Bender - 2010 JKUR

[fiend]

3 hours ago, AxK said:

Going back to ram, what is the throw now? I want to say you can take like 1/2 inch throw out by adjusting the ends.

My current PR44 ram is 6.5” or 6.75” I think. The SD60 as mocked up is 7”. But there’s interference between the TREs and the knuckle, which stops turning a little before the steering stops hit.  Trying to think through what to do about this.  May call Artec and bitch, since they advertised these components as working together.  I’d like to get full turn to at least the stops and maybe more (trimming the stops) if possible. 

[Crawl2Camp]

3 hours ago, AxK said:

Just got off the phone with Currie. That’s dead in the water. Over 20k and it feels irresponsible to spend that much already having a set of 60s under her. Currie now wants all money up front before they build, and I can understand why, but that make things difficult when you have 15k axles sitting in the garage and 20k out for 14-16 weeks minimum.

You can still buy the Currie 60’s from Northridge for Under 17 shipped to your house.

[AJK]

1 minute ago, Crawl2Camp said:

You can still buy the Currie 60’s from Northridge for Under 17 shipped to your house.

I was asking for custom castor and brackets removed, jumped the price up a few grand. I like my axles just hated the E-locker from day 1. All good Matt @MIOffroadCustomsgot me a set of ARBs on the way.

[fiend]

Out with the old…

 

[fiend]

In with the new …

[Crawl2Camp]

Well you now know the market on used axle sets.  
With crazy inflation we find ourselves in, I'm actually selling my 5 year old used Falcon shocks I paid $910 for in 2017 for $900 now.    Shoot for the moon!

[Crawl2Camp]

have you got your new wheels in yet Greer?  
The new axle looks great!

[AJK]

28 minutes ago, fiend said:

In with the new …

Sexy.!!! You got more room for up travel right?

[fiend]

1 hour ago, Crawl2Camp said:

Well you now know the market on used axle sets.  
With crazy inflation we find ourselves in, I'm actually selling my 5 year old used Falcon shocks I paid $910 for in 2017 for $900 now.    Shoot for the moon!

Crazy. I don’t need top dollar but would like to get something decent. Gonna need a little spit and polish.  

[fiend]

1 hour ago, Crawl2Camp said:

have you got your new wheels in yet Greer?  
The new axle looks great!

Yes. I got some KMC grenade deserts last year. Before prices got crazy. 
 

thanks man. It’s coming along. 

[fiend]

1 hour ago, AxK said:

Sexy.!!! You got more room for up travel right?

Haha thanks. It’s at simulated ride height in the photo.  Tomorrow I need to work through full up and full droop and see what the issues are going to be.  I already know I need to move the frame side track bar bracket forward about 1.5”. Need to see what other mods are necessary.  

[Crawl2Camp]

13 minutes ago, fiend said:

Crazy. I don’t need top dollar but would like to get something decent. Gonna need a little spit and polish.  

You’ll get good money for them.  I had three really interested guys within a day of posting my set at 7.5 and I'm getting full asking.  (I included Adams driveshafts and Fusion steering also)

Congrats again.  These turned out great and what puts the cherry on top is that you did all the work.  Well done.  

[Jdofmemi]

That's great Greer!

 

Can't wait to see the new upgraded Bender in action. 

[fiend]

13 hours ago, Jdofmemi said:

That's great Greer!

 

Can't wait to see the new upgraded Bender in action. 

Thanks Jerry.  It does feel good to get it under the Jeep so I can map out the final steps.  Looks like I’ll need to shorten the front drive shaft by a couple of inches.  And move the track bar mount forward. 

[Jdofmemi]

Sounds like you are getting close!

[Dave]

Those axles are coming along nicely.

[fiend]

No turning back now.  

[Jdofmemi]

Getting closer

[KevinG]

Nice!  Gut check moment?  

[fiend]

34 minutes ago, KevinG said:

Nice!  Gut check moment?  

Fo sho.   

[fiend]

Mocking up the new one. 

[fiend]

So I got the new track bar bracket welded in. Don’t judge my vertical welds.  I triple passed them, so the strength should be there even if the style points are not.  I slotted the coil bucket and then closed up the slot with welds so the coil bucket is tied to the frame via the TB bracket.   I was able to keep my Synergy track bar.
 

There are various TB bracket options for putting a 2005+ SD60 into a JK, but a number require getting rid of the sway bar or going to an anti-rock, which I didn’t want to do. I looked at the RPM and the TMR options. Ultimately  I went with the RPM bracket because there’s plenty of clearance for the stock sway bar. But it does require cutting the coil bucket. If I were to do it again, I’d probably go with the TMR bracket.  It doesn’t require modification of the coils bucket, but I probably would need to modify the bracket itself or the sway bar.  Anyway, what’s done is done. 
 

It turns out that the Reid knuckles on the 2005+ SD60, with a high steer arm, have the same tie rod throw (6.75”) as stock. So I can keep my currently PSC system and won’t need a longer or different ram. 
 

Rather than mounting the ram on the axle side TB bracket, I mounted it on the diff cover.  That gets the ram more in parallel with the tie rod and doesn’t put a ton of extra stress on the TB bracket. The modified TMR cover with ram tabs is paint drying now. I’ll try to post some pics after I get it installed. 

[Dave]

That's a lot of work.  Welds look better than factory too.

 

Why'd you have to move the track bar forward?   Did you move the axle forward or does it have to do with the super duties shape?

[fiend]

16 minutes ago, Dave said:

That's a lot of work.  Welds look better than factory too.

 

Why'd you have to move the track bar forward?   Did you move the axle forward or does it have to do with the super duties shape?

It is a lot of work.  More than I envisioned when I started this project.  
 

Thanks for the compliment.  Before doing this, I practiced vertical and upside down welding with some scrap, but I have a long way to go.  But yeah, the factory welds aren’t all that great either. Probably a robot. 
 

The pumpkin of the SD60 is pretty far to the driver side, probably 3-4 inches compared to an aftermarket axle. So the pumpkin will hit the stock track bar bracket a full stuff unless you have an impractical amount of bump stop, like 5 inches or more.  So the bracket needs to be moved forward to clear the pumpkin.   There various bracket options, but some hit the stock sway bar (requiring getting rid of it or switching to an antirock) while others hit the pitman arm thereby limiting left turn steering. It’s all very tight and it takes some planning and mocking up before committing.  
 

I think where I ended up will work, although I did have to add an extra inch of bump stop. Not because of the pumpkin but because the oversized aluminum tie rod and drag link contact at full stuff. How likely is full stuff?  Probably not likely at all, but better safe than sorry. 

[AJK]

That looks great Greer. Have you looked into the Genright rear sway bar. Its like the front on the rear so you can ditch the front all together?