TRE3TOP's TJ

[TRE3TOP]

I wasn’t planning on doing a build thread but it might be good to consolidate the progression of my Jeep.

I picked it up October 2020 with a 4” rough country long arm, 1” body lift, tummy tuck, winch and light bar. Smittybilt armor and bumpers. 35” KM2s on Mickey Thompson Classic III wheels.

It’s a 4.0, 5 speed with a Dana 44 rear end. It definitely needed new gears, but it was a good starting point.

After my first trip wheeling to Gulches in South Carolina, it went to the shop for gears and lockers. I went with 4.88 gears, Detroit rear locker and Spartan front lunchbox locker. While it was in the shop I also replaced the shocks with Fox 2.0 shocks and dropped down to a 3” Teraflex spring. I also installed a tuffy console during this time as the stock console lid was broken off when I bought the Jeep.

I can’t find any pictures of when I first bought the Jeep, but this was what it looked like for a while.

 

[TRE3TOP]

I lived in upstate South Carolina up until June 2021, so most of my wheeling was done at Gulches which was only about an hour down the road. I broke a few front axle shafts, and broke a control arm mount or two off of the rear axle. I was learning a lot about what I liked about the Jeep, what I didn’t like, where its limits and limitations were, and where my own was…

This picture is the moment I realized that safety harnesses needed to move up the priority list.

 

[TRE3TOP]

Moving to Atlanta really opened up the proximity to a lot more ORV parks. In the last 6 months I’ve been to Choccolocco, River Rock, Morris Mountain, Adventure Off-road Park and Windrock. Of those I think AOP might be my favorite, but I barely scratched the surface of Windrock’s 73,000 acres and have a lot of trails that I want to try. Here are some pictures from Choccolocco for the Great American Crawl.

 

[TRE3TOP]

 

[TRE3TOP]

This was from AOP. This is grubbicon. Full tube chassis from WOD, LS3, 14 Bolts, 43”

 

[TRE3TOP]

After AOP I noticed the steering was pretty loose. The middle joint was pretty worn out on the Y link steering. It had either XJ or ZJ steering arms upgraded from a previous owner. I was also getting beadlock wheels and new tires put on so it was headed up to my buddy Chris at Shunned Off Road.

I had ordered RT81 steel beadlocks from Raceline. We had a few issues with them continuing to lead at the weld seam where the beadlock ring was welded to the barrel. Long story short they ended up sending me a set of aluminum beadlocks as an upgrade free of charge to solve the problem.

I like the rpm steering arms, I’m sure I may get a few comments out them but I wasn’t a big fan of the Y style steering. I still have a little bump steer currently because I didn’t change the track bar yet. It’s on the list but Im going to change the control arms first and remove the Rough Country long arm setup, so I’m planning to do that all at once to correct the track bar/drag link misalignment.

 

[TRE3TOP]

Here’s how it sits currently. I forgot to mention I put a MORE engine skid and Rokmen gas tank skid when I did the gears and lockers, so I included pictures of those as well.

Christmas break a few small things taken care of that really have improved the comfort of driving the Jeep. New headlights, new taillights, hothead heat insulation, Bedrug carpeting, Quadratec floormats and new Bestop soft uppers for the doors.

I was getting a lot of heat from the transmission tunnel and with the Tuffy console being metal it would turn into a big warm radiator essentially. The hothead liner made a ton of difference and it also quieted the road noise significantly. The soft uppers didn’t seal well and would be wet after a big rain so those were due for replacement.

I’m real happy I went with the bed rug carpeting. After reading the basically unanimous approval around here for them I decided to give them a shot. I leave the top off a lot during the summer so it not getting moldy or smelly will be a plus because we get flash rainstorms from time to time.

 

[TRE3TOP]

Some of those didn’t load properly, whoops. I also added the synthetic rope from Tactical Recovery Equipment as well. One day I decided to respool my steel cable and noticed a pretty bad pinch/fray in it so that got fast tracked to the immediate replacement category.

 

[MikekiM]

Got any more pics of the center console?
The floor board insulation is part of the carpet install or is that the HotHead liner?
I need new carpet but have to track down the passenger side leak first...

 

[TRE3TOP]

Got any more pics of the center console?
The floor board insulation is part of the carpet install or is that the HotHead liner?
I need new carpet but have to track down the passenger side leak first...

Hot head liner. I only did the front half of the Jeep. The flat cargo area and rear wheel wells I didn’t cover. I may go back and do it but didn’t feel it was necessary. Are you looking for anything specific with the console?

 

[AMS417]

Moving to Atlanta really opened up the proximity to a lot more ORV parks. In the last 6 months I’ve been to Choccolocco, River Rock, Morris Mountain, Adventure Off-road Park and Windrock. Of those I think AOP might be my favorite, but I barely scratched the surface of Windrock’s 73,000 acres and have a lot of trails that I want to try. Here are some pictures from Choccolocco for the Great American Crawl.

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That red LJ is kind of what I’m shooting for with my build. My first TJ I did most of the mods for 4” lift 35” tires and decided to sell it before I got carried away and comp cut it and stretch a clean low mileage TJR. Sold it and bought the LJ. It was already “built” but 1 season and I wanted more. It also prior salvage from a tree falling on it so not worried about cutting it up. I’ll keep it for a long time.

Good looking Jeep. Nice progress with it. I would love to get out your way some time.

 

[TRE3TOP]

That red LJ is kind of what I’m shooting for with my build. My first TJ I did most of the mods for 4” lift 35” tires and decided to sell it before I got carried away and comp cut it and stretch a clean low mileage TJR. Sold it and bought the LJ. It was already “built” but 1 season and I wanted more. It also prior salvage from a tree falling on it so not worried about cutting it up. I’ll keep it for a long time.

Good looking Jeep. Nice progress with it. I would love to get out your way some time.

That’s Rob. Look up “robslastjeep” on Instagram if you have any questions about it. It’s SUPER CLEAN. Tons, 40s, full armor, 3/4 link. The works.

 

[AMS417]

That’s Rob. Look up “robslastjeep” on Instagram if you have any questions about it. It’s SUPER CLEAN. Tons, 40s, full armor, 3/4 link. The works.

I don’t use insta but I need to start I guess. Similar to what I’m going to do. Mine will be “clean” for a while. Probably won’t get the scars it has currently with the wider axles and big tires keeping the body safe.

I could get 40’s and still might. 43’s we can still make work with 14” ORI and keep a relatively low ride height. I just want to make sure I have enough up travel for it to work well at speed, and in rocks. Will be compromises for sure.

If I do highline without a wide fender lip we can get the tires up past the body out front. Lots of tacking stuff in and testing in my future.

 

[TRE3TOP]

Got any more pics of the center console?
The floor board insulation is part of the carpet install or is that the HotHead liner?
I need new carpet but have to track down the passenger side leak first...

It’s well worth the money IMO. I did away with the tiny speaker they call a subwoofer in favor for more lockable console storage space. The padded arm rest is at a good height for me to rest my arm on, the stock one I couldn’t quite do that comfortably.

 

[MikekiM]

It’s well worth the money IMO. I did away with the tiny speaker they call a subwoofer in favor for more lockable console storage space. The padded arm rest is at a good height for me to rest my arm on, the stock one I couldn’t quite do that comfortably.

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Thats exactly what I was looking for. Thanks. My TJ is a DD and it's soft top only. I've added the rear security deck and underseat concealed carry security draw. Just looking for other ways to secure the interior. I don't care for the glove box and don't think it really offers any kind of security, so the center console is my next place to address.

Did you do the B&M short shifter or just the knob? I did the short shifter a few weeks ago and OMG.. I love it. It's right up there with seat risers as my favorite mod.

 

[TRE3TOP]

Thats exactly what I was looking for. Thanks. My TJ is a DD and it's soft top only. I've added the rear security deck and underseat concealed carry security draw. Just looking for other ways to secure the interior. I don't care for the glove box and don't think it really offers any kind of security, so the center console is my next place to address.

Did you do the B&M short shifter or just the knob? I did the short shifter a few weeks ago and OMG.. I love it. It's right up there with seat risers as my favorite mod.

The short shifter and handle/knob were are on there when I got it. I can’t decide if I like it or not. It’s kinda tough to shift sometimes until the transmission gets warmed up.

You’re not getting into this console with a crowbar… it’s stout.

 

[MikekiM]

The short shifter and handle/knob were are on there when I got it. I can’t decide if I like it or not. It’s kinda tough to shift sometimes until the transmission gets warmed up.

You’re not getting into this console with a crowbar… it’s stout.

Only time I have the extra notchy feel is when the trans is cold. I double clutch for the first-of-morning 1-2 shift and stroll to then of my street... maybe 200 feet. By then, I am good to go.

Glad to hear the console is secure. What it gains in safekeeping it gives up in good looks. So be it. I have no need for a hardtop so this is sort of a necessary evil.

 

[TRE3TOP]

Couple of updates. I sliced open one of my tires at AOP the other weekend. I got that replaced over the weekend and it’s ready to go back on.

 

[TRE3TOP]

Also I ordered some PRP harnesses with a RockHard Harness bar to go behind the seats. I was planning to run this for a short while, but they are really uncomfortable with the stock seats, plus my seats are 20 years old.

So today I bit the bullet and finally ordered the PRP seats I’ve been wanting for a while. In hindsight it’s good I waited as long as I did because I changed models a few times before finally settling on the GT3. I went with the seat heaters in them as well. They go along well with the Orange and Purple theme I’m going with for the interior.

 

[COYOTE83]

This is an awesome Jeep. I really like the color too. Those new seats will look great in it