nvertflyer

i have been wanting to get around to this for a while but have just been pretty hard pressed for time...i have been wheeling this rig pretty hard now for the last couple of years and it has never let me down yet...i will keep adding to it as i have the time but except for minor changes here and there it is pretty much finished..for those who may ask why i went this route in my build the answer was never cost..my goal was to build a rig as simplistic as posable while bypassing all the weak links inherent in the jk rubicon with the ability to run 37 inch toyo's and 39 inch krawler's reliably on trails such as the rubicon moab, dusy ershim and the hammers,all of witch it has done to date...with a strong back ground in aerospace manufacturing and as both a test pilot and comp aerobatics flight instructor redundancy and building a light well balanced rig in my mind was key but working aginst me was the fact that this was my first jeep and my plan was to build it entirely by myself...this would include the complete conversion, lift fabrication and electrical and a ton of research..i have built quite a few custom show cars and hot rods so at least had the tools and experience to tackle the build with at least a little confidence....that being said it stands out as one of my favorite projects to date

nvertflyer

the above pic is pretty much what i started out with...a 2007 light grey stone two wheel drive unlimited x with just basic crank windows ac and cruise control with aprox 29,000 miles.it came fully mall rated with a cheap 4 inch zone lift on 35 inch toyo all terrains and 20 inch flat black raceline wheels...i was torn between this one and a white one that had a little less miles but i really wanted the crank windows and the light grey stone color is still my favorite color to date..

carolinajk

nice rig man , like the color too!

jaker t5

So are you going to show how you did the conversion

nvertflyer

the first order of business was the suspension..the goal was the ability to get about as much flex as a coil over keep the cg as low as possible and have a well balanced throw both in up and down travel..to do this i replaced the zone coils with a set of evos,i used a 1 inch body lift for clearance and as luck would have it i already had a set of rear fox 14 inch travel bypass shocks from my truck,all i had to do was machine a set of upper mounts and re valve them for my jk..i also had a set of 37 inch nitto trail grapplers in mall rated 20 inch for my truck that i was able to throw on to get the suspension primarily dialed in,these would not be staying on but worked well for building the suspension...i bought a set of matching shocks for the front and fabricated the bump stops..i didn't go to crazy with tuning it as i was in the process of building my axles and the driveshafts control arms track bars transfer case etc were all on there way...articulation would also be increased by using johnny joints for all the control arm bushings and axle mounting points,i always planned to keep the stock fenders as i had already seen the carnage aftermarket ones had done to the body of other rigs and with just minor trimming and precise tuning of my bump stops this was able to be done with little adverse effect clearance wise...

nvertflyer

that is the plan...it may take a while to cover it all and i am not getting to technical with it but i am happy to answer any questions anyone might have...

jaker t5

so how did you mount the shocks up front and if it a 2wd why do you have the trail badge

and why not get technical with the conversion there are a few guys who would love to know how to do it

nvertflyer

i threw the trail rated badge on it as a joke with my friends...if you look at the first pic i posted it didn't have one,as far as not getting too technical,i went a pretty different route on this build than just a basic 2wd conversion...the axles for example are custom built and machined using exotic materials 300m and cryo treating to my specs and are not something that can be purchased but have to be custom made..i will post what has been done but a lot of tweeking testing and re tweeking went into making it all work...it would take a lot more time than i have to cover it all and most wouldnt be to interested in all that anyways...but..i will try to cover as much as possible...

nvertflyer

in the process of fabricating my front bumper...winch is a warn m9000 on a custom built winch plate...i wanted it between the framerails to reduce leverage during a pull...by running it inverted i am able to keep it concealed....it has been worked hard in the last couple of yesrs and has never let me or anyone else down yet...note the 2wd axle tube and lack of a diff....it wouldnt stay this way for very long

lkjk

holy run on sentences.