JeepSpeed Front Suspension Build

So Randy and I are beginning to think that we should have bought a truck instead of trying to build our own. Not only is the truck fighting us, we had lots of problems with the after-market parts as well.

Anyway, we were supposed to do a lot of stuff today but as usual, we only got part of one thing done after 9 hours of work... at least Josh showed up this time so it wasn't just the two of us. Long story short, we installed the trac-bar mount and also the control arm mounts from Full Traction. It was supposed to be a bolt-on kit but we ended up drilling and cutting all sorts of holes in the frame; The pre-drilled mounting holes did not match the stock bolts/holes exactly. I think we need to work on the truck every weekend if we want to race by September.

Pictures:


Replacement control arm mount. These mount further back on the truck to give the front wheels more travel. Full Traction (manufacturer) put their stickers upside down.


Wheels. Randy bought eight of them for our truck. Now we just need tires (and a lot of other stuff).


"How does this fit together?" The instructions are pretty sparse. There are about 10 pages of instructions; we only ended up completing one page today.


Woohoo! First after-market part installed!


Since we want to weld on the new control arm mounts later, we needed to clean off the frame around the mounts. I'm not too good with high-speed rotating tools; this is ~20 minutes of work. I ended up covered with powdered road grime, rust, paint, and primer.


Drilling holes into the frame to further secure the control arm mounts. It was more difficult than I thought and definitely more involved than the one line instructions: drill hole and insert bolt.


Both pieces of the mount installed. I wasn't very much help... even sprained my neck at one point, so I just took pictures.


Even though the bolts were supposed to be self-tapping, Randy decided to tap the holes manually to make sure the bolts fastened correctly and didn't strip the threads.


New trac-bar mount. Josh installed this piece in the morning. Since it used existing mounting holes and bolts, it was quite uneventful, not like the rest of the day.


The existing canopy was ripped during a rainstorm a few months ago. Since it was quite sunny today, Randy's dad put up a temporary tarp to give us some shade. I think I got sunburned in the face nevertheless.