Project Jeep YJ: Part 2

Today. It's part two of our Jeep YJ transformation.

We're talking about a 350 V8 powered 37 inch tall, tired eight inch lifted crawler that'll have more than 13 inches of ground clearance. First, we'll install a suspension lip with the architecture of a skyscraper. Then we'll add some rubber sold platform shoes for real altitude.

It's all here today on trucks.

Hey, welcome to trucks.

As you can see, we're back on our YJ project transforming this 87 Jeep into a capable on and off road vehicle like a Jeep should be. Now, last time you saw us, we yanked out this lame and toasted in line six that had definitely seen better days and we replaced it with his rebuilt 350 small block topped off with an Edelbrock

Pro flow ef I,

we didn't get this engine from a crate.

It started with a worn out 350. We grabbed from a junk

with a lot of cleaning, honing and prepping. The block was ready for some fresh rings and bearings.

A set of Vortec heads and finally an EF I manifold.

Then we bolted up a turbo 354 wheel drive transmission that was picked up from our local parts store and dropped it in between the frame rails with a V8 swap kit and four wheel drive hardware. Then we fired it up.

Now, one thing we didn't do was install the Jeep's NP 231 transfer case up to the transmission adapter.

That's because we knew we'd be installing this slip Yoke Eliminator kit into the T case today

with our power taken care of now, it's time to take a look at this suspension. Our YJ has leaf springs at all four corners, much like the CJ before it. And this suspension is now considered to be out of date, which is another reason why guys tend to shy away from this model, Jeep. Well, Fab Tech Motorsports recognized this drawback and decided to help out YJ owners everywhere and they've just released this suspension system that is not only going to give us the lift we want for the larger wheels and tires we want to run on our Jeep, but it also upgrades our front suspension to a coil over system with a total lift of eight inches. Fab's

crawler, front coil over conversion starts with two and a quarter inch dirt logic shocks with dual rate coil springs

and includes shock hoops to replace the original shock mounts.

You also get front links,

frame pockets,

and heavy duty upper axle mount supports.

Now to get our lift out back, we're gonna do a spring over axle conversion with these new leaf springs, high lift shackles and a rear traction bar. But before any of this new stuff can go on, that old suspension has got to come off.

90% of the original system is being replaced, but parts of the drag link are reused with the Fab tech kit.

We'll also say goodbye to these stock upper shock mounts

to do this. We'll cut them off and then grind the frame rail smooth, followed with a touch of paint to stop the rust.

All right, with all that done. Now, we can install our new link on pockets of the frame. These go in 14 inches back of the original leaf spring rear mounts.

The frame NRYJ is boxed from the factory but the suspension system comes with crushed sleeves to insert at all the new mounting points for added strength.

This front leaf spring P

needs to be trimmed in order for a new axle brackets to be mounted in place. Now, our YJ has a data 30 up front and data 35 out back. And I know you je guys out there are thinking big V8, lots of power, heavy lift kit, big wheels and tires, something's gonna break. You're probably right. But the good thing about this Fab

lift system is that you can always upgrade your axles down the road.

But that's another show

and that is what makes this suspension system so unique. If down the road, you want to swap out the front axle assembly for a Dana 44 or even a Dana 60 Fab

tech will have axle bracket packages available for those assemblies.

With both the driver and passenger axle support mounts sandwiched on the axle. We can install our lower links into the frame,

leave your final tightening until all the parts are installed. Then when your truck is sitting on its own weight, you can torque all the hardware to specs

urethane bushings squeak uncontrollably without lubrication. Fab

Tech thought this through and provides Zerk fittings that all suspension pivot points.

Then the upper links mount from the midpoint of the lower links to the top of the axle.

Ok. With our links in place. Now, we can mount these upper shock hoops which will house our coil overs. If you guys are building a Jeep like ours at home, here's a problem that you could run into because this support indexes off the location of the factory motor mount. And if you remember when we converted to V8 power,

we had to cut off our factory motor mounts. So how do you find the location of the shock hoops? Sometimes you just got to think your way through the problems.

And what helps us here is some of the original engine mount bracket is still visible in the frame

that serves as a guide to locate our new shock hoop. But if we didn't have this to go by, we could raise the axle to ride height, drop a plumb bob from the upper mount to the lower. And that would also help us locate this hoop. Just goes to show you there's always solutions to the problems you face. See you after the break,

when we come back, we'll finish up the front end suspension lift on our YJ. Stick around.

Hey,

thanks for sticking around the truck shop. As you can see, we are right in the middle of bringing our Jeep back to its rightful place. A true on road off road vehicle that'll be able to handle just about anything we throw at it.

So far today, we've dumped the stock suspension pieces and added our new control arms to the front axle.

Then

are you

the old motor mounts as a guide?

We bolted on our new shock hoops

and now

it's time for the good stuff with our front links on and our shock coop in place. It's time to mat our dual rate coil over,

having a dual rate coil over on the front suspension adds a couple of benefits for our Jeep.

The lower spring is often referred to as a tender spring and will absorb slow speed bumps and also help our suspension droop.

The upper mainspring is of a higher rate and will support most of the Jeep's weight. And if the front axle should ever get off the ground, it'll keep the suspension from bottoming out

the remote reservoir helps keep the oil cool and keeps it from foaming and that makes for consistent performance from our shock.

We're going with 37 inch tall tires with this Jeep. So to keep them out of our fenders, our bump stops are mounted here so they come into contact with this flat spot on the upper axle mounting plate. Now, our front suspension is basically a radius arm set up with the lower links is the main support

and the upper link bar is coming off the lowers.

Now, this setup does require another link to locate our axle under the jeep and this pan

bar will keep our axle from moving from side to side.

A

drop pitman arm is included with the system and has four master key ways that line up with the spines of the factory steering bar.

The passenger side tie rod end is reused on the fab tech drag link. So if you see any signs of wear now is the time to replace it.

New components mixed with old will chase out weak links in the chain fast.

These trick and links use lynch pins so they can be released quickly if you're off on a rough trail and need a little extra axle travel.

Bab

tech anticipates excessive axle movement with new brake line brackets that are mounted eight inches ahead of the shark hoop rear mount

and come with extra long braided steel lines. The last thing you want to let you down is your braking system so bleed out your system thoroughly before you hit the trails.

Well, that takes care of the front of the suspension system. When we come back from the break, we'll show you how to get a few quick, easy inches of lift out back. Stay with us

next. We'll get the back half of our Jeep up in the air and later we'll beef up our transfer case.

Hey, guys, welcome back with our front end done. Our Jeep is looking more and more like it belongs on the trail instead of just sitting at the mall parking lot

out back. We'll do a pretty easy upgrade but a pretty typical upgrade for a straight axle, a spring over axle conversion.

The factory puts the leaf springs underneath the axle. We're just going to reverse that and put the axle underneath the leaf springs, but we're replacing the springs with some heavy duty units that'll handle the stress of our lift kit and our larger wheels and tires.

One of the good things about replacing your suspension is that it forces you to inspect under your rig.

We found bet springs, dented shocks, worn bushings and stripped bolts. Now, if you're just doing a spring over conversion with your stock springs, make sure there are parts you can trust out on the trail.

The combination of our new shackles and heavy duty springs will give us a lift of eight inches to match the front and these new mounting perches kick the pin up to the correct angle for our new CV drive shaft

that comes with the kit

just like the brakes up front, you're provided with a longer braided flex line to handle our rear axles. New found articulation potential.

The kid's traction bar bracket is located by a bolt in the old pan

bar mount and gets welded to the axle.

The old shock mounts no longer serve a purpose. So they need to go away.

The new shocks hang off the factory studs and their tabs are also welded right on the axle, just weld a little at a time. So you don't distort the axle tube.

This cross member's main job is to mount the traction bar, but it also gives an added benefit of strengthening the rear frame

if you're doing a spring over axle conversion at home, keep in mind that it can actually make your axle wrap a little harder. But if fab tech is taking care of that with this traction bar, that will eliminate axle wrap. But by using hind joints in a shackle will still allow for articulation,

you'll have to relocate the driver's side e brake cable by drilling new holes lower in the bracket.

I don't think so.

With eight inches of lift and a bulletproof suspension, there's no way we're gonna put the stock wheels and tires back on. So when we come back from the break, we're gonna show you what we got planned for new wheels and tires that are gonna match the new stance of our YJ stick around

after the break. We'll get our new hides on and install a slip Yoke Eliminator kit.

Hey, welcome back

with our Newfound V8 power and increased altitude. We had to find a set of skins that would do our Jeep Justice. So we chose a set of 37 by 12.5 by 17 pro comp mud terrains. The 37 inch tire has become the new standard in off road tire sizes and the mud terrain is a great on and off road tire with a close body tread in the center for on road driving. Yet a high void ratio on the outside edges for great off road traction. We mounted them

on a set of pro

comps, 17 by nine inch wheels. We chose steel wheels without bead locks to keep our Jeep street legal. But in the future, if we want to make this Jeep a trail only vehicle, we'll break down the set of tires and wheels and add a set of weld on bead locks, the 17 inch wheel and 37 inch tire work well together off road. Thanks to the floatation, you get in the side wall, the 10 inch tall side wall will hold its speed on the rim but still contour to the terrain when aired down.

When choosing a suspension system, you need to read the footnotes and find out what kind of extra work you're going to have to do.

In our case, we needed to add a slip Yak Eliminator kit to our transfer case. Now, both our kit and our new rear drive shaft came from Fab

Tech and are specifically designed to work with our new suspension system. A slip yo kit is designed to take the slip travel from the transfer case, output shaft and move it to the rear drive shaft. This reduces the possibility of the drive shaft becoming disconnected during an extreme articulation and also adds a few needed inches to our rear drive shaft length.

After the tea case is disassembled and the drive gear and mode hub are removed from a stock main shaft. You'll need to drive out the needle barriers.

The kit comes with a new heavy duty main shaft that the drive gear is installed onto

discard the factory, snapping off the mode hub and use a new one that comes with the kit.

The main shaft goes back into the front case half, make sure to line up the synchro on the selector ring.

I

you'll want to replace the rubber spline seal on the front and rear of both output shafts,

apply a thin bead of R TV sealant. These are machined mating surfaces and any excess sealant could come loose inside the case.

The speedometer drive gear goes on and is held in place with a new snap ring.

You may need to trim some of the shift rail off before installing the kit's new tail housing,

the stock Speedo gear then drops into the new housing. Then the new yoke goes on the rear output shaft.

After checking for clearance, we'll seal off the shift rail pocket with a supplied plug.

Finally,

the stock front yoke can be reinstalled.

There are a lot of great reasons to put in a slip oak eliminator kit mainly to add length to the drive shaft to compensate for lifted suspension

that added length will also keep our drive shaft from pulling apart during extreme suspension. Flex also should a drive shaft or U joint ever give up out on the trail, you can remove it without losing any transfer case fluid.

The last step in our YJ build up is to install our new drive shaft before getting her back down on the ground.

Now, that's a great stance,

but with over 300 horsepower and 37 inch tires riding on lightweight day to 3035 axles. Well, let's just say we all know what the weak link is now. Yeah. And the next time you guys see this, Jeep, we're gonna take it out and see just how much abuse those axles will take. But if you're not breaking stuff, you don't have your foot in it deep enough. You got that right

when I'm building one of my own vehicles or looking at somebody else as I pay attention to details. Now everybody has their own taste when it comes to finishing out a project, but nobody can deny a clean look and ride. And a set of these pedal covers for moto Innovations can dress up the controls of any vehicle. They're a direct mount with screws through the pedal instead of clamping around it like some universal kits and have a two piece inner and outer, the inner covers the factory control while the outer has a brushed finish and its nonskid surface on the brake pedal.

The Moto Innovations pedal set goes for about 100 and 29 bucks and is available directly from their website. Thanks for watching trucks. We'll see you next week.