1988 BII Build

[brinker88]

Looks good and love the ballistic fab skulls. I have one on my bumper as well. FYI those little holes in it are for welding them onto the bumper

 

[Robert_1967]

I would have cut a square hole where you have the little guy and mount the cleaves mounts there.




Robert

 

[88_Eddie]

Looks good and love the ballistic fab skulls. I have one on my bumper as well. FYI those little holes in it are for welding them onto the bumper

i like them too, i'll use the little holes when i permanently attach the skulls. i still need to go back and sand all the welds down with some flap wheels.
i need to either order another one from ballistic or find some other type of decoration for the other side.

I would have cut a square hole where you have the little guy and mount the cleaves mounts there.

i was thinking i'd weld the clevis mounts to the frame rails and then cut a hole in the bumper for them to go through. still thinking about it

 

[88_Eddie]

oh and i forgot to mention, i'm thinking about SAS'ing with a D30 right now. i cant find a D44 for under $300 (most are $500 or more), but i found a D30 for $80 the other day. plus they're everywhere and one would hold up just fine under my 2.9 on 33's......we'll see what happens

 

[4.0B2]

d30 will work for that... will work even better if you get the shafts w/ larger u-joints. what d30 is it? out of what year and model?

also, get v8 zj steering for it.. its a lot stronger than the stock tiny steering.
read this. http://midsouthjeeps.com/forum/index.php?/topic/4709-your-steering-sucks-upgrade-yo-tie-rod-foo/

 

[88_Eddie]

i dont remember what it was from, it had 3.55's in it or something weird like that....i need 3.73's. i was just making the point that they were everywhere and CHEAP (which is the best part lol)

i still need to research more, but i've been thinking about it more and more and i think it would be a good simple fix for the TTB. i dont have the time and/or patience and to get the steering just right and getting the suspension to work like i want. plus, i could sell most everything i have for the front (pig, extended arms, coils, lift brackets, etc.) and get most everything i need to do a D30 swap

 

[4.0B2]

i might be able to locate some gears.. think i know where some are that are about to come out of a jeep. 3.73's. i think

 

[88_Eddie]

i'd rather find one that already has them. i'm on a local forum called NC4x4 also....it's for all types of trucks, but i'd say 95% of them are some sort of jeep. there's 10 ad's a week where people are parting out XJ's.

i just did some reading and i need to find one from a 95+ XJ....i googled "best d30 to swap" and the first thread was one from TRS lol

The 95+ XJ does have the best D30. Whether you go leafs or coils it would be the axle to use. For your intended use a D30 would work just fine. Here's a link to my build: http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1485. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

 

[88_Eddie]

and i may try and do leafs instead of coils, my new front bumper will require some modifications to do that though

 

[4.0B2]

no, do coils.. it's actually probably easier. lol. they xj axle is a coiled axled, your b2 is a coiled rig.. why would you change that? your call, that's just my opinion.

95-99 or 2000 xj... in either 2000 or 2001 they went back to a low pinion axle. the HP is stronger. the problem is, most xj's in that year range are 3.55 gears

remember there are some d30 swaps on here on first gens. maverick was doing one on his b2. escort's first one was a 2nd gen ranger. kroussinoffroad's first sas on his mazda. dangerranger. all w/ coils. most of them used the y-link long arms like the rusty's or ironman fab's

 

[88_Eddie]

no, do coils.. it's actually probably easier. lol. they xj axle is a coiled axled, your b2 is a coiled rig.. why would you change that? your call, that's just my opinion.

95-99 or 2000 xj... in either 2000 or 2001 they went back to a low pinion axle. the HP is stronger. the problem is, most xj's in that year range are 3.55 gears

remember there are some d30 swaps on here on first gens. maverick was doing one on his b2. escort's first one was a 2nd gen ranger. kroussinoffroad's first sas on his mazda. dangerranger. all w/ coils. most of them used the y-link long arms like the rusty's or ironman fab's

i agree, i'll most likely stick with coils. i cant figure out how to re-mount my bumper if i did leafs. i may just make my own long arms, the kits are kinda pricey. but it would be easier to just buy some. ironman fab is down in charlotte too and i think i can get a small discount from another forum i'm on.

i found a 3.73 D30 with all steering and track bar, but it's from a TJ...... the guy wants $200, but i think i could talk him down, if i were to go that route.

OR

i may just start collecting parts and then regear everything to 4.88's when i swap in the 30.

 

[4.0B2]

i'd regear... 3.73's are only good for so much...
plus people that have 3.73 axles that KNOW you are looking for that gear only.. they'll charge you more. i'd find a cheap xj axle and just get gears.. even if you don't regear the rear instantly, you'll just have 2wd for awhile but the front will be ready for the long haul.

and like i said, don't fool around w/ the stock steering.. AT LEAST grab the v8 zj's steering. see the size differences in that thread i linked?

 

[88_Eddie]

yeah, i've seen that link before in another thread. i was thinking i'd make my own steering too, use some .250 wall 1" ID DOM and heims. it isnt a DD, so heims would be fine.

my brother actually has an 96 XJ that is on it's last leg, so maybe i can talk him into letting me have it when he hauls it off to the scrapper. problem is that he's in new orleans.....road trip maybe? good news is i can just cut most everything off if i do go get it, so it wouldnt be much work to get it.



tentative plan:

find a 30, keep it in the garage, regear it (good practice for when i'm ready to do the 8.8), truss it, replace any old/worn out parts and then once i have everything i could do the swap in a weekend probably.

 

[88_Eddie]

worked on the rock guard some. turns out i cut too much off the stock piece so i used a piece of 3/4" angle stock to hold it together. it'll barely be visible with the winch in and the grill on. i just need to trim the bottom to fit. hopefully it will.

 

[88_Eddie]

oh and i hate welding thin stuff, i turned it down as low as i could and it still burnt through in a few places.