'85 FJ60

[TheGr8Doughboy]

I guess I stopped here.... Going back under the knife this weekend... verson 4.0 ready for the spring trips!

Updates include:
-motor relocation
-revamp of the cooling system
-finish rear swing out carrier
-patch all of the holes in the body, including the body mounts
-patch the frame up so the truck is safe again
-repaint
-rebuild NP203 and reseal the drive line to eliminate the leaks
-build second rear crossmember to hold the transfercases better to take the load off of the tranny case
-antiwrap bar
-I'm considering lowering it by moving the fixed end of the spring into the frame, but I don't want to fuck up my caster... it cruises real well now but we'll see
-finish sliders
-clean up engine bay/wiring
-and since the boss says things like as Stinson flopped "damn I missed it, bet that was fun!" and "I can't wait to flop!" it's time to look at a cage, espically if I finally have a decent floor to mount through!

Then it'll be on!
-tryin to squeeze gears and tires onto the list

End goal, to drive to Harlan and back again! Tow rig budgeted for fall of '09 but till then trailers will be for boats!

It's about to be ON

[Steinberg]

damn straight son!

[Stinson]

bad ass....let me know if you need a hand!

[TheGr8Doughboy]

Cage.


The trucks seem to fair well across the center of the roof... my main concern is the A-pillar, windsheild and that part of the roof coming in. So tieing in at the A-pillars, b-pillars, and the on the top of the wheelwells. I'll be redoing the wheelwells to handle the weight... if not I'll bring that rear bar back at an angle and tie into the rear body mount. I'm planning on bringing then b-pillar hoop up into the cage at the corner with a gusset.

Do I need the ladder bars? I'm not sure I will...

Thoughts? other than on my made CAD skillz!

[MtnToys]

Keep in mind I really don’t know wtf I’m talking about… just an idea.

[TheGr8Doughboy]

Too much tube I think (hope) for a full bodied rig. I was thinking that the body can be counted on to take some of the force. The weld in kits you see for XJs don't seem to be much different from this. And I want it out of the way too... It won't last long if the boss it banging her knees on the way in and out of the truck.

Got the interior pulled... discovered a ton of rust and am currently draining all of the fluids.

I need two floor jacks and an engine lift, idealy pronto, so I can get the drive train out. Will be pulling everything early this week if anyone wants to come and help/watch/cheer...

Chris

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Chris, the design looks good, but I really think you should at least put a diagonal behind the front seats. You'd be amazed after looking at "tested" cages how much a single diagonal will do for the strength of the cage. If you don't want to do that, you can do a \/ that ties into the transmission tunnel. It won't be as strong as a single diagonal, but it will allow better access to the back over the center console and would be better than nothing.

Ary

PS, if you need to use a tubing bender let me know. I'll be needing it over X-mas break, but after the middle of January or so it should be available

[TheGr8Doughboy]

I might take you up on the bender...

I could probably handle a "V" but I'm concerned that adding much of anything to that space and I'll lose the ability for people use the rear seats comfortably... no diagional...

I may tie into the b-pillar... I don't want much tube in there...

[TheGr8Doughboy]

Check it! With the boss in charge we get it done! Interior stripped, rust located, tranny drained and dropped, cause of leak found!, motor prepped for pulling... I even found a replacement frame.

Next up quick rebuild of the NP203 and then resealing everything while fabbing a better tranny mount system. then frame swap, body work and paint... piece of cake


Mary "First I find you can't wheel with out me, now I wonder how you got any work done with out me"


check it out... belive it or not I was right. The t-case is split from the tranny and the tranny was WAY low on fluid...

Mary wanted this somewhere

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Just a suggestion, but how about fabbing the crossmember, motor mounts, spring hangers etc onto the frame before swapping the body? I should think it would make a lot of things a hell of a lot easier, and the quality would certainly be better welding in a comfortable position as compared to on your back overhead.

[Billet Benny]

Chris,
The cage looks alright, but get rid of all the 90 degree angles.. Making so many squares creates a "collapsible" structure.. Meaning the cage can fold up without any of the joints separating. Doing simple things like changing the upper braces from parallel to v's or x's goes a long way. Also, anything you can put in the B-hoop like Ary suggested is good. The last thing I'd do is add a door bar that runs from B-pillar to A-pillar somewhere where's it's still easy enough to get in and out over. I know you're wanting to go simple and what not, but these are small changes that make a lot of difference in over all strength and safety.

[Stinson]

ur a better man than I am, I could never work in those conditions. I would loose half the bolts.

[TheGr8Doughboy]

the leaves did get about half the bolts... and a 7/16 deep dish socket....


Still workin on the cage.. looks like that'll have to wait for a while

[Yoda]

lay a tarp down underneath where you're working next time. just my 2 cents

[TheGr8Doughboy]

Yoda... laying on a tarp under Version 3.0 of this truck and you'd be swimming in a strange mix of mud/ATF/gear oil and coolant... :barf: We've got all of the leaves out of the way now. Along the lines of a tarp I picked up a foam "camping mat" from an Army Surplus store a while back for $2... bad ass for those of us who don't have garages...

When the new frame arives I'll be cutting all of the stock brakets off (renting a plasma cutter) and having everything in place for the motor mounts and all before the body goes on. Drive train will be lifted enough that I have a flat belly, better aero dynamics for cruising the mall.

I'm leaving the ride height (and thus spring hangers)... it's not that tall, the unstability is driver error... after this gets straight I'll be looking in to sway bars. Similar to the Currie Antirock kit... but not made out of solid gold... They're proud of those things arn't they?