For the past year I’ve been experiencing massive Jeep withdrawals because our Jeep has been undergoing a suspension and fender alteration to achieve a lower center of gravity (LCOG). After driving around for five years with a  tall, top-heavy Jeep, we’re reducing our lift from 5.5 inches to 2.5 inches to make it a little more highway friendly and easier to hop into, while still maintaining its off-road capabilities. The stock fenders are getting trashed and we’ll be installing  Poison Spyder high-line  fenders to maintain similar (or better) suspension travel that we enjoyed before. Accompanying these fenders in the front will be new taller shock towers (via Ford truck shock towers), a new track bar by JKS, new Bilstein 5125 shocks and new 2.5 inch front progressive coil springs from Rough Country.

With every Jeep project comes the inevitable, “if this then that” scenario. If we lower the suspension in the front, then we have to adjust the track bar, bump stops, sway bar links, coil springs, shock towers, shocks, pitman arm and fenders. And since we’re adjusting fenders, we better trim the hood and move around the engine compartment accessories. And oh, we’re using new fenders? Gotta paint them black. And while we’re at it, we should  just paint the entire hood since it’s faded and won’t match the new fenders. Hence, a year has gone by with our Jeep under construction in the garage. But we’re finally nearing completion and I can taste the trails, so here goes with a few pics of our Jeep’s LCOG transformation.

First, Matt altered the front suspension, installed new springs, shock towers and track bar.

With a little beer and pizza coaxing, we lured some friends over to help with the finish welding on the front shock towers, which are repurposed Ford truck shock towers. (Thanks Cody, Greg and Steve!)

They also brought their plasma cutter to slice through the metal tub, making room for the rear upper triangulated links to fully extend.

Once the the metal tub was cut, Greg and Matt hammered out a new steel covering and Cody welded them into the Jeep. (This is the floorboard behind the front seats.)

And when we started this Jeep project a year ago, Matt even gave it a pretty decent DIY paint job. The hood was starting to fade, so we painted the front half our the Jeep in our garage.

Don’t worry Indie, the Jeep will be done in a few more weeks!

If anyone is interested in seeing more detailed photos and learning more about our LCOG build, leave a comment and we’ll reply.