Lets Go Racing! Daily Driver/ Ultra4 TJ

Bebop said:
Got any progress on that wiring ?
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@Bebop Does this count?? Getting ready to re-do the cage and get the console and accessories laid out. Trying to map out what is on the car now, then will be drawing up a new diagram.

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FSU Off-Road said:
Best of luck Matt! I know its not easy and very time consuming. If you need any help just let me know. If nothing else, we'll have to meet up at KOH.
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Thanks. Good luck to you too. I would definitely be down to swap some wrenching weekends with you. So far it has been mostly destruction in my shop to get it to a point I can start building back.

As for the video stuff, I have been doing it all on my phone. So far I have realized that I need to get another camera and get in the habit of taking more and shorter clips.
 
So I took a week off work and went out to chase Vegas to Reno for Jay. It was a blast. It was my first time even being at a point to point race, let alone being one of two chase teams/ pit crews. We were able to get to the finish line 2nd in class with the car in one piece.

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Once I got back from V2R, I started pulling the jeep apart. High level plans are a new cage - going to do a little bit of a boat side (planning to copy how the Goatbuilt TJ/LJ chassis looks for this), new dash and center console, re-wire the car, and do all the maintenance items - suspension and steering joints, shock rebuild, fluids, spares etc.

It started out like this.....

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And after a weekend ended up like this.

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Since then I have finished pulling the dash and heater core out, and started measuring to design the new cage and order some material. This pretty much catches up to the current state of everything. I will try and keep the thread updated with more pictures and YouTube links.

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Mojones915 said:
Thanks. Good luck to you too. I would definitely be down to swap some wrenching weekends with you. So far it has been mostly destruction in my shop to get it to a point I can start building back.

As for the video stuff, I have been doing it all on my phone. So far I have realized that I need to get another camera and get in the habit of taking more and shorter clips.
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Not saying it is the best one, but the new GoPro has a VLOG setup and a 360 option.
 
DSM Turbos said:
Just curious, why switch the cage up, just personal preference or what?
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Just to clean it up a little and change some things for safety. Going from a 1.75 to 2in main structure, lowering the dash bar for better visibility, dropping the fuel cell and spare down for lower CG, boat sides for more clearance. It is a solid cage and it would probably be fine as is, it has been kind of added to and modified over the years for new tech rules and with the things I wanted to update it made more sense to just start clean.
 
DSM Turbos said:
Just curious, why switch the cage up, just personal preference or what?
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Plus the original cage was built to very specific instructions on passing Ultra4 tech AND exact stock dimensions to cater to factory soft top, rear seat, factory full doors, windshield, and factory half doors.

To Matt’s point, it could be done way more race specific than the original design.
 
A little more "progress". Finally have the jeep basically as far torn down as it is going, shocks are off to get rebuilt so it is on the bumps, front clip is removed and rear floor is out. I have a pretty big shop day planned this weekend with some help coming over. The goal is to get the boat sides worked out with everything tacked in place, and fuel cell in its new home. Should have a new YouTube up early next week as well.


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I am also super excited to share that Raceline wheels have come on board to support us and is my first official sponsor! I still have a lot of other emails and applications out there so hopefully there are more to follow.

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mcconnell said:
Still pushing for KOH 23? Keeping the grandfathered cage?
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KOH 2023 is still the goal. Decided to keep the current cage and just re-do the frame tie ins to be welded instead of bolted. Still working out how I want to drop the dash bar too.
 
Finished cutting the rockers on both sides and have the tubing cut and tacked. I am going to end up gaining about 3.5 inches of side clearance. I still need to do a little more trimming at the firewall and make some frame bracing. I bought the Swag Offroad high clearance body mount kit and am going to use it to solid mount the tub at the factory locations in addition to where it is going to be attached to the new cage/ rockers.

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So I went and co-drove at the Ultra4 Legends of the Fall last week in the UTV class. I was with Matt Walraven in the 118 pro stock can am. We had a pretty solid weekend, qualified 4th overall and were on rails for the first hour of the race. Ended up getting 3 flats on the consecutive 3 last laps, and then losing the prop shaft to the front diff and blowing a belt about 2 miles from the finish. We were able to get the belt swapped and get across the line. Ended up 2nd in the Eastern series and 3rd in National points so a pretty good weekend overall. The course and format were great as well. I just posted up the GoPro footage, only got the first 3 laps, not sure why it cut off after that, maybe a bad battery.

 

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Made some more progress this weekend. Had to spend about half a day shuffling parts around to make some room to work in the shop. Was able to get the Swag body mounts welded up and ready to go on. Decided to start in the rear and work my way forward. I got the new fuel cell mount made and in place and added a cross brace to the shock mounts. This will also give me a spot for the spare tire carrier to land. Next step is to get the corner armor back on and start building the structure to mount it and tie it to the cage.

All the stuff that had to go:
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Swag body mounts. Plan is to cut the factory ones off and use these as a replacement and solid mount it.
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And here is the new fuel cell mount and shock brace in.
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Also scooped up a 2 screen Lowrance system from the facespace listings for about half the price of just 1 monitor. I will put the 7in monitor on the driver side and the 9in on the passenger side.

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Mojones915 said:
Also scooped up a 2 screen Lowrance system from the facespace listings for about half the price of just 1 monitor. I will put the 7in monitor on the driver side and the 9in on the passenger side.

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once I had a Lowrance in front of me when driving, I loved it. quick glance and see if I am on or off the line especially in the desert
 
BRUISER said:
once I had a Lowrance in front of me when driving, I loved it. quick glance and see if I am on or off the line especially in the desert
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That's the hope, I also think it will be a little more comfort for me too. Moving from the right seat into the driver seat next year is also driving me in this direction, I feel like I would be trying to glance over just for my own sake. Plus I still don't have a co-driver, so I might end up with the 9in in front of me lol.
 
Oh yeah!!!

If anyone on here is planning to attend, please select me as your driver of choice and help me win that Rookie Contest!

Also, as soon as artwork is approved I will add in a link to our t-shirts on the KOH website.

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The progress continues!

Ended up cutting all the sheetmetal off the back half of the jeep and got the frame work built and ready to skin. I kept the soft top rail and about 2 inches of sheetmetal to be able to sandwich it between the corner armor and frame when I want to put the top back on.

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