71 Wheeling Rig

Supposedly the Buick 350 weighs about 450 lbs vs the V6 at 390 lbs so about 60 lbs more. I currently don't have a winch, but I have nothing in the back at the moment besides the roll bar.

The Pro Comps on my 69 sit pretty close to level with a v6, no winch, hard top, and tire rack with fuel cans. The back sits noticeably higher when the hardtop is off.

At some level since they aren't making custom springs for a particular rig they have to target the most common use case. At least shackles are easy to swap out.

 

What does that have to do with anything?

 

i'm an idiot.

 

Hardly.

 

Drove the Jeep to town at lunch to get groceries. The BDS springs are so much better it's unbelievable. The old unknown brand ones would about throw you out of the Jeep over frost heaves in the road:


Went for a quick family drive after dinner and revisited the ditch with some daylight. It will drive right through this without lifting a tire:








I'm really impressed. So far BDS springs and caster shims are the two greatest bolt on improvements I've done that completely transform a Jeep. I'm guessing the truck 4-spd and selectable lockers will be similarly transforming.

 

It's really amazing. The Jeep would not have gotten through that ditch at all with the open diffs a week ago. Now it just drives through like it's no big deal.

 

That is awesome to see articulation like that in an old CJ!
Is this the kit you installed?
2.5" Lift Kit | 1969-1971 Jeep CJ Series CJ5, CJ6 | 401H | BDS Suspension

How does the exhaust pipe in the wheel well not interfere with the tire? Wheel spacers?

 

Very good flex. When you are done with this jeep Roy I want it.

 

Yes, that's the kit. I got it with the BDS shocks. The Fox shocks are much more expensive, but do have the advantage you can mount them upside down for more tie-rod clearance. The kit came with the proper sized U-bolts for a D27 front and flanged D44 rear. If you have a Dana 30 in front, a 72-75 kit should work.

I got mine from Lift Kits 4 Less about $115.00 cheaper and with free shipping ($687.98 shipped) than from BDS direct: BDS Suspension 401H 2.5" Lift Kit

No wheel spacers, but these wheels are offset to the outside about one inch.

 

The warranty paperwork was in all the boxes, so I assume so.

 

Went for another drive. It's running and driving well.

I've decided I need to raise the driver's seat back up about 3/4" There's a bar in the back of the S10 seat that hits the fenderwell and prevents if from reclining more. If I raise the seat, the bar ends up above the fender well. Someday I'll find better seats and do the fender notch but I've got other things to worry about first. Spacers are easy.

After fiddling with seats, I spent a little time on the transfer case.

First I had to trim the guard on my grinder to clear a Benchmark Abrasives stripper wheel:


Then I cleaned up all the gasket surfaces and the oil pan. The stripper wheel worked great:






And that's it. Had too much other stuff going on today.

 

I used a carbide scraper and Scotch-Brite. That carbide scraper is the bee's knees. Your way looks faster and less labor intensive.

 

I for one am very excited to see it evolve!

 

It does seem to be a bit more gentle than a wire wheel. It's not very flexible, so it's not great for cleaning the exterior of complicated shapes like transfer case housings. Works fantastic on gasket surfaces though. Haven't tried it yet, but I suspect it will work great cleaning sheet metal.

 

I looked at my exhaust last night. It is outside the frame rails, but it's still within the width of the fenderwells. The rear tires hit the body before they hit the exhaust.