Well I Went & Did It.. Rocky Road Conversion On The Way.

Good story. Finished the passenger side stationary mount finally.. Had to clearance and fit one frame sleeve the other fit perfect. Still a PITA to install, as I was careful with my fitment etc.. Didn't help that my 5/8 drill bit that I bought new didn't cut worth a hoot.. Got 4 holes out of it and that was that. DeWalt brand bit.. Pics below. Tomorrow I start on the front shackle hangar. But I need to weld up some cracks first..

The finished passenger side stationary hangar

 

i can see how there are some obstacles to doing the installation on a "complete" jeep. mine is a bare frame, so i have fewer initial obstacles, but i'll have some to figure out once i begin putting the other parts back on the jeep.

i might have purchased the same 5/8" bit. it was good for 4 or 5 holes, and i used cutting oil.

 

I barely got the last two holes drilled.. yes I used cutting oil.
Been lookin at bit sharpners but good ones aint cheap

 

I bought a pack of cheap HF 1/8” bits and then used a step bit. 1 step bit handled all of the holes.

 

i used a step-bit, too, but the steps weren't deep enough to cut through the steel before the next step began cutting a wider hole.

 

quick question on the front shackle hangers, did you replace the sleeve i the stock shackle mount? Mine is bit worn and there is some play when i test fit the bolt for this area, was this a concern at all?

 

My sleeve and bushing seem fine. I don't think it's much of a concern .. The main purpose of the bolt is location indexing.. Getting the bracket in the correct position is the most important thing.

 

Front is about finished. Crack welded up. I dropped the axle onto the springs but for some reason the passenger perch was not centered. I suspect because I tightened all the hanger to spring bolts too soon. I'll loosen em up tomorrow before installing the u-bolts and spring plates. I measured from the bracket center and then the perch centers. Got the same measurement. I'll deal with it tomorrow. Gotta look at the brake lines too. I installed longer ones several years ago but may need some even longer ones

Front Axle on springs ..

 

FWIW the brake line RR sent are a hair shorter than the long ones I already have.

 

Got the passenger side spring plate on. What a comedy of errors. Got a late start, and the first problem is the u-bolt is too small to go over my D44.. So I go to Six States and have one the proper width made. No biggie.. Then my son and I try to install the u-bolts.. Damned if the one I had made is way off on going in the holes in the plate. So I get the brain storm to weld some angle on a C-clamp to compress the u-bolt. Finally get everything in the holes but it just doesn't look right. So I look at the other plate and lo and behold two of the holes are wider than the others. I measure 3 " for the regular holes and 4" for the u-bolt that goes over the pumpkin end. **&((!! So we take it all apart again and put the right plate on. Went a bit easier but still had to use the c-clamp just a bit.. All bolted up on the passenger side. Drivers side tomorrow.

Torqued to 55 FtLbs

***NOTE!! Measure the u-bolt plates because one has 2 holes wider. That is the one that goes below the pumpkin end on the front. All other holes were 3" c-c but 2 are 4" c-c..

C-clamp

U-bolts. The one over the punkin is a bit wider and that is where the 4" holes in the plate go. Also I ground off the sharp edge on the spreader casting

 

OK got er pretty much done today. Mounted U-bolt plates and shocks on the front.. Tires back on and on the floor. Next I gotta try to fix the exhaust I cut off. I measured the distance from the front bumper to the floor before and got 21-1/2" to the bottom of the bumper with the old springs. Measured today and have ~24-1/2". Prolly settle in once I drive it a while and let it work.. I think when the dust settles I will write a tips list of stuff that helped me or that I wish I knew cause it wasn't in the instructions and place it towards the start of this project.

front shock etc

Clearance

The Heap

 

seems like you made decent time doing this, even if not everything went smoothly. of course, the ride (hopefully very smooth) will determine whether the conversion is truly worth it.

 

I dunno. I looked at the post dates and it took nearly 4 weeks. But I did not work on it every day. Some days I only spent a few hours on it, others more time.

 

So...you've had all of thanksgiving. You take a test drive yet or what? We're all waiting on results...

 

Might be a while./ I just got back in town. Went to Denver for Turkey day.. My exhaust still isn't back in place yet. Gonna start looking at that this week.

 

Update. Took the heap for a spin today to let things settle in. Around the hood and then up a bumpy dirt track for a bit. It is noticeably smoother and not jarring.. I can see why Jeep put sway bars on the newer jeeps, but nothing alarming.. I can definitely tell a difference for the better. Next on the agenda is to tighten everything up and cut the u-bolts off flush with the u-bolt skid. Then a trip to the muffler shop and an alignment.. Muffler shop is 100 miles away so I am thinkin after Christmas..

 

Question: I'm hanging springs as I move forward with this conversion and I'm curious if it matters which spring packs go where. Rocky Road sent two OME springs that are labled O--> and two that are labled +-->. Does it matter which go in the front and which go in the rear?

Also, I ordered the Heavy Duty kit from RR, which has me thinking that they should perhaps have sent four springs that are labled +--> as this is the indication from OME that the springs tested out higher than the standard (normal being indicated by O-->).

Pictures are below, any help appreciated.

 

Maybe somebody on here knows ... I would wait and call the vendor to get instructions. Not something you want to screw up. If anyone makes a mistake, it should be the vendor - then they can do whatever's needed to make it right.

 

I recommend calling and talking with Glenn.
I have ome on our xj and have since 2000. You will love them.
I believe what you will find is that you have the correct heavy duty springs and two tested very close to spec (for the hd spprings) and two tested slightly above spec (for hd springs).

 

Those numbers are the test marks. Meaning the spring is in compliance and by how much. "O" is really zero and + /- means it is that over/under. In compliance with Spec and OK.. Mine have the same marks and I called RR about this