Firewall Tubing

Smh I should have bought a jeep

 

I see you patched up your stock intake inlet. What kind of reroute did you do? I'm looking for ideas

 

I know the feeling. Everything seems easier on my jeep.




Mine looked rough. I tried to use heavier gauge sheets. It was nearly impossible to bent properly. It's sealed and strong, but not nearly as nice as some of these inners on here.

 

Wow nicely done, running 35's or larger?

Did you lose any interior floor volume or have to relocate wires or electronics inside? What about the kick panels themselves do they still fit? Always wondered what severe tubbing looks like internally.

 

For anyone doing this, don't start without a fire extinguisher. I had a spray bottle in the truck, welding blanket but ended up using a fire extinguisher when some insulation or sound deadening material caught fire. It's highly flammable. The fire did not damage anything, but all my connectors, electrical components near the kick panel had to be disassembled and cleaned, major pita.

I have marked a picture of where I was welding when it went up. The flammable material looks like the padding behind residential carpets.

 

I cut right up to the door hinge bracket. I had to trim about an inch off the kick panel to match the new contour. No wires had to be relocated, but my main wiring connector bracket does not fit perfectly. It's secure in all but one of the original spots. It's the blue bracket in the picture.

From the inside.


The cardboard was my template.

 

I'm running a cowl intake right now which has been working for me for the last few years.

Thanks! Running 37s. Lost the little faux pedal thing on the drivers side but otherwise can't really tell the difference. Wire harnesses are all just more or less where they were just pushed back. Much more challenging to make everything in the engine bay fit again. Batteries relocated, air intake relocated, washer fluid resi cut in half and made 4" shorter, etc.

 

I used rivnuts to help with the new inner splash guard. I cut slits in the fender then bend them once at 180 degrees then at 90 degrees.

 

Interesting, thank you! I also cut in half and shortened my washer reservoir but that's just because of my modified intake.

I have a very agressive CMC and fender trim running 34's and had to space down my bump stops 3/16" to prevent tires topping out the inner fender pans at full lock and or bump.

Eventually I would like to go 35's but not until it's time for tires again and by then I had better have gears, but when that time comes, I'm sure I'm going to have to break out the ol grinder.

 

I finally had my wife sit in the truck while I was welding so she could put out the candle sized fires I was starting. Probably started 5-6 of them.

 

Yes, this is not a one person job and requires someone dedicated to fire duty. I started a few myself, one got real scary but I put it out before it caused damage.

 

bump and sub'd..

Think I'm just going to commit to tubbing vs trying to get a pieced together kit of DK, JD, and whatever else to gain clearance at the firewall.

@desertjunkie760 I have the DK lowers and am currently running the bump spacer to help temporarily until I decided what route I was going to go.. but you're saying that when fully cycled, it still bottomed out on shock before bump? and what was your solution? a different, longer bump spacer?

I really just want to dial in my MT setup now that everything is in place.. for the most part.

 

Your options have changed since JD has released their LCA relocation. Their relocation kit will pair with DK lowers and allow you to gain clearance without cutting into the cab, depending on how large of a tire you're trying to go to.

Yes, that was the case on my setup. DK designs their kit off King specs which differ from other manufacturers. My Fox at the time were longer so I had an issue with bottoming out the shock. So it really depends on your setup. My solution was to purchase a set of the TC bump stop spacers as they are significantly longer than the DK spacers which resolved my issue until I reworked the entire setup.

 

Well that was kinda the mess I was wanting to avoid.. (at least it was a mess in my head) If I did LCA relocation, and ran my DK lowers, how would my Camburg uppers pair? I didnt want to have to get any other components as almost the entire front end is brand new since rebuilding it after a front end collision a while back. Just running 2.5 ET Kings all around. I started thinking maybe just tubbing would be easier since everything is new and set up already.. just need clearance for the 35s. Or.. am I wrong?

 

My understanding as well is that you need JD's UCA in order to gain the clearance. I have the lower installed but mainly all I get is the stronger LCA but not moving it forwards without the UCA.

 

I have been considering the JD Fab Inner fenders myself. I rub a bit but not heavily but that seems to be a great setup if your going that route. @desertjunkie760 did you get yours finished up?

 

That's why I'm leaning towards just leaving everything where it is.. and just making the room for it. Its all firewall.. and not a lot at that, and I've already relocated the cab mounts with the DRT kit.

 

The JD LCA relocation will only change the mounting point and adjustability of the LCA itself while reinforcing the mounting points. I would say that pairing DK lowers & Camburg uppers are more of a concern than anything else. Not that they won't work but two different companies will design their kits with vastly different geometry, etc.

Having done both tubbing the firewall and installing the JD relocation, I'd be more apt to do the JD kit again before tubbing. You're also going to experience rubbing on the inner fender if you go with 35" tires which then leads into the conversation of doing the JD inner fenders. I do understand you not wanting to put more $$ into the setup though, specifically in parts and tubbing is mostly labor. It doesn't cost a lot to do assuming you can do the labor yourself.

All aftermarket companies built their UCAs to gain more caster. I can't say for sure which company offers more or less. I will say that nobody else offers the adjustability of the lower that the JD kit does.

Yes? My inner fenders are installed but the truck isn't back on the road so I haven't been able to test anything out. Trying to finish it up this weekend and do a shakedown next weekend up in Big Bear. I did fully cycle with the 35" though so I have no concern about clearance.

 

I dont really touch the upper inner fenders.. its just the firewall, and mostly on the driver side. I do have quite a bit of preload on my C/O's and personally prefer up travel over down.. for that reason so that has helped there. I'll grab some pics when I get home. I'd like to not touch the inner fenders really.. and would probably limit some up travel before going down that path with more spacing at the bumps. But you're also saying that I should ditch my Camburg arms for some DK ones? I went with the Camburgs because I liked the new style sealed Uniball. If I did the tubbing route.. it would be me and some welder buddies.. but if I have to throw money at new uppers regardless.. then how much is it more really to go full JD fab.. even if I did just replace everything. I could sell and re-coup some of the costs.. or just tub with what I have now.. I was going to play with my alignment and start doing at home alignments, max out the lowers away from the firewall, and use the Poly Performance Taco Tabs I've been sitting on for a while now to get it decent and lock it in.

Just not sure what route to take.. sucks because I did put a bunch of $$$$ into it recently.. but if the correct/better/easier way to do it is sell all my shit and start over.. it wouldnt be the first time..

I'm also trying to plan this out to where I can get my Kings to Accutune for a little tuning at the same time.

 

damn.. havent check JD's site in a while.. Didnt notice the upper arms come in different options now, and sealed uniballs.. no excuse now...

.025 caster w/ sealed uniball UCAs and the lower pivot kit + my DK lowers.. How would that fair? Reason being I dont want to go any wider up front to keep the same track width and a narrower footprint.