Water makes things GROW!!!

[Saurian]

It's been a strangely mild winter here in Michigan... Lots of rain. Rain, as we all know, makes things grow... All kinds of things... Large things, blue things, things that are happy in dirt...




Woot!!!

4 inch Trailmaster experiment from the good people at my local offroad shop. As much as I would have LOVED to do it myself, I just have not had the time... I did, however, have the coin to drop with my tax return, and with the fits that Jeepy gave 'em, it was money well well well spent.

I am geeked!!!

[dingus]

niiiiiiiice! now those tires look goofy but hey... still looks awesome.

[TwistedCopper]

Looks great Saurian! Nice setup. Doesn't that Trailmaster 4" kit use control arm drop brackets? I bet it rides pretty will if so...

I think the tires look fine :? You could go bigger but hey - you need a lot of lift to clear tires on an XJ, especially the later years.

Look out Michigan trails...

[Utah_jeepster]

if you water it some more will it grow another few inches?
Can you bottle some of that rain and ship it to me? LOL!
Looking good Saurian!

[Saurian]

I agree, the tires look goofy, it's not nearly as bad from this angle, but when you look at it directly from the side, it's pretty bad... Those are 30 inch MT/Rs... They are less than a year old, and until they wear down, on there they stay, at just shy of 200 a pop per tire, I'm not about to 86 them based on size just yet...

It uses control arm drop brackets, and since all the control arms were replaced, it rides like a dream come true... Apparantly, it's very very difficult to mess up the upper control arms on an XJ, they hardly ever have to be replaced... Mine looked like a banana.

The green lines indicate a straight path as aligned to the bushings. They thought it had been in a front end collision, nope, not ever... That's just wheeling for ya, I guess, didn't think I was wheeling her THAT hard.

With this lift, I can clear 31s all day, 32s with a little rub, and 33s all day if I trim the fenders, who knows what the future holds. I always said that if the stock fender flares get torn off when wheeling, that's when I'll cut and do Bushwackers or something like that.

[Sully]

You did a nice job on that control arm! The lift looks sweet too! IMO that setup right there is great, maybe someday a set of 32 inch M/T's but other than that I think your set. Where are the action shots?

[Saurian]

Yeeeaaaaahhhh... When you live in the rust-belt, and your front driveshaft doesn't have to flex due to the lateral position of transfer case to differential, and it sits under these conditions for 6 years, or 105000 miles, whichever comes first, the driveshaft seizes up, and cannot stretch to accomodate the new lift... As soon as I can, I'll be getting a new front driveshaft, and then taking it out for it's paces. As it is right now, the front driveshaft is in the back of the Jeep, totally seized up.

	Transfer Case Mounted behind and driven by the vehicle transmission, the transfer case transmits power to the front and rear driveshafts in 4WD Jeep vehicles and offers high and low range.

[mingez]

Alright!! Looks damn good. I really don't think those tires look that goofy.

So, next March, it'll be what? Meats and Rims? Lockers? A bunch of groceries to put in the back of that bad boy.

Jeepy looks happy!!!!!!!!!!!

[Saurian]

I don't know... There's always something new to do, isn't there... Winch, rock rails, more lights, larger tires... Actually, I'm thinking the next thing, besides the front driveshaft obviously, will be snorkel. I've come WAY too close to hydrolocking my engine for my comfort, and for the time being, the engine doesn't need any work done to it, the rear main is seeping, but all 4.0 around here do that... Yep, I think snorkel, maybe professional kit, maybe homebrew PVC, been a while since I've done any fabrication, but I turn a pretty good hand at that sort of thing.

[Sparky-Watts]

Originally Posted by Saurian

Water makes things GROW!!!

Ummm...I beg to differ....have you never been in a cold swimming pool?

Looks good, dude! Just noticed your antenna for the CB....interesting mounting point!!

[TwistedCopper]

I maintain that it looks fine, you have to remember that those springs should settle a bit too. I say keep the 30's until they're bald unless you plan on hitting the rocks.

How is the ground clearance on those drop brackets?

Which control arms did you use to replace the old, stock? I assume they would be fine with the drop brackets.

I'd really like to see a pic or two of how the brackets look if you get the time.

[TwistedCopper]

If you dont have them, for your next purchase I would suggest a set of swaybar disconnects and lose the rear trackbar if you haven't already. Those 2 mods will greatly improve your traction in off-camber situations and over some obstacles.

Get em' done and lets see how that thing flexes!

	Swaybar A sway bar (also stabilizer bar, anti-sway bar, roll bar, or anti-roll bar, ARB) is an automobile suspension device. It connects opposite (left/right) wheels together through short lever arms linked by a torsion spring. A sway bar increases the suspension's roll stiffness—its resistance to roll in turns, independent of its spring rate in the vertical direction.

	Track bar A track bar is a component of a car suspension system that provides lateral location of the axle. While the purpose of the rear suspension of an automobile is to allow the wheels to move vertically with respect to the body, it is undesirable to allow them to move forward and backwards, or from side to side. It is this latter movement that the track bar is designed to prevent. It is a simple device, consisting of a rigid bar running sideways in the same plane as the rear axle, connecting one end of the axle to the car body or chassis on the opposite side of the vehicle. The bar is attached on either end with pivots that permit it to swivel upwards and downwards only, so that the axle is, in turn, allowed to move in the vertical plane only.

	Camber Camber angle is the angle made by the wheel of an automobile; specifically, it is the angle between the vertical axis of the wheel and the vertical axis of the vehicle when viewed from the front or rear. If the top of the wheel is further out than the bottom (that is, away from the axle), it is called positive camber; if the bottom of the wheel is further out than the top, it is called negative camber.

[mud4feet]

Looks SWEET Sean.......I'm jealous! Sorry we didn't get a chance to see it (just got back from the semi-annual Michigan run.......1300 miles and family visits in four days ). Can't wait to see it when it's time for the new meats.

[jeepguy46176]

Looks good, I dont think the tires look to small. Maybe just a new set of cheap wheels like the black cragars or something with a little more offset to give it a better stance.

[Saurian]

Tomorrow's my day off, of course I am massively ill with a head cold, but I'm gonna have to force myself out of bed and get some doings done. Gotta head up and get a front driveshaft ordered up, thank goodness I got my first paycheck from Texas Roadhouse... There's a bit of a, well, hmm... Grinding, I guess you'd call it, it's not driveshaft, doesn't feel right. It's coming from under my left foot at acceleration, the driveshaft hums a little, but that's under the center console... It just doesn't feel quiiiittteee right, so I'm gonna call up Mumbly's, and see if they have any insight, they're really good about that sort of thing, I like the whole, if I have any problems, they'll pop out there, crawl under with me, and diagnose thing...

TC, the control arm relocation brackets give me a little concern about the ground clearance, I must admit, but it's not a huge deal for 2 reasons. Firstly, it's no lower than the front diff. Secondly, approach angles have never really been too much of a concern, even if I do hit something, Michigan mud and dirt is usually much more likely to give than the steel of the differential. As far as the springs, I'm not sure how much more it's gonna sag really... When I said trailmaster experiment, I mean just that, an experiment... Rather than going with the one add-a-leaf and blocks, the position of the add-a-leaf putting bad pressure on the connecting points of the weak XJ leaves to the unibody, they put in a second add-a-leaf, longer, strengthening it... It was a theory, that it would give up the same amount of lift, and strengthen the spring packs, it turned out perfectly. We did weight tests all around, those springs are MORE than supportive, so hopefully, all shall be well... I cannot wait to test the flex and handling off-road, but the Mounds is closed till May (birthday run anyone? ), and I am still without 4X4 until further notice.

Tomorrow, when I am out and about, I will get some pictures of the front end and all so you can see the relocation brackets. For the time being, the swaybar brackets were also relocated, that's an easy removal and install for disconnects, which I plan on doing. The rear swaybar nutsert in the unibody came loose on one side, so that's a 3 bolt creation right now as it is, don't plan on that being along for the ride much longer, especially with the stability in the rear end that I've noticed, it still corners great, actually, it feels less topheavy than it used to...

	Swaybar A sway bar (also stabilizer bar, anti-sway bar, roll bar, or anti-roll bar, ARB) is an automobile suspension device. It connects opposite (left/right) wheels together through short lever arms linked by a torsion spring. A sway bar increases the suspension's roll stiffness—its resistance to roll in turns, independent of its spring rate in the vertical direction.

[knightforce]

Well since you agree with them about the tires, you can throw em in my backyard!

Just what I am looking for! And while your at it, sprinkle some of that miracle grow on my MJ too!

[Saurian]

Whoops... Near as I can tell, I had deleted the proper after "grown" picture from my imagecave... It's back now... And trust me, you wouldn't want those tires now, they're as bald as could be (and still on the Jeep)

[cewtwo]

Water way to go!

I think it looks great!