TrainWreck618
Caught the Bug
I really like the tire carrier:thumb:
Project "Thanos" Build
- Thread starter iRonin
- Start date
Mybadjk
Caught the Bug
Tire carrier came out good. I like the look of their tire carrier in the back and the clean look with no carrier.
Just read up all the problems you had on exodus. Glad you’re got them taken care of. [emoji1303]
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Just read up all the problems you had on exodus. Glad you’re got them taken care of. [emoji1303]
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iRonin
Member
Thanks, fellas
Thanks, I know how it goes. This year has been a challenge to get back out to HF for me as well and i’m only like 45 min away.
Rest of this year will be pretty mellow, may make it back out to Wolf Caves or HF but looking to do more out-of-state activities next year. May start things off by attending my first KotH in person and check out JV
Thanks- it was actually on the JKX but I was also optimistically going to try to make it to the Exodus RIGHT after, just took too long to get the problems solved in time.
In fact we only just got the replacement UCA bracket swapped out here recently, which reminds me, I haven’t updated the thread!
Amrth
Member
Stumbled on this thread, nice jist on the JKK experience.
I'm baffled on the upper control arm issue! How in the freaking world world did that occur??
Also wondering .. did you not realize that the UCA was shaking before you got the tires off.. I mean wouldn't it be rattling or something when you drove...
Btw the gate keeper looks really cool!
I'm baffled on the upper control arm issue! How in the freaking world world did that occur??
Also wondering .. did you not realize that the UCA was shaking before you got the tires off.. I mean wouldn't it be rattling or something when you drove...
Btw the gate keeper looks really cool!
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iRonin
Member
Stumbled on this thread, nice jist on the JKK experience.
I'm baffled on the upper control arm issue! How in the freaking world world did that occur??
Also wondering .. did you not realize that the UCA was shaking before you got the tires off.. I mean wouldn't it be rattling or something when you drove...
Btw the gate keeper looks really cool!
I’m guessing it happened on whatever obstacle also bent the same side rear flange.
Several factors played in, I think:
1) With all the gear I brought for the entire week of JKX, this was easily the heaviest my Jeep has ever been off-roading. A few of us were sitting just about at bump.
2) With the front locker not engaging properly, I had to throttle through a lot more obstacles that I normally would have crawled. (Lots of the challenging obstacles were like can opener where you’re forced to hang a front tire in the air)
3) I was opting to try a lot of the same lines that the guys on 40s were doing, which on 37s meant more rear stress/contact on the break over.
As far as realizing it- at super slow crawling speeds, not at all, really. Again being so weighed down I was probably crawling through most stuff on bump which was probably helping me out. No one, in fact, noticed anything was amiss with the Jeep until the following morning when we were aired up and leaving. As we got up to > 10mph the Jeep behind me noticed the slight wobble of the bent flange, and once I was alerted to the damage I started to notice a slight rear “squat” under heavy acceleration on the road but didn’t make a connection to axle-wrap/CA trouble cause it otherwise drove fine.
If you think about it, all I was essentially doing was driving around on a down-graded 3-link rear. The other upper was putting in overtime and the snapped CA was heavy enough to just stay laying down.
iRonin
Member
Oh, there was, and he’s one of the best in the biz. Chris had Premier setup on the Gladiator and welded the UCA back onto the axle as best he could given we were doing the fix in a hotel parking lot.
It held plenty well enough to get me back home after and up till the new brackets came in for the true fix.
iRonin
Member
iRonin
Member
Project "Thanos" Build
Back in the shop this past week for the last bit of upkeep from the JKX to replace the trail fixed UCA bracket with a replacement one from Dynatrac.
The bracket comes in two pieces, but the tricky part is it comes squared off and needs to be ground/radiused to match the bevel of the axle tube where it mounts. Below you can see the air gap on the left where the tube steps down:
So after some conservative measuring, we hand ground to match the contour.
Next trick was locating the new bracket into the right spot. We used stand-off measurements and degree comparisons with the other rear bracket for clocking till it was in the right spot and tacked it into place, then swung in the control arm itself to confirm home alignment.
With things looking good, my man laid down some nice welds to secure the bracket in place:
After that it was just a matter of letting things cool and literally watching paint dry, and Thanos was good to go!
Back in the shop this past week for the last bit of upkeep from the JKX to replace the trail fixed UCA bracket with a replacement one from Dynatrac.
The bracket comes in two pieces, but the tricky part is it comes squared off and needs to be ground/radiused to match the bevel of the axle tube where it mounts. Below you can see the air gap on the left where the tube steps down:
So after some conservative measuring, we hand ground to match the contour.
Next trick was locating the new bracket into the right spot. We used stand-off measurements and degree comparisons with the other rear bracket for clocking till it was in the right spot and tacked it into place, then swung in the control arm itself to confirm home alignment.
With things looking good, my man laid down some nice welds to secure the bracket in place:
After that it was just a matter of letting things cool and literally watching paint dry, and Thanos was good to go!
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mudmobeeler
Caught the Bug
Like the carrier. I've looked at them online several times.
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Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
iRonin
Member
Phase 5 Announcement
I'm excited to announce the next evolution of Thanos is under-way! Getting Thanos built up to run 37s was a phased process over 3 years. Along the way, decisions were made that got me to where I wanted to be at the time (qualified for the JKX). With that dream realized, but with budget always being a constraint and having to work incrementally, I painted myself into a bit of a corner ending up with a 44 front paired with a semi-float rear. While they were at least strong, good quality Dynatrac axles, the load-out just wasn't going to be enough to get to where I now want to go (42" tires), so I've decided to go the 1-ton axle swap route.
I'm still not sponsored :boohoo:, so money is still very much an object (otherwise I would have just done a 60/80 or 80/80). Selling the PR44/XD60 combination was pretty much enough to fund the entire swap (parts wise at least). I've also sold the 5-lug ATX Slabs since I will be moving to an 8x6.5 pattern on the new setup. So what's on the docket? Let's meet the donors!
The front is a SD60 off this 2008 Ford F350:
The rear is a 14 bolt off this 2005 GMC 2500 pickup:
Both axles will arrive at Round 2 Offroad here in TX where we'll begin the process of trimming and shaving to prepare for the new brackets and internals, and I'll update the thread at intervals with the progress! :beer:
Other than new wheels, most of the rest of my build will remain the same for now, and I will initially be strapping the 37" Mud Grapplers back on while I swell cash for tires (I'm secretly holding out for 42" Trail Grapplers) and phase 6 when things really start getting fun (Page 1 of the build thread has some of what's planned for P6).
As for the wheels - after much deliberation and comparison I'm going with KMC XD229 MACHETE CRAWL beadlocks, which have been ordered as well. They will be in the Satin Black finish and I plan on having the rock rings anodized blue to match the accent scheme. Those should be in this week as well so I'll post up pics of them mounted!
I'm excited to announce the next evolution of Thanos is under-way! Getting Thanos built up to run 37s was a phased process over 3 years. Along the way, decisions were made that got me to where I wanted to be at the time (qualified for the JKX). With that dream realized, but with budget always being a constraint and having to work incrementally, I painted myself into a bit of a corner ending up with a 44 front paired with a semi-float rear. While they were at least strong, good quality Dynatrac axles, the load-out just wasn't going to be enough to get to where I now want to go (42" tires), so I've decided to go the 1-ton axle swap route.
I'm still not sponsored :boohoo:, so money is still very much an object (otherwise I would have just done a 60/80 or 80/80). Selling the PR44/XD60 combination was pretty much enough to fund the entire swap (parts wise at least). I've also sold the 5-lug ATX Slabs since I will be moving to an 8x6.5 pattern on the new setup. So what's on the docket? Let's meet the donors!
The front is a SD60 off this 2008 Ford F350:
The rear is a 14 bolt off this 2005 GMC 2500 pickup:
Both axles will arrive at Round 2 Offroad here in TX where we'll begin the process of trimming and shaving to prepare for the new brackets and internals, and I'll update the thread at intervals with the progress! :beer:
Other than new wheels, most of the rest of my build will remain the same for now, and I will initially be strapping the 37" Mud Grapplers back on while I swell cash for tires (I'm secretly holding out for 42" Trail Grapplers) and phase 6 when things really start getting fun (Page 1 of the build thread has some of what's planned for P6).
As for the wheels - after much deliberation and comparison I'm going with KMC XD229 MACHETE CRAWL beadlocks, which have been ordered as well. They will be in the Satin Black finish and I plan on having the rock rings anodized blue to match the accent scheme. Those should be in this week as well so I'll post up pics of them mounted!
13_gecko_rubi
Caught the Bug
Good luck in the next step! Are you shaving the 14 bolt I hope? With 42s can go the easy shave / 13 bolt cover route but if you plan to run 37s for awhile you need to go the full blown shave route
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Mybadjk
Caught the Bug
Nice! Can’t wait to see it done. I’m planning on going this route as well. May start mine this year after I get a house and settled in.
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TheGrendel
Active Member
It was good meeting you. I snagged the ATX slabs off Thanos. They'll be showing up on my build thread pretty soon. :yup:
Can't wait to see what Thanos looks like with those full floaters.
Can't wait to see what Thanos looks like with those full floaters.
Texas Nick
Caught the Bug
Very nice! Cant wait to see how it comes out!
iRonin
Member
Good luck in the next step! Are you shaving the 14 bolt I hope? With 42s can go the easy shave / 13 bolt cover route but if you plan to run 37s for awhile you need to go the full blown shave route
It's in the plan - just want to make sure we do it right. I like the partial shave kits that don't cut all the way into the cavity so that's my vote but ultimately I'll go with what the shop recommends as this wont be their first rodeo
Hey Mike! Engine swap is for sure on the docket....eventually. Evolving the rest of the config with where I'd like it to be before investing in the "go fast" phases, so it will likely be the last thing I do. Lots of exciting things happening lately with crate motors so I'm interested to see how things pan out by the time I'm ready!
Thanks bud; while it'll be old-hat to the folks helping it will be a first time for me so I'll try to get a lot of the key aspects documented. Best of luck on the house hunt!
Eyyyy, nice man! Was great to meet ya - enjoy the Slabs! I saw a post today that reminded me - double check with ATX on whether or not the bolts are reusable just in case!
Thanks Nick :drinks: when we wheelin' again?