RRR

Quiet day here so I decieded to share some thoguths on the upgrades.

It all started with wanting locking hubs. Tired of turning the front end everywhere i went and having to deal with seal issues two or three times a year. Part of this was to move to a bigger tire the intent was the BFG KM3 39 inch. but for one reason or another they are not available to the common man. This drove the decision to what was avaiable and fit the bill. 40x13.5R17 Cooper STT pro's so far they have been excellent.

Bigger rollign stock leads to more torque put on the J8 axles... even with RCV's there is a high torque load on the gearset and pinion. A D60 is larger and 40+% stronger so the decision was made to upgrade the axles. With 40 inch rolling stock wheel cut clearance is an issue trying to maintain maneuveability on the trail will require a wider axle WMS to WMS ( WMS = wheel mounting surface) I had a choice of 70 inch or 72 inc. I chose the 72 inch WMS width and paired that with a 4.75 Back space wheel to maintain an effective scrub radius. The more you move away from zero scrub radius the more the road plays with steering. E.I. if you hit a puddle you do not what the wheel/tire to steer the Jeep due to the obstruction.

Evo Manufacturing is a good company and has put a lot of effort into designing their equipment. It is a one size fits all. I have learned a lot tuning their system and the biggest thing I have learned is the shock package on the red Jeep is not enough. Designed for a 4500# rig the spring rates and valving is not up to snuff for 6700#. Simple oil volume sizing is too small to keep up with keeping the Red Jeep under control. Like all the upgrades to this build I am striving for performance for the intended use. Long discussion with the biggest King Shock on seller in the country Flithy Motorsports; we decided that a 2.5 x 12 king shock will fit the bill with valving tailored to my rig, suspension design, weight and all important driving style.

Note: King makes each shock pair for the customer specification. they do not keep ready to install on the shelf. if you are buying them of the shelf make sure you know what you are getting in the way of spring rate and valving.

New axles bigger rolling stock leads to bigger challenge attempted on the trail. Red Jeep 1.0 had 7075 1.50 Aluminum tierod and Drag links in the steering system. you may remember me shearing off the drag link end at the axle last year. New axles have a 7075 links at 2.0 dia. and 2.5 ton joints. There is a lot of loading applied to that joint. To ease that loading on the new axles and even larger rolling stock the decision was made to go with a Hydraulic assist cylinder on the tie rod. This required a new box that is ported. I had the option to send in the old and have it converted but there was a lead time issue with that. If anyone is looking to upgrade their JK/JKU box give me a shout.

The Biggest change... transmission. I love a manual trans. Learned to drive on one, grew up with them in all of my vehicles. Daily driving the Red Jeep to DC I noticed that no matter how hard I tried I could not keep pace with JLUs on similar size tires. Off the line was great but they shift faster and there are more working gears with a shorter RPM drop between gears. The Red Jeep has put on weight and that doesn't help performance, so I decided to cross over to the dark side and upgrade the JKU to a JLU 8 speed auto trans. Same first gear with 5 more working gear and two overdrives. Running 5.38 gearsets in the big axles this should help street ability quite a bit. The idea here is do everything I can with the current 220ci 3.0L motor before making the jump to adding two more cylinders. So why is this important? I do not trailer my rig. It has to get to the trails on it own wheels so street performance is necessary.

The back seat delete has been on my mind for a year or so. I do not have kinds and rarely have a passenger let alone two. I want to move the weight more to the center of the rig leaving the rear open for optional stuff. The design is still fluid but will incorporate a spot for the ARB fridge, Hi-lift jack and a pocket for the electric chain saw. as well as recovery gear. The goal is clean, orginized storage that is readily available as required.

Cheers Picture of the process to come of the comming months.
 
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Adding to the list.

Motobilt double triangulated 4 link and 22 gal fuel tank.....

@Fearless April/May install.
Motobilt 4 link kit is on the way along with a new 22 gallon fuel tank. I have to say dealing with the guys at Motobilt has restored my faith in shops these folks get customer service and take the time to talk you thru the decissions. the garage is going to get full of christmas parts for teh big red jeep.
 
40s, d60s, 8 speed, bigger fuel tank, 4 link…

So when is the LS, hemi, supercharger, or diesel swap happening? It seems almost inevitable on your current trajectory. Did I miss you placing an order already?
 
40s, d60s, 8 speed, bigger fuel tank, 4 link…

So when is the LS, hemi, supercharger, or diesel swap happening? It seems almost inevitable on your current trajectory. Did I miss you placing an order already?
:ROFLMAO: 🤪 :ROFLMAO: 🤪

So yes there is something in the works. Diesel power is not in the cards sad to say... but an aluminum block 8 hole is .... stay tuned...

After talking to my sounding board and build buddies, there is a lot going on with the Red Jeep. This is typlical of I just want to change this one thing.... shocks, yep just wanted to change to a bigger more capable shock for this heavy weight beast. This leads to mounting locations and all the gyrations of upper control arm mounts. I could go trailing arms but this adds to a sore spot with lower links hanging down.... It just so happened Saturday night with Rattletrap55 and I were talking we found Motobilt and there insane BFsale.... 30-40% off is nucking futz! Genright 4 link set up is a cool $16K..... Ruff stuff is cheap but requires more fabrication and geometry calculations. a full 4 link set from Motobilt is just about the right size and under $4K finished out. Been wanting to do this for a couple years but the cost of a well engineered system is out of reach. This way the 4 link system can be installed in a weekend and back on the ground scans exahust.

8 speeder is next up... let see how this works with the little 3.6L 220cid motor first and see where this leads us. Blower is certianly easy but a top end job accompanies that work.... V8 power very nice and might be the next step depending on conversion pricing. It is nice having a drag race neighbor who knows people and knows of a Aluminum 5.3 or 6.0 that wil be available. cavat will need to be gone thru. Like the idea and can get rid of all the fuel managment toys and clinder displacment thingies .

one block at a time... and yes there is a plan...

Goal is to have the little red jeep on the road by S&S... but still have some lingering issues to deal with up front.
 
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Lookie what showed up
 

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Waiting on King ...another two months maybe? Then the install begins. 7075 control arm to help lighten the big Red Jeep a bit
 
Gas tank?
And double triangulated 4 link kit.

Gas tank is their 22 gal for the factory frame.

Need to order link ends and aluminum control arms.
 
Followling @Fearless foot steps the Red Jeep is getting ready for winter maintenance. Been a wrenching year. New axles and all that goes with that finding the things that need tweaking and breaking things that should not have broken. Aligators closer to the boat are now getting attention.
1) Cooling fan decided after 117,000 miles it was time for a rest... hopefully that solves my over heat problem at higher RPM
2) High steer on a JKU on 60s requires the tie rod to be mounted under the knuckle so it does't contact the drag link rod end. have some GM tapered bushings to install soon.
3) Back seat project needs to get off the drawing board. Been tossing several designs around and I think I have one that I like. Since I am an old guy I do most of my design work in CAD ( Cardboard Aided Design) and no wthat the EOY run is in the books the install can begin.
4) Awaiting King to deliver new 2.5 shocks Mar/Apr/May and the major suspension work can begin. Thanks to @Motobilt a new 4 link double triangulated kit is in house. Frenched in Shock towers are eagerly awaiting their turn to be burned in and a new set of Barns Enduro Joints are on their way. Axle tabs and a rear axle truss are in house I am hoping that a long 3 day weekend will get the new 4 link installed and ready for WOD aluminum control arms. In the weight sheding theme Might look at the lower fronts too.
4a) Fuel tank relocation. the OLD JKU tank is in the way for the triangulated 4 link set up. Motobilt 22 gal rear mounted tank will go in to open the space midships for the necessary suspension hardware to live.
5) The trans swap is being pushed right for a number of reasons. a) with the adaptor this increases the drive line length. Need to get good measurments to see exactly how much the increase will be. My main concern is the transmission cross member withthe suspension at full droop. will the drive shaft need a carrier bearing or do I look for a JL rub T case? With my engine connection lookign for a 5.3 motor I am thinkign that the engine swap and trans swap should happen at the same time. Plus I have a self impossed constraint with the Black Hills trip in the fall. Budgets being what they are....
6) Need to put in a shake down run or two this spring/summer and tune the shocks before dashing off to the next big adventure.
 
Little jeep porn for today. Started laying out the kit and taking inventory of what is in house and what is yet needed....

Exhaust is going to be interesting.
 

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King shocks update....to filthy motorsports early March...late March to me?
 
Taking advantage of a warm sunny day. Started the rear seat delete. Part of the design is driven by the new 4 link design. It is a double triangulated config so the fuel tank has to move. The new tank gets mounted behind the axle.....so the bin in the rear has to be cut out....on the 2017 Recon the sub woofer occupies that space....so it needs to move to? Under the flat floor behind the front passenger seat.

Had to chase the wiring thought the loom that powers the speaker. Luckily it is an add on system and easy to separate from the loom.

Tomorrow construction begins...with luck the sub and fridge will be in place. Some more thought to the design will be needed on the passenger side...like to add storage for the cooking gear next to the fridge.

Driver side will house recovery gear and tools. Maybe a slot for fluids too.

This will move the weight midships where it belongs. Done for today.
 

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I think you can easily solve exhaust issues with either A) zoomies through the hood (looks cool) or B) chromed out stacks between front and rear doors (sounds cool).

Just call me the Problem Solver.:cool:
 
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I think you can easily solve exhaust issues with either A) zoomies through the hood (looks cool) or B) chromed out stacks between front and rear doors (sounds cool).

Just call me the Problem Solver.:cool:
What about fender exit headers and side pipes....lol
 
Finished the sub mount Sunday. Fridge is moved forward for weight distribution. The slider weights a ton... Anyone need a fridge slide?
Providing the weather isn't sub zero next weekend will look at finishing the rear seat delete.

Cheers
 
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