The Slimer Build Thread

Prime8

Prime8

New member
Thanks everyone! Now I need to buy another jeep to hand down to my second son... I think I'll let his mama heal a little bit before bringing that up... Haha
 
kRay.JK

kRay.JK

New member
Congrats on the new addition to the family!

Quick question - how are the 37s with the stock axles? I see where you gusseted the front C's but didn't find any sleeving or trussing.
 
Prime8

Prime8

New member
kRay.JK said:
Congrats on the new addition to the family!

Quick question - how are the 37s with the stock axles? I see where you gusseted the front C's but didn't find any sleeving or trussing.
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Thanks!
Here's my take on it:
The gussets are to prevent bending of the "C's" which can happen at any time, even hitting a huge pot hole, once you have big tires and heavy bead locks. The trussing and sleevingis more for housing protection when you start banging it off rocks. rtguy1 knows a lot about trussing, maybe he will jump in here and help you out. Trussing or sleeving would probably be a good investment, but like anything else, it depends highly on the installer. Make sure you have a smart, talented welder to do the job. Most sleeves require drilling holes in the housing to rosette weld the sleeves to the housing. If the holes are drilled in series, as opposed to staggered, you can crack the housing. If the welder doesn't move fast enough, you can embrittle the housing as well. The trusses seem beefier in my opinion.

But for the cost of the truss, and the labor to install, plus any goodies you might be adding like nicer ball joints, chromoly axle shafts, etc, it might be smarter to just buy something like a PR44. You can probably make an axle housing setup as tough as the PR44 yourself, but it won't be warrantied if something bad DOES happen. Whereas if you break the PR44, it would be warrantied. Just my 2 cents...
 
kRay.JK

kRay.JK

New member
Prime8 said:
Thanks!
Here's my take on it:
The gussets are to prevent bending of the "C's" which can happen at any time, even hitting a huge pot hole, once you have big tires and heavy bead locks. The trussing and sleevingis more for housing protection when you start banging it off rocks. rtguy1 knows a lot about trussing, maybe he will jump in here and help you out. Trussing or sleeving would probably be a good investment, but like anything else, it depends highly on the installer. Make sure you have a smart, talented welder to do the job. Most sleeves require drilling holes in the housing to rosette weld the sleeves to the housing. If the holes are drilled in series, as opposed to staggered, you can crack the housing. If the welder doesn't move fast enough, you can embrittle the housing as well. The trusses seem beefier in my opinion.

But for the cost of the truss, and the labor to install, plus any goodies you might be adding like nicer ball joints, chromoly axle shafts, etc, it might be smarter to just buy something like a PR44. You can probably make an axle housing setup as tough as the PR44 yourself, but it won't be warrantied if something bad DOES happen. Whereas if you break the PR44, it would be warrantied. Just my 2 cents...
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Great info! Thank you. The reason I ask is that the JK front axles have a tendancy to smile which ruins all sorts of things (from what I've read). I've long contemplated installing some Nitro non-weld sleeves but wasn't sure if they were truly necessary for 35"-37" tires. I will definitely be welding on some knuckle gussets. Hopefully it's not too late :grayno:

As far as going PR44 I wont have that kind of money for a while. I only plan to run 35" or maybe 37" tires but I did want to preemptively build the axle slightly to avoid major headaches down the road. A PR44 would be nice but honestly I'd probably just go kingpin 60 if I swapped the axle.
 
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Prime8

Prime8

New member
kRay.JK said:
Great info! Thank you. The reason I ask is that the JK front axles have a tendancy to smile which ruins all sorts of things (from what I've read). I've long contemplated installing some Nitro non-weld sleeves but wasn't sure if they were truly necessary for 35"-37" tires. I will definitely be welding on some knuckle gussets. Hopefully it's not too late :grayno:

As far as going PR44 I wont have that kind of money for a while. I only plan to run 35" or maybe 37" tires but I did want to preemptively build the axle slightly to avoid major headaches down the road. A PR44 would be nice but honestly I'd probably just go kingpin 60 if I swapped the axle.
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I think we'd all like 60's, but that's apples to oranges. I was trying to compare other similar alternatives. I have no idea what kind of wheeling you do or your skill level, but I'd say that a truss, like the Arctec, and gussets would be sufficient until you can afford 60's. I'd get the LCA skids while your at it for another $35. The front LCAs hang down low (as do the rears...) and I sat my front end on a rock on the EVO LCA skids without any damage besides scrapes and paint removal. For the cheap price, they are definitely worth doing.
 
kRay.JK

kRay.JK

New member
Prime8 said:
I think we'd all like 60's, but that's apples to oranges. I was trying to compare other similar alternatives. I have no idea what kind of wheeling you do or your skill level, but I'd say that a truss, like the Arctec, and gussets would be sufficient until you can afford 60's. I'd get the LCA skids while your at it for another $35. The front LCAs hang down low (as do the rears...) and I sat my front end on a rock on the EVO LCA skids without any damage besides scrapes and paint removal. For the cheap price, they are definitely worth doing.
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Fair enough. I appreciate the advice and will definitely look into the LCA skids. I noticed some damage after my last wheeling trip so LCA skids will probably happen sooner than later. The Jeep is currently in stasis mode as I'll be in France all summer. I wonder if I'll see a single Jeep.
 
Prime8

Prime8

New member
Thanks everyone. And yes, very busy... I will be trying to post my parts list and review of the hydro assist soon. Needless to say, life has been a little hectic...
 
Prime8

Prime8

New member
Tech question! I've got a squeak/chirp from my drivers side rear whenever I hit large or sharp bumps. What should I check?
 
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