oopsie

[PizzaJeep]

ok i got back home from my rubicon trip about 24 hours ago now and now im trying to decide what to do with my jeep.. i broke it bad.. like really bad.. like had to jury rig it to drive out from the springs all the way through cadillac with a chained up front axle in 2 wheel drive. my entire front suspension grenaded until there was nothing left practically that was holding it together. upper control arms sheared off... track bar is completely wasted along with the axle mount that its still attached to, along with most of the bracket that its attached to including the spring bucket. sway bar mounts- wasted. shocks- obliterated. driveline- half is still on the trail somewhere.

yea i had a blast and cant wait to go back, but now what.. hmm well ill never have another track bar on my front end especially with how well my jeep was built to flex.. shit, i can get about a 1700 on a 20 degree ramp. way too much for stock axle and frame suspension mounts... they just cant handle that much stress.. anything stock on a tj that holds suspension together will eventually shear with flex as much as mine.. im thinking about denis' jeep now.. he should have quite a bit of flex with his setup and big tires now... if his is anything like mine... the mounts will start to shear. ive seen it on quite a few different places where my mounts are actually starting to simply tear.. not like the welding isnt all that great(even though factory welds kind of suck as far as being generous), but just the metal.. its not designed well and isnt made thick enough for this stuff....

it looks like the next time my jeep is back together it will have a triangulated 4 link front and rear. im cutting all of the damn factory mounts and making my own out of thicker steel and with way more weld holding it on. im tired of ripping mounts off of my jeep

im also thinking about just repairing my front driveline so it can go into 4 wheel drive and taking it to the moonrocks on the 15th to roll it... then call up my insurance company and have it totalled, then buy it right back to start cutting and welding.. if im going to do it, it better be done right, right? :bustedrun


either way, right now im driving a TR-6, for anyone who knows what one is, yes you have to be older, and yes it is a triumph that comes from england. :fro:

 

[Dennis]

You problem is Teraflex control arms, the bushings don't like to twist when it's flexed and put too much strees on the control arm mounts. I bet couple of years with those arms put enough stress on the mounts that they are sheering off now that you have more lift/bigger tire and doing harder stuff.

I also reinforced the front lower axle mounts with weld-on skid plates.

 

[xjmoser]

DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


:worthless

 

[Sauce]

I don't believe you pizza jeep, I will have to see pictures first ...

 

[4xyota]

same hear what did you do jump the rocks :bs:

 

[Dirty Harry]

im also thinking about just repairing my front driveline so it can go into 4 wheel drive and taking it to the moonrocks on the 15th to roll it... then call up my insurance company and have it totalled, then buy it right back to start cutting and welding.. if im going to do it, it better be done right, right? :bustedrun:

Thanks. I hope you don't have Allstate, I don't need my rates to go up any more thanks to fraudulent claims. :nono:

 

[PizzaJeep]

Denis: i might disagree on the teraflex issue.. those arms were the only thing holding my axle to the vehicle for quite a while. they pivot in any direction you want them to since theyre adjustable. they twist. the biggest problem is that without a trackbar, the axle will move side to side and thats what will kill those arms really fast. its always best to have more reinforcements on those mounts, but the problem is simply that the factory mounts arent thick enough, nor have nearly enough weld to hold it in place when your putting the kind of stress im putting on it.

everyone else: im in the process of posting pics up on the site for your viewing pleasure since i know you all love seeing carnage of my jeep.. i have dialup so give me a little bit haha

and btw, dirty harry, its not a fraudulent claim. i could take it to the state farm right now and the would most likely call it totalled because of the ripped mounts, broken arms, trackbar and other miscelaneous damage trying to get it home. when i tell them the story, it will be the complete truth, and not necessarily on purpose. i was using the jeep what it was built for. offroading, and accidents happen

 

[Dirty Harry]

im also thinking about just repairing my front driveline so it can go into 4 wheel drive and taking it to the moonrocks on the 15th to roll it... then call up my insurance company and have it totalled,

RIIIIGGHT.

Of course what do I know, most the guys with TJs I've wheeling through the Rubicon with made it through without any issues, but they are all running track bars considering that their suspensions are not triangulated.

 

[PizzaJeep]

everyone i know who has gone the same route im going got that way from having weak links which is the factory metal bracketry. i have pics of all of the different places where the mounts are simply shearing from the amount of stress ive put them through.. i blame it soley on poor design and thin metal

my friend langus, my neighbor john and me posing at the top of scout rock

playing around at rubicon springs

posing on the bridge

thats HIGH QUALITY chain holding my axle in place right now

going through a water crossing on my way back

more pics of the present level of carnage to come!!!

 

[Dennis]

Denis: i might disagree on the teraflex issue.. those arms were the only thing holding my axle to the vehicle for quite a while. they pivot in any direction you want them to since theyre adjustable. they twist.

They twist, but only in one plane. Poly bushings restrict any other movement though. On the other hand RE flex joing and Currie Johnny Joint twist and turn relieving the bind that buhings are put into during the full suspension travel.

Search JU for "Teraflex arms" and you'll find lots of info.

 

[PizzaJeep]

well if that was the case, it would make sense that my upper arms wouldnt have sheared in half. both of the axle mounts for both uppers have superflex arms on the axle side, yet the teraflex arms are the only ones that stayed on the axle. the superflex joints on top should have relieved a lot of the stress of the upper control arms, but theyre made of sheetmetal as opposed to the teraflex arms being made out of heavy wall DOM tubing with threaded rods and bungs. either way im going to design a triangulated 4 link with no sway bars involved. the axle side of these 1.5"x.120 wall(or thicker) DOM tubing arms will have super ride bushings from RE. the frame side of all 8 mounts will have superflex joints. im going to build them solid with no adjustability. i might do just heims on the upper control arms for the frame mount side since i can adjust the pinion angle a little easier, and adjust for differences in fab work. i have to design a good upper arm mount for the front frame side so that it doesnt hit anything, yet is at a 45 degree angle, so that there isnt any axle wobble, thus eliminating the need for trackbars... i hate trackbars, they suck. way too much stress on just one joint...

for a good idea of how it will be designed angle-wise, look at the teraflex LCG system. that is the closest system that you can buy to what im going to do, the difference is that i will be using stronger tubing and superflex joints.

its all just money right??? maybe i need another job so that i can support this heep haha

 

[spoon]

had to jury rig it to drive out from the springs all the way through cadillac with a chained up front axle in 2 wheel drive.

Thats funny, I don't see a chain holding your front axle in that poser flex shot from the top of Cadillac. No way you drove that heep up Cadillac in 2-wheel drive like that without someone towing or winching your junk. Post up some good pics of what you broke. Till then.... :bs: :bs: :bs: :bs: :bs: :bs: :bs: :bs:

 

[PizzaJeep]

ok for the slow crowd ie spoon :crazy: i drove it in through rubicon springs past the bridge, through the first sluice before it broke. the pic at the top of scout point was on the way in, before everything failed, along with me on the rocks at the springs and over the bridge.. that was all on the way in. the only 2 pics i have up in that batch is the one with the obvious chains around the axle, and me going through the water crossing.

cadillac was not easy to get up by any means, i had 2 low with a locked rear end and still had to get about 5 tugs in order to get all the way out thanks to the water and slippage from wet tires

 

[PizzaJeep]

a good view of the highlift handle repair job to the upper control arms.

yes that is a 7/16" wrench welded to my bracket, to hold the mount down

another good shot of the highlift jack handle welded into the uppers, holding it together

high performance shocks.. bye bye

whoever said that once its on the trailer, the damage is done- thanks to the blue toyota behind it, my tailgate is dented in and my lights are screwed time for some pretty LED's

axle chained together

 

[xjmoser]

Nice upper control arm. Is that a stock arm?

I would take it back to whoever thought that would last. :buttkick:

Tell them the flames look cool though.












No wonder it broke???

 

[xjmoser]

Is that a wrench welded in there on the second pic?



If so:scratchhe

 

[throttleboy]

hey pizzaheep, in the second pic is that a link mount half welded,half bolted and braced with a peice of welding rod to the top of the center section?? :fro: !!

 

[throttleboy]

Is that a wrench welded in there on the second pic?



If so :fro:

fixxed it for ya !!

 

[spoon]

hey pizzaheep, in the second pic is that a link mount half welded,half bolted and braced with a peice of welding rod to the top of the center section?? :fro: !!

Please tell us that mess on top of your diff is a trail fix :barf:

 

[Sauce]

kudos on the trail fix, all I can say is you really screwed up your suspension, is it still under warranty? Nice sig Dave, your my #1 midget biatch.