Finally making those long arms...

[LittleD]

my 2 cents:

eff the warn skid. and build a belly pan off of the crossmember

sell warn skid, make bank

possibly in the future, i wanna have this thing some what done by the second weekend in november for a trip to rausch, so i might just make the skid work in some way without hacking it up

[ninetysix-ex-jay]

I dont know about yours but my WARN t-case skid looks like a warped piece of cardboard after 2 trips to RC. Granted it does it jobs but I wouldnt want to weld a cup holder to it hell with long arms

[LittleD]

ok, i haven't really got the chance to use the skid yet, but i have some small box tubing that i was gonna use for side protection of my front bumper, ill see if i can use that and a sheet of steel and make a skid. My problem as it is now though, is my t case hits the warn skid, and when i start it, it smacks each other like a son' bitch. and i have the drop for the xmember, and the skid on.

[LittleD]

Just wondering if anyone knows any coupon for ballisticfab.

[kappy]

pirate

[LittleD]

Gonna build the x member tomorrow, but thinking for the future, what would be the best way to make sure the two arms are even? just set a close length from the joint, and then whatever i do to one do to the other? Should i take apart the steering and what not to make it easier to maneuver the axle? and what should i have the caster set at?

[justtorchit]

step 1. build crossmeber

step 2. find measuring tape

step 3. measure from eye to eye for the link

step 4. measure again

step 5. make lower arms that length

step 6. install your lower arms.

step 7. remove one of your upper arms

step 8. make tabs for you lower and attach them to the upper you took out.

step 9. bolt your upper to the axle and seat teh tabs on the lower. and weld

step 10. repeat to the other side

step 11. wallah

pretty fool proof if ya do it that way.

and ya wana have your caster at around -6 i believe

and you said earlier that you were getting 1.75 od with 1.5 id..... u ment 1.25 id right?

[LittleD]

Yea, 1.25 id, sorry bout the typo. I was thinking pretty much those same steps, just thought i was under thinking it.

Edit: im getting universal tabs for my upper to lower connection in my order from ballistic when i do order them, there 3.49 a pair and i can just bolt them to the upper, set the caster, and weld the tab to the lower.

[Zullock Holmes]

not pluggin it here, but this is probably the easiest crossmember to replicate and the best design out there IMO. its three piece so you dont have to remove your suspension to access the tranny/tcase. Outside pieces weld to the unibody and bolt on too.

[Zullock Holmes]

[Ktmracer419]

pics are broke. but i can only guess its clayton.

i'm not a fan of how low it hangs, but it works.

[LittleD]

Im going to logan on sat to pick up some of the materials, im going to use angle iron to work as a stiffner on the bottom and outside of the unibody and plate steel on the inside to bolt to. Hopefully i can manage to borrow a cordless sawzall to cut what i need and not have a ton extra.

I've also decided to keep the crossmember as a plain piece of box tubing and not make it high clearance and all that shit, it looks like a piece of 3x6 box tubing with a couple holes drilled in it.

[LittleD]

Picked up steel today, got 1 long ass piece of tubing just larger that .25( was about .33) and i would guess its around 7.5 feet long. Also got two pieces of box tubing about 3.5x3.5 inches that im going to cut the top off, and slide it over the unibody where the xmember will be, it's prolly 1/4 inch thick. All in all, costed me 74 bucks, and ill have left over material. Pretty sure the tubing is dom also but ill check later today if i can feel a welded seem or not.

[LittleD]

Gonna finish up the xmember hopefully tomorrow, drilled the wrong four holes on the top, but those are re drilled, just have to mess with the hole saw holes on the bottom side.

Tubing is DOM, it's 1 7/8" od, and its about 7/8" thick.

Once i get the x member on the jeep, i can order all the pieces to start fab. I have to figure out if there is a certain spot i need to have these brackets that connect the uppers to the lowers, and i need to push the pass side forward a bit.

[LittleD]

Zullo, could you get me a measurement the next time you work? I need a ball park area of the eye to eye length from the lca axle mount, to where the upper attaches to the lower.