Front Suspension and New Bumper

After a busy month at work, I took this week off to do some work on the Jeep. Today, KatC and I replaced the front suspension. Here is the original front suspension; the important components shown here are the shock, the spring (and rubber bump-stop inside the spring), and the anti-sway-bar end, from left to right:


The first step, of course, is to remove all the old stuff. In addition, I detached the lower control arms so that I could lower the axle farther in order to remove the spring without a coil compressor. Here it is, after everything was removed:


Installing, as they say, is simply the reverse of the disassembly process :-) The really tricky part was installing the spring without using a spring compressor. I found that there are a couple of places on the axle where you can balance a pry bar to pop the spring over the lower pedestal. Note that I have not yet torqued everything to spec - just like in the rear suspension, I want to get some weight in it and bounce it over a curb a couple of times to settle everything before I torque it down. Note that I will likely have to replace or lengthen the vertical anti-sway bar end - see Nick's note at DriveEV on his experience lifting his Cherokee for electric conversion.


And here is the fully lifted Jeep (in the garage - it's too hard to move it back and forth just for pictures):


I also took some time today to install a new rear bumper. Nothing really to do with converting it to electric, but it sure makes the rear end look nicer!


Compare it to the old bumper as seen in this picture:

Motor Adapter, and a Problem

On Monday, KatC and I worked on the motor adapter. First, we built a wheeled dolly as a work platform for the 100+ kilogram motor, and clamped the motor to it:


Next, we put the motor adapter ring on - the bolts will get torqued to 35 ft-lbs:


Next comes the profile plate - again, torqued to 35 ft-lbs:


And finally, the flywheel is attached to the hub - the hub is not tightened down yet, since we will need to adjust the flywheel-to-profile-plate distance.


The next step is to adjust the distance. Unfortunately, the closest we can get the flywheel to the profile plate is 1.62", which is 2/10" farther than the required 1.415" +/- 0.01". This is due to the fact that the splines on the shaft do not extend all the way to the motor, and this is as far back as the splined bushing can slide. I've sent email to Electro Auto to ask about options; as I see it, there are three main ones:

• Add a 2/10" thick spacer ring between the motor ring and the profile plate
• Machine the tapered bushing down so that it can slide farther back on the shaft
• Add a 2/10" thick large metal gasket between the adapter plate and the transmission bellhousing

Doing nothing is not an option - 2/10" is plenty to interfere with the normal operation of the clutch / flywheel combo. I prefer the spacer ring because I think it will be the optimal cost / effectiveness option. But I'll wait and see what EA has to say before I take action.

More Parts!

Yesterday, the transmission / motor adaptor came from Electro Automotive. Their build quality is excellent, as usual, and their delivery time was much more predictable than in the past (they apparently have made some changes in their order fulfillment processes). It still took a while, but the delivery time was within the expectations they set when I made the order. Here are the parts, laid out on my living room floor:


Here they are, with labels:


Here's a closeup of the taperlock hub and the tapered, splined bushing. I've already test-fit the bushing on the drive shaft - fits perfectly:


This all goes together as documented on Electro Automotive's web site, and as shown in my Volt914 build (toward the end of this post as well as this post). This weekend I hope to get the motor all assembled with this hardware, perhaps even with the new clutch mounted. Stay tuned...

Batteries!

The batteries arrived yesterday - over 1500 pounds of them. They were nicely strapped & shrink-wrapped to a pallet:


Here is one of the batteries unboxed. It is a 12 volt, 80 amp-hour, 56-pound bundle of lead, acid, and plastic - the Concorde Chairman AGM-1280T:


And here are all 26 batteries, nicely stacked up and waiting for their Rudman regulators and Manzanita Micro charger:


I bought them from EFI Technical - Scott and John were extremely helpful - I give them an "A+" for customer support and service. They gave me a prompt quote, kept me informed of the manufacturing progress (these batteries are manufactured on-demand), and were very diligent about asking whether everything arrived correctly. Thanks!

EFI Technical

300 South Harbor Blvd., Ste 810

Anaheim, CA 92805

Rear Lift Kit Installed

This weekend we installed the rear lift kit - new leaf springs, U bolts, shackles, and shocks. First was the leaf springs. Getting them on was quite challenging - the front eye went on OK, but to get the rear eye installed, we had to:

1. Jack the axle up to just the right height
2. Pull the rear eye down with all my strength while...
3. KatC installed the bolt through the shackle and eye.

But here is the passenger's side installed:


With the leaf installed, we next installed the shock. This was fairly straightforward. Here, KatC is tightening the bolt that attaches the lower end of the shock to the axle, while I bolt it to the frame:


With both leaf springs installed, and the tires put back on, we temporarily replaced the hood so that we could store the Jeep outside in inclement weather:


And here it is. It looks like the front is lifted too, but it is not. The lack of engine and transmission weighing it down has caused the springs in front to relax. They will be replaced, and then it will look even higher :-).


We have not yet torqued the rear springs down to specifications. I want to get a little weight in it first so that it is sitting at its natural tension point before I tighten the eyes, shackles, and U-bolts all the way down.

Gas Tanks, Leaf Springs, and Flywheels, Oh, My!

We removed the last of the major internal combustion components today - the gas tank. Here is KatC attacking one of the bolts which holds the gas tank straps on. We got one off normally, but had to cut the other as it was too rusted.


We also removed the old leaf springs so that we could put new heavier-duty lifted leaf springs on. This was a royal pain - 20 years of rust had left the bolts completely frozen. After liberal soaking in penetrating oil, plus the application of heat from a torch, I finally got the bolts to turn using a long-handled 21mm wrench and a BFH - Big Friendly Hammer. Here is one of the old leaf springs next to one of the new leaf springs for comparison:


I also nearly forgot to take a critical measurement - the distance from the flywheel to the motor face. Here is where I took the measurement:


And here is the result - 0.85 inches. I'll need to replicate this distance when I get my motor adapter from Electro Automotive and mount it to the motor:

Clean Transmission

Lots of miscellaneous, non-photogenic things today, but we did get the transmission all cleaned up. You can see the before picture here. This is much nicer: