We will see how it fares in the next couple weeks.  Trailering it down so there won't be any problems getting it home, once I get it to a road.  And l don't intend to Hammer it.  This will not stop ripping it off the frame, that takes some serious forces.  Was that from jumping, or long hard stuffing it?

That was from high speed sand washes and some 10 years of hard wheeling,
I never did anything to the strut towers, by the time I noticed they were bending
it was too late to do anything about it.

I would do a cross tower brace or something if I had a good frame to keep it
in good shape, not I need to do some fixing and some new mods to make it
perform better with some taller tires

Wild

I was having problems with my locker and getting ready for Moab, so KRIS delivered Fathers Day Present early.


It should be in and hooked up tomorrow.

ARB is installed, a new Radiator was put on the rig.  And BRD HNTR took off this morning for Moab.  So we'll see how everything works ever the next few weeks.

Your Shop Bench looks like mine......Just enough room to work on the immediate problem!!

ARE THOSE HORSE SHOES???  Are you going to throw a couple in there for GOOD LUCK??

CAPT

Your Shop Bench looks like mine......Just enough room to work on the immediate problem!!

ARE THOSE HORSE SHOES???  Are you going to throw a couple in there for GOOD LUCK??

CAPT

I should have.  Nothing worked on my second day, thanks to the help of MH and ZW

Quote from: Capt on April 14, 2011, 06:21:05 PM

Your Shop Bench looks like mine......Just enough room to work on the immediate problem!!

ARE THOSE HORSE SHOES???  Are you going to throw a couple in there for GOOD LUCK??

CAPT

I should have.  Nothing worked on my second day, thanks to the help of MH and ZW

That DID NOT come out right.  What I meant was Nothing worked on my second day,"Thanks for the help of MH and ZW" I was able to get to top of Moab Rim.

I had installed a new Radiator with trans cooler, one of the rubber hoses kinked causing transmission to over heat, melting my rear ARB air line.  So when I engaged the rear locker (usually first) it would dump the air pressure and then no lockers.  Somehow my left front axle came out just far enough to disengage from diff., so when front was not locked the left side turned, but not the axle, leaving me with one wheel drive.
I spent next day correcting issues.  Axle shoved back in, air line rerouted away from any heat source, new air compressor.  New bolt in back TC mount.  Shortened Trans cooler rubber lines.
Had a good time rest of the trip.  If I could get past my front bumper, I could climb over everything I tried, but after that second day fiasco I did not try the more extreme trails.  We did get to do Poison Spider, Golden Spike, & Gold Rim with a local group, Hells Revenge, Top of the world, (fiasco on ) Moab Rim, some trails in Arches N.P., and a few trails I don't know name of.
I think I was running the smallest tires in all the groups we ran with.

Now getting ready to fix that issue.  Not wanting to cut out wheel wells, I found a set of TJ springs on the scrap trailer.  I tried the longer lighter looking springs on back of my Tracker.  On first look they were really tall and not fitting, so I cut 1/2 of large end coil off.  Then I put it in 6" vise and squeezed it smaller so it would fit in upper spring mount w/rubber insulator.  I used the torch to heat the smaller end of spring and open up the coil so it would fit over the spring mount.
It may be setting a little tall, but will wait for front end work and (hopefully) larger tires before changing these springs any more.  The ride is nice.  I had already raise my shock mounts, so now I am sitting about the middle of the shocks. (I had been bottoming out on large bumps and drops, not now.)

I like the ride, spring rate must be close.  Now there is room for some bigger tires, at least in back.
As soon as I have time, I will start front end modifications.  (Race car is in garage.)

I have had a good time running the Tracker for this summer.  Now it is time to start getting ready for next year.
I just got a good deal on a set of Pro Comp X-Terrains, which will now go on Drone 637's SJ410 so I can use his Pro Comp Xtreme's.  His tires have a little more tread, but the SJ will not notice the difference, and the X-Terrains are a little meaty for road useage.

I have been running 30X9.50X15R (tire on right) and will be converting to 33X12.50X15's (tire on Left). 

Quite a difference in physical size, and weight.  I should get the tires and rims changed over tomorrow, then put my new tires and rims on and see how much it is going to take to them work.  (I tried a set of 31X10.5X15's for a few weeks to get me through the snow during Hunting season.  The rims had more off set than mine, so I had rubbing on some corners and bumps.)

The 33's are much larger than the 30"s.  So here are the issue's that I am running up against.

• I had planned on doing a frame chop & drop similar to M. Hagen's, only dropping it 2" and extending it 3".  (I need to drop my motor 1 1/2" so I can close the hood.)
• I am already at 14.4" to bottom of frame, and don't need to raise it any more.  (It is also my DD.)
• If I move the frame forward, I have to alter the oil pan, because the crossmember will then move into same place. 
• If I move the frame forward 3", when stuffing a tire it will be hitting back side of headlight basket.
• Just doing a 1" drop and 1" extension seems like a lot of work for so little gain, and I still have the oil pan issue.

As it sits now Tires can just barley clear wheel well before stuffing it in off road conditions.
Next plan is to make a plate out of 1/2" material and slide the ball joint 1" forward.  I hope to gain:

• 1" Tire clearance
• 1/2 lift (making it almost level)
• more caster to increase tracking ability]
  
  
  

But I will still have to squeeze the motor lower. (and put all the lug nuts on before road testing.)

I have been running 30X9.50X15R (tire on right) and will be converting to 33X12.50X15's (tire on Left). 

 

Dyslexic?


LOL,,,

With the AE kit the 1.5" of forwards placement of the front axle centerline really helps, the upper strut mount also needs to be pushed forwards because it doesnt take much increase in castor to create the shopping cart wheel condition. The AE kit also moves the front strut outwards slightly to reduce camber change during front suspension travel.

I thought most of those who have slid the front axles forward have not noticed any negative aspect.  My understanding was that it would make it track better, maybe an increase in steering pressure to turn.
Now that I see how yours was corrected, if I have problems it won't be hard to fab up something similar.  Thanks for the good job on posting up your build. 

This is what the A arm looked like before moving ball joint holes 1 1/2" forward.

And what it looks like after painting

Just finished welding up the second A arm.  After welding in the plate and drilling the holes, I plug welded the old holes.

It does give me quite a bit more room               

 than before

Still have to get motor to set lower, clean up some wiring issues, and modify bumper.  This is not the time of year to be working on MY Project, but at least it has warmed up into the 50's.

Looking nice!

Moving the axle centerline forwards really opens up the tire options.

I did find that I encountered some contact between the stock 2dr brake caliper and the coil spring, when I upgraded to the vented rotors and calipers of the 4dr(they are a more compact design) I no longer had any contact issues.

I had that problem when I first started raising my tracker, so I cut around my spring pad and raised the outside edge 1".  That made the spring sit straight w/o a bow in it, and gave me more lift.  I am now running 4 dr. brakes also.
Thanks for the information anyway.

Looking good, aside from having to run a stock passenger side CV I like this method of ball joint movement more than the Hagen Mod I'm working on. After cutting out the stock control arms with a sawzall and replacing the hardware and bushings my wallet had taken an unexpected hit.

After further thought, I guess you could move the joint out an inch to solve that issue; and you can always modify the spring seats after too....