04DubyaJay

Hey Guys, It's still not done but I figured I could update you on the Datsun. I have been working out of Seattle most of the year but will be returning to AZ fulltime next week and plan to get back to building my WJ. I hope to meet up for an event or a run of sorts as I had a great time at Cinders 2016. -Drew [/img] [/img]

Whats the deal with lime green suspension components? Extra flex? More Lift? Or do people do it simply to grind my gears? lol

WOW! I've been flying over these for years and have always assumed that they were an old form of NavAid. I may have even lied to a few students and told them the same thing. Shhh don't tell them

I had originally planned on building my WJ around 255/75/17 JK takeoffs for a few reasons; they are good size for a WJ ~32", the BFG KM1 is a good tire and finally because the are CHEEP and readily available on Craigslist. Two things made me change my mind, 255's are pizza cutters and grew tired of the look also I was sick of the chunking. I ran two different sets of these, both of them started fairly new and both sets dry rotted and started chunking before a full wear pattern. I picked up a set of 285/70/17's on JK rims for cheap. The tires had seen better days but I figured they had a year or so left in them and it would be good to try them out before committing to a new set of tires. After a couple weeks I decided I liked the set up so I went to Discount Tire get the rims swapped for mine. (These had some bad rock rash) Discount might have played me but the offered to road hazzard 2 of the 5 tires I had brought them. This gave me a little over $300 toward a new set of tires. That had me hook line and sinker and I rolled out of there with some fresh rubber. These tires do rub a bit when I get the Jeep twisted up, I'll have to extend my bump stops or suck it up and trim a little..

These are awesome!! Great idea!

I'm familiar with the aftermarket shafts available but like you said the price makes it hard to justify. Most aftermarket options also limit turning radius and I like being able to whip my WJ around on a dime. I do intend to sleeve my front D30 but after that I probably won't do much else to them. I'd do the JK axle thing before putting much more into my current set up.

I Learned quickly that with a little braking action the Detriot Trutrac would really grip, even with a wheel in the air. It far surpasses the traction I get out of my Variloc rear. This time however I got a little carried away with the gas/brake action and learned the limits of my D30 CV axle shafts. Moments before the break on Upper Woodpecker. About the time we heard SNAP My first trail fix. YAY for tools. The broken axle shaft. We were able to pull the shaft and limp off the trail in 2wd. I now plan on picking up spare axle shafts to carry with me when wheeling as they are fairly cheep. (about $60 with a "lifetime" warranty from auto zone)

From the factory they are rated at 165hp and 2400lbs. The previous owner swapped the carbs for earlier model carbs without all the emissions crap so maybe a hair more but after 40years I doubt it's a tire shredder but she'll still move. No motor swaps in my near future if I do anything I'll turbo it. I just want to do a driver quality resturation. Put in a new interior, paint it and use it for cruising.

So yesterday I got a new toy, I admit it was an impulse buy but I've always loved the look of the old 240 and 260Z's. The car is mostly complete obviously needs paint and body but is pretty much rust free. Towed in style. My Buddy's FSJ. The car was previously owned by a mechanic and he went though most everything and put a lot of new parts in.

Great build Chris, I really likes the steel wheels and the rock rail modification!

Thanks for the support guys. You've got an awesome group of people, I couldn't be happier to have found a group where everyone carries tools, parts, full size spares and has correct protection. I look forward to more off-road passport events.

After getting the trans sorted, I made the mod I'm most proud of.. Rocker protection. After seeing a post on Jeep Forum showing how well JK rails lined up on the WJ body, Kevin and I were determined to see if we could get JKU rails on my WJ. -We flip flopped the rails, JK passenger rail for WJ driver side, not sure if it was necessary but we like how the mounts lined up better. -Cut the rails down to 70.5 we cut of the backend and the plastic cap fits right back on. -Cut off the factory mounting bolts and weld on 1x1 120 wall square tubbing to the mounts. The 1x1 spaces the rails perfectly off the body. -Using a floor jack to hold up the rail we drilled through the pinch seam and one side of the 1x1, we used square nuts on the inside of the tubing to run a bolt through the pinch seam. -At this point the rails are self supporting and we were able to fab up a frame kicker from the middle body mount and adjust the rear body mount. The middle rear body mount will need to be cut down but the front body mount worked fine as is. These rails hug the WJ so tight they look like they are factory and I am loving them. I have beat on them for about a year now and they are still holding up great. As far as I know I'm still the only one with JKU rails on a WJ.

On a routine fluid change I found 2 large pieces of snap ring on the bottom of the transmission pan.. I quickly hit up jeep forum to find out what it could be as the Jeep was running better than ever. After some research I found that the 42RE transmission is notorious for this kind of things and many people have been running the trany as is for 20 & 50k without any issue. However even though the jeep was running well it would have bother me to no end knowing that I had a broken snap ring. So I did a little more research and found that it likely came from the overdrive. So with the help from my friend Kevin we pulled the overdrive and sure enough you could see the broken ring. We took the overdrive to a transmission shop and for $20 and a case of beer I got the snap ring replaced. The guy at the shop also gave me a new softer shift spring for the overdrive so it would shift in and out of OD a little easier.

Reason #1001 not to buy Rough Country. After a single wheeling trip up Hackberry creek I destroyed the urethane bushings on the control arms. They did return them no questions asked and I replaced them with Rusty's control arms.

I made a REALLY good friend when I bought this axle. The owner Kevin helped me with the swap and threw in an IRO Rear a-arm and front Clayton 4.5" springs so naturally more lift was in order. I quickly ordered: IRO adjustable rear control arms IRO 4.5" HD coils Rough Country front control arms Bilstien Shocks At this same time I regeared the front to 4.56 and added a Detriot TrueTrac. I wanted a traction device but was concerned about the WJ CV style front axle shafts so I settled on the TrueTrac. I couldn't be happier with that thing. And BAm