Hey there, Guys...great to "meet" you all !!
This is Kevin from KOR chiming in, and dedicating a moment to updating the build thread and answering questions you guys may have that Scott may not be able to answer (fab questions, suspension geometry and such).
First, I didn't know that the Facebook photos were not showing up for those who are not F/B users...thanks for the feedback. I'll make sure to upload the photos to my blog server in addition to the F/B server in the future.
With respect to what we've accomplished so far:
Rear WJ-style (modified) Clayton Long Arm kit, utilizing upper triangulated adjustable arms, and straight lower 2x2" x 1/4" thick arms, with Currie Johnny Joints on the ends. SUPER beef...and should last a very long time, even with frequent torture on the trail. (I run a COR long arm kit on my WJ, and it's taken YEARS of abuse). As Scott mentioned, we're using some OME Land Rover springs in the rear, along with some 10" travel Bilstiens. We relocated the rear shocks to the rear of the axle (like a ZJ's), rather than keeping them in front of the axle (like the KJ's) so that Scott's Libby gets a bit more shock travel, and so that the shock is traveling at close to a 1:1 ratio throughout the suspension cycle, because the axle moves rearward as it swings upward, reducing the effectiveness of a front-mounted shock setup like the KJ came with from the factory. All the lengths, manufacturers and part numbers will be listed later on our blog for future reference, and make it a lot easier for future SFA conversions on KJs.
We have also installed an SYE kit on the t-case, and have measured and ordered up the rear driveshaft to length. Again, all the lengths, manufacturers and part numbers will be listed on the blog a bit later, once we finalize the project, and are happy with the results. We may make suggestions for other SFA'ers to do something different in the future if there's some place where we see that we can make a variance to give an overall better product.
The removable crossmember has had it's mounts welded in, and the front control brackets are part of that assembly. The front axle is under the Jeep, and the upper and lower control arms have been measured, cut to length, and installed. The upper Fox Coilover mounts have been fabbed (also will be inlcluded in the "kit" form, once we finalize everything) and the coilovers have been measured, tacked, and bolted in to place, enough to roll the Jeep in and out of the shop.
The final pieces to the puzzle are as follows:
3/8" thick steel bolt-in front frame rail stiffeners, which will include the necessary mounts that that the factory engine mounts (no special part number needed for replacement engine mounts) will bolt directly to. These brackets, which will be a key component of the new subframe "easy-install kit" will also include the frame-side upper track bar mount (we think we're going to use a factory WJ track bar, however, we're not 100% on the necessary length yet), as well as an included sandwich mount for the Bronco II steering box. We're thinking that we MAY be able to include a steering box "sector-shaft" brace as part of the mount...and will be looking at that as well, which will strengthen the box mount substantially.
Lastly, we're going to need the Currie Anti-rock front anti-sway bar mounted, which, we think should be easy to mount to the new subframe assembly.
Clayton's will be building and "private-labeling" these kits for us in the future, as soon as we can get back to them with the final lengths of all the arms that we had to modify from what was sent to us. Clayton's doesn't want to get into the KJ long arm kit market, however, due to our long-term relationship, they are willing to build a kit with specific mounts, per our specs, that will work with our new "subframe" brackets, which we'll manufacture here.
So, that's about the flavor of it so far. Our blog is the easiest place to find the most recently updated information, and I'll also try to remember to update this post with a link to the blog the next time we do a post.
Have a great weekend, guys!
Very Sincerely,
Kevin Fell
KevinsOffroad.com
602-841-3355
sales@kevinsoffroad.com
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