idahoyj
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Twin Falls Idaho
Jeep Build- Jeep YJ Unlimited / family wheeler
- Thread starter idahoyj
- Start date
-
- Tags
- build thread
Damnit I've wanted a portaband and that stand for such a long time. Glad to hear they perform as advertised.
I dig the build!
idahoyj
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Twin Falls Idaho
idahoyj
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Twin Falls Idaho
Small progress. I measured out the side panels and mocked the steel corners in place to verify fit. I'm Having a hard time with the frame lengthening, because there isn't really anything in the stock location on the new frame section, making measurements difficult. So at this point I'm going to get the body put together and I'll just make the frame fit that. :-\
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Deweyxj
Invisible, on purpose!
- Location
- In my own private Idaho
I just picked up on this thread & read the whole thing, I think it's an awesome build! :bow:
I'm a big fan of the "I know it's not stock, but it could have been", kind of builds!
The rear tub looks great, good preportions, & will look great with a hard top!
I'm curious about the front end though, you added 2+" of uptravel by cutting the frame, (nice work BTW) are you going to move the fenders up another 2" or build flaties to custom fit the suspension compression??
Keep it comming!:tara:
I'm a big fan of the "I know it's not stock, but it could have been", kind of builds!
The rear tub looks great, good preportions, & will look great with a hard top!
I'm curious about the front end though, you added 2+" of uptravel by cutting the frame, (nice work BTW) are you going to move the fenders up another 2" or build flaties to custom fit the suspension compression??
Keep it comming!:tara:
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
this is one of my favorite builds
idahoyj
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Twin Falls Idaho
I just picked up on this thread & read the whole thing, I think it's an awesome build! :bow:
I'm a big fan of the "I know it's not stock, but it could have been", kind of builds!
The rear tub looks great, good preportions, & will look great with a hard top!
I'm curious about the front end though, you added 2+" of uptravel by cutting the frame, (nice work BTW) are you going to move the fenders up another 2" or build flaties to custom fit the suspension compression??
Keep it comming!:tara:
At this point, I only have the factory soft top. The hard tops are $$ and are a lot less forgiving on fitment with the old YJ tub. I still hope to find a cheap/damaged LJ hard top though.
On the up travel clearance, (WAY MORE WORK THAN IT IS WORTH) the axle will hit the pulley on the front of the engine. (poor planning) I can't move the axle forward enough to maximize the clearance without moving my steering box forward more. At this point, I'm not going that route. Maybe some day I will link the front and go Hydro steering so I can push the axle forward. The other thing I can do is push the engine back into the firewall. I've decided to just leave it as is and let the suspension maximize at articulation rather than full bump.
The fenders will likely be tube, but I'm not sure what style I want. At this point, simple and done will trump stylish!
Thanks, the positivity really helps. This project has taken twice as long as I had anticipated. Thats not surprising, just disappointing!
Thanks for the planning ahead credit, but I bought the fenders already painted from a guy who was swapping out his steel panels for aluminum. Thats the only reason they are painted. I bought the factory sport bar and soft top from the same guy. Finding all of those parts all from one source really helped me decide to tackle this project. I saved the frame section from my last never-ending-build that I abandoned before starting this one.
Deweyxj
Invisible, on purpose!
- Location
- In my own private Idaho
Funny, In my mind "factory top" meant hard top, don't know why!
I have a factory top (soft) that has to be modified to fit my streched prodject, maybe it's because your making the body fit the top instead of the top fitting the body!
This is what I'm dealing with!Soooo, I'm assuming you're using the body armor panels to locate your tub section & filling in the space with sheet metal??
idahoyj
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Twin Falls Idaho
Funny, In my mind "factory top" meant hard top, don't know why!
View attachment 97696 This is what I'm dealing with!
Soooo, I'm assuming you're using the body armor panels to locate your tub section & filling in the space with sheet metal??
I put a lot of thought into building a 4 door, either with cj5 door openings or with shortened YJ openings. The problem is always the top. Specifically the area between the doors on each side. If I had built a 4 door, I would have built panels (fiberglass) for the upper section between the doors(b pillar).
Correct, I'm using the armor panels to locate the botdy panels.
idahoyj
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Twin Falls Idaho
- Location
- Richfield, UT.
This thread makes me want to work on bodied rigs again.
idahoyj
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Twin Falls Idaho
Your thread makes me want to build a buggy and use the front/rear steering D60 housings that I've been trying to sell....
- Location
- Richfield, UT.
idahoyj
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Twin Falls Idaho
Frame is welded together. I had a friend come over and give me a hand getting the frame in place. The old frame and new frame started to curve, right where I wanted to weld them together. So I ended up having to cut 2.5" out of each end and replace it with a straight splice piece and welded it all solid. I took the old outside frame plates off of the original splice and I plan to build new ones to cover both sections of splice, inside and out.
Attachments
idahoyj
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Twin Falls Idaho
Frame is welded together and plates are welded on. The body sheet metal is welded together and the drivers side armor is temporarily installed again to make sure it still fits!
Rear springs and axle are tacked in place. Wheel base is 115ish.
My wife and kids are out of town next week, so I plan on getting some serious progress on this thing.
I went ahead and ordered a junk yard JKU rear seat. The seat bottom and back are 50" wide, but the back of the seat where it wraps around the wheel wells is only 42". I THINK, I can make it work..... The inside of the YJ belt rail is 54" and the outside of the frame rails is 42". With full width axles, I don't think I need 10" deep wheel wells, like a factory YJ.
Rear springs and axle are tacked in place. Wheel base is 115ish.
My wife and kids are out of town next week, so I plan on getting some serious progress on this thing.
I went ahead and ordered a junk yard JKU rear seat. The seat bottom and back are 50" wide, but the back of the seat where it wraps around the wheel wells is only 42". I THINK, I can make it work..... The inside of the YJ belt rail is 54" and the outside of the frame rails is 42". With full width axles, I don't think I need 10" deep wheel wells, like a factory YJ.
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idahoyj
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Twin Falls Idaho
The salvage yard sent me my JKU seat today. Since I was already getting a pallet from them, I had them send me a second row seat for my Nissan Armada too. Well, they accidentally sent me the third row for the Armada.... They were really cool and they are sending the correct seat and a call tag for the wrong one on Monday. But, I kind of like the Armada third row in the back of my Jeep better than the JKU seat!
Attachments
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
Seat looks sweet
idahoyj
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Twin Falls Idaho
I liked the look of the Armada seat and it was going to be WAY easier to mount, and still fold flat later. It is a much thinner and overall smaller package than the JKU seat. But, the Armada seat is about 4 " wider in the wrong place..... The JKU seat is a BIG seat. It's bigger than the Armada seat in most ways. It's taller, thicker, and deeper. The JKU seat is designed to fit around the wheel wells better and is narrower in the back. Right where I need it. So, Im sending back the Armada seat and sticking with the JKU. I think its a more comfortable seat for the kids too. Plus it has the center seat belt built in and it split/folds. (I doubt I will ever need that...)
