1999 SE from stock

When your pricing 31s and 16s also price 31s and 15s... and compare assembly weight too.
15s will be lighter and cheaper. And on an SE every pound counts.

And also, get alloy wheels, not steel. The steel wheels will add a lot more rotational mass to your SE which will negatively affect your performance.
 
When your pricing 31s and 16s also price 31s and 15s... and compare assembly weight too.
15s will be lighter and cheaper. And on an SE every pound counts.
Isn't that the truth! No steel wheels for sure. I could go with General Grabber AT2 on the current Grizzly wheels and save some cash there. I'd like to go 16" with 4.5" backspacing for a big brake kit later and tire clearance on the backside. The Grizzlies have 5.5" backspacing and it puts the tire really close to the body and suspension with 31x10.50's. They clear, but it's close.
 
Okay. Can you put the same background as well? That way they do look like they are next to each other.
 
Alrighty then...what angle and how far away are we talking here? Quarter shot from drivers side front at a distance of ??? feet? Should I find a nice uniform color and texture background to make the photoshop job easier?
 
It's always easier to Photoshop out the background when the background is mostly a solid color devoid of any trees, mountains or anything major.

Why not just do a front head on shot, and then a side shot?
 
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Back on topic...

I'm going to disappoint a few people here. I consulted the checkbook and then cogitated for awhile last night whilst sitting in the cab of a fork truck in the dark and fog.

I would love to do a full meal deal high end mod. That's not in the works unless I win the lottery. But as they say you have to play to win. Since I consider lotteries as a tax on the mathematically ignorant...that's not going to happen. So, here goes...

First off - Tires. 31x10.50R15's. Duratracs in load range C or Grabber AT2's? Is the difference in performance enough to justify the difference in cost? The delta seems to run around $150 or so for a set of five. If you like your Grizzlies, you can keep your Grizzlies. I do, and I will, at least for the time being. If the clearance on the back side makes me nervous, then wheel spacers to gain a little space.

Second thing - springs and shocks. Essentially a small lift kit. No spacer BB kits. That is not going to buy me anything that I need. Factory takeoff springs in a higher rate would get the additional load carrying capacity and by extension some small amount of lift as well. The ride will suffer though. Cheap, fills part of the bill, but not really ideal. So where do I look for a spring set and shocks to give me a little lift and increased weight carrying capacity without killing the ride /performance when she's empty on washboard gravel roads/ rough trails? As a side note, I'm already polishing off the lower spring perches with the bump stops. It would be nice to not do that.

Third thing - Gears and axles. A Dana 44 or two is not in the works any time soon. So, that means putting a little money into the Dana 30/35 combination that I have. That eliminates a locker, at least for the rear Dana 35. How about a TruTrack and gears in the back and an Aussie and gears up front? I'll probably go with Revolution gears. They seem to be the best bang for the buck out there, and have a sterling reputation for quality. I ran the math on gear ratios and 4.88 looks really appropriate for my projected setup and use. The RPM's will be just a little higher than what she's running now. I should be able to use 4th gear on the highway going up hill with a load instead of having to drop down to third. I still have 5th gear for the flats, and can keep up with traffic at a comfortable speed (65 - 70) without over revving the four banger. If I'm a little careful, I won't break anything until the axle shafts get an upgrade. I found a pro to install the gears and TruTrac for about $300 plus parts. Same for the gears in the front. The Aussie for the front I can plug in myself. I was looking at TEN Factory axle shafts. They seem to be a pretty good amount of bang for the buck. They have a heat treated alloy shaft in 27 spline for the Dana 35. Revolution doesn't seem to at the moment, or at least I haven't seen them. I can put those in myself as money allows or I break something.

There's the start. Fire Away with suggestions and comments please, I'd like to get started in the next month or so with the mods because spring is on it's way!
 
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It's always easier to Photoshop out the background when the background is mostly a solid color devoid of any trees, mountains or anything major.

Why not just do a front head on shot, and then a side shot?
Gotcha! Should those be at a distance that just allows the whole Jeep in the picture?
 
Back on topic...

31x10.50s on the original rims should fit fine. I ran 33x9.50s on my YJ with the stock 15x7 rims.

Springs.... an SE is pretty light up front. Anything "Sport" rated will ride rougher in an SE.

30/35 combo?? 31s and the 4 cylinder should be fine with the stock axles. Especially with 4.88s which will reduce the stress.
BUT owning a TJR... I'd recommend selectable lockers to anyone, everytime. They will be the most functional, useful mod you ever do.
 
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And also, get alloy wheels, not steel. The steel wheels will add a lot more rotational mass to your SE which will negatively affect your performance.
This ^^^^^

Alloy 15x7 tend to be under 20#
Steel 15x7 tend to be over 25#
On an SE you should maximize every advantage.
Weight on the wheels/axles will hurt ride, acceleration, .......
 
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Back on topic...

31x10.50s on the original rims should fit fine. I ran 33x9.50s on my YJ with the stock 15x7 rims.

Springs.... an SE is pretty light up front. Anything "Sport" rated will ride rougher in an SE.

30/35 combo?? 31s and the 4 cylinder should be fine with the stock axles. Especially with 4.88s which will reduce the stress.
BUT owning a TJR... I'd recommend selectable lockers to anyone, everytime. They will be the most functional, useful mod you ever do.

31x10.50's should fit just fine, with maybe a little adjustment to the steering stops. I understand that they may run a little close on the inside, which makes me nervous though.

True, the SE is pretty light in the front, and I'd like to keep it that way. In fact light is a build goal. Learned that from long distance back packing...ounces add up to pounds which reduces performance and increases injury rates. I've got 120 HP and140 ft/pounds to work with. That's a tight performance budget right there. The SE is light in stock form at 3,200#, but it wouldn't take much to blow the hp to weight ratio right out of the water. Heck, I'm even investigating aluminum replacement skids and bumpers to see if the weight can be reduced from stock. Delivered some parts to one of the fab shops in the facility last night and the sight of all the aluminum stock and forming machines got me to thinking. I'm betting that you could drop 300 to 500 pounds from a stock TJ in a weekend in there. I'd loose my job, but I'd have the lightest TJ on the block!

It's one of the reasons that lifting an SE is such a challenge as well... Almost all after market spring sets are set up for the six, which is notably heavier. A nominal 2 - 2 1/2" lift usually results in anything from 3 to 3 1/2" of realized lift on an SE and a rougher ride from higher spring rates. The exception is OME, where they have a whole selection of spring rates, and even differentiate between passenger and driver side. You pay a premium for that kind of expertise. The difference is the cost of the TruTrac for a Dana 35. Choices, choices.

I think so as well, and will run the stock axles for awhile in any case. Being a belt and suspenders kind of guy stronger axle shafts will probably go in later. We'll see.

Oh man, I've agonized over the selectable locker decision... That just opens up an expensive ball of wax for me. For the time being I think that I'm going to have to live with putting a limited slip in the back. Someday Dana 44's with selectables may be in the cards, but I really don't want to wait it out for a couple of years without some form of traction enhancer. I can get a TruTrack for $400, and have it installed when I do the gears for no additional charge. An Elocker, which is my preference at the moment, runs about twice that, plus rounding up a Dana 44 around here to put it in about doubles that. With upgraded axle shafts and etc., I am in the ball park of a new, factory fresh Dana 44 with all the goodies from ECG or G2. The whole build / buy decision tree comes into play to the tune of about $3,000 +/-. So, a Revolution Super Dana 35 kit + Selectable Locker + axles and install parts or a Dana 44 with the same thing or a crate Dana 44 set up and ready to bolt in. Any way you look at that, it's going to run anywhere from $2,300 to over $3,000 per axle. No way to do that right now.

Thanks for the input billiebob, I appreciate it. Your suggestions are sound and I would implement them except for the cost of doing so right now.
 
Instead of a 2" lift... go HighLine. Lift the fenders 2". Stock suspension. Here is my TJR with 33s, stock suspension and AEV HighLine.

No driveline issues. Stock ride. Unless you will need maxflex... AEV still sells the HighLine hood. All they did with the fenders was cut off the tops and fill the 2" gap with a 3" strip of steel. Unfortunately they do not make the plastic flares anymore so that would have to be a custom item..x4.

My next BIG project will be a tummy tuck... for the Jeep and me.

DSC_0170.jpg
 
Hmmm, going with a hiline would fix another issue that I have. The only dents in the Jeep are in the hood. Someone's girlfriend (I'm assuming) with a size 15 saddle backside sat on the hood at some point and put two cute little dimples in it. A new hiline hood would fix that and give me more clearance to boot!
 
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