Project/No Project

[OldGreen]

So. . .I needed a winch, but the nature of the "project" wouldn't allow me to put a big ol' gnarly winch bumper on the front of Orville. I wanted it to be as stealthy as possible and as light. There is a lot of internet lore around XJ's ripping off their unibodies with winches. . .it is complete BS. I did see a stock bumper get ripped off by a tow strap, but let's face it: A winch is held on by 4x 3/8" grade 5 bolts in single sheer. /end/

so, I went to work with my tape measure and all the shiz I could steal, borrow, and beg (again, the theme here is CHEAP and STOCK(ish) looking)

Tow hook mounts and a TJ winch plate netted me this:


The tow hook brackets, in addition to using the stock bumper bolts, use 1 1/2" bolt all the way through the uniframe rail on either side. So. . .6x 3/8 grade 8 bolts and 2x 1/2" bolts of unknown grade (came with the kit).

Then. . .I put it up to see what was what. . .this is AFTER about a million hours of laying on my back with a tape measure and my cell phone.



Obviously, some stuff is in the way there. So. . .



And then some creative cutting on the bumper to clear the fairlead, etc. . .



It is all bolted up now. I won't be using a roller fairlead because I'm getting a few ' of synthetic. The combination of the way the plate came out and an aluminum fairlead makes it so I can put the license plate over the whole works.

Here's what it looks like with the winch.


The license plate covers the whole center area pretty well. . .

Now, please understand that it is NOT done. I need to get the winch wired up and get a steering box brace in there...interestingly, I had one in my hands just the other day, but I gave it to Lee. . .the brace alone with the big chunk of 1/4" plate should be stiffer than the chunk of factory crossmember that I removed. Should be 5x5 before we hit FS1302.

[OldGreen]

One more pic to show the clearance on the steering box (1/2" or less) and the fan shroud (0", but it is plastic). I don't believe that this position would work with a different winch, unless it was smaller. This is an old MX8000 D1.

[Roman]

Dude, your a genious!

[Jafo]

Dude, your a genious!

Jose, I keep telling you that and you won't believe me.

[iaccocca]

I thought it was jenius. That is what my t-shirt says.

[OldGreen]

I will call it dumb luck. . .my extraordinarily high IQ had nothing to do with it.

[TJDave]

Stealthy. Very nice.

[OldGreen]

And here is how it looks all done and put together. There are still a few things to tweak, but they won't affect how it looks from the outside.

[iaccocca]

I'm loving it! Sleeper is very cool.

[OldGreen]

So. . .O had a problem. I needed to give his wheels back to the race truck program (well, I didn't have to, but it certainly made sense!!). Also, his Duratracs are getting a little short-toothed. . .

It occurred to me that since the race truck is getting a great big set of brand new 35" Red Label Grabbers, that El Chivo was sitting on a complete set of perfectly good 285/75R16 MT/Rs on stock Ranger Edge wheels.

Problem again: The interwebz informed me that the center bore/hub reference diameter/ HOLE on these wheels are too small to fit over the hubs and axle shafts of my XJ.

There were two possible solutions. I could either get lug centric wheel spacers OR I could grind out .6MM all the way around on all the wheels. . .

Spacers would have made the tires stick out too far and I don't have a mill



Harbor Freight to the rescue!!! A Cylinder Hone and my good ol' drill motor:



Quite a jump in size. . .although the width is nearly the same.



And. . .done:


Since that last pic was taken, I trimmed where it hit while backing/steering/etc. but it isn't quite done. Still need to install the front extended bumpstops.

For those of you keeping score, I'll finish the winch mount project as soon as the line/fairlead get here. . .maybe a week or so. Hopefully before the next snowwheelin' trip!!![/img]

[colemancooler]

looks good

[Roman]

Let's go pre-run with O!!!!

[TJDave]

Those look great. Bonus, it's highly doubtful you will run into another XJ with the same wheels.

[OldGreen]

:shock: Let's go pre-run with O!!!!

In.

[OldGreen]

Those look great. Bonus, it's highly doubtful you will run into another XJ with the same wheels.

Thanks. I'm actually really happy with how it is coming out. Still looks stockish but is fully equipped.......

[iaccocca]

Those look great. Bonus, it's highly doubtful you will run into another XJ with the same wheels.

Thanks. I'm actually really happy with how it is coming out. Still looks stockish but is fully equipped.......

I think you are losing a little of the sleeper look, but it sure does look good.

[Livin4Today]

Tow hook mounts and a TJ winch plate netted me this:

That's cool how you incorporated the stealth toolbox Jimmy! But I think it should open the other way, for easier access.... LOL!

Those 34's look sweet, but it doesn't appear you have much stuffage, I'm guessing its almost all bump stops inside the coils...

[OldGreen]

It actually has about 4" or more of up travel, but the flares are in the way. They may have to go. . .

[OldGreen]

Tiny bit of progress on the winch today. . .I laid underneath it for a good long while. . .then went and stared under the hood for another long while. . .trying to find a place to put the solenoid pack. I finally decided on putting it behind the bumper right in front of the winch motor. This leaves the shortest runs possible for the cables. it is pretty well under the battery too so that cable will be short as well.

In order to make it fit, I had to loose the cover and flip the plate over. . .here's where it will sit:

[Livin4Today]

Just a note, maybe you could order one of the newer style single solenoid like the one on my rear winch. I'll be looking for one soon for my front when I relocate it under my hood. Or I can sell ya my old 2 pack when I upgrade...

[OldGreen]

So, while I was talking to myself about which path I should continue down, I realized that I am in fact goin' wheelin' this weekend. Theretofore, I HAVE to get the bumpstops done and I would LIKE to get the winch mount done, but my synthetic rope and fairlead isn't here yet. . .so.. .bumpstop project wins by a mile.

I started out with a few hockey pucks and a set of extended poly bumps that I cut to length and ended up with this at ride height:



There is about 3" of free travel before any of the bumpstops engage then it goes from "soft" to Hard as a rock in about 1". Should be perfect. I didn't take a pic, but I have about 6" or so of down travel in the front. Most of that is free droop but the last little bit is "forced" under articulation. . .I'm not mad at all.

Here is a side view of the front driver's side tire all buttoned up and trimmed. I HOPE this is the next to last trim job. . .(I'm going to even it up next time I take the bumper off).



and another



Now, for the rest of winter/spring wheelin', I just need to get the winch mount/wiring done. . .but I HAVE to to do something about the rear shocks. They have great valving, but they are too long. they would be good for a 5" lift and really long bumps. I have extended bumps in the rear, but the bumps built in to the shocks are doing all the work... .SO. . .stay tuned.

[79chevy39.5's]

...i recall regearing with the other tires.....going for another round of gears in this ride?

[OldGreen]

I'm not mad at the gears. If I feel the need to regear I'll either get smaller tires again or build one of my other Jeeps. I'm not going to spend a bunch of money on the stock axles. If I ran across a great deal on a set of 4.10s for the rear, I'd consider it though.

[OldGreen]

Orville developed a massive out of balance situation after losing a bead on the snow run on Saturday. I kind of figured that I had packed the wheel full of snow and trapped it all in there. . .

So, I asked everyone I knew what I should do. . .and did my own thing anyway:

1. Remove tire
2. Remove valve core
3. Put tire under the now exposed brake drum with a block strategically place to remove the bead.
4. Lower jack and remove bead. . .
5. Raise Jack
6. Pump water out of tire
7. Seat bead and reinstall tire

Now, I don't know how much water/ice/snow it takes to throw a tire out of balance, but FS Road 1302 used almost exactly a gallon.

[OldGreen]

Stupid Jeep Tricks Mod. Kodak "PlaySport" Camera. HD Video, Water/Dustproof, etc. I've had it for a couple of years and have abused it with good results, but never bothered to mount it on the Jeep. . .so. . .: