Flavor of the Week

[mbryson]

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Oh man dont tell tyson that now he will want to buy your jeep

The other house has a fairly generous 2 car garage AND a two car plus sized shed out back. Has some serious interest from myself and the little woman. I might have to sacrifice some toys to get something that'll work a little better for us. It'd be worth it in the long run.

 

[iamsparticus]

well that sounds good its always nice to upgrade the living space

 

[mbryson]

well that sounds good its always nice to upgrade the living space

We're not quite "upside down" in our house, but we financed it right at the peak of the housing prices. We've paid it down for the past four-five years, but we're likely at market value with what we owe. We might get a little $, but I'm not sure. Probably not enough to get into the other house.

(I've got a Jeep frame/title for my next project, though...)

 

[Cascadia]

Bryson I may be interested depending on the price. Trying to stay out of debt for a while. Send me a pm with details and a guesstimate on price. I don't imagine it being cheap.

 

[Cascadia]

Graves, what would you do up front with the links? Coils. coilovers, air shocks? I've also had the hardest time finding stock xj leafs. How much lift will they give me as opposed to my stock yj leafs? I know they give stretch but what about the lift? And would you just stick with the 2.5 to keep it cheap?

 

[iamsparticus]

Bryson I may be interested depending on the price. Trying to stay out of debt for a while. Send me a pm with details and a guesstimate on price. I don't imagine it being cheap.

Told cha bryson aahh the swaping of a another vehicle is in the mix never know whos got what rig these days

 

[Cascadia]

I actually prefer to buy these days because when you swap there might be some things you don't like about it. If you buy it you can make sure it's everything you want. That's why I finally sold the runner instead of trading again.

 

[mbryson]

Graves, what would you do up front with the links? Coils. coilovers, air shocks? I've also had the hardest time finding stock xj leafs. How much lift will they give me as opposed to my stock yj leafs? I know they give stretch but what about the lift? And would you just stick with the 2.5 to keep it cheap?

I'd do coilovers if you have the budget for them. The coils will work OK, though. You could make some 2.5 airshocks work also.

XJ leaf springs are SUPER available. Teraflex Plus has them for about $100 per. I would stay away from the used sets (speaking from experience). I have some spare stock XJ springs that are in the toolbox on my trailer to get me off a trail sometime. You're welcome to them, but I'd like another set at some point as they are handy spares to have.

I don't know about the lift of a YJ vs. XJ spring, but I'm assuming they are similar in a spring over cfg.

2.5L..... Don't know what to tell you there. Depends on use I guess. If you're just running it around on trails, it's a pretty reliable, lightish engine. No power, so you'll need some gearing (think Toyota peeps). I like mo' power personally. The 2.5 will BARELY do 65-70 in a stock Jeep. Imagine it with some decent tires.

 

[Bart]

I like most of what's been said, but like Marc said, I'd leave leafs up front, but I'd do a 4 link in the rear. It's easier and works fine. I don't care for leafs in the rear at all.

 

[Gravy]

Graves, what would you do up front with the links? Coils. coilovers, air shocks? I've also had the hardest time finding stock xj leafs. How much lift will they give me as opposed to my stock yj leafs? I know they give stretch but what about the lift? And would you just stick with the 2.5 to keep it cheap?

I personally think link geometry is more important than Coils. coilovers, air shocks.
but
Coils are cheap, and predictable.
Airshocks are small and require less planning to fit them, but you'd need to tweak them and run a swaybar.
Coilovers if I could afford them.

I'd find used lift xj leaves and use them spring under. or spring over with stock xj leaves from the junkyard. They are pretty flat so it all depends how you mount them but a spring over with xj leaves in the stock hangers should give you 5" maybe.

if you are used to 22re's the 2.5 has gobs more torque. Offroad: it'd be fine unless you're planning on racing in delta
I personally couldn't handle it on road.

 

[Cascadia]

It won't be seeing any road time. Only road time it will see will be looking down at the road from the top of the trailer. I plan on gearing the axles low. And hopefully some lower t case gears as money becomes more available.

So far I have heard leaves in the rear and links up front and also links in the rear and leaves up front. What leaves are used up front to get a good 7 inches of stretch out of it? I plan on staying spring under for any leaves I use.

I'm thinking of a hp dana 44 from a late 70s truck and also a rear 60 full float from the same truck? I don't have the money in the budget right now for a 60. These should work fine for me for a while right? I don't wheel hardcore and bounce all over the place. But I like a challenge.

Bart, what springs did you run on your orange buggy and did you like how it worked front and rear? What was the wheelbase?

 

[iamsparticus]

i talked to a guy in st george that had a TJ that he converted the rear to leafs, he said the reason being that it made it more stable in climbing up steep stuff. That said i love my coils and in the rear and would never change them to leafs, so i guess its all about how you use it and what you prefer, besides i think your wheel base and gear will be more important that your suspension or engine

 

[Bart]

Wheelbase was about 103". Not sure what springs because they were there when I bought it. Needed an antiwrap bar in the rear badly, but was spring under, so that helped a bit. The only reason leafs would be more stable than links/coils in the rear is if the geometry on the links was bad.
Look at comp rigs, if leafs were better they would all be running them.

 

[Cascadia]

I loved how my triangulated rear 4 link worked in my lj. It was very flexy yet very stable and I didn't have a sway bar or track bar. I wouldn't mind doing that again. And it seems easier to set up than the front. I just wonder what springs to use in the front to get the stretch I want.

In the rear I am also wanting to chop the frame off after the front spring hanger and use 3x4 tube and run the new frame up flush under the tub. This would be hard to do with leafs because I would have to have some huge shackles and I don't want any anchors on the jeep. I want to cut the tub up about 3 inches and have the rear crossmember/bumper almost flush under the tailgate.

 

[iamsparticus]

Wheelbase was about 103". Not sure what springs because they were there when I bought it. Needed an antiwrap bar in the rear badly, but was spring under, so that helped a bit. The only reason leafs would be more stable than links/coils in the rear is if the geometry on the links was bad.
Look at comp rigs, if leafs were better they would all be running them.

exaclty i would go with coils or coil overs anyday over leafs but you know what everyone will say " leafs are cheap and easy" Tyson i say link front and rear with coils or coilovers if you can afford it, you wont regret it

 

[mbryson]

I loved how my triangulated rear 4 link worked in my lj. It was very flexy yet very stable and I didn't have a sway bar or track bar. I wouldn't mind doing that again. And it seems easier to set up than the front. I just wonder what springs to use in the front to get the stretch I want. ...

The front is somewhat limited by the location of your stock steering box. There are a number of "fixes" for this. A true bolt-in solution is the Waggy springs. They have an offset centerpin and move your front axle 2"ish fwd.

I would like to link the front axle as I hit my shackles on tall waterfalls and whatnot. I'd like to move the front axle fwd by using a decent 3 or 4 link suspension and Astrovan steering box.

The rear would be somewhat nice to link as well. The thing I keep running into is cost. My rig works downright respectably with the springs it has. It would work better with a proper link suspension but how it is, it gets me where I need to go with regularity.

Leaf springs = $500 tops for new ones at all four corners

Link system = varies all over the map. You're at LEAST $500 into a link system and you can spend up to $1500 or more per end.

 

[Cascadia]

If I am wanting to do a flat belly on this project, how flat can you go with the np231? If you get it completely flat is your tranny and engine still at an acceptable angle? I know I will have to cut the floor up but is there anything other problems to expect? If I'm pushing the rear axle back 5 inches will the driveline angle still be acceptable?

 

[kungfufighter06]

sell it to tyler, then stop buying YJs

x2 :greg:

 

[Gravy]

rear driveline angle will not change if you clock the 231.
easy to clock http://www.bsfab.net/?p=23

 

[Cascadia]

I found a 2.5 4 cyl for the jeep at a wrecking yard. It was in an engine bay fire and they want $200 for it. Do you guys think it would be fine to buy this motor? There couldn't really have been many problems with it since the fire was around it and not in it right? If you guys say yes, I'd like to go get it today. Anyone around Orem have an engine hoist I can borrow for a little while if I get it?