JK: 6.4 Hemi

[phaqnhell]

Made up some more brackets. From memory the stock track bar and drag link difference was 210mm. I've now got them at ~50mm difference and exact same angle which should give me bugger all bump steer.

Front track bar chassis and axle



Lower chassis control arms

Wish I could stack dimes like this all the time


Now to strip the axles down. Got rid of the brackets that originally came with.


Strip internals



Get some 4mm plate and mark my bend lines


Then bend and with CAD (cardboard assisted design) cut out to fit


Setup on table and measure like crazy to check for distortion after welding


I decided to weld the backbone truss first. Before welding I pre-stressed (don't know correct terminology) 5mm in the opposite direction to try and counteract welding distortion.


That seemed to work so I did the same for top truss. Despite the look photo the measurements came out with less than 1mm difference on one end.

Front diff was easier

[phaqnhell]

Now to test for flex...


But first I need to chop. Got an extra 2 inches of up travel


Now 37's look too small






I ran out of floor space, but measured 20in of travel without any binding. Main problem will be the driveshaft binding, especially at the front being a low pinion.

[phaqnhell]

Mr Gojeep is going to cringe at this...
Now since I cut all the seam welds out, I need to patch all the holes to strengthen the panels. I thought I may as well redo the whole wheel well so I won't need to make a liner plus it will provide more strength for flares and help the side panels hold up against knocks when offroad.


After lots of measuring, cardboard and subtle bends to the steel





You can see in some pics the warp-age of the OEM panel from just putting tacks on. My panel beating skills are basically non-existent but I already had plans to hide my yucky panel work

Matched the rear corner angles with welding rod. Got some 4mm ally, bent to match and cut out to suit. Needs some cleaning up but quite happy. Saved a couple of grand if I were to buy.

[phaqnhell]

And the last update for the next few months

Its nice when a pallet of gear rocks up


+2 more coilovers I couldn't fit on the bench

Unfortunately with the semi-lockdown we have in Perth and the type of work I do, I won't be able to progress much as the jeep and I don't live at the same house.

[phaqnhell]

Now that I had the shocks, I could see what would clash. Straight up the trackbar brackets was too wide


Once the bender arrived, it was time to remember my old conduit bending skills



Make 2 hoops identical


Cut off the excess


And see if it all fits this time

[phaqnhell]

After tacking all the brackets in place and no binding through suspension cycling was confirmed I got the engineer to check it out.





He didn't like it, thankfully didn't fully weld it in. So round 2







Now front suspension is pretty much sorted, apart from swaybar and welding in hydro bumps and everything else.

Moving on to the back once parts are finished being laser cut.

[Gojeep]

Was it just the leverage against the top mounts he didn't like, or did you have to change the bottom ones as well?