3rd Time's a Charm LJ Build

en480c4

Recovering LJ Enthusiast
Supporting Member
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
337
Location
York, ME
So, I was hesitant to put together another build thread, but it seems like I can't stop myself... Much like buying Jeeps. This is Jeep #15... And my 3rd 2005 LJ!

LJ #1 I traded back in 2011 on a JKU. BB, Moabs and 265 MT/Rs.

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LJ #2 I sold in 2017 and bought another JKU. 2.5" lift, 33x10.5 KO2s, Swag rear bumper, CJ tailgate

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In March I traded my 2015 JKU Willys for a low-mileage VW Touareg for my wife. The plan was I would drive our older high-mileage Touareg and we'd revisit buying another Jeep in 2021. Well, after about a month I listed the old Touareg and started looking to see what was out there. After just missing on a few good options, I came across something I knew I was going to have a hard time passing up. The old Touareg sold, and surprisingly enough, my wife was on board. I even promised to not make any significant changes for a year.

2005 LJ
39k miles
24H Package, which I was OK with.
And for better or worse, a small Curtis plow.

I wasn't excited about the plow, but considering the mileage and photos, I reached out to the seller. While I waited to hear back, worked on lining up the money. Later in the day I hear back from him and went over to take a look. There's some clean up to do on the frame, though no rot... Just lots of surface scale that was likely from the limited plowing. And the body was in very good shape, with only had a couple of very small spots that need attention. I'm not sure the hard top had ever been off, and it was still on the OEM 30x9.5 Wrangler GS-As. So I committed to buy it and was able to pick it up the next week.

And of course, as soon as my wife saw it in person, she said "But it's so small... When are you going to lift it?" So needless to say, I have a very understanding partner in crime.

The day I picked it up:

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And a few days later with the plow off

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And so, that's where I started on May 13th.
 
So, the first few purchases were must-have's. Mopar entry guards, wipers, hard top lift gate struts, a 13" antenna.

And, of course, I lucked into picking up a complete soft top about 90 minutes from me a few days before I picked up the Jeep for $300. It was complete except for the roll bar brackets, which can be unobtanium, but Davey's had a pair and were reasonably priced, so I was in business.

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At this point my plan was pretty simple. 2.5" lift, JL Rubicon take-offs and I had decided to sell the plow, so pull the frame and harness.
 
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At this point, JL's started shipping with Falkens, which are fine, but there were a lot fewer sets of BFG take-offs to be had. And the ones that were available were stupid money.

I wasn't looking for them, but came across a set of 5 JK Rubicon Recon take-offs for $200. I searched and searched and couldn't find any pictures of a TJ/JK with them, but figured at that prices, it was worth a shot.

After getting them home I find they're more bronze than gunmetal or grey. I'm thinking they may have been on a Golden Eagle. I was skeptical about how they'd look, but figured I'd stick with the plan.

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Long story short, came across a great deal on 4 new 285/70R17 BFG KO2s. Picked up a low-mileage JL spare and got them mounted and balanced.

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When it was time for the lift to go on, I pulled the plow frame and I threw the 1.25" adapters, wheels and tires on the stock Jeep. They just barely fit for the drive to the shop. I had someone lined up to buy the stock Ravines/GS-As and wanted that done before dropping the Jeep off.

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So, for the lift I went with OME.

934 ZJ V8/949 LJ coils
Nitrocharger Sport shocks
SD40 steering stabilizer
Rear trackbar bracket

I've done the lift on my last few Jeeps, but with this having 15 year old original hardware and having a 6 and 2 year old (and as a result, no time), I had this one installed. It fought every step of the way, which makes me even happier with my decision.

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I netted almost exactly 3" F&R.

As expected, the ride is firm with the OME combo, but not harsh and I'm pleased with how it came out.

And I used a JK spare tire relocation bracket left over from an abandoned project years back to mount the spare. I re-drilled for the TJ pattern to get the spare on and move it up enough to miss the bumper. Then extended the rubber snubbers in hopes the tailgate holds together long enough to come up with a more elegant solution.
 
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Finally, I pulled the plow harness and installed a set of LJR sliders I was able to track down. I know there are better options out there, but they mostly protect from rocks getting thrown up and my kids shoes climbing in and out.

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So that pretty much gets me up to where I am now.

Current plans include:

Brakes (BMB pads, rotors and calipers)
No-BL skid & new transmission mount
Engine/auto transmission skid
New fuel pump/sending unit due to P0462
Frame/underbody clean-up
CarPlay capable head-unit and Speakers
Heated seat kit
Headlight upgrade and fog lights


And I have someone all but committed to buying the plow, which will fund at least some of those items.
 
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There are probably some things that I should've done first, like brakes or addressing the fuel sending unit. But I just couldn't stand the stock stereo any more. Last night I installed a Joying 8.8” single-DIN Android floating screen head unit. The widescreen aspect ratio fits perfectly between the vents and HVAC controls, though I need to adjust the screen up a little. It has wired and wireless CarPlay, and looks and sounds great. And because it’s single DIN, I was able to keep my silver bezel.

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Now to refill the Jeep fund for whatever comes next.
 
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nice, yeah my max budget for purchase is at most 7k. I have found quite a few TJ's that I really like in that range.
 
So, I was able to wrap up a few things with the Jeep this week.

I installed a wireless steering wheel control to the Jeep. I had to pull the head unit and add the harness and unit. I mounted the volume/track controls on the back side of the steering wheel. It works great, and addresses my only real issue with the Joying unit, which was no dedicated volume control. I knew that going in, but it was definitely a challenge to swipe down while driving, pull up the volume slider and adjust. This makes it very easy.

While the head unit was out, I made a minor modification to allow me to reposition the screen. The ribbon cable connector interfered with the trim ring, so I removed it and made a few cuts and was able to adjust the screen up. While it had been centered between the vents and the HVAC controls, it appeared lower and blocked the view of some of the controls since you're looking down on them. This new position works much better.

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Finally, I was able to install 5.25" Kicker CS speakers in the Select Increments Dash Pods up front and 6.5" Kicker CS speakers and some polyfill in the rear. The improvement is pretty significant. I had tempered my expectations and was pleasantly surprised.

I haven't decided which direction I'm going for headlights, but I did pick up a set of the Hella 500 Value Fit LED Driving Lights and '05-'06 fog light harness adapters. They're out for delivery and I hope to get them on after work today or tomorrow. I haven't seen them around at all, but they seem like a really good option for the money.
 
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I haven't decided which direction I'm going for headlights, but I did pick up a set of the Hella 500 Value Fit LED Driving Lights and '05-'06 fog light harness adapters. They're out for delivery and I hope to get them on after work today or tomorrow. I haven't seen them around at all, but they seem like a really good option for the money.

Well, that was easy.

Cut the ends off the Hella harness and the Quadratec harness, spliced them together, soldered and heat shrunk to make mini adapters.

Drilled out the OE fog light holds on the bumper and mounted them up.

Took about 20 minutes from when I opened the box to when I was turning them on.

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I still need to swap the tow hooks since the PO had them on the wrong sides with the plow, and aim them, but they look good. Quality is excellent for $125. And I definitely won’t be keeping the halogen headlights. The color difference is too much got me to put up with. So I’m on the hunt for some LED headlights.
 
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Any pics of the steering wheel controls? Those rims are killer on your rig. 👍

Thanks. At first I was a little disappointed I didn’t find any JL Rubi take-offs, but I really like how they look.

Here’s a shot of the steering wheel with the controls mounted.

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The labels don’t match the description/photos in the listing. But it really doesn’t matter since you can program them however you want and you go but feel anyway.
 
Thanks. At first I was a little disappointed I didn’t find any JL Rubi take-offs, but I really like how they look.

Here’s a shot of the steering wheel with the controls mounted.

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The labels don’t match the description/photos in the listing. But it really doesn’t matter since you can program them however you want and you go but feel anyway.
I see you said it is wireless. It works off Bluetooth? And mounts using something like 3M tape?
 
I see you said it is wireless. It works off Bluetooth? And mounts using something like 3M tape?

Wireless, but there is a part that’s wired into the Android head unit’s harness. And yes, they came with 3M tape. Here is the one I bought on Amazon. There are some pics in the listing showing the parts it comes with. I think there are Bluetooth ones as well, but this was prefect for what I needed.
 
A few changes I hadn't gotten into my build thread.

Got the $52 eBay LED headlights in. They seem like a great bang-for-the-buck option. If they hold up OK, I won't complain.

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Performance exceeds expectations, which were admittedly low considering the price.

Low beams:

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High beams:

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Low beams + Hella LED driving lights:

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And I also got a heated seat kit off of Amazon. Same one I used in my last LJ & JK. At this point it's pretty easy to install the heating elements in the Jeep.

If you recline the seat all the way, you can unclip the upholstery clip at the bottom of the seat back. Then you just fold back the paper on the adhesive strips on the heating element about an inch. You can slide the element up and get it situated and then pull back the backing and secure the pad without removing the upholstery.

For the seat bottoms you can unclip the short vertical clip on the back near the center console to get the wiring through and then unclip the upholstery clip at the front of the seat bottom behind the slider handle. Then pull the upholstery up over the front edge of the seat, undo the heavy velcro across the cushion and fold the adhesive paper back the inch again, and feed the heating element in with the wire through the back where you unclipped.

It only took about 30 minutes to get the elements in, 30 minutes to loosen the center console and get the wiring routed to the dash. The rest of the time was drilling the holes for the switches (I did this poorly... The pilot bit wandered and I didn't realize it, resulting in misaligned holes), splicing in the wiring, securing everything and getting it back together. I have to change my power feed, unfortunately... I thought I grabbed a switched wire, but I tapped constant so it's only a matter of time before I forget to turn them off and come back to a dead battery.

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Finally, just waiting on new speaker grills and the knee bolster below the steering wheel from Davey's. The PO drilled both to mount the plow controls, so I wanted to get that cleaned up. I ordered a new switch bezel while I was at it to redo my heated seat switches... The misalignment will drive me crazy.
 
So, a few updates. I ordered a few panels from Davey’s to replace the ones drilled for the plow controls and fix my heated seats switch screw up. Since the head unit charges my phone, I decided to use the 12V and cigarette lighter socket holes to mount the switches. Now I’m glad I did since I have a plan for the flat space.

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