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00:0040-inch tall tires on a Jeep with almost no lift.
00:08It's like we're going back in time.
00:10We're building one of my favorite Jeep body styles ever.
00:14Comp cut, low center of gravity crawler.
00:17It's literally almost no lift and a huge tire.
00:21How do you do it?
00:22Just all the cutting.
00:23Just cut every single thing out of the Jeep,
00:26and the tire will easily fit.
00:30There is no question that I love Jeeps,
00:34but you don't always have to build a Jeep
00:36into like the ultimate off-road machine.
00:39Sometimes you can build a Jeep on a budget,
00:41and that's where this Jeep comes into play.
00:44If you're looking to build a Jeep, save some money,
00:47and just use a whole bunch of junkyard parts,
00:49you can't go wrong with a good used Jeep TJ.
00:53This particular TJ I actually got for free,
00:56and the reason I got it for free is because the frame
00:58is completely rusted out.
01:00And if you were shopping for a Jeep like this with a bad frame,
01:03which is one thing that often happens with the Jeep TJs,
01:06you can pick them up for right around a thousand bucks.
01:09It runs, you can drive it around,
01:11but you certainly can't put it on the road,
01:13and that is because the frame has giant holes in it.
01:15But that's okay, because I am somewhat of a hoarder,
01:19and I have a lot of things laying around my building,
01:22and I happen to have a whole new frame for this vehicle.
01:27My friend Colt says it's not hoarding if it's cool stuff,
01:30and I completely agree with that statement
01:32because this is just something that I had laying around,
01:35and I kept it because it's cool.
01:37It's a rust-free Jeep TJ frame.
01:39We'd already cut all the coil buckets off the front
01:42because we're going to do a coil-over conversion on it,
01:44and it is virtually rust-free and has a complete drivetrain in it.
01:47Now, I'm not going to use the drivetrain.
01:49I'm not going to use these axles, but I do want the frame.
01:52So thank goodness I hoarded this around the back of the shop
01:56because it is going to allow me to turn this Jeep TJ
01:59into what I think is one of the best budget off-road vehicles out there,
02:04and that is a LCG crawler, low center of gravity.
02:07So I'm talking 40-inch tall tires with 2 inches of lift
02:11and a wheelbase stretch,
02:13and that wheelbase stretch means we get to cut this frame in half.
02:16Step 1. That's the best part.
02:18All this other stuff's got to go, though.
02:32The key to an LCG or low center of gravity build,
02:36it starts with the frame.
02:38Now, the end goal here is to fit a 40-inch tall tire with only 2 inches of suspension lift
02:44and then no body lift.
02:45We'll just basically cut the body up to fit the tires.
02:48Now, the problem with the TJ frames is the rear frame section,
02:53it's actually fairly wide.
02:54So if you do plan to run coilovers, which I do plan to do on this build,
02:58it's hard to fit them between the frame and the tire.
03:01Now, you can cut the frame out in what's called French the coilovers in,
03:05but you can also just do what's called a back half kit,
03:08which is actually almost a little bit easier,
03:11even though it's a little bit more work because you've got to get the body out of the way.
03:14But there's no body on this.
03:15So the back half frame kit is essentially going to replace the entire back half of this Jeep frame
03:19from pretty much the lower control mount all the way back.
03:23So the lower control arm mount, we're going to cut the frame right there
03:26and replace it with this new frame section.
03:28It'll bring it in to be a little bit narrower.
03:30It'll give us a room for our coilovers and much more room for the shocks
03:33and more up travel, which is what we're after.
03:45If you're working on a budget and you're building a hardcore Jeep,
03:49the axle package that's kind of become the new baby one ton are Jeep JL,
03:55or in this case, JT axles.
03:57Now, this is two complete takeouts out of a Jeep Gladiator Mojave.
04:02Now, I paid $3,000 for both of these axle assemblies
04:06and they have less than 10,000 miles on them.
04:09Nice thing about it is it already has an electric locker in the back,
04:12but we're going to use it a little bit differently.
04:14I'll show you that a little bit later.
04:16But the axles themselves, they're actually really good.
04:19They have an incredibly strong ring and pinion.
04:22They have really good brakes, good size axle tubes.
04:25And the best part is they can easily handle a 40 inch tall tire
04:29with a little bit of upgrades.
04:31And the nice thing is if you do 40 inch tall tires on a set of axles like this,
04:35it's kind of the equivalent to running like a 43 or a 44 on a one ton axle.
04:40If I was to go by a one ton axle, I'd lose all that ground clearance.
04:44I'd add a whole bunch of weight to the Jeep and I'd still have the same amount of room
04:48underneath the axle as I will with these with 40s.
04:51If you've got a Jeep TJ project in your future, do not sleep on the JL or Gladiator axle package.
04:58They really are the new baby one ton and they are a great option.
05:02I don't need any of these brackets on this axle because we're going to be building custom suspension.
05:06So first things first, all of them have to go.
05:09For today's tech tip, we're going to answer a question that I get asked by people who are
05:15and that is when is a good time to use an oxy-fuel torch?
05:19And when is a good time to use an oxy-fuel torch?
05:21And when is a good time to use an oxy-fuel torch?
05:23For today's tech tip, we're going to answer a question that I get asked a lot.
05:27And that is when is a good time to use an oxy-fuel torch and when is a good time to use a hand plasma?
05:48And when cutting brackets off an axle, this is the perfect time to talk about why I choose to use the oxy-fuel torch instead of the hand plasma.
05:56They both do the job well, but here is why I pick what I use.
06:00Now, an oxy-fuel torch, it's been around forever.
06:03It's one of the original ways for cutting metal.
06:06We basically have a mixing valve at the bottom or a mixing chamber where we mix the fuel.
06:11In this case, I'm using acetylene and oxygen.
06:14That is then mixed and ignited and creates a cutting flame at the tip.
06:18And then I introduced more oxygen while I'm cutting to blow the molten metal away.
06:24And that's what causes the cut.
06:26The nice thing about an oxy-fuel torch is it can cut any type of ferrous metal.
06:30And really, there is no limit.
06:32I have seen oxy-fuel torches cut steel that is 24 inches thick.
06:38I find that I have more control over the cutting flame, especially when we're working our way around areas like this bracket that used to be on this axle.
06:47Some general benefits of the oxy-fuel torch setup.
06:50Number one, you don't need a power supply, so you don't have to plug it into the wall.
06:53You just need two tanks, one of fuel and one of oxygen.
06:56So that makes it actually pretty mobile.
06:58You can use it inside or outside.
07:00It's not affected by any wind or air that blows around, unlike a welder or a plasma cutter.
07:05And one of the other nice things is it's not only used for cutting.
07:08You can actually weld with an oxy-fuel torch setup, and it's cheap.
07:12Good setup like this, maybe 500 bucks, and you're ready to go.
07:15Just got to add the tanks to it.
07:16Now, let's talk about a plasma cutter.
07:20Now, a plasma cutter is another way to cut things like brackets off axles.
07:25Now, the way that it works is it uses electricity and a piece of rare earth material inside here
07:31to make a small electrical arc similar to the arc that is developed when you're welding,
07:36but then it uses compressed air to blow that arc through whatever you're cutting.
07:41Nice thing about a plasma cutter is it can cut pretty much anything.
07:44It doesn't just have to be a ferrous material like steel.
07:47It can cut steel, aluminum, stainless steel, copper, brass.
07:52If it's metal or any type of material like that, you can cut it with a plasma cutter.
07:57It's fast, it's quick, it's easy, it's loud, but in my opinion,
08:02it's not as exact when you're doing stuff like this around brackets,
08:05and it's a little bit harder to manipulate.
08:09Nope.
08:13Now, the benefits of the plasma cutter is it actually can be a little bit faster
08:17than an oxy-fuel torch, but it does also require a few more items.
08:21We obviously have to have power for the cutter, so that's either 110 or 220 volt,
08:25and then you have to have some type of compressed air source.
08:28You're going to need an air compressor that feeds into the plasma cutter.
08:31The other thing is, it is obviously creating an arc and reaching a ground,
08:35so you are going to have to have a good quality ground when you're cutting,
08:38and if that ground messes up, just like it would mess up when you're welding,
08:41there's a chance it's going to affect the cut.
08:43Honestly, they're both great machines.
08:45Whether you choose to use oxy-fuel or plasma, it's really kind of personal choice.
08:49They're great. You really want to have both of the tools in your shop if you can,
08:53because there's times when you're going to want to grab that oxy-fuel torch,
08:56and there's going to be times when you want to grab a plasma.
09:02So we understand that the JL and JT axles are incredibly strong,
09:06and they'll be perfect for this vehicle, but we're not going to install them just as they sit.
09:10If we're going to run 40-inch tall tires, we at the very least have to re-gear them,
09:14but we're going to go a little bit further than that.
09:17Now, one of the reasons that the JL and JT axles are so strong is because of the ring and pinion.
09:23If you've had your hands on any of the JK or Dana 44 style ring and pinions,
09:27you can tell just by looking at this pinion that it is a lot stronger.
09:31It has a lot larger size, and that is where the strength is given inside that pinion.
09:37But it also has to do with the cut of the gears.
09:40So a factory JL or JT has what's called a two-cut gear in it.
09:44Now, what that means is that the face of the actual ring gear is the same profile all the way across from the heel to the toe.
09:52When you upgrade your gears or simply change them out,
09:55you don't want to basically downgrade the gears and go to a gear that may have a five-cut profile.
10:00The five-cut gear has a difference in tooth size and therefore is not as strong.
10:05Revolution gear and axle ring and pinions for the JL and JT.
10:09They are a two-cut gear, just like the factory OEM gear set.
10:13So we're going to retain that strength, but we're going to be able to upgrade them with the 513 ratio to match our gears and tires.
10:20Now, Revolution offers this in a complete gear package.
10:23So that's ring and pinions for the front and master install kit so you can get them in.
10:27Going to match that with a set of heavy-duty diff covers.
10:30We're going to upgrade the axle shafts, both front and rear as well.
10:33Now, these are 4340 chrome MOLLE shafts for both the rear and the front.
10:37It's a complete front kit which comes with heavy-duty U-joints and a front axle disconnect delete.
10:43So it's a one-piece shaft on the long side.
10:46The rears, the nice thing about them is they come fully assembled with the bearings and the tone rings and the wheel studs.
10:52So it's a simple install.
10:53As for traction devices, we're kind of going to work in our budget theme here because the nice thing about the JT axles that I got is it has an electronic locker in the rear from the factory.
11:05I like to set up my wheel and rigs with some type of mechanical traction adding device in the back and then a selectable locker up front.
11:13That way, when you're on the trail, you always know you're going to have two wheels spinning in the back.
11:17So for the back of our axles, we're actually going to remove the electric locker and replace it with an Eaton TrueTrack.
11:24That will ensure that we have that mechanical additional traction device in the rear.
11:29No buttons, no switches, no nothing, just traction when we need it.
11:32Then we're going to take the E-locker.
11:34We're going to move it to the front axle because right now that axle is open.
11:38And then we'll end up with a selectable locker in the front, which is exactly what I want.
11:43First, we've got to take them all apart.
11:53There's lots of fluid in there.
12:03Come on.
12:08The JL axles are a crush sleeve axle, so that means you have to tighten the pinion nut slowly.
12:16Now, when you're dealing with these high-speed CV flanges like that's on this one, it can be hard to hold it because it's perfectly round.
12:22So I just drop a punch into one of the locating holes and just hold onto it.
12:27I also keep readjusting the socket because what I do is I look for an identifier on the socket.
12:32In this case, it's actually the number of the size.
12:34And that way, when I put it on there and pull the trigger, I just want to move the nut an eighth of a turn at a time until I get the right pinion bearing preload.
12:42Pinion bearing preload is the rotational load or amount of power it takes to turn this yoke when it's sitting in here alone.
12:49In this case, it's about 15 inch-pounds of rotational load.
12:52So that's what I'm after.
13:20In the shop, we are working on this old worn-out Jeep TJ and I'm trying to build what we used to call in the old days like a throwback low center of gravity crawler.
13:30Now, the whole idea of an LCG crawler is to keep the body down as low as you can over the suspension.
13:36I'm prepping another frame for this vehicle because the frame underneath this one is rotten.
13:41Now, it's time to prep the body and it's going to be easier to do that with the body still in its original frame.
13:46So the first thing we got to do is basically strip a bunch of parts off because for a true LCG crawler, we're basically going to do what's called high lining this vehicle.
13:54So we're going to remove this bottom section of the hood and essentially move the fender up into the hood.
14:00Now, we do that with some other parts, but that means that all this stuff here and there and all that kind of stuff, it's got to go.
14:07The key to getting this Jeep as low as possible actually all revolves around these corners.
14:19Now, this is a very popular aftermarket corner armor on this Jeep, but our plan is to basically raise this wheel well so high that we essentially have to cut out most of the sheet metal that's underneath here.
14:31So we're going to be putting a set of high clearance corners on this.
14:35We're also stretching the wheelbase of this Jeep to 106 inches.
14:39So that means that this tire is eventually going to basically be all the way back here.
14:42So we're going to perform what's called a comp cut.
14:44So we're going to cut this body basically all the way across here and then come down here on an angle, essentially removing the rear left corner of the Jeep tub to make room for our 40 inch tall tire.
14:55So this corner armor has to go, the rockers got to go, and then we can put our new corner on, mark it and cut it.
15:05Oh, it was just a really long bolt.
15:13Now, if you plan to perform one of these stretch kits on your Jeep TJ, you do need to think of a couple of things.
15:19You can see right here that this is the section that we're going to be cutting out, and obviously this is the filler neck.
15:25If you're going to stretch the wheelbase as far as we plan to do on this, there is no way to still run a factory fuel tank underneath the Jeep.
15:33Your only option is to put some type of fuel cell right behind the back seat, which is what a lot of us used to do in the good old days, as we like to say.
15:40And that's what we'll do with this Jeep right here.
15:42The fuel tank will no longer be part of this particular setup.
15:45We'll put a cell in the back.
15:47But you can see how much of this sheet metal is going to go away.
15:49And with that tire moved all the way back, and now with the suspension being able to come up,
15:52this is how much extra room we have just by performing this modification.
15:57Let's mark this. Top it.
15:59What's it hung on?
16:25Boom.
16:27Gone.
16:28When you do these high comp cut corners, you can see that the actual fender is actually higher than the inner fender well on the factory TJ.
16:36And that's part of the plan.
16:38We're going to cut these original inner fender wells out and replace them with some new sheet metal fenders
16:43that will actually be almost even with the top of the soft top mount right here.
16:47So to basically finish this out, we'll go ahead and just carve these out of the way so we don't see them and we can work around them
16:54when we're doing things like mounting shocks and suspension.
16:57And then I think we're pretty much ready to pull this body off.
16:59With the body up and out of the way, you can really see the shape that this frame was in. It was absolutely shot.
17:17There was some repairs done to it, but it's definitely not able to be used on this project.
17:23So our new frame is pretty much prepped and ready to slide underneath.
17:27We've already done our body modification.
17:29So the plan now will be to roll this frame out of the way.
17:31We'll go ahead and get our new frame set up underneath and drop the body down and we can test fit our big old tires and wheels.
17:39Goodbye, sheet metal.
17:49Part of this whole rear frame back half kit basically means we've got to move the frame further up inside the body.
17:55So what we need to do now that the body is ready to drop back on, we need to come in here and basically trim a pocket for this frame rail to fit up in.
18:03And then this bumper will basically line up with the bottom of our comp cut corner.
18:07Today in the shop it's all about a budget TJ and I'm building what is one of my favorite setups.
18:28It's the LCG low center gravity crawler.
18:30So we're building it super low and we stretch the wheelbase a bunch.
18:33Now the donor vehicle we added a four liter in it, that's a good motor.
18:37But honestly the nice thing is nowadays you can pick up these junkyard LS engines super cheap.
18:42I got this whole package right here for about a thousand bucks.
18:45And that is a six liter engine with a 4L80.
18:48Now it's a two wheel drive 4L80 but that wasn't, that's not a big deal.
18:51I have a four wheel drive one I can swap onto here for now.
18:54But I couldn't pass up on the deal.
18:55So this engine in our TJ will be awesome.
18:58But I never liked how these engines look with this big plastic intake.
19:02And obviously we're going to need a way to run it.
19:05So for that we've got some cool new parts.
19:09If you're trying to get your LS engine to run in your project.
19:13Yes you could cut down a factory harness and use a junkyard computer.
19:17But for just a small investment you can get an all new harness and an ECU to run that engine from company like Phytek.
19:25But an even better option is to go with a complete EFI fuel system from Phytek.
19:31This is the NitroPort LS fuel injection package.
19:36It comes with an all new all aluminum intake manifold with a short runner design for high horsepower RPM delivery of power.
19:44The manifold is also ported and prepped for either nitrous or water methanol injection.
19:49It comes with everything that you need.
19:51An all new harness, fuel rails, fuel injectors, throttle body, all the sensors you need to make the engine run.
19:59Wideband O2, the computer to control it.
20:02And you can add optional transmission control for popular transmissions like the 4L80 or the 4L60.
20:08And then you even have a handheld that not only can you monitor all the engine's vitals with.
20:13But you can do the tuning to make the engine operate optimally.
20:17This kit is designed to work with engines that make 500, 750 or even 1000 horsepower.
20:23And it's available with either a 92mm or a 102mm throttle body on the cable driven throttle body design.
20:31This is the perfect package.
20:33If you couple it with the Phytek fuel delivery system, you're going to get a new fuel pump, fuel filter, fuel pressure regulator,
20:41and all the fuel lines needed to get the fuel from the tank up to the engine at the correct pressure and the correct flow to make it run perfect.
20:50So the next step in building this vehicle is going to be to set the wheelbase.
21:05The nice thing about these comp cuts is we can stretch the wheelbase to whatever we want.
21:09I'm going to shoot for 106 inches.
21:12That'll basically mean that the rear tire is sticking out just past the rear bumper.
21:16It'll be perfect for this setup.
21:18Then I got to build a complete custom suspension to get our new JL axle in that position.
21:23But this is all it takes to build yourself one of these LCG crawlers on a budget.
21:28It's literally just a pile of labor, a whole bunch of cutting, just cut and shove and make everything fit inside this body.
21:36And it's going to be a damn cool TJ.
21:39The coolest.
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