04 LJ Mall Crawler Extraordinaire Build

[Bratch]

Last May we decided we wanted a Jeep for a weekend fun car and started looking around. We found a 2004 LJ with 95k from a local college kid and made a deal. That is where the fun has begun.

Mechanically the Jeep seemed to be in good shape light surface rust in spots on the frame but nothing major. Drove and rode great but was in need of lots of TLC.

What started out as a light clean up has turned into a new passion for working, tweaking and building.

I’m 8 months into the process and unfortunately missed a lot of the before pictures but I’ll try to bring everyone up to speed as I can and then we can go forward together.

Current use is probably 95%+ just cruising around town, with a little bit of dirt and gravel roads. I’d like to do some light trails eventually but time is always a concern. Secondary use is winter weather transportation.

Here is a before of the old girl

The soft top was trash, the first time we tried to take it off the zippers all busted and split. It had 31s on the front and bald 30s on the rear.

 

[Bratch]

First round of changes hit the basics. We added a Bestop Sail Cloth and 31” BFG KO2s on a set of Discount Tire wheels.

I also got some basic maintenance out of the way. Changed the oil, new air filter, flushed the radiator and added Zerox G05, topped off the fluids in the front and rear diffs, and put new plugs in it.

One of the POs had added a cheap air horn with the always reliable zip tie to hold it in. I pulled that out and added a regular horn.

Somewhere along the way the coolant overflow tank was lost so I added a new one.

The fan only worked on the top two speeds. I got the resistor replaced and had four speeds again.

I’ve got several other projects completed that I’ll add as I can get photos.

 

[JMT]

I look forward to this build. Nice score on the LJ. And in my favorite color, Flame Red!

 

[Bratch]

One of the next things we attacked was the interior.

Someone had removed all the carpet and we weren’t overly crazy about the confetti seat upholstery. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pre pictures

We installed Bedrug carpet front and rear and a set of Bartact seat covers. We also installed a SpiderWeb shade to help keep the sun off of us since our primary use is top down weekend cruising.

This combination completely changed the look of the Jeep.

 

[Bratch]

We spent the first few weeks of ownership inventing reasons to go for a drive. During this time I realized that even if I had six FM stations programmed the odds of one playing a song I actually liked was something approaching zero. Next on the to do list was a sound system.

We settled on a JVC marine Bluetooth head unit connected to Polk 5 1/4” in dash and Polk 6 1/2” speakers in the sound pods. The factory sub was busted so I pulled it out and placed an Sound Ordnance 4x75W amp in its place to power the Polk speakers.

After a couple weeks I was missing the low end so I added an Sound Ordnance B8PTD sub under the rear seat.

With the addition of the sub I was thrilled with my reasonable stereo. Install was super clean with the easily pliable carpet and the roll bar pads to run wiring through.

 

[Bratch]

I’ve spent the past week and a half working on the Jeep and installing all the parts that have been piling up in the garage.

It is now sitting on H&R springs with a ¾” spacer up front and Bilstein shocks. It has Black Magic pads and rotors on all corners and a ZJ tie rod up front. Took it out for its first drive today and other than needing to recenter the steering wheel it was a dream.

Prior to that we had put on a set of Quadratec bumpers and a pair of Baja Design driving lights and flood lights.

After image:

Before and after comparison:

I didn’t get all my pre and post measurements so the eye ball test is the best it is going to get.

I have a new Mopar radiator to install in a couple weeks and want to order a Savvy transfer case cable. After that I’m not sure what my next steps will be, may swap out the headlights to a set of LED.

 

[Chris]

It’s coming along nicely so far!

 

[chino1969]

One of the next things we attacked was the interior.

Someone had removed all the carpet and we weren’t overly crazy about the confetti seat upholstery. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pre pictures

We installed Bedrug carpet front and rear and a set of Bartact seat covers. We also installed a SpiderWeb shade to help keep the sun off of us since our primary use is top down weekend cruising.

This combination completely changed the look of the Jeep.

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How do you like those seat covers? I almost pulled the trigger on them but want to hear from people who have them before I order.

 

[astjp2]

Lockers, SYE and tummy tuck should be added to your list...Its on mine, except I am going with an Atlas instead of a SYE

 

[Bratch]

How do you like those seat covers? I almost pulled the trigger on them but want to hear from people who have them before I order.

I’m pretty happy with them. Fit is great and was a little tough to get on. The front seats have faded a little from sitting in the sun but the rear is still bright. They have picked up some light stains from me getting in and out when dirty working on it. To be fair I haven’t really scrubbed on them to try and get clean.

I need to use the pockets a little better but do have some odds and ends stored in them.

On a very positive note I slipped and cut one of the seats a little right after install. It was a small clean nick with a box cutter. Talked to Bartact and they stated everything was ripstop and sure enough the cut hasn’t ran or frayed at all. I’d probably have to really look hard to find the cut now.