Unfortunately, due to the time period I was doing all of this (2009-2015), I used Photobucket. I have a few hundred pictures on there but the site is so incredibly slow that it would probably take me 4 hours just to post up what I want to post up. I'll work on it....I wish I could just do a mass upload of all of my PB pictures to another host but it doesn't look like that's possible either. Apologies for the crappy phone I had back then, as well. Pictures got better with time. So, here are just a couple:
Back when I was working on fab'ing up a rear frame to support the new axle location (approx. 8" further back), coil springs and shocks. That was the first version of my rear 4 link suspension.
Working on a few things here:
1) The "highline" front fenders that raise the hood line up 3" - that means the hood must be cut down. This is how you stay low to maintain a nice center of gravity while giving the tires more room. Do it right and you'll have a low Jeep on big tires with 10-12" of suspension travel. Tall Jeeps (and vehicles in general) suck - the suspension behavior goes out the window once link angles get too steep, steering goes to hell thanks to steep angles, handling is poor, and many other things I won't delve into. If you're going to build an offroad vehicle *properly*, height is not the answer. Most Jeep owners don't understand this.
2) The 6061 rocker panels and rear corner armor are installed here - the slider (contact) portion of the rocker guards are chromoly and are obviously separate from the aluminum base. Due to the extended wheelbase, I purchased the rocker guards in LJ (TJ Unlimited) length and the corners in uncut form so that I could create my own wheel wells once I had everything where I wanted it. Properly designed, supported and fastened aluminum armor like this protects the tub while being much, much lighter than its steel counterparts. Weight reduction (or adding as little as possible) was a big part of this build.
3) I was doing some cage work at this time, as well as still working on the rear frame design.
Wheel wells cut, rocker guards cut down to proper length, front fenders cleaned up
Probably the fifth revision of trying to figure out what to do with the rear of the frame and "bumper." I had a lightbulb moment and this happened. I stuck with it.
Rear frame mostly done. You can see the rear sway bar arm and link. I messed around with arm length and bar stiffness once getting it back on the road. The sway bar mounts I made were really slick as well. I'll see if I can find a picture. There are also a couple of slick crossmembers spanning the width and frame tie-ins that I don't have pictures of. It was robust and not any heavier than it needed to be.
After almost 8 months of working, this was the first time I sat it down on all 4s to check ride height and other things:
It was still on little axles (turds polished to the max) - but the frame and basis for the suspension was in place. Next up, axles to handle those tires....