Pearl: The Unicorn XJ

Done

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So a couple notes: the lunchbox locker I used doesn?t like to ratchet. I should have REM polished it. The truss came from Undercover Fab. They said there may be some slight clearancing of the driver side upper control arm to clear at full bump. The guys words were ?it typically isn?t an issue, if it is you only have to shave 1/4? off?. Well I took 1/4? off the arm, 1/4? off the truss, added 1/2? of extra bump stop and the arm still contacts the truss at full bump enough to where the axle side joint is severely misaligned from being pushed out of the way. Now not only the part that I clearanced hits, but the body of the arm and the jam nut also hit so I can?t cut anything further. It?s a nice truss but I?m a little irritated. A Currie arm probably would fit fine since it?s a really small diameter, but the metalcloak double adjustables I have are not even close, even with 2.5? of extra bumpstop over stock.

Besides that, all good things! Jeep drives great on the highway. The locker not ratcheting causes it to randomly pull sometimes at low speeds but that will be fixed. Overall happy with the results. May add some suspension height to fix the truss issue eventually. Have to see what I can do with the rear springs to gain an inch or so.
 
Called UCF, their answer was ?sorry we didn?t know that was a problem, we never use that truss on an xj.?

Solution Beasley proposes: ditch the driver?s side upper and run it as a 3 link. Thoughts? Upper bracket is super beef, it will use 1/2? bolts on both sides.
 
This was just finished elsewhere.  Similar end result on a TJ...  First thing I though of when I saw your post.  Used the equivalent of a lower for the upper to account for the added stress.
 
en480c4 said:
This was just finished elsewhere.  Similar end result on a TJ...  First thing I though of when I saw your post.  Used the equivalent of a lower for the upper to account for the added stress.
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From what I?ve been reading it looks like it?s been done fairly often. Most of the xj 3 link kits use the passenger side upper and ditch the driver side altogether. Seems like I?m not in uncharted territory but damn it feels strange to remove a link completely especially when I have short arms. Granted this is less than budget boost or OME height so it shouldn?t be a huge issue in theory
 
Removed the upper link on the drivers side. Shocked at how much more body roll is present. I guess that extra link really helped with it. Oddly enough, it seems like there is less bump steer from uneven surfaces? I?m keeping it as a 3 link since it still drives fine, I just have to actually treat it like I have 200lbs of tent and rack on my roof now. No more abrupt steering corrections. Anyways my crashing and banging noise is still there. Crawled under and found this:

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Guess the axle is a little farther forward than the track bar bolt likes it to be. The rational thing to do would be to pull the axle back 1/2?. Are we gonna do that? I?ll let you decide  [saw]
 
Sitrep: Pearl in fact does not drive fine. Very scary on the highway. Ended up swapping back to my Currie uppers which fit much better. This means I had to pull the axle back a little bit but it?s still stretched 1? or so. Need to get rebuild kits for the Johnny Joints but it drives fine again and still has all the travel it did before the truss.


Beasley approved!

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Rucas said:
So a couple notes: the lunchbox locker I used doesn?t like to ratchet. I should have REM polished it. The truss came from Undercover Fab. They said there may be some slight clearancing of the driver side upper control arm to clear at full bump. The guys words were ?it typically isn?t an issue, if it is you only have to shave 1/4? off?. Well I took 1/4? off the arm, 1/4? off the truss, added 1/2? of extra bump stop and the arm still contacts the truss at full bump enough to where the axle side joint is severely misaligned from being pushed out of the way. Now not only the part that I clearanced hits, but the body of the arm and the jam nut also hit so I can?t cut anything further. It?s a nice truss but I?m a little irritated. A Currie arm probably would fit fine since it?s a really small diameter, but the metalcloak double adjustables I have are not even close, even with 2.5? of extra bumpstop over stock.
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Late to the party, but the topic of UCF.  So I think pretty much none of their stuff fits right.  I had issues with their belly skid and he had no answers for me.
 
green50gt said:
Late to the party, but the topic of UCF.  So I think pretty much none of their stuff fits right.  I had issues with their belly skid and he had no answers for me.
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That was the consensus when I was researching tummy tucks.  So I went with Savvy, still had to massage a couple things but no issues for several years. 
 

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