jeep busted, very grouchy, no time to fix it.....

i feel for you bill, my jeep did sell (no spare trail rig) and i have no time to work on the buggy right now I'M CRYING WITH YOU

I feel all your collective pain... I guess jeeps die in 3s...

sorry to have started it...

What did you break Bill?

Need a hand with it? :(

So the Rock Krawler truss did fail, the metal fatigued and ripped off teh axle. Also cracked in the middle, bolts were bent etc. I've been meaning to relocate the control arms for awhile anyway. the upper arms are much longer than the lower ones and that creates rear steer as it articulates and doesn't help driveline angles.
Found that the coilover bolts bent on both sides.



The welds did not come apart, it just ripped above the welds.



Notice the crack at the center hole as seen from above





The edge that meets the axle has a hole in it by design and that reduced the weld area. I decided to cut the truss at the top of the hole to maximize weld surface.



I was going to move the heim joints out to the holes farthest from the middle but that would not make it any stronger, still had to reinforce the truss.



I reinforced the truss at the crack on bottom. and on top.



Also welded a piece of 1/4 inch steel across the front to box the truss for strength.



For the upper link mounts I made a template and opted to run just 2 tabs, an upper and lower for added strength.



Tack welded the ends and drilled holes straight through both tabs.



I welded a piece in the middle for strength and assembled the pieces.



Here is where I am at now. everything welded together inside and out and ready for mounting.

They must go in 4's cause the clutch master or slave is still out on mine.

Looks good Bill!

I have to reroute the ARB line, got to do a 90 out of the housing to clear the new brackets. I did find a fitting at homedepot. now just got to find time this weekend to weld the truss onto the axle, weld some supports between the truss and axle in multiple spots for strength and shorten the upper control arms. I'll have to carefully cut the welds and reweld the threaded inserts.

i dont know if i am looking at the pics wrong or what but i thought the upper triangulated arms are suppose to be rotated so that the bolt holes holding the joints in place are at a horizontal line to allow the axle to move free in the up and down motion. i never thought to put them the other way. i guess it works good still cause the center should not drop that low anyway

Thats a normal 4 link rear setup.

yeah, it doesn't matter if the heim is with the bolt hole horizontal or vertical. You can have one in each direction too if you wanted.

Ok truss has been reinforced and everything is welded. The upper control arms have been shortened and installed. Just need to buy new coilover bolts and install the brake lines on the axle again. Then I'm ready to roll.