04 TJ from kiwi-land

[phraza]

So back in around 2012 I had a 1997 TJ. It was an absolute blast. Lifted on 33s it went almost anywhere. Was told it was some sort of special edition but never knew what exactly

That was fun times. Sold it to get a pickup (Toyota Hilux) as I just bought a house back then and needed something practical.

Fast forward several years and few cars later, I wanted something fun again. The wife said why not get a Jeep again. So I started looking. Wow prices had gone up heaps since I had my last one!
Found this one down the other end of the country and thought it was a good platform to start with. Not going crazy modding, just making it mine.

The previous owner put a OME lift kit in and also front and rear ARB bars. A few of the expensive mods already done.

Had fun over the summer down here in NZ with the top down. But it’s pretty knackered so definitely on the list to get a new Trektop

One of the first things I wanted to do was to swap out the wheels. My lift didn’t really allow for anything over 32” and I didn’t really need anything bigger anyway for what I was going to use it for.
My local tire guy found a sweet set of American Racing Baja in matte black. They are 16x8 (yea I know tires are harder to come by and more expensive but oh well).
I started to keep an eye out for second hand tires (my budget was low, decided to spend more money on alloys and get second hand tires for now)

Alloys are hard to come by for TJs in NZ so I’m glad I got these

 

[phraza]

Found a set of second hand duratracs. The guy didn’t know how much they were worth so I got a crazy cheap deal on them.
I was originally looking for 265/75/16 but these were 265/70/16 (so about an inch smaller)

Came with the steel wheels but selling those as don’t fit

Looks heaps better now! Was still warm out, still like cruising around with the top off and doors off. First time doors had been off since new

 

[phraza]

Forgot to say in the first post but the TJ that I got is a 2004 Extreme Sport. Which is basically like the Colombia Edition you guys have in Northern America. Apparently only 4 Extreme Sports in New Zealand so that makes it super rare haha

it’s a 5 speed manual with approx 111,000 miles on it (180,000kms)
Got the dana 44 in the rear and 30 in the front

 

[phraza]

My two blue American cars. The Chevy isn’t road legal at the moment, had that one since about 2016. Imported it from San Fran from a one owner family. Real fun to drive that thing that’s for sure.
The wife also has a Jeep. The latest Compass. Pretty nice to drive

That’s my TJ cab cover that I got for when it rains heaps as the soft top has a couple of small leaks. Got it from rockauto for fairly cheap (shipping to NZ is reasonable and pretty quick from them)

 

[phraza]

Didn’t really like the export style tail lights that we have here, so bought some Savvy ones. Only issue is that the export TJs have a separate wire for brake and turn. But the Savvy lights have one wire for both.
so I bought a Curt 3 to 2 wire converter used for trailers and hooked it up behind the lights. Worked a charm.
Old:

New:

 

[phraza]

The stock sub was ruined, so ripped that out for now. Will work on getting a kicker upgrade in the near future.
Wanted to upgrade the head unit though as the stock seems a bit dated. Wanted something to connect to my phone for calling and music.
I was leaning towards a double din Sony touch screen, but my budget kept me at a single din for now:

 

[phraza]

The rear ARB bar has a hole for a hitch, but the previous owner never wired it up. So I got a kit from our local parts store and wired up a plug and got a removable tounge for the towball

 

[phraza]

Radiator cracked on me, I couldn’t afford the mopar replacement or wait for it to arrive (this is my daily driver). Found a local supplier. Made in Taiwan but oh well. 3 year warranty which is not bad.
original: hard to see crack, but just through the sticker

pretty straight forward job. The bottom rad hose leaked after I installed the new radiator, but i just got a new clamp and that fixed it

 

[phraza]

Got my spare wheel mounted finally with a new tire on my 5th alloy. I went with the size bigger that I wanted originally. (265/75/16) So when I get all four new tires they will match

I’ve also got a round led third brake light. Will fab up something to fit in the center cap and remove the high mounted brake light

 

[phraza]

Have a slight wobble at speed when I go over a bump. Settles down after a few seconds. Got a few parts imported from the states. Just need to find time to install them:
Track bar
Drag link + sleeve
All tie rods
Steering stabilizer (I know that won’t fix the wobble but might as well replace the original looking one)

need to get some ball joints and that’s most of the front end replaced

 

[phraza]

Front speakers are Sony 4” tiny things and the roll bar has 5.25” alpine speakers. They sound alright for now but will replace them all in the near future when I do the sub upgrade too

 

[rdroutman]

View attachment 244212My two blue American cars. The Chevy isn’t road legal at the moment, had that one since about 2016. Imported it from San Fran from a one owner family. Real fun to drive that thing that’s for sure.
The wife also has a Jeep. The latest Compass. Pretty nice to drive
View attachment 244213
That’s my TJ cab cover that I got for when it rains heaps as the soft top has a couple of small leaks. Got it from rockauto for fairly cheap (shipping to NZ is reasonable and pretty quick from them)

Hey, man! I know that this is really random, but I just joined this community, and funnily enough I just moved to NZ! I saw that your a kiwi, so i was wondering if I could ask you a few questions regarding kiwi jeeping, and tj ownership! thanks!

 

[phraza]

Hey, man! I know that this is really random, but I just joined this community, and funnily enough I just moved to NZ! I saw that your a kiwi, so i was wondering if I could ask you a few questions regarding kiwi jeeping, and tj ownership! thanks!

Yo! No problem, just sent you a PM

 

[phraza]

Few things I’ve done recently:
Painted the end of the exhaust. Was just surface rust before so this made it a little tidier.

Painted the side mirrors in a hammered finish (just lightly)

Started mocking up my bracket for my ram mount off the dash. Will use proper smooth steel, this is what I had lying around:

 

[phraza]

My heater only blows on the top two fan settings, took out the resistor and it’s a bit old looking haha. Will get one from rock auto soon

 

[phraza]

Previous owner replaced the sub with some crackly crap one. Ordered a kicker and put it in. Had to use a smal mdf spacer to make it fit properly (even after removing some of the inner plastic). Using the factory amp for now, it’s exactly what I was after, just fills out the sound enough.
Used some poly fill behind the sub and had some left over so used it in the rear speaker pods. Some nice Alpine 5.25” speakers in there so will leave those for now

 

[phraza]

My factory soft top has clear windows, so I wanted something to keep my stuff a bit safer in the rear. So cut up some ply wood and test fitted it in there. Will get some similar colored carpet and cover it up. Need to see how much it jumps, might put some Velcro strips on the end to keep it semi-secure

 

[phraza]

Replaced the track bar and bolt. Think I got rid of the shimmy over bumps at high speed. Still got toe rods, drag link and steering stabilizer, but will keep them as spares for now.
Looking underneath, I might start cleaning up parts with a wire brush and some paint

 

[phraza]

Installed new third brake light. Put it in a center cap the for alloy. Works well and have a bit more visibility out of the rear window (factory third brake light was lifted higher and in my line of sight)

 

[phraza]

Finished my parcel shelf/tray thing. Came up good and less obvious tharaw wood. Doesn’t move at all when going over bumps. It’s wedged enough between the seats and the tub