John Mesko of Mena, Arkansas, has owned and modified several 4x4s over the years. His love affair with 4WD pickups began with a '78 Chevy Silverado. When the kids came along, however, the Mesko family moved on to a '89 Mitsubishi Montero, dubbed the school bus. John cranked the torsion bars, welded the front differential, installed a rear ARB, and bolted up 33-inch Mud Kings. He was ready to 'wheel.
Needless to say, the soccer-mom SUV didn't last long. After a particularly grueling weekend of four-wheeling in Poteau, Oklahoma, that left the Montero with body damage and John with some aggravated nerves, he sent it on its way and picked up a Samurai. According to John, he learned two things from this purchase: It's possible to lift a vehicle too high; and big tires require power steering. He moved quickly to trail-rig number three: an '88 XJ Cherokee with 6 inches of lift and 35-inch tires. Unfortunately, the XJ fell victim to a towing accident that basically destroyed the entire drivetrain. The Jeep was being flat-towed and somehow the T-case was knocked into gear. John didn't realize this until it was too late.
When it was all said and done, John decided to move to what he hoped would be his ideal trail rig: a '98 ZJ Limited that he picked up at a salvage auction for $2,400. He analyzed the problems of his previous SUVs and studied the most capable 4x4s at rockcrawling competitions. He then designed his rig for excellent off-road performance, as well as reasonable driveability on the road.
John reinforced the unibody framerails with 3x4-inch angle iron and fabricated new upper spring perches, which he moved back 3-1/2 inches to center the rear tire in the wheelwell. This, plus moving the front axle forward 1-1/2 inches, extended the wheelbase 5 inches, for a total of 112 inches. John had all the welding on the cast-iron differential housings done by experienced welders using a nickel-welding rod.
He selected tough '78 Ford F-250 axles, which came with excellent brake setups. The F-250 axles are 11 inches wider than a stock Grand Cherokee in front and 9 inches wider in the rear. The wider axles work well with a 10-inch lift on off-camber trails. John tilted the rear differential for better clearance and had a driveshaft built using High Angle Driveline's slip-yoke CV joint. He fabricated the lower spring perches and the upper control-arm truss on the front axle to match Skyjacker's 8-inch Rock Ready truss. He moved the lower control arm brackets up, however, to be even with the axle-tube centerline.
John used a custom five-link front suspension with Skyjacker's 8-inch Rock Ready springs and 2-inch spacers. He also used the company's coil springs because the XJ and ZJ have similar front axle weights. Rusty's Off Road helped find the proper rear prototype springs to match the front springs. The reinforcing trusses were welded on the axles and spring perches. For maximum flex, Heim joints were chosen for the control arms, even though they are much noisier than rubber bushings. John relied on a high-mount AGR hydro-assist Rock Ram setup to help steer the big tires.