1988 BII Build

[Stang5lgt]

i had already bought a LS 373 8.8 like 2 months before i decided to SAS it. otherwise, that's what i would've done. a guy on a local forum here in NC had a 4.10 disc 8.8 for $200 about a week after i bought the 373 8.8 . oh well, i'd rather have 488's anyhow, i plan on doing the 4.0 swap when we buy a house and i have a nice 2 car garage to work in.

EDIT-i looked at those coil mounts when i was doing this swap, but i wanted to coils to go directly above the tube.

Yeah finding a 3.73 high pinion D30 is very hard. They only came in the first 3 years 84-86 XJ with the craptastic GM 2.8 V6 and were almost all vacuum disco axles(87 up XJ auto 3.55 manual 3.07). But all the 4 banger XJ came with 4.10 up front so that would have been doable.

Moving the coil perches over the tube is the way to go. I made that mistake when I built the Merc. Didn't pay attention to the fact that perch was forward of the tube 1.5". So when I had the axle sitting under first couple month the coils looked real crooked since they angled forward. As soon as I pulled the axle to build the hydro assist setup I fixed it. Then when I did TNT and RR I moved the perches before hand. LOL

Looking good boss keep up the good work!

And also TNT and RR both have there track bar running in the middle of the crossmember. I have not noticed RR rubbing but TNT will hit at full compression there is small dent in the middle of his crossmember from the TB.

 

[88_Eddie]

Moving the coil perches over the tube is the way to go. I made that mistake when I built the Merc. Didn't pay attention to the fact that perch was forward of the tube 1.5". So when I had the axle sitting under first couple month the coils looked real crooked since they angled forward. As soon as I pulled the axle to build the hydro assist setup I fixed it. Then when I did TNT and RR I moved the perches before hand. LOL

Looking good boss keep up the good work!

And also TNT and RR both have there track bar running in the middle of the crossmember. I have not noticed RR rubbing but TNT will hit at full compression there is small dent in the middle of his crossmember from the TB.

thanks stang

looking at escort_gts's build thread, he also had issues with his coils being too far forward and ended up moving them above the axle. i had noticed you did it on RR and the merc so when you recommended it, i figured it would be easier to do now rather than later.


i was looking at the cross member last night and thinking that i could probably cut it out since i dont need to mount drop brackets anymore. then get some steel and make a new one up front somewhere. then i could also change the oil pan gasket without taking the motor out.

 

[88_Eddie]

welp, east coast gear supply is hooking me up with some 1.5" DOM for my track bar, tie rod and drag link. they're giving me two 50" pieces for the track bar and tie rod, then a 40" piece for the draglink - all for $100. ruff stuff wanted ~$60 just to ship a piece 4 foot piece to make the track bar. best of all, east coast gear supply is right down the street from work, so i can go get it when i leave!! should get a lot done this weekend

 

[4.0B2]

welp, east coast gear supply is hooking me up with some 1.5" DOM for my track bar, tie rod and drag link. they're giving me two 50" pieces for the track bar and tie rod, then a 40" piece for the draglink - all for $100. ruff stuff wanted ~$60 just to ship a piece 4 foot piece to make the track bar. best of all, east coast gear supply is right down the street from work, so i can go get it when i leave!! should get a lot done this weekend

did I ever mention I hate you!?
I'm hoping I can convince the local off road fab shop to sell me some DOM.

East Coast Gear does some GOOD stuff. We have a few people with their bolt in ready 8.8's running in jeeps.

 

[88_Eddie]

haha sorry man....i always forget that they're here in raleigh. heard nothing but good stuff about them, so i thought i'd give them a call. metal is damn hard to come by around here unless you buy in bulk. like 50-100 pieces of 20 foot stock, bulk.

 

[88_Eddie]

still need to order 3 more heims/jam nuts/tube adapters for the steering links, but i plan on doing the track bar tomorrow

 

[Ford78]

welp, east coast gear supply is hooking me up with some 1.5" DOM for my track bar, tie rod and drag link. they're giving me two 50" pieces for the track bar and tie rod, then a 40" piece for the draglink - all for $100. ruff stuff wanted ~$60 just to ship a piece 4 foot piece to make the track bar. best of all, east coast gear supply is right down the street from work, so i can go get it when i leave!! should get a lot done this weekend

Looking sweet!!.
Just got my gears from them, really good service and prices!

 

[88_Eddie]

didnt get as much done today as i'd have liked to. discovered i ruined the threads on both ball joints on the pass side. the upper was easy to take out with a bj press, but the lower wouldnt budge. had to bang and cut on it for 2 hours. by then it was hot as hell out.

i did start working on the track bar though. cut the radius into it, well grinded it.

gonna use a stock style track arm bushing for the axle bracket and a ruff stuff heim on the frame.

then cut out the axle bracket using some leftover 2x2 tube. yes, it will get gussets as well as being fully welded. just tacking for now until i get my steering laid out.

then i went to ace and picked up a bunch of bolts that i need. discovered they sold 3/4"-16 TPI jam nuts there for $1.40!!! ballistic and 4WP's wants $2.99-$3.99 just for one! i also went to home depot and got all the 1/2" nuts and bolts i need to finish mounting the cross member. i'll save that for a night after work.

i'm about to try and figure out how i want to do the steering. i'll post up my ideas in a bit.

 

[brinker88]

That's a TALL track bar mount. Are you going to be able to make the angles the same as the steering with it that tall?

 

[88_Eddie]

That's a TALL track bar mount. Are you going to be able to make the angles the same as the steering with it that tall?

yeah it will need to be that tall, b/c here is what i'm thinking for the steering setup:

tie rod will be on top of the knuckle, then i'll have a bracket on top of the tie rod. doing it that way, i'll be able to make the track bar and DL, almost the same length and angle.

that, or i'll just copy Stang's

 

[Stang5lgt]

hooked up the arms

Nice work! You are going to have a love hate relationship with those control arms being that long. Problem you will run into is getting hung up on them a lot. TNT and RR both have 30 inch arms bolt to bolt. When we ran Holy Cross Darla(green Ranger) was running 36 inch arms his arm bracket would hit rocks and on French Creek he finally got hung up on the brackets and had to pull line to free himself. TNT sits about the same height as RR but it has a 2 inch body lift so his frame sits about the same off the ground as Darla. He had no issue with his arm brackets getting hung up. You will love the longer setup on the street and if you do Baja type wheeling. But for rock crawling that long of arms can make for a frustrating day. You can see with just a 30" arm RR has no issue flexing the full 14" of shock travel. Keep up the good work!

 

[Stang5lgt]

And your track bar mount axle side looks perfect to me.

Sold RR last night told the guy he could have it first part of August. So I should be starting another one sometime in Aug/Sep depending on our house selling. Have not decided what to build next but it will be cool I hope. LOL

 

[88_Eddie]

Nice work! You are going to have a love hate relationship with those control arms being that long. Problem you will run into is getting hung up on them a lot. TNT and RR both have 30 inch arms bolt to bolt. When we ran Holy Cross Darla(green Ranger) was running 36 inch arms his arm bracket would hit rocks and on French Creek he finally got hung up on the brackets and had to pull line to free himself. TNT sits about the same height as RR but it has a 2 inch body lift so his frame sits about the same off the ground as Darla. He had no issue with his arm brackets getting hung up. You will love the longer setup on the street and if you do Baja type wheeling. But for rock crawling that long of arms can make for a frustrating day. You can see with just a 30" arm RR has no issue flexing the full 14" of shock travel. Keep up the good work!

i got this b2 back when i was in high school, it was my first vehicle. i'm not planning on taking it hard core wheeling. i made them that long b/c like you said, it'll be a better ride on the street. that's where it's mainly going to be driven. i plan to take it camping up in the mountains and down in the sand hills. driving it down to my grandparents during hunting season (no rocks at all down there, just nasty black mud lol).

once the wife and i buy a house, i'll be most likely buying some sort of wrangler for dirt cheap and throwing a ford drivetrain in it on some FW axles and that will be my primary wheeling rig for a few years

 

[88_Eddie]

welded up the track bar today:

added some plate to it just for safe measure

then made my driver side upper link bracket. very stout, it wont be going anywhere. it may hit the frame while flexed though, we'll see.

then started on the track bar. tack it into place

i still need to get a factory bushing for it, advanced auto is the only place that has it in stock. bout to go get it now

started looking at how it was gonna sit though. gonna have to make a new frame mount for it.

 

[88_Eddie]

nobody has the track arm bushing in stock, so i have to order one. i need new ball joints anyhow, so i'm just gonna place a rock auto order tomorrow and get them sent. then i need to order the heims, jam nuts and adapters so i can build the steering. hopefully i can acquire all the parts this week, then finish up this coming weekend