|
Awesome! I love how you aren't afraid to try stuff even with that pretty body.
Haha! That's funny.
On another note..... I have never bent my claytons arms like that. I have beat them hard on the front and rear. I did change (made) the brackets to a high clearence type. Sure scrapes, dings, gouged, but never "c" shaped them. Maybe i have not bashed them as hard as thought I did. Are the ZJ arms that different from the WJ (location, material)?
I didn't realize it until after you left crozet, but I did bend a claytons arm bad enough that I'm gonna replace it.
I second that you try to make it down to a big dogs event, some of the best wheeling on the east coast.
<------- Not cool. I might try it next time I'm there. I just don't know if my track width is wide enough or if I have a good enough approach angle to even get started up it.
Just yesterday I was talking with Moonworks Matt about heading up to a BD event soon. I think something in the fall would work out best. The 11+ hour tow makes it a little tough to get up there.
I think I'm gonna try for that one. If I can get past GSSE w/o too much carnage I should be able to find some time to get up there. Matt was saying that the Sept. event is a 3 day (IIRC) event, is that right? Is there a BD event that is not so well attended? I'm not much on crowds.
Last edited by rstrucks; 04-15-2010 at 10:56 PM.
Getting started on another round of modifications. I plan on doing the following in the next couple months;
- hydro steering
- internal/external cage
- plate portions of the unibody frame
- trim fenders/bumpers to increase clearance
- tube fenders
- get my t-case shifter fixed (again)
- 3 link front (if time allows before GSSE)
- relocate trans cooler or at least re-route the lines
First thing I did was strip the interior to prep for the cage.
Once I had access I removed the stock t-case linkage. I had it working for a while but it always ended up getting pulled out of one of the brackets. It's out of focus and hard to see but I just made a direct linkage to the t-case. I had to cut off the lever/arm attached to the shifter handle and reclock it to get it to work. It works well just sitting there, hopefully all my drivetrain mounts are in good enough shape to keep it from jumping out of gear boucing down a trail........ we'll see. I did try to use an old YJ t-case shifter I had laying around but there is no way it would work w/o major modification - to the point it's not worth it to use.
Pulled my steering box for hydro assist. Checked the steering box mounting area after seeing zj95's pic the other day and sure enough there is a crack developing near the top bolt. It'll get plated and reinforced.
Also trimmed some sheetmetal behind the front bumper that the tires kept getting into. I'm also going to trim a good bit off my bumper to increase clearance.
Last edited by rstrucks; 04-25-2010 at 06:47 AM.
Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the cage!!
What is that black thing filling in the hole in the top middle of the pic? I don't remember having anything like that in my 93?
And I'm sure you already know this, but don't trim your bumper too much -- or else you'll constantly be breaking lights and needing to do the robot mod to yours
my 98 has that black filler as well, not sure what its for
Fuego that's just a big foam plug if it is what I think it is, the WJ had a few similar things. I'd guess just for keeping crap out. *EDIT* Actually now I see it has tabs...so it's plastic. I dunno lol!
I agree about the headlights though, definately want to protect them. if your leaving it like that. That's pretty similar to mine now, and I'm going to be a little worried if I don't have em protected before the first trip
The two 96s i've had plus my 98 have that. Probably just to keep gunk out.
Looking good ryan. Are you going to put the interior back in after its caged? The "luxury" of your interior was one of the cool things about your rig.
I would suggest cutting out all of the sheet metal seat mounts and replacing with horizontial tubes coming from your B pilar and floor door bars.
Learn from my mistake. I will be replacing mine with the rocker cut outs I plan on doing.
Wow, can't wait to see how the cage turns out. X2 is the interior going back in?
I am putting as much of the interior back in as I can. I want it to look pretty clean when done.
Its s plastic plug for........ ? Not sure.
The bumper is cut already. I'll get some pics in the next couple of days. I tried to maximize ground clearance while still leaving enough to be functional. No Robot mod yet.
I'll reinforce them for now but I'll probably hold off on tube mounts for a little while. What problem did you have? Would simple reinforcing have stopped the problem?
Haha, nah. Not yet anyway. The gauge has been living just below my center console lid and next to the parking brake handle cut out. It faces forward and I have it rotated up so I can read it pretty easily.
Nice Work and great pics!!!!
Can't wait to see the cage details as well. I've been thinking about that one and trying to figure out some of the details to get it strong and still keep the interior intact and everything looking clean. Can't wait to see you ideas and approach to it.
I'm sure it will come out pretty sweet!
Cage is just about finished. There are a couple of braces to add and the front A-pillar will also tie into the wheelwell protection but for the most part it's done. I know it is not as strong as it could be but I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out and I really didn't want to add another hundred pounds of tube to an already heavy rig. I figure it should handle a light roll or a flop with out too much carnage. If it gets hurt too bad I'll just swap my drivetrain parts into a TJ or something. The purpose of the int/ext cage was more to protect the passangers in a roll and to help keep the sheetmetal somewhat clean by allowing me to lean up against trees or limbs without worrying about busting the glass out of it........ hopefully.
I tried to build it as low profile as possible as it is right now I may have a hard time getting the ZJ out of the garage.
« Previous Thread | Next Thread » |
Thread Information |
Users Browsing this ThreadThere are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests) |