Jeepster Roller, Part 8 - Front Suspension Mods

First...some humor:




Slow going this weekend...it felt like one step forward...two steps back.  

I spent all of Saturday morning mowing and weed eating my yard.  Yuck!

As mentioned earlier, the axle needed to move forward 1" for better clearance everywhere.
So the wheels and the coilovers both came off.  Back to jack stands!  And I left the motor in place on the hoist because I was working without my trusty sidekick this weekend.  He was busy catching big fish:

Front Suspension Mods

Lower DOM Links

This was fairly easy - I made the lower links out of DOM.  

After cutting them to length, I drilled three holes on each end for plug welds:

Ready to weld:

Primed and painted:

Assembled and identical lengths set:

At this point, it should be a simple bolt in process...but it wasn't.

Fixing Previous Mistakes...Oops!

Lower Link Brackets

In the process of moving the axle forward and making the DOM lower links, I found a few problems with the lower link brackets on the frame:
  • The passenger side bracket wasn't set at the perfect angle.  Since the bracket was just tacked into place, I removed it to get a better angle.  

  • No pictures, but the  driver's side lower PVC link had shifted, and was about 1/4" too short.  Which caused the bracket to be erroneously tacked into place about 1/4" too far forward.  So that bracket also came off.  
Since both lower brackets were removed, I gave them a coat of Steel-It for corrosion protection:
The Steel-It is still curing, so I didn't get the lower links re-installed yet.  That should happen one evening this week. 

Axle Measurements

I then spent at least a couple of hours taking measurements, and making sure that the axle is in the correct position, 1" forward of it's previous location.  This was tedious.  

No picture, but the track bar bracket was also moved forward 1", as part of this process.  I left the PVC upper link in place during this process, but adjusted the length to keep the caster angle correct.


New Shock Hoops Hoop

I started the new shock hoops by taking a bunch of measurements off of the old hoops.  I wanted to be sure to get the new hoops back into a perfect position.    


I was originally going to use a set of shock towers from TMR Customs, but the hoops seemed like they would work better.  I did have to extend their length with some larger DOM.  

I focused on the driver's side this weekend because of the alternator clearance issue.  The passenger side shock hoop will be installed later:

A typical cross-brace to the other side will be added later.  It looks weak now, but it will get beefed up.

More supports \ gussets will be added to these backets:

TMR Customs makes a similar bracket, and I'm using it for inspiration:


Alternator issue is solved!

Overhead view of the alternator clearance.  I also wanted space between the hoop and alternator for an inner fender well:

Next Two Steps

Get the lower links installed and tacked into place.

Repeat the shock hoop installation on the passenger side.  The brackets are already made, so the process should go fairly smoothly.

Open Question

I'm asking myself  when I should fully weld in the brackets.  I think the tack welds are good enough to roll it up on the trailer, but it would be nice to get everything locked down permanently.  All of the rear suspension is also just tacked into place.

Any thoughts?