This week the guys are fabbing up the rear of the KJ. After discussing the options to mount the rear suspension, roll cage, spare tire, fuel cell, dual batteries, air compressor, and more into the rear of this Liberty, the decision was made to remove the OE trunk floor and build a new subfloor that will act as a skid plate and give us additional storage space. We’ve seen some comments on the message boards about not much Liberty left, and this week’s update won’t help our case. That being said the guys are making progress and while the visual of the rear layout may not make total sense yet, it should as they fab work comes together. The plan is to build a fuel cell to mount at the bottom of the subfloor. It will be taller on the driver’s side to incorporate additional fuel storage and allow us to reinstall the OE fuel sending unit and OE filler door location. Dual batteries will be mounted driver’s side forward of the fuel cell, air compressor mounted on the passenger side. Spare tire will be mounted at slant and additional space will be allotted for tool storage and spare parts.
With our Fox remote coil-overs and bump stops in the shop now, the guys will be finishing up the suspension, mounting C/Os and setting up the bumps to work with our low center of gravity suspension.We’ll have plenty more on the install and setup as the suspension comes together.
Lastly this week, we just received a cool retractable canvas soft top to install on what’s left of our Liberty’s roof. This 36×40 retractable sunroof came from slidingragtops.com and will be taking up the remaining real estate along the top of our Jeep. Call it JK envy, this retractable top is a cool way to get the topless feeling out on the trail and some wind in our hair, so to speak. It’ll also help as we finish building and finish welding up the roll cage.
Follow along and join the discussion on Facebook, YouTube, BDS Blog, LostJeeps Forum, Jeep Forum and JeepKJ Forum.
More goodies arrived today for Project KJ, the ’05 Liberty CRD being built to take on the 2013 Ultimate Adventure. This special delivery comes from our friends at Fox Racing who just dropped off a set of 14” stroke, 2.5” remote coilovers and 2.0 bumps to be mounted at all 4 corners. We’ll have more on these as they get mounted in place over the next couple days as we move closer to getting this chassis rolling again. One month to go until the start of the 2013 Ultimate Adventure. Follow along with the build up at BDS Project KJ buildup.
Special Delivery just came in from our friends at JustDifferentials.com, 5.13 Nitro gears, master overhaul kit, Ox Locker with air actuator for the front along with Nitro 30-spline axle shafts. In the rear we’re going with 5.13 Nitro gears, ARB Air Locker and 35-spline Nitro axle shafts. Both lockers will be plumbed into an ARB twin air compressor. All great parts going into our Project Liberty CRD. Stay tuned for more…
BDS Project KJ Update: This week the guys are busy working on the suspension of our little Liberty CRD. Up front, lower control arms are fabbed up and the unibody has been reinforced to mount the LCA brackets. Upper arms and track bar mount going in soon. In the rear, a triangulated 4-link has resides to improve suspension travel and eliminate the need for a rear track bar as space is limited. Fox Racing 14” remote 2.5 coilovers and 2.0 bumps are in route to the shop to install next week.
After cycling the rear suspension, its becoming apparent that much more trimming will be necessary to clear the 40” meats. It’s something we had planned on with a modest preliminary cut, but the extent to which we will need to trim and rework the fenders will be extensive so we can get the full potential out of our new suspension.
We had some comments regarding the location of the spare tire. It’s tough to fit the 40” rubber, but here’s what we had in mind at the moment (see photos) To keep it as low as possible to increased visibility and keep the center of gravity down, we are considering recessing it down into the floor a couple inches and trimming the tailgate to allow it to occupy the inside of the tailgate when closed. In doing so the thought is to build a fuel cell for the bed (between the rear seat and spare tire) that would accept the OEM fuel sending unit and allow us to use the OEM fuel door.
There’s plenty going on in the shop this week as we make progress towards a Liberty based trail rig. Nearly every day we’re receiving parts for the project and hopefully she’ll be mobile in the coming week(s) with new steering, suspension, axles, t-case, and driveshafts.
Stay tuned for updates as Project KJ starts taking shape. Follow along and join the discussion on Facebook, YouTube, BDS Blog, LostJeeps Forum, Jeep Forum and JeepKJ Forum.
The crew from BDS Suspension headed to Lima, OH for the 28th Annual Spring 4Wheel Jamboree Nationals this past weekend. Always a great event, the guys hung out at the fairgrounds all weekend long chatting with customers and showing off some of the new products. For more photos from the event, head to the BDS Facebook page.
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