Eric's Postal Build Thread (was: Postal rebuild thread)

[bigwalton]

Thanks guys

If you think that smile from the flares is big, wait til you drive it the first time.

I have to say that this project (or series of them) gives me a WHOLE new respect for people doing a frame-off or something really serious (you know who you are)! MAN!

Where did you come up with the Xenon Flares? Looks like they may be in my future too. Were they actually for a Scrambler?

Another dumb lucky find off of this board right here. A guy named "southern cross" had them up for sale and I grabbed them.

They have the right shape in the rear with the flat top rather than the rounded CJ7 look, so I guess so. Fronts bolted right on and I'll have to get a little creative in the back with my wheelwell sheet metal being in such bad shape.

You may not have as much issue as you think with the pitman arm. Since the left side drops as the right side is compressed, the movement of the tie rod is only a portion of the compression. You may also find that you want to go with a drop pitman arm (stock TJ?) which is about 1" shorter than the stock arm.

Maybe the picture doesn't show it well, but a drop pitman with the tie rod on top would put the drag link too low in my opinion. I have a CJ drop pitman that came with the RE kit and I held it up there (knowing that it would be a little shorter like you mention) and I think it would be too low.

You should still have the necessary pitman arm length to make full turns since they will be limited slightly by the outboarded springs. Luckily, I had a keyless pitman arm, so was able to play moving it one tooth at a time and changing the drag link length to get even left left-right turning.

Why would my turning be limited by the outboarded springs? The knuckles are pushed out just as far, if not farther, than the D30 was from the springs... I shouldn't be limited by hitting the springs at all

Someone makes a kit with a reamer and bushing to allow the reversal of the taper. Usually this is for flipping the tie rod but may do what you need.

Yeah, I did a lot of searching last night, but the stock taper in the Waggy steering stuff (BEEFY, makes the CJ steering junk look like Tinker Toys ) is much larger, so all of the flip bushings that you mention are way too small. Since the D44 stuff is already on top, there's no similar product for them that I can find.

If someone knows of a source for these type of bushings to fit the large taper TREs, PLEASE let me know. Machine shops are hard to come by around here (I couldn't find ANYWHERE that could make a U-bolt for example), so I'm not optimistic about being able to have something made...

 

[bigwalton]

Man you can move your steering box just as easy as well. Your Steering shaft has a couple of inches stroke. That is what i did with mine. It wirks well.

Easily said, but I've got the RHD, so any bracket that moves it is not going to fit...

If you have a suggestion on how to make it move up without an aftermarket bracket, I'm all ears!

 

[1x1_Speed_Craig]

If someone knows of a source for these type of bushings to fit the large taper TREs, PLEASE let me know. Machine shops are hard to come by around here (I couldn't find ANYWHERE that could make a U-bolt for example), so I'm not optimistic about being able to have something made...

Have you tried checking with M.O.R.E., Spyder Customs, and/or Blue Torch Fabworks?

Craig

 

[bigwalton]

Eric, I used the Rock Equipment Tie Rod Flip Kit,Tapered sleeves allowing you to flip your tie rods to the upper side of your stock steering knuckle. Gain at least 3" of ground clearance for your steering components! Sleeves are tapered on inside and outside. http://www.ok4wd.com/product.asp?id=218 Maybe this can help your situation.

D44s already have the TR on the top and are WAY larger than CJ stuff (think Chevy truck sizes)... thanks for the thought though. I did check them to see if they made anything for the larger size TREs and didn't see anything.

Need to get some places on the phone...

 

[bigwalton]

Have you tried checking with M.O.R.E., Spyder Customs, and/or Blue Torch Fabworks?

Neither MORE or PSC had anything listed and the only time I have to look around is late night so I can't call (while I can piddle around on/off here at work without getting into any trouble, I can't be making calls to Jeep shops all day without catching serious crap).

I know it'd be something I could have made, but there again, I'd need to be calling shops and just haven't had the chance...

I'll check BTF too... maybe I can explain it well enough in an email with pics attached... there's an idea.

 

[scramblercj83]

Maby this will help you. I got a tye rod from a 86 3/4 chevy 4x4 with 4.10 gears it is hollow. Cut to the proper lenth and rethread the inside. it has to come from a 4.10 the others have a solid tie rod. workes good on my 8 with 44 front.

 

[bigwalton]

Great Weekend!!!

WOOT! Well, Joe still hasn't made it back over to finish welding the outboarding brackets yet, but how much can you be upset with a guy that's volunteering his time and WELDER!

He said I could play with it all I wanted, so I held him to that... after rotating tires on the LJ and XJ and swapping new rotors and pads on the front of the XJ, I played with the welder for real.

Two "big" projects-

My first ever real welding on something structural that I'll actually use on the Jeep. This is the main bar from one of those steering box braces (thanks JC!). Because it's a LHD setup, it won't work on my junk. So I cut it apart to realign everything. The main bar has two flattened ends that weren't oriented correctly and no amount of bending would fix it. I cut one end off, beveled the edges of the tube and welded it back together in the right orientation.

I think I did a good job of it too... I ground the welds down to see if it actually fused well and I can't see any seam.

That got my conficence up and so I tackled another one: twin stick shifters. I cut sections out of each of these to make them fit closely together and to make them the same height. This took the place of bending them up because I don't have a proper torch to do that with. I hope that this minimizes any cutting I need to do to fit these up. One was about 6" taller than the other and the "inner" one was 3" "wider" than (farther away from) the "outer" one. I should have taken before pics, but I was too excited about welding.

I also got a number of small things fixed up and made a new captured nut to try to use to attach my rear shackle hanger (I busted three of the four when I removed the stock hangers the first time). I didn't get a chance to try out the nut though because I did this with my favorite BFH:

It ain't too bad, but it's worse that the pic makes it look. Took a scoop out of the meat there down to the underpart of the skin you're never supposed to see... good thing it wasn't bone that I hit! I was swinging hard trying to pound out the dent in my firewall and fender from the accident. I was holding a piece of 2x4 that I was using as a punch.... OOPS! Oh, and Kate made me take the picture to remind me of what a numnut I can be sometimes

Trying to keep going on this...I won't let a little blood slow me down

 

[Jeepskate]

It isn't truely yours until you bleed for/on it.

 

[bigwalton]

It isn't truely yours until you bleed for/on it.

Yeah, that was taken care of before the engine ever turned over and before it moved once it was in my posession.

 

[Stouttrout]

Not worth doing if you don;t get at least a few battle scars Looking good.

 

[bigwalton]

Been a LONG time since I managed anything on the Jeep or this thread...

I knew I had to work out the steering/tierod/draglink clearance issues with the 44, so that's what I got into with a little help from M.O.R.E.

Knowing that I was going to need to come up with some extra clearance for the steering since I was going to the Waggy 44 front, I looked at the options. The easiest thing that you normal left-hand drive guys can do is get one of the steering box mounting brackets that moves the box forward, like the one from MORE.

Well... this is one of those interesting issues with the Postal. Just ain't that easy!

So, I did a little research in the land of RHD (Australia) on Jeep forums there and discovered that there was no such mount available there commercially. They just have to fab something up. So much for just importing something...

So with no other options, I looked hard at pictures of some of the mounts. It looked to me that you could simply flip all of the individual pieces of the mount, weld it up and bolt it on the other side for my RHD. With that in mind, I went right to the source and tried to contact a couple of the companies that make the mounts to see if they'd be interested in getting me one of the mounts in an unassembled "kit" form for me to set up and weld together using my box and frame to fit it. I mentioned that, assuming it worked, MORE could either sell the parts in a kit form in Oz (they already have distributors for other parts there) or even make up a jig and assemble them as finished pieces if they wanted.

MORE got back to me and expressed interest... after talking to them about what I could provide in the way of photos (who me??? ) and instructions, they agreed to send me a kit.

Well, after finally digging through the pile of junk that hid the front end of my Scrambler, I managed to get the box off and mock up the new mount. It looks like everything will indeed work by simply flipping everything over and welding it up.

I have removed the stock braketry from the box and I'm ready to start lining things up and putting this together (FINALLY!). The relocation requires some cutting on the front crossmsmber so that's up next...

The pics were done in a hurry with bad lighting, forgive the blurry ones...

 

[bigwalton]

Progress!!

Got in the garage! WOOT!

After probably more than a month sitting with some tension on the pitman puller, I finally got the stock pitman off. Still took heat and a couple of whacks with the hammer, but it finally came with no apparent damage other than the bent (rented ) puller.

I have a Waggy pitman that I slapped on it, so now I'm ready to start really mocking up the front end. Luckily for me, I also talked with my welder friend today about getting together to finally finsh the welding on the outboarding setup. I think he wanted to be completely convinced that we could throw stuff under there to see for certain that there will be clearance for the steering before things were welded for good. I can't fault him for wanting to do things right...

HOPEFULLY this means that I'll be able to start making some real progress again. I don't have my weekends booked up like I did basically from Oct-Dec so I'm starting to get excited about the Jeep again and it feels good!

Next big issue is how to work the drag link and tie rod. As I mentioned earlier, the Waggy drag link is off because of the difference in frame sizes and the taper is backwards where the DL connects to the TR since i'm RHD.

I think I'll work with Sheldon at Goferit Offroad to come up with something custom and HD that hopefully uses off the shelf TREs. Good guy and quality work.

I can't wait to drive this thing again!

 

[bigwalton]

Ain't you done yet?????

Found something I could manage to do on this without being in the garage: plan the steering!

Just talked with Sheldon at www.goferitoffroad.com and figured out the plan for the steering (cheap too!)

I couldn't think of a way to resolve the taper issue on the tir rod, where the drag link hole is facing the wrong way... Sheldon mentioned his TRE flip inserts as the perfect solution. Drill the taper out to 3/4", put the insert in with the correct orientation and a CJ TRE will bolt right up!

Then I get a custom BigDaddy Drag Link, made to the length I need, slap in new TREs and we're DONE! All of that for less than $100!

Now I HAVE to get out there to weld up the MORE bracket so I can mock this all up to get the right DL length and get him fabricating! I'm so excited I can't stand it... this lets me keep the CJ pitman too to avoid any turning radius loss! Now I can play with the standard and drop versions to see which will work better.

I might stop to buy a welding helmet on the way home so I can use Joe's setup to get going again tonight... he took his helmet back and I don't have one to use

 

[bigwalton]

Whooops... late to update

Didn't realize I hadn't gotten on here to update after the last welding session...

I got the front all finish welded when Joe was over the last time. He also hit the MORE steering bracket, so it's done and just needs paint. I have it installed with the box bracket on it to try to get the measurement for the draglink.


Tonight, Joe was over again and even though he forgot to bring his welding helmet (I didn't get one myself) we got the spring perches and shock mounts tacked in place for the new CV driveshaft setup.

Also, thanks to JC and one of my first efforts at welding, I now have a RHD steering box brace (well, it's tacked up anyway).

One more visit from Joe (with his helmet) will finish up the axle stuff and allow me to really get things set up on the new suspension.

The list of things left to do before test drive:
-fix leaky tcase
-replace leaking freeze plug
-cut down driveshaft (might be able to get by for test drive without this, real close)
-extend hard brake line to new MC
-reassemble front hubs/rear shafts/brakes
-install new draglink
-install pitman/drop pitman (need to see how things will sit and look at angles)
-bleed brakes

Hope to get more done this weekend...

 

[John N]

Didn't realize I hadn't gotten on here to update after the last welding session...

I got the front all finish welded when Joe was over the last time. He also hit the MORE steering bracket, so it's done and just needs paint. I have it installed with the box bracket on it to try to get the measurement for the draglink.


Tonight, Joe was over again and even though he forgot to bring his welding helmet (I didn't get one myself) we got the spring perches and shock mounts tacked in place for the new CV driveshaft setup.

Also, thanks to JC and one of my first efforts at welding, I now have a RHD steering box brace (well, it's tacked up anyway).

One more visit from Joe (with his helmet) will finish up the axle stuff and allow me to really get things set up on the new suspension.

The list of things left to do before test drive:
-fix leaky tcase
-replace leaking freeze plug
-cut down driveshaft (might be able to get by for test drive without this, real close)
-extend hard brake line to new MC
-reassemble front hubs/rear shafts/brakes
-install new draglink
-install pitman/drop pitman (need to see how things will sit and look at angles)
-bleed brakes

Hope to get more done this weekend...

About time, you'd think you have other things to do or something ......

 

[bigwalton]

Seriously... no kidding, right? What am I doing with all my free time????

I picked up all new hardware for the rear brakes, new shoes and new wheel cyls yesterday.

I forgot to list that I have a clearance issue with the rear shackles/bolts and the gas tank. I have the big tank and I'm tempted to get rid of it for all the trouble it causes with clearance on the diff cover and the shackles. I picked up a free 15 gal tank/skid to do just that.

If I stick with the big tank, it looks like I'll have to go with non-nylock nuts and cut down the bolts to get clearance. Either that or beat the crap out of the tank/skid with a BFH and try to get some room that way... I hope to work on that some this weekend.

 

[bigwalton]

Real progress...

The planets aligned and I got multiple hours in the garage this weekend.

I was trying to work from the back to the front, hitting everything that needed doing whether I wanted to do it or not...

Both of the rear body mounts on the crossmember were shot. The last time Joe, my welder friend, was over, he noticed that the mounting brackets on the Runck rear bumper looked to be exactly lined up with the outside of the frame rails. We measured and sure enough, they're dead on. So I cut off the ends of the stock crossmember and slid the bumper up in it's place. The way the bumper is constructed, it has metal of exactly the same thickness of the crossmember that will allow me to just cut new holes in it to mount the body.

Joe's going to weld the bumper right to the crossmember after cutting holes for the mounts. Then he'll cut a hole for a receiver and weld that through the bumper and the rear crossmember with some gusseting on the back.

Here's the crossmember with the ends cut off...

Here's some with the bumper clamped up where it will end up. I was psyched to see that I wouldn't have to cut off the uprights on the rear corner. I figure that this taildragger will be able to drag over dang near anything once this is all done!

In this one, you can see the plate where I'll drill for the new body mount hole:

When I did the body lift, the rear left corner bolt and the last bolt on the left side under the door broke in the captured nuts. With the help of my new favorite tool, the air chisel, I got to the bolt plates, got the old junk out and cleaned them up for reuse. Got them both back in and held down and I'm thrilled to say that the body bolts are ALL IN!!! This is one of the things I was dreading doing and it ended up being pretty simple, but only on account of the air chisel...

This is the left rear corner opened up after removing the bolt plate...

Finally, the big news is that the rear axle is DONE! I got the brake hardware in, drums on and painted, brakelines on, suspension mounted and greased up and it's ready to put on the tires and driveshaft. I had to cut the shackle bolts short to clear the gas tank skidder and I needed to relocate the rear brake hardline mount on the frame. The rear flex line comes down on the right side of the stock axle, where the Waggy is on the left. Luckily, the hard line runs across the frame from the left, so all it took was fabbing up a new bracket to hold the line at the joint between the flex and hard line and bending the hardline to get to it. I used one of the gas tank skidder bolts to hold the bracket.

the new brake line bracket:

Just needs tires.... (oops sideways... funny, it's not like that in the one I uploaded)

 

[bigwalton]

more pics

Some more shots from this weekend. (these appear in the above post).

 

[bigwalton]

Made a lot of progress this weekend and in the last couple of weeks. I don't have pics of all of it yet, but here's the latest.

Got the rear bumper mounted and painted. A bolt on each side and a bunch of welds to the rear crossmember and the sides of the frame. It sits exactly flush on the crossmember and the body mount replacement holes worked perfectly! It's not shown in these pics, but for the first time since I attacked the stock body mounts, the body is bolted back down in all locations with the new Daystar BL in place

 

[bigwalton]

I also got the MORE steering box bracket painted and mounted the steering box connecting up the power steering lines. It took a boatload of "gentle persuasion" to get the lines to connect up again with the box moved forward.

Here's the brace finished and ready to go in.

I managed to work enough slack in the stock brake lines to get the rear line hooked up without extending it. That took more "gentle persuasion"

I came up with a solution for the steering that will allow me to keep the stock CJ pitman, so I'm hoping my turning radius won't be too bad off. With the tie rod on the top of the knuckles, I don't think that bump steer will be too bad once things are settled and I think that I'll have enough clearance from the pitman to tie rod. This is the front end sitting under the weight of the Jeep.

The things I don't have pictures of are painting up the front suspension brackets (finally). Hanging the front suspension for the last time. Mounting the steering box again. Fitting up the winch/plate (I have an issue with getting the rear driver's side nut tightened up that I need to figure out). I also got a new Red Top (first one was swiped for the XJ when its battery croaked) and modified my homemade brace to fit it.

All I need to do now to take the maiden voyage is to assemble the outers on the front axle (hub/rotor/calipers) bleed the steering, bleed the brakes, install the new drag link, tighten the pitman, install the driveshafts, mount the tires Oh yeah, I have to install the REAR SEAT and belts for the newest passenger

I'm gunning to do a good bit on it this week in the evenings. I'm GOING to have this thing driving this MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!!!!