Aaron NN
Jeeper
Vice Prez - North Nova
2003 Grand Cherokee Limited - Never stock for long...
Posts: 856
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Post by Aaron NN on Feb 11, 2013 14:27:03 GMT -4
Haven't got much accomplished over the last few days. Been down and out with Bronchitis in my left lung. Hard to breath, headache and have no energy. I did finish the gussets on the crossmember and got it all painted up. Installed... Now that's out of the way I enlisted the help of my co-worker John (XJ Zone) and he helped me draw up a template of the new flat belly skid I wanted to put on. He did it all up in CAD and we printed off a scale drawing to make a template from. Checked it out, made a few design changes and I sent the CAD drawing off to a local company here in Debert (Specialty Steel) that will use a Laser CNC to cut it out of 1/4" plate. I should ask if they dimple die, so I can cut some weight out of it for my little 4 banger, lol. Aaron
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badwithcomputer
Jeeper
You have DC2's? You just made a new best friend.
Posts: 2,863
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Post by badwithcomputer on Feb 11, 2013 14:31:01 GMT -4
looks friggin' hot to trot!!!!
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Aaron NN
Jeeper
Vice Prez - North Nova
2003 Grand Cherokee Limited - Never stock for long...
Posts: 856
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Post by Aaron NN on Feb 11, 2013 14:31:19 GMT -4
Here is a pick of what the skid should look like when complete, except I will not be bending up the front, just keeping it flat so I can add the oil pan skid to it. Aaron
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Post by Apesteguy NN on Feb 11, 2013 19:00:20 GMT -4
looks awesome thinking more and more about doing it.
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Post by truxterra on Feb 11, 2013 20:11:24 GMT -4
Here is a pick of what the skid should look like when complete, except I will not be bending up the front, just keeping it flat so I can add the oil pan skid to it. Lookin' good Aaron. For the lip, why not have it bent so that the oil pan skid will sit flush with the front edge where they meet? Have the lip of the trans skid slide on top of the oil pan skid by about an inch to create a flat surface and the overlap will create more strength at that edge.
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Aaron NN
Jeeper
Vice Prez - North Nova
2003 Grand Cherokee Limited - Never stock for long...
Posts: 856
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Post by Aaron NN on Feb 11, 2013 20:49:35 GMT -4
My initial plan was to have a 45 degree bend in the front lip but I would have to cut out around the front driveshaft and then also keep it unbent where the oilpan skid will meat the tranny skid too.
My plan for the oil pan skid is to have it about 12" wide and come back to meet the tranny skid flush. I will then have a piece welded to the top of the oilpan skid that will overlap onto the tranny skid. Put a couple of holes thru both and recess two tapered bolts that will bolt into 2 welded nuts on the top of the overlap piece for the oilpan skid.
Will be able to remove the oil pan skid for oil changes. This really only gives me a 6 or 8" bent lip on the passenger side. So I opted to make the skid a little longer with no lip for some extra protection. With it being 1/4" I don't think I will have to worry too much about it deforming.
Aaron
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Creepy
Administrator
Dartmouth
Posts: 18,718
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Post by Creepy on Feb 12, 2013 9:03:47 GMT -4
With it being 1/4" I don't think I will have to worry too much about it deforming. 1/4" will bend no problem across that wide span. First time you land on the belly its going to look like an inverted U. that's why those lips are there in the pic, to combat bending. You could find a spot to put some more 1/4" flatbar, stand it on edge. Use as tall as you can fit (2"?) and go side to side. or use some angle or square tube welded across. doesn't have to be at the edge, put it across under the trans or where-ever fits. Looks good otherwise tho. edit - will the skid be butted up against the crossmember?
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The Garagemahal
Moderator
Build Thread King
Resident Army Ranger , Navy Seal , Super-Warrior , Ninja !!
Posts: 11,518
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Post by The Garagemahal on Feb 12, 2013 9:23:21 GMT -4
I Agree with Jan here , the 1/4 will bend just for the fun of it
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Aaron NN
Jeeper
Vice Prez - North Nova
2003 Grand Cherokee Limited - Never stock for long...
Posts: 856
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Post by Aaron NN on Feb 12, 2013 11:10:18 GMT -4
Jan, I will have approx 1/2" of space between the skid and the cross member. I think I will use 1/4" piece of UHMW to separate the frame and the skid.
All good points guys, thanks for the heads up. Maybe I will have to stratigically place some flat stock or angle iron on the skid to keep it's shape.
Aaron
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Aaron NN
Jeeper
Vice Prez - North Nova
2003 Grand Cherokee Limited - Never stock for long...
Posts: 856
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Post by Aaron NN on Feb 18, 2013 8:05:15 GMT -4
Well thanks to the delivery of the front track bar from Big6 and Beth, I got it installed yesterday. I also took some time to figure out how to get the 4wd shifter and linkage correctly aligned. Took some figuring but I got it all worked out. Now to adjust it all so the tcase will shift smooth.
Aaron
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badwithcomputer
Jeeper
You have DC2's? You just made a new best friend.
Posts: 2,863
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Post by badwithcomputer on Feb 18, 2013 8:41:16 GMT -4
Any word on your guy cutting out the skid plate? You want to feel a good shifting tcase? hop in Rick's Jeep, that thing is like butter! You'd pull your shoulder out of the socket shifting mine.
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Aaron NN
Jeeper
Vice Prez - North Nova
2003 Grand Cherokee Limited - Never stock for long...
Posts: 856
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Post by Aaron NN on Feb 18, 2013 9:35:26 GMT -4
No word yet on the skid plate Brandon. Hopefully this week he gets back to me and completes it.
Aaron
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Aaron NN
Jeeper
Vice Prez - North Nova
2003 Grand Cherokee Limited - Never stock for long...
Posts: 856
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Post by Aaron NN on Feb 23, 2013 15:25:45 GMT -4
Spent some time working on the broken bolt in the front grill body mount. Broken bolt that would not come out with heat, welding a nut to it or with an easy-out. Ended up drilling it out and then having to drill a 1.5" access hole in the inside of the grill. Now that it is drilled out and bolted back together I just need to get a 1.5" rubber body plug for the access hole I drilled. Aaron
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Aaron NN
Jeeper
Vice Prez - North Nova
2003 Grand Cherokee Limited - Never stock for long...
Posts: 856
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Post by Aaron NN on Feb 25, 2013 14:32:28 GMT -4
Picked up some new 33x10.5x15 BFG KM2s from ZukWatson this weekend. I need to take these over to my friends farm, as he owns a tire changer. I also got the 4wd shifter linkage all adjusted up and working smooth last night. Hopefully my new skid plate (flatbelly) is done this week so I can start working on the oilpan skid. Aaron
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Aaron NN
Jeeper
Vice Prez - North Nova
2003 Grand Cherokee Limited - Never stock for long...
Posts: 856
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Post by Aaron NN on Mar 2, 2013 13:39:48 GMT -4
Well my skid plate for the flatbelly hasn't been completed yet so on to other things. Got a used hurst short throw shifter for an AX15 from Alan J and it needed some modifications for it to work on my AX5 tranny. Had to remove the handle and then rotate the shfter 180 degrees then elongate the front 2 mounting holes for the shifter to fit the original bolt pattern on the tranny. Also had to reinstall the handle on the other side so it would then be facing the right direction. Put a coat of black to the handle and a hurst T-Handle on top. Next on the list was to fix the rear pinion angle. Ordered some RC rear adjustable control arms with the x-flex joints. To get the proper pinion angle I had to go from the stock 13.25" out to 14.75". Then again by doing this my rear shocks are now hitting the coil buckets, so I had to order some shock relocation brackets. Hopefully have them next week with the rear adjustable track bar I ordered as well. New Arms... Comparing original to the new arm lenghts... Corrected pinion angle to start with. \probably will need to tweak this once I get it running... I am now working on an electric fan upgrade. I had a Flex-A-Lite in it before but something got tangled up in it and burnt out the motor and broke a few blades off of it. When I took it apart it looked like a 3 foot piece of heatshrink tube Rick got me an elctric fan out of a 2010 Ford Focus that has a 16" fan on it. A few modifications and I should have a nice electric fan to hook up to my flex-a-lite controls. Before I started hacking at it... After I hacked off 6" out of it. I will get more pics of the finished fan once the epoxy dries and I figure out mounting positions/brackets. Aaron
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