BlueJeep

Love the videos! I wasn't sure that that first one was recording, but it looks like it was. Even got that driver's front tire coming off the ground!

Awesome Mick!

Yeah, it'll work just fine. Just put a piece of tape by it to mark it so you can periodically tighten it up until it's fully "seated".

Wasn't there only one rear stud that was missing? That should be easy to replace, pull the drum off and poke it out with a punch, and then push a new one in from the back side and "press" it into place by tightening the nut down.

It's not as bad as it might look. Worst case scenario is that we lose the sliders on the seat and have to raise it about an inch...

I don't think you'd want what I've cut off. Remember, he's been wheeling this thing for years now and it did have 30's on it at one point in time (think BFH).

I think this statement accurately defines a custom build!!

Nope, no issues. We haven't bent the shifter yet...will do so before closing up the rest of the floor and make it so Mick can comfortably reach it seatbelted in.

All welding to-date has been MIG with 75/25 gas and .035 wire on the tubing and brackets, and .023 wire where sheetmetal was involved. Once it is determined how much oil pan mods are needed, any work there will be done with the TIG.

Yeah, I know. When Mick rolled into the shop he had 5" of lift to clear the 27" SSR's. Mick has calculated the final ratios, and taking into account everything except the increased weight, it should be comparable to the original brat gearing on 23's in street mode. The really good thing about the way he chose his parts, is that there are countless options of things he can upgrade if he needs to. Transfer case gears all the way down to 8:1, ring and pinion gears down to 5.xx:1. His only limitation will be the number of RPM's his engine can take...

Yes, if I push down on the rear it will bounce (no shocks yet). The tire used for mock up is a Q78-15 Swamper on a very bent beadlocked rim, so not that huge (35"). This should be very streetworthy when it's done, there's no reason it shouldn't be. With 8 degrees of caster and the link angles that are built into it the drive should actually be pretty good. The increased width will help with the added height, and the almost 10" stretch on the wheelbase will make it more stable on rough roads. Tires have a lot to do with it, and with the BFG's it will do fine....but it won't be a sports car....

We talked a little bit about the coilover coils as being an option, but wanted to explore the lower-cost option of TJ coils first. It looks like the TJ coils are going to work out great. The thing to keep in mind, is that layout is completely different on a TJ and the Soob, so it's not a direct comparison when talking about how much they weigh. On a 2.5 TJ, the balancer is about 6" back from the center of the front axle (weight is much farther back) and on the stretched Soob, the bellhousing is pretty much above the front axle centerline. With the weight of the brat on the coils, the height is within 1/2" of what a buddy said they were on a stock TJ, and that's without a front bumper or winch. Yes, it'll have a panhard. I always build them last after the steering is done to try to get as little bump steer as possible. We'll see about getting you more pictures of the 3 link. It'll weigh quite a bit more than a stock brat, but a lot of that will be unsprung weight (axles, wheels/tires). There is about 60' of 1 1/2" .120 wall tubing in it so far, with probably 20' more to go. Plus, the sammy transfer case. I don't think I cut enough sheetmetal out of it yet to offset the additions...

And this is why Mick had previously stated that he can't run any wider of a motor in this. I will move the steering box forward about an inch and french it into the new frame rail up to an inch to get better steering at full lock and full stuff. The steering shaft actually heads down out of the toyota box to meet up with the brat steering column at the firewall. In that first picture you can see what's left of the very front of the stock frame rail. The new rail section is 2x4 .120 wall rectangular tube, which will be blended into the stock rail and braced. The front is completely inside of where the stock one poked through the radiator support.

Mick explored the option of using the IFS hubs, but it only increases the track width by 3" and the scrub radius would be the same as using spacers (since the king pins aren't moving). The spacers were cheap and easy and we didn't have to use spacers between the hub and the rotor this way. The Toyota axles have been great for this project because of the sheetmetal housings' ability to have brackets welded on just about anywhere. They're light and strong and have a tremendous aftermarket parts availability.

Sure. You can PM me or get my contact info from Mick, thanks.

I'm assuming we're talking about the engine crossmember. The mounts are 1/8" thick, bent up on the sides in a press-brake. The sides being bent up are what give it it's strength. In theory, there should be less stress on the engine mounts. Since the transfer case is divorce-mounted and gives additional gear reduction, the majority of the stress should be concentrated there. With that said, Mick and I talked about potential weak links when this is done and the only things I could think of were the original engine and transmission mounts. Mick said these were modified stock ones, with urethane added to them through some highly-secret process of which I'm not familiar. The motor mounts are exactly in the same configuration and location as they were stock, I supported the engine and transmission, then removed the original crossmember and built the new and the mounts in place. The only reason we went with this new crossmember is to give us more room to clear things up front. The original had to support the engine, the rack & pinion, and the lower control arms. This one only has to support the engine.

It would add quite a bit of strength to a stock soob, but FYI it's a b*%#h to weld the sheetmetal to the .120 wall tubing. If it's rusty, it'll be that much more fun! There are several layers there toward the front body mounts. Mick's rails were actually separated from the floor pan at the back from previous 'wheeling incidents, so I beat them back down and drilled for new plug welds. It's not completely welded yet, and I plan on filling in the gaps and the burn holes when I switch back to the .023 wire in the welder (after the rest of the fab is done). One really nice thing about the subframe is that there are plenty of options as to where to put the jack now!!