keep up the good work ... love the pics

thats good to hear. I am leaning more towards getting it still. I was listening to some friends comments about "what if the sector shaft breaks..." ... but they don't have hydro assist. With the hydro assist there isn't as much pressure on the steering box or sector shaft anyway.

Good to see you posting on here and thanks for the reassurance


We are just working on the little details now before sending it to Joe. Stuff like the radiator is in... the battery tray is fabbed (coolest battery tray I've ever seen!)... still to do before the stretch is basically just welding the hydro ram tabs and making the front track bar. Only 2 or 3 more weeks and this goes to Joe Daro for the stretch and a Line-Lok for the rear brakes (since my e-brake cables don't stretch that far back).

Then I get to take it out on Daro's B-DAY run in late Dec. Will be the new rigs maiden voyage! so exciting

this 4qt overflow was too big to fit anywhere. ha. I purchased it before checking with Hunter to see if we could find room for it.

So I quickly ordered a 2qt version which is about 2" narrower. I take it to the shop and its still TOO BIG. Unless I mount it to the front bumper.

Okay, so third time is a charm. this time I actually consulted with Hunter before purchasing. We browsed through the summit catalogs and found a nice 1qt 3" round tube shaped Moroso overflow recovery tank that fits perfectly.

So, anyone want to buy some bling overflow tanks? I've got about a month left to return them according to Summit's return policy. But if someone could use one then I don't mind selling them cheap to good friends on here. (I paid about $100 each for them, ouch! but would sell them for half that plus shipping). They come with a bunch of different fittings. These are true recovery tanks meaning they work just like the oem. but these are nicer Let me know. In a couple weeks I'll be packaging them back up to send to Summit for refund.

a little progress. showing the new radiator, overflow, flex-a-lite fan, and hood pins

next week this goes to Absolute Offroad to get finished. approx 10" stretch!

the fab work is all done with one exception... the hydro assist steering. We haven't decided on where to mount the hydro ram cylinder. I don't want to rush into just mounting it anywhere so I'm probably going to wheel it a few times with just the new steering box and pump, minus the ram. I should still be able to turn it with just my little finger and this way I won't have to worry about breaking anything by overpowering my knuckles doing something stupid like forcing the hydro ram to try turning my tires while bound up.

looks good

Ben, have you seen the assist setups that Symon has done? He did one on his Yota and one on Thom Campbells TJ. Both are very nice.

This is Thom's front end

going from the diff cover to the tie rod? I'd need to replace my rockCrusher iron diff cover with a steel one like the ones Ruffstuff make or Blue Torch Fab. Not a bad idea actually!

The other idea would be to weld tabs on the genright trackbar bracket on the passanger end of the axle. The other end of the ram going to the tie rod. This was my first idea but it would mean the hydraulic hoses would have to be really long to reach all the way from the steering box to the passenger side.

Joe Daro from Absolute Offroad called me this morning to give me some good news...

all that is left to do is to install the new brake lines and hookup the line lock for the rear brakes. The line lock is necessary because I don't have an emergency brake that extends back there to the relocated axle anymore. SO the line lock acts as an emergency brake when I need to use it.

The new rear driveshaft goes in tomorrow too. The jeep was driven out of the shop (albeit, without brakes!). That was the first time the jeep was started up since November 2008.

It won't be long now! *how many times have I said that already? lol

*PS... THE HYDRO ASSIST will be delayed a bit. Joe and I both want us to get this jeep out on the trail first to see how it does with just the new steering box, and heavy duty pump, minus the cylinder/ram. Joe doesn't think the ram will be necessary and he is probably right, as usual. Just having the PSC pump and new steering box should help tremendously. I'll save the cylinder/ram for later or maybe after I upgrade to a beefier front axle.

SWEET! Now go get it dirty! No rolling this time.

Holy Cow! That thing is amazing. Great Threat as well!!

Hey! It passed emissions! They plugged in the OBDII and then they pressure tested just the gas cap (unscrewed it from the filler hose and then they screwed it onto a pressure tester). initially it failed the gas cap test. Then I bought a new gascap from autozone and retested

Awesome! That lightbar on the front is going to be BRIGHT!

wow great build thread !

Joe at AO is ordering me some replacement upper coilover springs for the front. The one's that are on there now are 9" 220lb. We'll replace those with 12" 220lb coils. You can see in the photo that the 9" coils are choked down quite alot just to keep the ride height level.

Good deal Ben - I'll be down there this weekend, but have prior arrangements, otherwise I'd try and hook up with you guys when you take it for your shake down.

yeah we need to go wheeling sometime. Anytime you want to hit the trails down here just let me know.

went out early this morning for the jeep's shakedown run.

There was Joe from Absolute Offroad in his Orange TJ rock crawler. Joe is in the process of selling it... the new buyer was actually doing the driving with Joe riding shotgun. It's the same guy I traded my TJ seats for his Mastercraft seats... small world!

There was also:
- a Rock Buggy on 39" BFG red labels
- Ryan (Joe's mechanic/tech over at AO) in his giant YJ rock crawler on 40s
- Mike (was the previous owner/builder of the Rock Buggy mentioned above) in his 'yota suv with solid axles front and rear
- Matt in his built YJ rock crawler on 39" BFG red labels
- a stockish rubicon TJ with approx 3" lift... he did great but his thermostat or waterpump was acting up and he'd overheat alot
- Brandon in his Rubicon TJ with good mods for rock trails... he's an awesome driver and can take that jeep anywhere
- and another 'yota who ended up leaving early (none of us knew who he was but he was welcome to join of course)


It was a blast. It was also very wet with DEEP water everywhere from the recent rains. The river crossing was very interesting/scary. Me being a dork, didn't use my lockers or 4wd and ended up digging a hole and I was stuck in the deep river. Slight panic attack! It was okay though when I put it in 4lo and both front and rear lockers. We all made it accross no problem.

Anyway, long story short... my jeep did awesome! Ryan spotted me through the challenging parts. Unfortunately Ryan's front driver's side axle ujoint blew up on a buggy line on the very last obsticle. Very hairy predicament... only 3 wheel drive, bound up with a huge drop off on one side just a foot or so away. Joe winched him off safely but it was scary.


It was so awesome today! I can't wait for the water's to recede so I can "safely" take it back out again. That river crossing was not my idea of safe

sounds like y'all had a hell of alot of fun.

pics?

I've heard nothing but great things about Joe and Absolute Offroad. I've done a TINY bit of business with him, but wish I could do more. When I get out of flight school, I'm going to ship him my Jeep and give him carte blanche to do what he will to her. Your build is inspiring to many of us here on the board. I think a lot of us want our Jeeps to grow up like yours!!

Thanks! Yes, Absolute is a great company to do business with... they are not only excellent workers but great friends too.

Mike in the 'yota suv took some photos of the maiden voyage...

tm31310 pictures by howyadoinaz - Photobucket

Great looking