Ben's Cherokee

[deucestudios]

Got this.



tested some of the welds with my 10lb hammer. Some failed. Maybe they were just tacked on I guess. But I went over all of them. Not that my flux core snot rockets are amazing. But I'd rather it be my welding that fails...



Not amazing looking, but good penetration. Hopefully strong enough. If not I have a buddy with a TIG. But, I'll run this till it breaks.



Started taking stuff off.
This is 87 lbs of stuff gone, and that's only 1 side, and didn't count the tie rod.
(rotor, caliper, shafts, spindle, hub in a rubbermaid container = almost 90lbs)



boring cleaning and painting BS. got some parts piling up though. Picked up 8 used heims, 2 used small body JJ's, some steering tubes, and some other crap. Also scooped up 20' of 2"x2"x1/4" at the local mennonite machine shop.







60 stub shaft vs. 30 stub shaft.



And as I finish rebuilding the front, and piling up parts, in the late evenings I crack a beer and seriously over think this...

[amish_matt]

Haven't posted in months (years?) and never in 4x4, but I just have to say, being from Lancaster, there's nothing like a Mennonite machine shop! Or tire shop, or exhaust shop... how do these guys stay in business?

Nice Jeep, BTW, I'm enjoying your build.

[therichisgood]

Awesome x3! In for more.

[deucestudios]

Matt - white horse machine shop. Awesome place for just about anything.

caught my left thumb between the sledge hammer and the rotor, beating the hub out.
tough to see that it was almost completely severed in the Xray, even though I had gloves on...
nails gone, 5 stitches. just saw the specialist yesterday, there's no necrosis in the flappy piece yet, so they think I'll have a full thumb when alls said & done.

[Heffernan]

ouch!

[VapedTalon]

That definately leaves a mark .

[deucestudios]

Picture time.



still rockin the flux core.





Spent some quality time with a wire wheel. Got the front one all cleaned up. Everything stripped off the outers, except the king pin on the good side. As much of a pain in the dick the first one was, no way I'm changing the good one.





The. Worst.
Its kinda galled, so I figured might as well change it I'm here, nows the time.
Well then it became personal, couldn't get it out of my head that I couldn't turn the thing.
Ended up with a case hardened 1/2" coupling nut, which is 7/8" on the outside. Dropped that in the pin, and used a 7/8" x 3/4" drive impact socket on a 6' breaker bar.





And. My thumb is healing nicely.
Here's where I'm at:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...a/86ca2958.jpg

[deucestudios]

Lame "I took 1 bolt out" update.
Well I've broken just about everything I've thrown at the other kingpin.
Finally borrowed a 3' pipe wrench from a friend of a friend, and put it with a 6' piece of pipe.
Took all 200lbs of me bouncing 7' from the fulcrum.
Got'im!



Also sold the inspection tire & wheel set, and picked up a d300 with twin sticks and a clocking ring, and a set of H1s that came with a free set of 36" swampers.
I got an expensive PartsMike order brewin, which is kinda holding me up at the moment.
That's all.

[geofftii2002]

Lame "I took 1 bolt out" update.
Well I've broken just about everything I've thrown at the other kingpin.
Finally borrowed a 3' pipe wrench from a friend of a friend, and put it with a 6' piece of pipe.
Took all 200lbs of me bouncing 7' from the fulcrum.
Got'im!



Also sold the inspection tire & wheel set, and picked up a d300 with twin sticks and a clocking ring, and a set of H1s that came with a free set of 36" swampers.
I got an expensive PartsMike order brewin, which is kinda holding me up at the moment.
That's all.

It's the small victories that can be the most meaningful!

[Smarty_Kirkland]

I'm from the Philadelphia Area, did I just see this jeep on CL?!

[deucestudios]

I'm from the Philadelphia Area, did I just see this jeep on CL?!

You tryin to buy it or what Smarty?
The tub/body/motor is only a part. If I can get what I'm askin, it'd make for a pretty cheap & simple 4.0L swap.

[MCTB]

Did you run that set up through the link calculator on Pirate? Its pretty damn easy to use.



Im really thinking about doing something like this when I get back.

[Smarty_Kirkland]

You tryin to buy it or what Smarty?
The tub/body/motor is only a part. If I can get what I'm askin, it'd make for a pretty cheap & simple 4.0L swap.

I wish, but I'm only 16 and still have yet to buy my first car, let alone the time/money for a project.

[deucestudios]

Did you run that set up through the link calculator on Pirate? Its pretty damn easy to use.



Im really thinking about doing something like this when I get back.

I have a few times. Every time I save it I end up changing it. At this point, I probably won't go back to it until I'm done, and do kinda like an as-built. A buddy of mine just built a single triangulated rear in a TJ for an 8.8, helping with that got me to see what numbers I have in the calculator that'll work and what's nowhere near working.
I have like an arms length understanding of all those numbers. I'm kinda just moving forward at this point, once it's driveable, if it's horrible I'll make changes. If I nail what the plan is, the body side upper will have 3 mounting positions, which put the AS at 105, 100, and 95. Reality is, stick the **** where it fits...

[cyclegrip]

I went a bought the Mac 7/8 Allen socket for 3/4 drive cause you have to torque them back to 600 ft lbs haha

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[wheeltowheel]

Awesome job!

Reminds me of my Cherokee. But it's 2wd
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wheeltowheel/5910174478/

[deucestudios]

Not much happening lately. Got the hubs back last night though, gonna mock up the rear caliper setup tonight hopefully.



Also, had this cut. They effed it up. But gave me the parts anyway for test fitting.

[deucestudios]

the rear 72" from the wheel outside - outside. my XJ is 68, 69ish.
need more parts before I figure out the front...

[deucestudios]

Well axle work has got boring & expensive, so that's on hold while I do some work that comes with me on wheeling trips this summer.
Gonna do some cage work here soon, so I started prep work.



patch panels where the heater box came out.



mounted my spare inside, got some rear tailgate hinges that work, got rid of the factory airbox, cut out a bunch of the factory wiring harness that's for options this will never have, been out driving it on weekends mostly though, instead of tinkering in the driveway...

[tip]

hot

[coatofarms]

Ben,

Jeep is looking great. I have the same problem with owning too many jeeps Hope you don't mind me keeping this photo, its one of my favs.

Question, I saw these steelies on a cherokee in the local salvage yard. Problem is there were only 3. Can you tell me what they are off of? Thinking of these with some intercos

[Heffernan]

I could be wrong, but I thought he mentioned they were 17" steelies off of a Dodge Magnum.

[coatofarms]

I could be wrong, but I thought he mentioned they were 17" steelies off of a Dodge Magnum.

Dang it. I searched magnum and found it when you posted. I was too caught up in the photos to see that Thank you

[Heffernan]

Dang it. I searched magnum and found it when you posted. I was too caught up in the photos to see that Thank you

[deucestudios]

Dang it. I searched magnum and found it when you posted. I was too caught up in the photos to see that Thank you

Yep Heff is right, 17x7" steel wheels from a dodge magnum, or a chrysler 300.

[deucestudios]

Started the cage work.



did a 1.5" body lift.





putting this on tonight.

[Heffernan]

lookin' good

[deucestudios]

God damn torx bolts
Got the cage all tacked together, but broke my T50 bit on the family bar, so I can't take it out to burn it the rest of the way in.
Pisser.

Welp.
Did the 1.5" body lift, motor mount lift, and trans lift/belly-up skid plate saturday.
Then welder fun sunday.
Fubar'd my seats cause I'm a douche and didn't take them out before welding spatter went everywhere.



stock:


UCF ultra high clearance aluminum

[deucestudios]

I'm all over the place.

[deucestudios]

cage is done.

[deucestudios]

XJ Update

[silvermannn]

Whaaaa???? Whats up with that?

[02vwgolf]

[/QUOTE]

Sorry to ask, because I know alot of people arent willing to give away info, but im semi-local to you and was wondering where this picture was taken at? looks like a cool little trail section... and my lifter 4runner and my buddies XJ would love to go exploring Pm me if necessary

[deucestudios]

Whaaaa???? Whats up with that?

Unibody rust... the drivers side leaf mounts were all but gone, the whole jeep was leaning it was so bad. The rear cargo area floor was gone, the drivers & passenger floor pans were patched 5 years ago, and the whole thing was going to hell. shocks were popping through the tub... It needed to be completely rebuilt, and I have a good friend that spent the past 2 years doing all the floor metal work in an XJ, and I just didn't want to go there. It looked pretty with the wheels & tires & lift, but it wasn't good on the inside.
I sold the motor & trans to a friend, sold the np231 on craigslist, and the front HP30 will go in the TJ here shortly, with the LS 8.8 I just picked up. The rear 4.10 27 spline 8.25 will go with the TJ's LP30 in another friends daily driver. The unibody will be cut up and scrapped.
I'm still working towards the d60s, but the TJ is fun as-is right now, but I'm pushing my luck spinning 33s on a d35. So, I figure set up an 8.8 that'll bolt in, keeping the body side mounts, then I have something very sellable in the future, when I swich over to the full width axles. I wanted a rear axle swap that costs a few hundred to cover me for the next couple years - If I go straight to the tons, I'm not gonna have anything to drive in the short term. An $80 limited slip 8.8 that's geared right, and I already have most of the brackets... most of the cost of the swap is gonna be the SYE and new driveshaft. Plus I know a couple people running the ford rear in TJs and it seems to work well.
Closing the chapter on the XJ sucks, but a lot of the parts are living on in either my Wrangler or some other locals.

Sorry to ask, because I know alot of people arent willing to give away info, but im semi-local to you and was wondering where this picture was taken at? looks like a cool little trail section... and my lifter 4runner and my buddies XJ would love to go exploring Pm me if necessary

I've tried helping guys find wheeling spots before, but I get a lot of nasty PMs about it.
Sorry - good luck.

[Louie Bricants]

Pretty cool project.