Johnny Quest
Web Wheeler
- Location
- West Jordan
This has been a long time in the making, and while it'll be a slow build, it's finally getting to the point to where I should start one of these build thread deals.....
Some background: I sold my 1 ton Comanche almost 2 years ago. It was my baby. I had 7 years into that build; first fabrication, first axle swap, first time designing a long arm, etc. I learned a lot building that rig. But at that time, my family needed other things more than a rock crawler. So off to Nebraska it went. Since then, I have been incredibly fortunate and honored to be trusted with a company vehicle; first, a built JKU, and now a built JLU. While these are incredibly nice to drive and wheel, I miss the late nights in the shop. And I have always had this itch that I couldn't quite scratch.
Last June, I picked up a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited, with the 5.9 liter V8 engine. For those of you who aren't Jeep historians, the 5.9 was only available during the 1998 model year, and it was advertised as the fastest SUV at the time, putting down fairly impressive numbers; 245 hp and 345 tq, with a curb weight of just 3740 lbs. Its got all the fancy stuff too: leather, sunroof, nice stereo, etc. Arguably, this was the test run of what would become the SRT WK a few years later. This particular ZJ has just a hair over 300k, and barely any rust, certainly no structural issues.
Fast forward to November. I dragged home a 2007 Super Duty F250 and parted out some stuff; there was a thread on here at some point. We also had our 2nd child in November, so not much happened with it until a few weeks ago. Kept the axles, trashed the rest. It turns out that an ExCab F250 is worth about $106 at a scrap yard.
And that's basically where I'm at right now. The Jeep is sitting behind my house, and the axles are sitting in my garage, waiting for some attention. They'll be getting Artec trusses front and rear. At first, i was planning on a Clayton long arm system, since it was already all figured out, but the more I dig into these, I think i'll be designing a long arm system for this build as well. Front 3 link, rear triangulated 4 link. I do have some DBMetalworks frame stiffeners as well to stiffen the chassis, since this Jeep is going to be built for (wait for it) 4600 stock class Ultra4 racing. Basically, full body, full frame, must keep the stock style suspension (coil), must keep stock motor and trans, 35" max tire size. Full rules start around page 30: https://www.ultra4racing.com/sites/default/files/ULTRA4-rule-book.pdf
So that's that. The goal right now is KOH 2022, but life is most likely going to get in the way, so we'll see what happens. The local BOR (Bonneville Offroad Racing) circuit has a KOH class as well, so this will hopefully get more use than just once a year. Plus, it will still be a family wheeling rig when it doesn't have its 'speed suit' on.
Some background: I sold my 1 ton Comanche almost 2 years ago. It was my baby. I had 7 years into that build; first fabrication, first axle swap, first time designing a long arm, etc. I learned a lot building that rig. But at that time, my family needed other things more than a rock crawler. So off to Nebraska it went. Since then, I have been incredibly fortunate and honored to be trusted with a company vehicle; first, a built JKU, and now a built JLU. While these are incredibly nice to drive and wheel, I miss the late nights in the shop. And I have always had this itch that I couldn't quite scratch.
Last June, I picked up a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited, with the 5.9 liter V8 engine. For those of you who aren't Jeep historians, the 5.9 was only available during the 1998 model year, and it was advertised as the fastest SUV at the time, putting down fairly impressive numbers; 245 hp and 345 tq, with a curb weight of just 3740 lbs. Its got all the fancy stuff too: leather, sunroof, nice stereo, etc. Arguably, this was the test run of what would become the SRT WK a few years later. This particular ZJ has just a hair over 300k, and barely any rust, certainly no structural issues.
Fast forward to November. I dragged home a 2007 Super Duty F250 and parted out some stuff; there was a thread on here at some point. We also had our 2nd child in November, so not much happened with it until a few weeks ago. Kept the axles, trashed the rest. It turns out that an ExCab F250 is worth about $106 at a scrap yard.
And that's basically where I'm at right now. The Jeep is sitting behind my house, and the axles are sitting in my garage, waiting for some attention. They'll be getting Artec trusses front and rear. At first, i was planning on a Clayton long arm system, since it was already all figured out, but the more I dig into these, I think i'll be designing a long arm system for this build as well. Front 3 link, rear triangulated 4 link. I do have some DBMetalworks frame stiffeners as well to stiffen the chassis, since this Jeep is going to be built for (wait for it) 4600 stock class Ultra4 racing. Basically, full body, full frame, must keep the stock style suspension (coil), must keep stock motor and trans, 35" max tire size. Full rules start around page 30: https://www.ultra4racing.com/sites/default/files/ULTRA4-rule-book.pdf
So that's that. The goal right now is KOH 2022, but life is most likely going to get in the way, so we'll see what happens. The local BOR (Bonneville Offroad Racing) circuit has a KOH class as well, so this will hopefully get more use than just once a year. Plus, it will still be a family wheeling rig when it doesn't have its 'speed suit' on.
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