Project "Single Barrel" An LJ build

jeepster1407 · Mar 3, 2021

Hey folks. I'm new here and thought I'd share with you my Jeep build. I've had this Jeep almost 5 years now and have enjoyed it more than any of my previous models. (YJ, TJ, JKU) I chose the name because after I got home I was doing the typical wash and cleaning of a newly purchased vehicle and found a 12 gauge shotgun shell in between the backseat and fender well. (still in the jeep today) As far as I'm concerned the first part of my build is "done" and I'm currently pinching my pennies and putting money away for stage 2. I'll try my best to walk you through the build stages and where it sits now starting from the beginning.

I picked it up on 6/28/15 and below was all I knew about it

2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited LJ

4.0 / 42rle (automatic) / 231J
Hard Top
New 33x10.5x15 BFG All terrains
15x8 Eagle Alloy wheels
ARB Front Deluxe bull bar bumper with winch mount
Warn 9.5ti
3.25" Rough country lift kit
Custom Camouflage interior (Visors, Console lid, Seats)
Kenwood Headunit
Quadratec floor mats (front, rear, cargo)

jeepster1407 · Mar 3, 2021

Little did I know at the time of purchase but the axles had been re geared to 4.56 and the front has a lunchbox locker of some sort installed. SCORE!!!

jeepster1407 · Mar 3, 2021

The first order of business was to sell the ARB bumper, pull off the camo seat covers, and find a soft top. In fact I think I've only reinstalled the hard top once since owning it. When I removed the ARB Bumper with the Warn winch and steel cable I weighed that entire setup. 178 lbs. No wonder the front springs were had sagged so much. At the time I was impatient and couldn't find a factory soft top anywhere near me with hardware so I settled with the Bestop Trektop NX. I loved this top with the exception of installing the back window. That really sucked.

jeepster1407 · Mar 3, 2021

Working in the sheet metal manufacturing field I decided rather than buying a bumper I was going to take a stab at making one. This time much lighter. I'm not going to get into the whole argument here on which variant of Aluminum is superior and should be used as there are FAR too many of those threads available. I will only say that we use an abundance of 5052-H32 here so that is what I chose because it was Free.

jeepster1407 · Mar 3, 2021

Installed...

At this time I decided to switch the steel cable over to synthetic also.

jeepster1407 · Mar 3, 2021

While browsing craigslist one evening I saw someone with a 4 cyl YJ who was wanting to swap his new 35's for 33's so I took him up on his offer. We ended up swapping tires & wheels in a local parking lot. Not super fun.

Shuttlesworth · Mar 3, 2021

Did you do the design work yourself? That's a great looking bumper for your first try, and great job on the flat pattern reliefs. Do you have the CAD file?

What's your company name if you don't mind my asking?

jeepster1407 · Mar 3, 2021

Shuttlesworth said:
Did you do the design work yourself? That's a great looking bumper for your first try, and great job on the flat pattern reliefs. Do you have the CAD file?

What's your company name if you don't mind my asking?

Thanks, I'm an engineering and have been working in sheet metal shops for the last 10 years. I do all of my own design work and have CAD files on everything. Most everything I draw in SolidWorks. I don't own the company, I just work here.

Shuttlesworth · Mar 3, 2021

Dope, another CAD junkie. I run Solidworks as well. If you are willing to share your files that would be awesome.

What's your next design for your Jeep?

jeepster1407 · Mar 3, 2021

Shuttlesworth said:
Dope, another CAD junkie. I run Solidworks as well. If you are willing to share your files that would be awesome.

What's your next design for your Jeep?

I've got SEVERAL!!! Follow along i'll be updating this thread pretty quickly to get to the current state of my LJ.

Unfortunately I don't want to release the data for a few of the items I draw up. Especially the failed ones

. Who knows, if things go south with my carrier path I may need something to fall back on.

jeepster1407 · Mar 3, 2021

As you can see the new 35's stuffed the wheel wells completely with the old worn out 3.25" lift. When It came time to replace those sagging springs I went with Rock Krawler's 3.5" triple Rate springs. These were new at the time but have been great and I'd definitely choose these again.

TJ Starting · Mar 3, 2021

Looking great so far! I also say your front bumper turned out amazing. Fits right in.

jeepster1407 · Mar 3, 2021

I knew I didn't want to go any higher with the suspension lift and there just wasn't enough room in the wheel wells for the 35's after the spring swap. Hi Line fenders were on the radar. After a lot of back and forth I decided on Poison Spyder Defenders with flare in aluminum. Since they don't offer the bolt on rear flares in Aluminum those are steel.

jeepster1407 · Mar 3, 2021

I didn't care for the insert panels that PS sent with the fenders and I wasn't going to throw a spider on the side of the jeep so I made up some louver panels out of aluminum. I also decided to powder coat them to match the jeep and do a textured color on the flares to sort of mimic the factory look.