Post by greenbean on Nov 22, 2010 20:32:31 GMT -5
20 March 2012 - Finally Finsished!!!! (Or at least I can drive it down the road now....)
Okay, so I started this build weekend before last, mostly wasted Saturday Painting stuff and kinda getting my game face on, I was a bit overwhelmed with the welding at first....but once I got that all finished up It went pretty quickly after that. Most of the time consumed was indecision on my part and wondering if I had it all setup right. Also spent a ton of time jockeying jackstands, floor jacks and wood blocks around lifting this dropping that, over and, and over and over again! Anyway here are the pics, not a true step by step but you will get the idea.
First order of business was to paint up the parts I could before I started welding, which amounted to the New Clayton crossmember and half of the front link mounts and the rear Dana44HD rear 4-link mount that bolts to the top of the Differential...
Stock cross member removed and prepped for initial welding.
New cross member and front link mounts in place ready for welding.
Front brackets in, gotta get rid of the stock control arm mount....god I hate cut-off discs....one day I will have a plasma cutter, cutting these off was massively time consuming.....
Front links in
Rear link mount....Yes my welds are ugly....
Frame stiffeners....and this is where I had my first Uni-body blow through! silly I was pissed that happened. But after wards I read online about spot welding it shut and all was well....I blew through about 3 different spots, most were on thee frame stiffeners.
All right...Fast Forward to the pretty much finished product from front to back,...
Flowmaster hushpower stainless, this was the perfect muffler for this setup....and it sounds great.
And the finale...
Whew! Exhausting!!! lol ;D
Still left to do....
Rock Rails, Arb Diff Covers and I need to figure out at least a front bumper, that plastic crap up front ain't going to cut it.
Observations....This is what I would consider a moderate skill level kit, even with the welding, because once you get past that it is just like any other....bolt it on. Clayton makes a GREAT product. Their instructions OTHER than the weldinf setup part SUCKS. But if you are willing to tackle this type of lift you probably have done a few builds and know what is what. Thats it for now, I'm pooped!
Will
Will
10 Mar 12
Okay, just a few teaser pics of the parts to complet my Grand build....
JK Rubicon Wheels I will be using....Got a whole new set of TPMS Sensors so I wouldn't have to worry about unmouting the ones in the stock wheels.
I went with 285 70 17 Goodyear MT/R's, so a narrower 33" tire...I could run 35's but I didn't want to deal with a bunch of fender trimming right now and these will do what I need to for now...
Spidertrax JK Wheelspacers...
ARB Diff covers front and rear
Good old JKS Quicker disconnects
The rest of the junk in the foam wrap is the rear extended sway bar links, and the front Track bar mount...Will be using JKS WJ Track Bar
And finally the long cardboard boxes are Iron Rock Off Road WJ premium rock sliders....
Anyway, will be starting this weekend and through the week as I'm on post deployment leave! I'll post more once I start the lift!
Will
Okay, so I started this build weekend before last, mostly wasted Saturday Painting stuff and kinda getting my game face on, I was a bit overwhelmed with the welding at first....but once I got that all finished up It went pretty quickly after that. Most of the time consumed was indecision on my part and wondering if I had it all setup right. Also spent a ton of time jockeying jackstands, floor jacks and wood blocks around lifting this dropping that, over and, and over and over again! Anyway here are the pics, not a true step by step but you will get the idea.
First order of business was to paint up the parts I could before I started welding, which amounted to the New Clayton crossmember and half of the front link mounts and the rear Dana44HD rear 4-link mount that bolts to the top of the Differential...
Stock cross member removed and prepped for initial welding.
New cross member and front link mounts in place ready for welding.
Front brackets in, gotta get rid of the stock control arm mount....god I hate cut-off discs....one day I will have a plasma cutter, cutting these off was massively time consuming.....
Front links in
Rear link mount....Yes my welds are ugly....
Frame stiffeners....and this is where I had my first Uni-body blow through! silly I was pissed that happened. But after wards I read online about spot welding it shut and all was well....I blew through about 3 different spots, most were on thee frame stiffeners.
All right...Fast Forward to the pretty much finished product from front to back,...
Flowmaster hushpower stainless, this was the perfect muffler for this setup....and it sounds great.
And the finale...
Whew! Exhausting!!! lol ;D
Still left to do....
Rock Rails, Arb Diff Covers and I need to figure out at least a front bumper, that plastic crap up front ain't going to cut it.
Observations....This is what I would consider a moderate skill level kit, even with the welding, because once you get past that it is just like any other....bolt it on. Clayton makes a GREAT product. Their instructions OTHER than the weldinf setup part SUCKS. But if you are willing to tackle this type of lift you probably have done a few builds and know what is what. Thats it for now, I'm pooped!
Will
Will
10 Mar 12
Okay, just a few teaser pics of the parts to complet my Grand build....
JK Rubicon Wheels I will be using....Got a whole new set of TPMS Sensors so I wouldn't have to worry about unmouting the ones in the stock wheels.
I went with 285 70 17 Goodyear MT/R's, so a narrower 33" tire...I could run 35's but I didn't want to deal with a bunch of fender trimming right now and these will do what I need to for now...
Spidertrax JK Wheelspacers...
ARB Diff covers front and rear
Good old JKS Quicker disconnects
The rest of the junk in the foam wrap is the rear extended sway bar links, and the front Track bar mount...Will be using JKS WJ Track Bar
And finally the long cardboard boxes are Iron Rock Off Road WJ premium rock sliders....
Anyway, will be starting this weekend and through the week as I'm on post deployment leave! I'll post more once I start the lift!
Will