My Dream Vehicle

Which kit did you buy? I need to replace mine as well, they get a bit more dim every day since it has gotten cold outside.
Thanks @Travis! The LJ's are wicked cool (albeit rare!). I went with the Rough Country 2.5" lift. The price was right and it will be a nice little upgrade from what I have now. I also bought the adjustable front track bar, the rear track bar relocation bracket and Sway bar disconnects too. There are no real heavy duty trails where I live, just some mild trails through the woods, so I didn't see the need to spend an arm and a leg.
 
Depends on how much weight you add to it really. My OME heavy duty lift said it was 2", but it was more like 2.5" when I installed it. That's because the HD springs in that kit are meant for more weight, thus they are a little stiffer and tend to sit a bit higher.
I went with the rough country lift which seems to be a bit less "heavy duty" and settles a bit (from what I have read). I think it will work out nice as I am not planning on beating on the jeep. There's not too many places around RI where you can wheel without the police impounding your vehicle. In my teens/early 20's my buddy had a Dodge with a 24V Cummins that we used to take on the powerlines. Nowadays DEM have armed police officers patrolling the trails.

Long story short, I just want something I can take on the local paths through the woods, something to play with in the snow and something to get me to work and back. Hopefully the Rough Country lift is up for that!
 
I went with the rough country lift which seems to be a bit less "heavy duty" and settles a bit (from what I have read). I think it will work out nice as I am not planning on beating on the jeep. There's not too many places around RI where you can wheel without the police impounding your vehicle. In my teens/early 20's my buddy had a Dodge with a 24V Cummins that we used to take on the powerlines. Nowadays DEM have armed police officers patrolling the trails.

Long story short, I just want something I can take on the local paths through the woods, something to play with in the snow and something to get me to work and back. Hopefully the Rough Country lift is up for that!

Oh man... You're going to be severely disappointed with the Rough Country lift. They truly do make the most bottom of the barrel, garbage lift out there for the TJ. They don't last long, and the first thing to go are usually the shocks and springs (the shocks are throw away).

Anyways, I hope it lasts as long as it can for your sake!
 
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Oh man... You're going to be severely disappointed with the Rough Country lift. They truly do make the most bottom of the barrel, garbage lift out there for the TJ. They don't last long, and the first thing to go are usually the shocks and springs (the shocks are throw away).

Anyways, I hope it lasts as long as it can for your sake!
Well, I guess we will see! I already have the lift, the front track bar, the sway bar disconnects, and the rear track bar re-locator for the rear. I have read good and bad things, but for what I am going to be using it for, I think it will be alright. The general consensus was that it was decent if you're on a budget/for a starter/for novices (all three apply in my case!) I also have a friend who had a 4" Rough Country lift on his XJ and it worked out well for him so who knows!
 
It's a great lift for on-road (minus the throw away shocks), but if you want to do anything extreme off-road, it plain old sucks. I had a RC lift on my XJ and it was hands down the worst riding lift (both on and off-road) imaginable. There's a reason they are so cheap, because they literally are Chinese garbage.

Anyways, I hope it works out for you though. I hate to see a fellow TJ owner and his money gone to waste, so I really do hope it works out! I'm only going off my own personal experiences of course.
 
It's a great lift for on-road (minus the throw away shocks), but if you want to do anything extreme off-road, it plain old sucks. I had a RC lift on my XJ and it was hands down the worst riding lift (both on and off-road) imaginable. There's a reason they are so cheap, because they literally are Chinese garbage.

Anyways, I hope it works out for you though. I hate to see a fellow TJ owner and his money gone to waste, so I really do hope it works out! I'm only going off my own personal experiences of course.
I appreciate the feedback! I'm definitely a novice so it is all helpful. I am thinking of being a bit proactive and upgrading the shocks and keeping the coils.
 
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I appreciate the feedback! I'm definitely a novice so it is all helpful. I am thinking of being a bit proactive and upgrading the shocks and keeping the coils.

It's a wise idea. The shocks are the worst part of the RC lift. Replace them with some Rancho of Bilstein shocks and you'll have a much better ride!
 
Thanks @Travis! The LJ's are wicked cool (albeit rare!). I went with the Rough Country 2.5" lift. The price was right and it will be a nice little upgrade from what I have now. I also bought the adjustable front track bar, the rear track bar relocation bracket and Sway bar disconnects too. There are no real heavy duty trails where I live, just some mild trails through the woods, so I didn't see the need to spend an arm and a leg.
I was actually asking about the kit of LED's you used for the insteument cluster...
 
I was actually asking about the kit of LED's you used for the insteument cluster...
Oh sorry! I ended up buying a couple of kits off of ebay. They made one for the dash and one for the climate control panel. They worked out really well, and worked fine when the temp dipped to 8 degrees this past week. Here's the link to what I bought:

For the cluster:

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5337789113&icep_item=291508878421

For the Climate Control (I went with blue to match my stereo deck, it is almost a perfect match!):

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5337789113&icep_item=252479476384
 
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Hello Everyone,

About a month ago I purchased my very first Jeep. Ever since I was a kid I knew I wanted a Wrangler. Due to funds and circumstance, I have driven Toyota Corollas my entire life. Once my 2004 Corolla needed a new catalytic converter, I decided that the time to drive a jeep was now. I looked A LOT. I was looking for a stock project that was reliable enough to daily drive. Being from Rhode Island, most of the Jeeps I looked at were rusty in all the worst places (a product of New England winters and salty ocean air). If they weren't rotted through on the frame, people wanted an arm and a leg.

I really wanted a TJ. To me, there was something about the little traces of American Motors here and there, the straight 6 (even though I ended up with the 2.5L , same idea though) and the smaller size that appealed to me. I wanted a Jeep with character and soul, but one I could drive to and from work everyday.

After a while of searching, I ended up buying a 99 Wrangler SE with the 2.5L. I drove it (keeping in mind the warnings of many who said how under powered the 4 cylinder was) and decided to buy it. It was really love at first drive. Yes, there was some rust, however it is mostly on the fenders and hood. The frame and floors are in really good shape and the interior was SPOTLESS (something I hadn't really seen in the other jeeps I looked at). This jeep also came with a fat folder full of maintenance records and it only had 130K on the Odometer (many of which were tow miles as the previous owner used to tow the jeep behind his RV).

First thing I did once it was home was give it a tune up. My friend and I changed all the fluids, new plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor. We ordered up a new (all aluminum) radiator to replace the old one, and saved the coolant change/flush for when we installed that. It was running great until a few days later when the ignition coil went. In the process of fixing that problem, a new Camshaft position sensor and crankshaft position sensor was installed as well.

As of right now, the jeep has been running tip top. The exhaust rattles a bit at idle, but otherwise it's been smooth (knock on wood). I've been pushing my luck with the amount of jeep parts sitting in the living room, I have a 2.5" lift (shocks and springs), adjustable front track bar, rear track bar relocator, aluminum radiator, new sway bar disconnects, and a partridge in a pair tree waiting to be installed once I get a moment and once my buddies garage is free.

I've attached a few photos of it as it sits stock. I will update the progress as it comes along. If feels pretty good living the dream!

-Neil

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I really like the green & tan combo