First Jeep build! Here we go...

Also, I will be selling my brand new saginaw box and some headers with glass packs here purdy soon. I will be posting it in the classifies so if anyone is interested, let me know.

 

Figured "what they hay". I found a couple photos of some welds I had done with the little harbor freight 90a welder. Will post pictures up once I start playing with the Clarke 220.

You can see that in the thinner stuff, it burns in fairly decent. (NOT a pro welder by any means. Only welded a hand full of times in my day)

Burned into the litter gauge (bout 1/8") but just didn't stick to the bolt ( 5/8" bolt)

And here you can see how the penitration on the thicker steel was purdy much....well not there.

I aint a good welder by any means, but I have only welded with an old miller stick welder and mostly with a lincoln 220 so this was a whole new ball game for me. Ill put up pics soon as I get some more scrap metal and the welder in.

 

Lets see that hole in the frame!

 

I do beleive you have already seen it ha but yes, I have forgotten my camera in my buddies cummins since I had court in Sonora which is about 1.5 hours from my house and that dang 9000 lbs truck gets better fuel milage then my ford ranger. But today I will take some pictures of the rear part of the frame and post them. I got all but two of my spring mounts cut,beat,bent and cursed off of the jeep so once I get the flap disk out and clean everything up...and patch the frame...I will be ready to start mounting the rear axle. Woo!

 

Well here are some more photos. Figured while I was over there I might as well through my hi-steer on so I did.

Here is my Trail Gear Hi-Steer.

All bolted up and lookin good.

Last spring mount almost off. These little buggers have been whoopin me, thats for sure.

Yes, yes. Here is that nasty hole in the frame.

What I am thinking is to get a peice of 4x2 tubing and weld it on the inside of the frame rail. Then cut a peice of thin plate out to the size of the hole and weld that in place on the bottom then clean her all up. I want that spot to be as strong as possible. What do yall think?

 

I just read your thread so I maybe posting some info you already have dealt with.

Square your hole first then weld your patch in. Flat bar or angle on the inside would look a little cleaner. Angle giving you more contact area to weld.

Is your mount going right where your hole is? If not you can fish plate the edges of your patch on the bottom side.

On a side note and not to rain on your parade, I know lots of Toyota guys that bust the studs on those 4 stud high-steer arms. I would look into doing a fifth stud on those. I think they either make a deal for that, or it is a mod you can do to the existing arms.

Borgeson should have the fittings you need to adapt to your column. Get a slip shaft, much easier to deal with. Butt welding on your steering shaft is not a good idea. I snapped mine when a tire rubbed a tree. The PO butt welded the steering shaft on mine and ground it smooth so I never knew under the coating of rust.

Looks great so far, keep up the good work.

 

Thanks for the info on the toyota arms. I know trail gear makes a "six shooter" which contain new knuckles and arms and have 6 studs compared to just the 4. But that mod will come later haha. Reguarding the hole, I will be squaring it off before welding it up. The one side is already square because that where I just said screw it and cut the mount off the frame. So your saying it would probably be better to use angle on the inside and just make it as wide as my hole is and weld her up? And not to sound ignorant but what exactally is a fish plate? Im not sure exactally yet where the mount will go but since my new springs are about 8 inches longer then the stock cj5 springs, im purdy sure it will be going behind the hole.

Also thanks for the advise on the steering. I contacted flamingriver but they dont know the size or spine count of the wagoneer steering shaft so I have to get back with them. And no worries aobut raining on my parade. This is my first build and I'll be the first to admite that I dont know everything haha. So by all means, rain away.

 

Fish plates are diamond shaped pieces of steel that would go over the seam of your patch with the fat part right at the seam. It would cross over between the frame and patch, helping spread the load. You can drill holes in the fish plates and rosete weld the the holes up for more hold. You should do this also if welding up cracks in the frame.

As far as the angle goes, I think it would look better than a chunk of square tube. Whatever you use make it longer than the patch. If they are the same length it creates a shear point. Something else I would do is cut the ends of the angle at angles, equals more weld surface. Probably overkill, but I like beef.
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One other thing, on your steering box, draw a line across the input shaft face. Count the teeth on one half multiply by two and you have your spline count. Use a caliper to measure the diameter and you should be good.
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thanks for clearing that up for me and I do agree about the beef. I got my welder in yesturday but have to wait to extend the power cable and get a plug for it. I will post pictures soon as I get the frame patched to see what you think.

 

Seems like you would have to bust all four of those studs if you bust any. As long as they are all tight, and stay tight I'd think you would be fine. Assuming you are not going to run anything over 35" for tires. My Chevy high steer setup only has three studs, but they are 7/16 or 1/2".

 

Im not sure the exact size of the toyota studs. I know it takes a 17mm to get the nuts off. The arms are held down by a cone spacers/washer then a washer on top of that then the nut. Before I button the steering up, Im going to get some lock washers of lock nuts (prob nuts) and install them that way so I wont have to worry as much about them backing out. As of now, Im going to run my 33's into the ground then upgrade to either 35x12.50 KM2's or run a set of 36x12.50 TSL's that will be cut. Not sure yet. I like the fat nasty look of the "six shooter" knuckles but they are purdy expensive. I think my next upgrade to the front axles will the the "dirty 30" birfield kit. Nothing beats a no questions asked life time warrany ha.

 

You could just use some Locktite on the nuts too. Medium strength (blue?) would be good enough.

 

I'll end up doing something. Going to go start grinding down the areas where the mounts were welded too so by the time I get my welder wired up, I will be able to start tacking things into place. I thought the axles would be no big deal and the other stuff would be a pain. But seems I was 180 degress off on that thought. Thursday, I will also be getting my angle and plates for the frame fix. I will be sure and post up pictures with the patch in place before i weld it all up. That way you more seasoned guys can tell me what you think before I weld it all in.

 

.........Hahahaha

 

Well finally got some more work done yesterday morning. Got my rear springs mounted and started working on locating the rear axle. I got to move a couple little brake line brackets since they are in the way but that wont be a big deal.



You can see here how much my rear axle was pushed back. Didn't want to go too much.

 

Well got some more work done this morning on the jeep. Got the rear axle welded and bolted in place and some tires put on her.










What do you all think of the shackle angle? And the difference in spring tention is night and day! With the 2.5" lift springs it used to have, it was hard getting the jeep to squat at all even putting a 20ft. fish/ski boat behind it. These toyota springs are ALOT more flexy and soft and I cant wait to see how they work. MORE TO COME!

 

just a comment.....

the splined shafts are different due to shaft diameter
manual steering is smaller diameter shaft then power steering shaft...hence the reason you have to change the bell coupler for a size increase only.
I've read others comments about the J20 steering gear being different/larger as well...can't verify that myself.
I'm running a 73 Wagoneer p/s gear on my Jeep, and the CJ p/s bellcoupler worked perfectly.

 

That would say a hole lot for me if it will work. The waggy im getting the parts from is in the early 80's but should be the same right?

 

My steering box is from a 79, and definitely has a smaller diameter shaft than the manual steering box or the stock CJ p/s box. Must have something to do with the model years, although I don't know when the specs were changed. :?