Most everyone knows by now that Aaron and I have swapped Jeeps. This thread will be the continuation of the YJ since I now have it in custody.
So far I have added some waggy springs to the rear; which added 2 inches to my wheelbase... I took it out for a shakedown run this weekend at SMORR.
First of all I'd like to say Aaron put together a set of axles and did a great job on the spring-over, this jeep flexes great! I was hoping not to rub too much but as you can see from these pics I did. So I'll be doing some fender trimming this week and will post up pics after I am done.
the fender got pushed out pretty good.
Second, this baby was in bad need of some ... Rocker GuardsAlways wanted to make a set myself, so I decided to give it a try. I called up Ozark Mountain Steel and ordered a 10' long piece of 12" wide 3/16; I had them form it into 6x6 angle with a press brake. If your going to build rockers; you don't want to use regular angle; unless you don't care about them fitting snug.
I fitted the steel up against the Jeep and marked my cut for the front. This pic is after I did that but you get the jest.
I marked the front inside and out
Ready to cut
The front after cutting; turned out pretty good
The rear was a little off; so I marked it and ground it down to match the curve.
After grinding it down
With the front and back all matched up and looking good, I secured the rocker with clamps and a hi-lift and marked my outside holes.
Outer hardware loosely installed, so that I could drill down through the tub and mark the bottom for the 3 center studs wrapped with 1' pipe that would support the bottom.
I cut the front and rear mounting brackets out of the left over material from trimming to fit; I then welded them to the main piece.
Here is a shot of the rear mount... rockers are already done, got ahead of myself and forgot to take pictures.
The front mount, the tubefender is a little crooked, but I'll fix that at a later time.
The view from underneath. There are 1/2 studs that I tack welded to the upperside, which are wrapped with 1" pipe for spacers; this kept the bottom nice and smooth and ready for sliding on the rocks if needed.
2 of the studs (3 total) from the top; still need to trim them down
Black primered and ready for first coat of paint. You can see a couple of the spacers that I cut to put around the bottom studs.
Side shot of the finished (for now) rockers.
I plan to add side steps on also; just didn't have time and want to at least get to this point with them before the shakedown run. All in all; I'm PROUD of how good these rockers turned out, this has been my first little fab project and I'm now stoked to do something else. stay tuned.
COST:
Steel $72
Hardware $40