with a "Ladder Bar" to help control axle wrap
leaf springs with a Add-A-Leaf,
YJ shackles with greasable
bolts i got from "Currie Enterprise"
and a buggy leafs made from an old
YJ springs.
so after talking with friends on Off-Roads SWB BBS
at offroad.com iv'e decided to build a single "Ladder Bar"
with a shackle on the forward end to eliminate axle wrap
but not limit suspension articulation. I pretty much copied
one that Sam's OffRoad sells. (yellow one pictured).
that my jeep has evolved, using different driveshafts, cross-
member/skidplates, diff. covers and transfercases. I'm very
glad that when building this ladder bar i used treaded "Rod
Ends" on all corners which allow for much adjustment.
show that a "Rod End" is required on the forward end of the bar.
tubing, i think it is .085 wall, some 3 x 4
1/4" angle iron and 3 Rod Ends from the
Tractor Supply Store, they aren't the coolest
around but i think they will work good and
the price was right.
I used angle for the housing mount because
i was going to weld it to my 60 housing (the
only complete way to remove torque from
the axle tube themselves) and also
wanted more surface area for welding and
also get it as close to the center as i could
but decided against it, the front end just fit
to very nice just to the right of the transfer
case. You can't really see it but the forward
end shackle is hooked up to a factory CJ
shackle mount that i turned upside down and
then bolted to the skid plate that i shimmed up
to make stronger and hopefully keep it in
place. (later i think i'll build a custom
crossmember/skidplate for the transfercase
and bolt it to that)
SO, i have tested it off-road
it been wheeling a few times now and
i'm happy to say that it's not broken or
cracked. and i don't think i limits suspension
movement at all.
also during normal driving around town i can't
even tell that it's there, i guess thats good?
i have an automatic tranny with a shift kit
and if i get on it pretty hard and manually
shift from 1st to 2nd i can tell that something
is different. (it use to really yank hard, and now
it feels different, not smoother just Uh, Hmmm,
Uh, Hmmmmm, better?
also it seem to work great for mounting my
brake line to.
UPDATE: the upper rear rod end has got some
wear, it goes clunk once in awhile, all in all i'm
happy with my inexpensive tractor rod ends,
and all i'll need to do is unscrew the old one
and screw in a new.
