ARB and Cap-it Jeep TJ Off Road Project

Preparing for the new Ford 8.8 Axle

2012-03-05T15:12:00.001-08:00

After some careful planning and gathering all of the necessary components, we're ready to start work on our Ford 8.8 Axle swap for the Jeep. The rearend that we're going to be using is out of a 91-94 Ford Explorer with a 31 splined shaft. The reason for the axle swap is we need better gearing than the stock 3.07 gears we have in the Jeep. Also when you go to a lower gear ratio, you must use a different carrier. So since we want to use Air Lockers and 4.56 gears it just make sense to get a beefier rearend to take some abuse with everything we have invested into it.

First thing we did was completely strip down the entire axle. Cut off the leaf spring perches, shock mounts and took the factory gears out. We also did away with the stock drum brakes as we're going to do a rear disc brake conversion.

Here we are now on the start of the gear assembly. We are going to a 4.56 gear ratio to match up with the 35" tall tires along with all new bearings.

After installing the the pinion gear and seating it properly, we're now installing the new ring gear on the ARB Air Locker. Part# RD81

With the new ring gear installed, we have to do a little bit of trimming on one of the teeth in order to get the center kingpin out from the locker. All we used was a Die Grinder with a Carbide Tip and shaved a little off.

Now we can install the new locker and line up the gears. When routing the copper air line around the gears, take your time with this. You don't want to snap the line off the fitting nor kink it.

Here we are measuring the backlash

Now for some gear pattern to make sure the ring and pinion gears

are lined up and shimmed correctly. Rotate the gears front to back and back to front to ensure contact has been made on the gears

As you can see by the wear on the pattern, we want the ring gear to line up in the middle of the ring gear. We got lucky on the first try and didnt need to take it apart to re-shim it.

Now we have to drill out a 7/16" hole on the top of differential housing for our air line feed and thread it with a 1/4 NPT Pipe Tap

Shown here is the finished view of the locker and gears installed

Next up on the Ford 8.8 Axle swap, we install Rear Disk Brakes from a Mustang and ARTEC Industries

TJ 8.8 Swap Kit with Truss

Check back with us soon

T-Case Slip Yoke Eliminator Kit (SYE)

2012-02-20T23:53:00.001-08:00

A Slip Yoke Eliminator Kit (SYE) is a very common drive line upgrade for Jeep owners. This is where you remove the slip yoke from the output tail shaft from the NP231 T-case and mount a fixed yoke end. The main reason why owners do this is to reduce the rear drive shaft vibration after a lift kit has been installed. Due to the increased drop in suspension, the drive shaft angle increases dramatically causing the u-joints to operate at their limit.

By installing the SYE kit, we can lengthen the rear drive shaft and reduce the

angle load on the u-joints. The SYE kit we are using is from Advance Adapters.

As you can see with full suspension droop, how severe of an angle the rear drive shaft is.

Here we are removing T-case from the transmission.

Now removed from the transmision

Now that we have the T-case out on on our bench,

it's time open it up and replace the outout shaft.

First we remove Speedo Gear sending unit.

Then the rear seal along with the inner c-clips.

Now we have the T-case split open, it's relatively easy to remove the output shaft.

Lift the output shaft and idler gear at the same time.

As you can see the new output shaft on the right is much smaller

that the stock one on the left.

Now installing the gears from the old shaft onto the new output shaft.

Be sure to keep the gears in the same order as you took them off.

Use the new C-clips that are supplied in the kit.

To install the new output shaft you assemble everything back together in the reverse order.

Clean off the flange surface thoroughly and apply a bead of RTV Silicone.

Once the top half cover of the T-case is bolted back together, we can install the oil pump pickup drive and then the new Speedo gear on followed up with a

new C-clip to hold it in place.

The next step in to install the new aluminum tailhousing that has a new bearing pre installed

The factory Speedo Sensor is mounted the new tailhousing and attached the new fixed yoke to the end of the output shaft. Torque to 140-150 ft./lbs. with 1-1/8" socket.

Here you can see the difference in the length of the output shaft.

This is going to help us gain length in our new custom drive shaft that we

are getting built later, once the new Ford 8.8 rearend is installed.

Stay tuned for more updates as we get set to install

Air Lockers and Gears in our 31 Spline Ford Explorer 8.8 Axle.

CAP-IT JEEP TJ - DRIVE TRAIN UPGRADES

2012-02-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

Well after a year has gone by on the completion of the Cap-it Jeep TJ, it's now time to upgrade the drive train. If we are wanting to hit the back road trails in beautiful British Columbia, we need a properly equipped Jeep.

So in saying this its time to get rid of the stock 3.07 gears, remove driveline vibrations, replace the rear Dana 35 with a heavier rear end and lock up the front & rear differentials with some air powered lockers.

Check in with us as we'll update the progress through the up and coming weeks.

Plans for the TJ

Transfer Case Slip Yoke Eliminator (SYE) kit

Ford 8.8 Rear Axle Swap

Front and Rear ARB Air Lockers w/4.56 Gears

Cap-it ARB Jeep at Edmonton International Autoshow

2011-04-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

Cap-it is now Open in West Edmonton

CAP-IT WEST EDMONTON

17930 Stony Plain Road.
Edmonton, AB, T5S 1N5

PH: 780 481-0448

Look for Cap-it's Booth at this years

Edmonton International Auto Show,

April 14th - 17th

as our Cap-it ARB Jeep Build will be on Display

Cap-it / ARB Jeep COMPLETED

2011-03-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

Finally!! After a fast and furious pace these last few weeks, the Cap-it / ARB Jeep Project in now Complete.

Be sure to come by Cap-it's Booth and see the Jeep on display for the first time.

Grande Prairie Sports Expo show April 1-3 2011,

The TEC Center at Evergreen Park, Grande Prairie

Stay tuned as we give a complete run down on the last remaining accessories on completing the Cap-it/ARB Jeep project.

Update #9 - Safari Snorkel Install

2011-02-18T16:21:00.000-08:00

Time to Snorkelize the Jeep with a Safari Snorkel from ARB.

For those who want quality and durability in protecting their engines from what mother nature has to throw at it, Safari Snorkel is the one to go with.

First things first, we make a few measurements with templates that are provided in the kit. This is going to help insure us in drilling holes in the right place.

Now we mark the holes and drill them out.

The last hole to drill out we need to use a 76mm holesaw. This is where check and recheck yourself comes into the equation. You got only one shot with this.

Now that the hole is drilled out in the body, we can line up the snorkel to the windshield, mark out for the upper mount and install it.

As for the intake box, we remove the intake horn and seal it up a plate that’s provided. Make sure to use ample amount of silicone for a good seal.

Next we use a template to mark out the side of the intake box to cut out for snorkel tube attachment.

I used a 1¼” holesaw to get a cleaner cut around the corners.

Once again be generous with the silicone and install the intake plate with pop rivets supplied.

Here we install the airbox back on the fender. As you can see the block off and intake plates now installed.

Now we hook up the intake hose and apply a bit of silicone on the ends for a water tight seal.

When then attach the hose to the intake pipe by crawling under the Jeep to access the area that’s below the battery tray.

We now install the intake grille to complete our install of the Safari Snorkel.

The finished look.

Here’s a few video’s on what Safari Snorkels are all about.

LINKS

Cap-it Off-Road

Safari Snorkel by ARB

Stay tuned as we tackle more accessories

Phase VIII - Install a Customer Headliner and Repainting the Hardtop

2011-02-07T11:03:00.000-08:00

So the past couple of weeks we’ve made some really good progress on coming close to getting our Jeep on the road. We’ve repainted the Hardtop and Carpet Lined the inside to get rid of the factory white interior roof.

Here’s what the inside of a Jeep Hardtop looks like. It’s plain, white & boring looking. Just about every Jeep out there with a Hardtop looks like this and when we’re finished carpeting this, you’d wonder why Jeep didn’t offer this as a standard option. Especially with the ever so popular Jeep JK’s now.

To do this we took the rear glass off, removed any hinges and interior lighting to make the job easier. Then flipped it upside down on some moving blankets to not scratch it up.

The style of headliner we’re using is called Foss Lining in Charcoal color. It’s a material that is marine grade that doesn’t collect water and create mildew. In our industry its widely used in the Leer Canopy’s to cut down moisture. So this is really going to help in regards to fogging of windows, help with insulation and also cut down on interior noise.

If you’ve never done upholstery work of any sort, leave this job to the Cap-it guys. It takes a lot of experience to make this job look like it was done at the factory.

First we mask off all the area’s we don’t want to have glue sprayed on, then we start from the middle and work our way out. The glue we’re using is moisture resistant and will ensure that the liner stays up for many years.

Then carefully wrap it up the side and contour it to the groves in the fiberglass.

Once both sides are done, I then go with a new blade and carefully trim off the access material.

Then we start re-installing all the hardware/wiring plugs and the window rubber.

Here’s the finished look on our Hardtop Interior. As you can see this really cleans up the inside.

To make this job look like a million bucks you have to take your time and be patient. For having over 15 years of experience, this job took me around 4 hours from prep work to reinstalling the hardware. Call your local Cap-it Store to get a quote on getting your Hardtop carpeted, as this adds a great look and cleans up the interior to a factory finish.

Now for the repainting the exterior.

The top has a textured finish that I wanted to keep sanding it down is out of the question. So I gave it a very good wash and towel dried it to make sure I removed all the dirt and grime. I then turned up the heat in the shop to get the hard top nice and warm. As for prepping, the only thing to do is to mask off the windows and door openings for over spray not to ruin the carpet.

I used about 2½ cans of Duplicolor semi gloss black and gave it about 4 coats of paint. I was a little surprised how much the hardtop absorb the paint.

Now that the Hardtop is looking like brand new, its time to put it back on the Jeep and take it outside and have a look.

Check back shortly as we’re on a mission to finish up the Project

Some of the items to finish up our Cap-it/ARB Project are:

ARB's Roof Top Tent

ARB’s Safari Snorkel

ARB’s IPF Off Road Lighting

Rampage Products

Phase VII - ARB Front & Rear Bumpers

2011-01-24T16:45:00.000-08:00

So we’re finally going to install the Front and Rear ARB Bumpers on our Jeep.

ARB is world renown for their Air Lockers but when it comes to Bumpers they’re above the rest. The quality and engineering that go into them is second to none. ARB Bumpers are the only ones that are AIRBAG Certified on the market today. They are designed to be highly durable, lightweight and yet designed to absorb impact if the unmentionable happens.

The front bumper is pretty basic. Undo the 6 bolts holding the factory bumper, light up the new bumper up and bolt back on using all new hardware.

Seeing that we just installed a winch bumper, it be rude not to put a winch on.

For this we are going to be installing WARN’s latest hi-tech 9.5ti winch. This powerhouse is a work of art, it has Thermo Integrated technology that let’s you know when the winch is close to overheating. This will reduce down time and wear and tear on the winch. It does this from a red LED light on the winch remote. COOL STUFF!

It’s pretty basic to install a winch, the only challenge was trying to get the winch inside the bumper. After shoe-horning the winch in from the side, it’s a really tight fit inside the mounting location. But it sure look great in there.

The Rear Bumper is a little more challenging.

Extra attention should be taken when reading the instructions. There are a lot of prep work and hidden clip-on-nuts that need to be attached before you mount the bumper on the frame. If you miss one, you’re going to be taking the whole bumper off to get at it.

Here you seen the nuts clipped onto the backside of the bumper

Now we have to insert the alignment bolt for the swing away spare tire carrier. This seemed to be very difficult as there is not a lot of room to get your finger in there.

As for the bumper brackets, they mount up to the factory slotted holes in the frame. The nuts have to be fed up through access holes and left loose to center the bumper.

After we loosely mount up the bumper on the brackets, we attach some of the bumper latches on.

Once the bumper is centered to the body, there are 2 holes in the middle of the bumper that need to be marked put for drilling. The bumper then has to be removed to drill out the 2 marked locations and an additional 2 to hold the back bracket in place.

Now we mount the bumper back on and drill 2 more additional holes up through the frame brackets and bumper mounts on each side.

As you can see there’s about 5 bolts and 2 more on top (hidden from view) which gives you 7 attached mount points for superior strength. This will be necessary to support the weight of the tire carrier & 35” spare and the additional use for HI-LIFT jacks to change flats and towing purposes.

After the bumper is lined up and bolted together, its time for the swing away carrier.

Insert the huge bolt supplied with some grease and snug it up. No too tight or it won’t swing free.

The lock out pin, hydraulic gas shock and latching mechanism with urethane guide can be attached.

There’s a cover plate that needs to be attached over the support guide on the bumper.

From here we attach the wheel studs to the mounting plate for our spare. There are several holes to allow for different size wheel patterns. We’re configuring ours for 5-on-4.5”. the mounting plate then has to be adjusted out to allow our spare tire to sit flat up against the carrier. You’ll be taking it on and off serval times to get the right fit.

With the full weight of everything we finally mount the 35” spare on and make sure it opens. Some minor adjustments with the alignment bolt on the carrier hinge, we make sure that it operates easy and latches up properly to the bumper.

Stay tuned for more as next week we install a Customer Carpet Headliner and repaint the Hardtop.

For more info on ARB Product visit www.arbusa.com and http://www.cap-it.com/offroad.html

Phase VI - Off Road Gear!

2010-12-28T13:51:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh……… the Christmas festivities are finally over. It’s time to get back to reality and have some fun in the shop with the Jeep build.

A few weeks back we picked up the Jeep from the Body Shop with our brand new look. So now the fun part starts in outfitting the Jeep with some Off-Road gear.

First we’re going to replace the original seal beam headlights lights with a pair of IPF 920H 7” round lens’s from ARB. The lens’s are Prism and Column Cut to produce a 15 degree rise in the outside edge light pattern to provided a better view of the road shoulder. The beauty of this new lens housing is that you can use a aftermarket H4 High/Low Bulb to get a brighter output to increase visibility. This simple upgrade is a must for all Jeep owners. They’re available in the 7” Round & 7” Rectangular for YJ’s, TJ’s and JK’s.

On the right is the original seal beam headlight and the new IPF light is on the left

We’re installing the IPF H4 130/170w bulbs in the new housing. This should really light things up.

Before

After

Now for some more exterior styling. We’re going to be installing BUSHWACKER’s latest Flat Fender Style Flares to give our Jeep an old school look. (97-06 TJ’s & Unlimited - #10920-07 and 07-10 JK 4dr - #10918-07) Click to download BUSHWACKER’s Flat Fender Special - Flat Fender Rebate

These flares do take some time to put on especially taking off the old originals. So as dumb as it sounds, be sure to read the instructions before install the flares or you’re going to be taking them on and off a few times.

The Flat Fender Flares are a direct bolt on in the factory holes. Bushwacker provides all the necessary hardware and trim in the kit, including a new LED signal light on the front flares. On our Jeep, most of the fasteners were corroded and simply broke off, so we had to improvise when installing the new flares.

The first thing you have to do is install the mounting brackets in the factory holes. The reason for this is for the flares to mount over the bracket to give a clean seamless install. There’s about 3 brackets per wheel well to be fitted.

As I mentioned earlier most of the factory flare hardware had to be removed due to being in rough shape. Here I had to reinstall some ¼” thread crush nuts back into the body to mount the flare brackets.

When mounted in you can see in the picture it’s a flush mount application.

Now that I’ve attached the body trim to the flare, I simply slide the flare over the bracket and screw them together. As you can see this will give us adequate tire coverage and also give is the Classic Jeep Flat Fender look on our modern TJ.

Since I’m working on the flares, I might as well put the ARB Rock Sliders (#4450010) and make sure they work with the new Flares.

I always wanted to install these sliders and to my surprise, they’re very easy to install. The protection and coverage the Rock Sliders give are unbelievable. A lot of time went into these when designing them.

As you can see ARB’s Rock Slider give you superior side coverage on the side and under the rocker panel for when your traversing over big boulders and stumps. They also provide brackets that mount on the inside of the rocker panel to give more strength and support for the rocker panel.

Wow!! We’re in luck.

Mind you there was a little persuading and massaging I had to do to get them to work but they just barely fit between the new flares I just installed.

What I had to do is take off the rear fender flare, hold the Rock Slider in place and then mount the fender flare back on. As you can see I had about a 3/16” of room to work with, but it worked.

Now that’s a tight fit!

Front

Rear

So I’ve got the slider in place and there’s 6 holes on the face of the rocker panel that need to be marked for drilling. Now I have to take off the rear flare in order to remove the rock slider to drill through the rocker panel.

Now that I’ve got the holes drilled out, I can now reinstall everything back together again and bolt the sliders up to the rocker panel with the support bracket on the backside for the added strength.

To secure the bottom, ARB supplies 3/16” pop rivets to fasten the bottom portion of the sliders to the bottom of the body. There’s about 14 pop rivets per slider.

Here’s the final look of the flares the rock sliders mounted together.

Stay tuned for more as we mount up the ARB Front & Rear Bumpers with the Swing away Tire Carrier.

Every you’ve seen today can be purchased through one of our 15 Locations throughout BC & Alberta or on Cap-it’s Online website

For more information about any other ARB Products, you can visit them at www.arbusa.com

ARB/CAP-IT Offroad Jeep - Phase V - Paint

2010-12-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

Finally after weeks of not posting anything I’m back on board and happy to reveal the look for our ARB / Cap-it Jeep Project. What a HUGE difference.

But first, let start from the beginning . . .
We make a call to Cap-it Abbotsford to find out who they deal with in regards their painted products and they recommended Fix Auto Renascent Collision in Abbotsford. So I get a hold of Sue Majeau (Manager) at Renascent’s and after a few minutes of discussing the project, they were so excited about it I could barely get the Jeep down there fast enough for them to start.

So after a few weeks of being in the body shop, here are the pictures on the Jeep getting a new look.

The start…

Ooops…. There seems to be a few rust holes that need to be fixed

Now, smoothing out the body….

Staging for the paint …..

Primer coat being applied…..

Now it’s Paint Time !!

We’ve gone Old School and painted the Jeep a 1970 Dodge Challenger Sublime Green with a 2 tone Flat Black Hood.

This color is WICKED!! ..... It’s better than I thought it be and it’ll definitely turn heads when driving down the road. Besides, we gotta keep the color within the Mopar family.

And now the finished look

Loaded up on the trailer and back to our shop…

Special Thanks to all the Staff down at Fix Auto Renascent Collision for the great work and support on our ARB/Cap-it Jeep Project.

Stay tuned for more as we start putting on our Off Road goodies.

ARB/CAP-IT Offroad Jeep - Phase IV

2010-11-15T13:46:00.000-08:00

Well, we’re back from Las Vegas from attending this year’s SEMA convention and it was busier than the past few years. Every year its held the first week of November and attracts more than 100,000 industry leaders from more than 100 countries. Here’s a few pictures of vehicles and what the show is all about.

Now back to our Jeep. Today we’re dropping by Cap-it Abbotsford to have them mount up our 35” tires. Cap-it has been in the Tire and Wheel business for years but just recently they’ve expanded their tires lines. They now are servicing all popular sizes and styles for all makes of vehicles. They also offer snow tires and snow chains from THULE.

The tire and wheels we’re using on our project come from Mickey Thompson.

35x12.5R15 Baja MTZ tires

15x8, 5 on 4.5 Sidebiters wheels with 3.31” back space.

Manager Kris Ramey is prepping up the tire for mounting. As a important note on the Sidebiter wheels, they are a reverse mount wheel. So you have to mount the wheel on the machine upside-down.

Not to miss out in the action, owner Kevin Harrison lends a hand in balancing up the tires.

Cap-it Abbotsford has one of the slickest Balancers I’ve seen in some time. To increase accuracy for a better ride, this machine has a laser dot that pin points the exact location on where to stick the weight on the inside of the wheel. Cool Stuff.

Now that we’ve got all of our tires mounted and balanced, it’s time to see what it looks like on our Jeep.

This is a big improvement over the once stock Jeep we started off with.

The Stocker Ride

Stay tuned for more as the next posting will reveal our new paint job for the Jeep and also start accessorizing the fun stuff.

Special Thanks to the guys at Cap-it Abbotsford.

ARB/CAP-IT Offroad Jeep - Phase III Assembly

2010-11-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

Alright……. Welcome Back!! It’s time for more updates on our ARB/Cap-it TJ Project

This week we’re going to finish bolting everything back on the chassis.
First we’re starting with new the new exhaust,

Installing the new brake line. For this we’re going to bend and flange our own lines. Dealerships want way too much and we can do it for a fraction of the price. We kept the old line so we can use them as templates to bend our new ones.

Now to finish up on the suspension, we’re going to use ProComps adjustable front track bar. With a longer track bar and a adjustable Heim joint, we’ll be able to dial in the front axle in the right position and also give us more front end flex as well.

Here we are drilling out the taper to 5/8” on track bar mount that’s on the frame.

Now we bolt up the track bar using the Grade 8 hardware supplied. The other end of the track bar gets bolted to the stock location on the other side of the axle

BODY Time……

So after weeks and many calls to Body Shops, we’ve decided to NOT to send the body off to get painted. The reason for this and to our surprise, many Body Shops in our area were unable to handle just taking the body. Even with us stripping as much as we can of the tub to make it easier for them. So we’re throwing the body on and moving forward with the Jeep Project. We’ll send it to the paint shop on a rolling chassis instead.

Here we’ve got the frame on the trailer and we’re heading out to Cap-it’s Warehouse. We’re going to use their forklift to install the body. It’s going to make this job a whole lot easier.

Here we are in Cap-it’s warehouse get’n ready to put the body back on. As you can see we’ve got lots of room to work with and by using the electric reach truck, this is really going to be a quick install. To lift the body up we used long fork extensions and simply lift the body by the factory roll bar.

To make additional room for our 35” tires, we’re adding a 1” body lift from DAYSTAR. This kit isn’t your normal body lift. The kit comes complete with new urethane lower body mounts and upper mounts that are 1” taller than stock. There’s no messing around with the typical plastic pucks anymore. Also another good reason for the extra 1” is for ease of cleaning the mud and dirt off between the frame and body.

Now we slowly ease the body down on the frame. This is the tricky part, you gotta be careful not to snag anything as the body is being lowered down.

A few pictures of the body now resting on the frame.

Definitely a huge improvement over the stock look we had when we first started the project.

Next on the agenda is installing the fuel tank.

We’re doing away with the stock flimsy fuel tank skid plate and installing a new one from WARN Industries. This bolts right up in the stock location. For durability, WARN’s skid plate is made from 3/16th steel and black powder coated throughout. Notice the recess in bottom of the plate. This is to give a little more clearance under the fuel pump if the skid plate does happen to cave in and it also help drain the mud and dirt.

This is a great time to replace your upper tank straps if there’s anything wrong with them. Both the originals had broke due to the corrosion and were no good.

Now we install the tank and skid as one up in between the rear frame rails.

Well that’s all for now as we head down to Las Vegas for the annual SEMA Convention to check out the latest and greatest in aftermarket goodies.

Stay tuned for next week as the guys down at Cap-it Abbotsford mount up our 35” rubber on new wheels.

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

2010-10-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

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.

Cap-it Jeep Project - Phase I

2010-10-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

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.
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