First off, love to see forums are still being used! FB Groups just aren't the same...
Long time Jeeper, my first one was an 2006 Silver Rubicon and have been hooked since. That being said, being from South Louisiana with big dreams of wheelin out West was just that when I started my Jeep life. Fast forward to now where my family has a place in Colorado and we spend a fair amount of time up there. But.... My offroading up there has strictly been in the SxS world. Every year we packed up 5 SxS's and wheel for 6 weeks straight and the whole time I think to myself, "This is awesome!! But....It would be better in a Jeep!
So.... After last years trip I sold my X3 and started looking for a Jeep to build! Knowing I wanted an LJ, but also knowing I wasn't going to use any of the factory drivetrain the search came up empty handed because as you know, the price they bring these days are through the roof! Then I came across Motobilt stretching their YJ and Genright doing their new conversion got me thinking I could do the same thing. Well finding a parts TJ with a good tub and clean VIN is way easier and cheaper. So it didn't take long to take delivery of just that, even scored it in my home town.
So now 1 piece of the puzzle had been found and secured it was time to start thinking about the next piece. Reached out to Motobilt and they said they will be doing R&D on the TJ after they finish the YJ build. Then researching Genright's kit got pretty pricey, still going to use their interior kit though. Now the hunt for a factory LJ frame was the mission because I could use off the shelf suspension kits. After a few dead ends, a friend of mine sent me a link to one on FB Marketplace. Was a great price & in good shape. Told the guy I wanted it no questions asked. So the 30hr round trip begins! The guy was of course a Jeep guy, had a nicely built LJ and a few other older trucks. Turns out the frame came from Watson and Sons' Jeep Salvage, a place I had reached out to earlier.
So now I have 2 major pieces of the puzzle in my hands!! Which brings me to my next one. I knew all along I wanted to LS swap it and I have been sitting on an LQ4/4L80 combo for a while now. Being hands on with many LS engines and swaps, I'm confident with them. I've used Holley as my source for LS swap parts in the past, so it was a no brainer to use them again. With supplies being how they are these days, soon as seen Summit had them in stock, I jumped on them.
So the pieces are coming together! My new shop is almost ready for a project and the LJ build will be the first one.
Overall build plan:
Stretch tub to an LJ using Genright's interior kit
Savvy Midarm Kit and hopefully most of their catalog
LS Swap with LQ4 with their a 4L60 or 4L80 (Haven't made up my mind)
Axles are the biggest item.. I know what I want (Spidertrax Fab9's) but the bank account frowns at those. I can get my hands on some JK Rubicon 44's for a great deal but I'm not sold on JK width axles and how long they will last with 37's and LS power.. I'll be following the girl on YouTube that is running that setup to see how they hold up.
Nest big ticket item is t-case of course. Several options there.. 241, Atlas or the Rock Box Dana300 from Midnight Metalworks.
Long time Jeeper, my first one was an 2006 Silver Rubicon and have been hooked since. That being said, being from South Louisiana with big dreams of wheelin out West was just that when I started my Jeep life. Fast forward to now where my family has a place in Colorado and we spend a fair amount of time up there. But.... My offroading up there has strictly been in the SxS world. Every year we packed up 5 SxS's and wheel for 6 weeks straight and the whole time I think to myself, "This is awesome!! But....It would be better in a Jeep!
So.... After last years trip I sold my X3 and started looking for a Jeep to build! Knowing I wanted an LJ, but also knowing I wasn't going to use any of the factory drivetrain the search came up empty handed because as you know, the price they bring these days are through the roof! Then I came across Motobilt stretching their YJ and Genright doing their new conversion got me thinking I could do the same thing. Well finding a parts TJ with a good tub and clean VIN is way easier and cheaper. So it didn't take long to take delivery of just that, even scored it in my home town.
So now 1 piece of the puzzle had been found and secured it was time to start thinking about the next piece. Reached out to Motobilt and they said they will be doing R&D on the TJ after they finish the YJ build. Then researching Genright's kit got pretty pricey, still going to use their interior kit though. Now the hunt for a factory LJ frame was the mission because I could use off the shelf suspension kits. After a few dead ends, a friend of mine sent me a link to one on FB Marketplace. Was a great price & in good shape. Told the guy I wanted it no questions asked. So the 30hr round trip begins! The guy was of course a Jeep guy, had a nicely built LJ and a few other older trucks. Turns out the frame came from Watson and Sons' Jeep Salvage, a place I had reached out to earlier.
So now I have 2 major pieces of the puzzle in my hands!! Which brings me to my next one. I knew all along I wanted to LS swap it and I have been sitting on an LQ4/4L80 combo for a while now. Being hands on with many LS engines and swaps, I'm confident with them. I've used Holley as my source for LS swap parts in the past, so it was a no brainer to use them again. With supplies being how they are these days, soon as seen Summit had them in stock, I jumped on them.
So the pieces are coming together! My new shop is almost ready for a project and the LJ build will be the first one.
Overall build plan:
Stretch tub to an LJ using Genright's interior kit
Savvy Midarm Kit and hopefully most of their catalog
LS Swap with LQ4 with their a 4L60 or 4L80 (Haven't made up my mind)
Axles are the biggest item.. I know what I want (Spidertrax Fab9's) but the bank account frowns at those. I can get my hands on some JK Rubicon 44's for a great deal but I'm not sold on JK width axles and how long they will last with 37's and LS power.. I'll be following the girl on YouTube that is running that setup to see how they hold up.
Nest big ticket item is t-case of course. Several options there.. 241, Atlas or the Rock Box Dana300 from Midnight Metalworks.