Thursday, October 21, 2010

ARB / Cap-it Offroad Jeep - Phase II - Assembly

Assembly Time

Seeing that our new frame came from a 4cyl Jeep, we had reposition the motor mounts. The 4 cylinder engine sat further back in the frame rails which won’t work for our 4.0L. So we cut off the 4 cyl mounts and welded on the original mounts that came with the old frame.

Cutting off 4 cyl mounts

The new 4.0L mounts in place. (Notice how much closer the mounts are to the coil pocket) Also the steering column bracket had to be relocated as well.

Now that we’ve got the motor mounts in the right location, it’s time to paint the frame, and put the motor and transmission back in.

Now for the fun part. From ARB we’re going to be using OLD MAN EMU’s 4” Front and Rear Coils and Extended Length Nitrocharger Sport Twin Tube shocks. Old Man Emu has always been known for their 2-2½” lifts, but when it comes to the Jeep TJ & JK’s they offer a 4” application for those who want more lift. This 4” application is not a full kit, so we’re going to Daystar and some other products to make it complete. This partial 4” kit runs about $1245.00 and a complete 2” kit goes around $1235.00

Old Man Emu is known as one of the best tuned suspensions systems for Landcruiser’s, Land Rover’s, Toyota’s and many more Import Makes, but when it comes to Jeep Stuff they have a multitude of different applications to make your ride better than ever. If you have a Soft Top or Hard Top, Front and Rear Bumper and even a roof rack, Old Man Emu provides different spring settings and shock valving to handle these additional options for optimal performance in ride control. 

Since our 4” lift kit does not come with extended short arms, we’re going to use DAYSTAR’s Poly Flex Control Arms. These are arms are sweet. They come with greaseable Spherical Ball Joints for better articulation and they’re fully rebuildable too. For around $1200 it’s a great investment for those who want the most out of their Jeep.

Shown here are the size differences from the lower and upper arms fully assembled.

Close up of the Flex Joint with grease pin

Now being installed on the front axle. Pay close attention to the instructions as they give you measurements on how long to make the Upper & Lower Short Arms.

Old Man Emu front springs installed along with the twin tube Nitrocharger Sport Shocks.

Check back with us as we continue the build and post more updates on the ARB / Cap-it Jeep Build.






Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Cap-it Jeep Project - Phase I


ARB  gets Cap-it® to build a Project
Because Life’s an Adventure™ Cap-it enjoys the outdoors as do many of our customers. So for the first time ever ARB 4X4 Products has teamed up with Cap-it to build Ultimate Jeep TJ. Jeeps are a great platform to build from and we sell some of the best products in the industry for this project. On this build were going to be outfitting our Jeep with just about every conceivable ARB Product they make including Old Man Emu Suspension. As for the finishing touches we’ll throw some Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels, Bushwacker Flares, Daystar Jeep Products and much more goodies. After the Jeep is finished it will be travelling around our 15 locations for viewing and also be hitting the trails.

Our Build starts with a 97 Jeep TJ Sport that has 240,000kms on a 80,000km rebuilt Fuel Injected 6 cylinder 5spd for just under $4000. It was a daily commuter from Vancouver to Whistler.

The Start of the Build.
Picked up the Jeep and started the tear down process


Within the next few days we cleaned out the Jeep and started dismantling it. We’re going to do a frame off rebuild on this Jeep. The reason for this is to ensure our project is going to be worthy of the trail and also be much easier to work on.

Now that we have the body off we’re diving deeper into the chassis as this has years of grime and corrosion on it. Seeing that we don’t have an engine hoist to yank the motor and tranny out, we’re going to use the bucket off our John Deere Tractor. I gotta tell you, this is much easier than using a cherry picker. If you got a tractor with a bucket, use it.


The main reason we’re stripping it down to the frame is to send it out for powder coat. Being 13 years old and seeing surface rust on the frame, we want a fresh clean look. After a closer inspection of the frame we double checked to make sure it was all solid. To our surprise the frame was not good at all. Although the rear frame section had surface rust on it, it was still in good shape. However the middle sections above the transmission/transfer-case skid plate was a whole different storey. The outside frame rail looked great but the inside was shot. It was packed full of crud and was literally rusting from the inside out. The frame was so thin in some areas that the first major trail we hit would have eventually bent or broke it in half. This was a huge set back, we did not expect this. After some discussion about this problem we decided to get another frame. After a few days of searching the local Off-Road forums to no avail, we lucked out and picked up a near new frame at a local wrecking yard for $400. This saved us a ton of work as we didn’t have to send the new frame out to get media blasted and powder coated.
Old Frame.



Shown here is the top of the rear coil pockets that were basically disintegrating into nothing.
The Newer Frame

Check back shortly as we will be updating the Jeep blog often as the build progresses.
www.cap-it.com