 

[The Luke]

Mannnnn don't leave those two bolts there...

 

[DobermanRacing]

Mannnnn don't leave those two bolts there...

 

[DobermanRacing]

Dressed the dogs up for Halloween

The front 4 link came together pretty easy. Right now everything is just tacked together. I flexed it out a little bit to make sure the driveshaft has room but it started to slide around on the jack stands so I'm going to wait til I get the rear tacked together so I don't have to worry about it falling to the ground on me.

Because the engine and "frame" is offset to the passenger side I needed to balance how close the pass side upper got to the lower rail without being so far out it will contact the tire. Right now with the tires turned full lock to pass side its not even close but I do have a 1" spacer inside my ram to cut down the travel from when I had my full Traction long arms to keep it from hitting. It looks like I can pull the spacer out and get the full 10" travel out of the ram and still not hit the tire/links.

I attached the winch plate using 6x 1/2" grade 8 bolts so it can be removed when I need to pull the engine.

I through together these lower coilover mounts. Right now it's just the m14x2.0 bolt holding them on. I may move them on to the truss and off the inner Cs if I have room after I mount the bump stops. If I keep them where they are ill weld them to the C. I do need to trim the material over the bolt so they don't rub at full droop. There's prob a good 1/2" that I can grind down to 1/4".




I bent up some 1.75x1.20 for the shock hoops. The driver side hoop is slightly longer to keep the coilover mounts center in relation to the body.

I tried making my own shock tabs for the hoops but only having an angle grinder they didn't turn our too pretty or matching each other lol. For the few bucks I ordered a couple different size tabs.

 

[DobermanRacing]

I also decided on the rear setup. I originally wanted to run Ruff Stuffs dual shock trailing arms. After talking to Beerj about it on here I decided running a trailing arm that hangs down isn't in my best interest.

I didn't want to spend what BKOR is asking for their arms so I decided to make my own.

So I ordered a set of TMR's 4" wide antiwobble joints and their archetype trailing arm brackets.

The rest of the setup is coming from Barnes4wd. I ordered their Ford 9" truss, 3/8" tabs, and truss link mounts. All the heims on this build are 1.25x1 with 3/4" high misalignment spacers. This way I don't have to carry a bunch of different size heims and bolts for everything.

The steering hiems are 3/4" bolts but they are 3/4x7/8" heims so I will see if I can fit a 1.25x1 instead so the entire rig will be one size joint and bolt.

All this should arrive wed/Thurs this week.

 

[The Luke]

I also decided on the rear setup. I originally wanted to run Ruff Stuffs dual shock trailing arms. After talking to Beerj about it on here I decided running a trailing arm that hangs down isn't in my best interest.

I didn't want to spend what BKOR is asking for their arms so I decided to make my own.

So I ordered a set of TMR's 4" wide antiwobble joints and their archetype trailing arm brackets.

The rest of the setup is coming from Barnes4wd. I ordered their Ford 9" truss, 3/8" tabs, and truss link mounts. All the heims on this build are 1.25x1 with 3/4" high misalignment spacers. This way I don't have to carry a bunch of different size heims and bolts for everything.

The steering hiems are 3/4" bolts but they are 3/4x7/8" heims so I will see if I can fit a 1.25x1 instead so the entire rig will be one size joint and bolt.

View attachment 121337View attachment 121338View attachment 121339View attachment 121340View attachment 121341

All this should arrive wed/Thurs this week.

I've not seen the anti wobble bushings before. That's pretty neat.

 

[DobermanRacing]

Sorry the delay in updates. I got the rear 4 link setup just waiting ony rear coilovers. Should be here any day. I picked up a set of 2.5x16 Kings off of Dezert-Rangers forum.

I also got the seat mounted, steering wheel/colum setup, and the orbital valve mounted. Which I forgot to grab a picture of once the valve was on.

Using my jack I was able cycle the rear about 19" until I maxed the jack out.

 

[ToyotaTom]

Nice progress.

 

[paradisepwoffrd]

Nice. My guess is not much XJ skins going back on the front?

 

[DobermanRacing]

Nice. My guess is not much XJ skins going back on the front?

Im planning on cutting the grill/hood down and doing a dove nose. The shock mounts will have to stick out through the hood. I'm not sure yet if I ll modify the stock fenders or if I'll just make my own.

Ive been waiting 2 weeks now for usps to delivery my rear coilovers which has held me up a bit.

 

[ToyotaTom]

I vote for modifying the stock fenders to save time.

 

[paradisepwoffrd]

Im planning on cutting the grill/hood down and doing a dove nose. The shock mounts will have to stick out through the hood. I'm not sure yet if I ll modify the stock fenders or if I'll just make my own.

Ive been waiting 2 weeks now for usps to delivery my rear coilovers which has held me up a bit.

gotcha. In the last pic, it looked like the top of the fairlead would be even with the hood.

 

[DobermanRacing]

gotcha. In the last pic, it looked like the top of the fairlead would be even with the hood.

The winch itself shouldn't sit any higher than the alt. If I really needed to I could move the bolt on mount to sit under the lower rail instead of on top but from the looks of it as it is everything should fit with some trimming of the plastic bits on the grill.

 

[ridered3]

Got any updates for us?

 

[ridered3]

How's work going on the rig?