Virginia 2003 TJ - Lessons Learned Build $16K

Irun

A vicious cycle of doing, undoing, and re-doing!
Original poster
Supporting Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2019
Messages
9,001
Location
Virginia
Price
16,000
Location
Warrenton Va
I recently bought an LJ for my son and the TJ I built for him came back to me. As much as I like this Jeep, it doesn't make sense for me to keep it. That said, I'm going to test the waters at $16k and go from there. While the Jeep does have high miles, 205K currently, all the work listed below was done (by me) at 185K and I trust this Jeep enough to take regular 6-hour round trips to visit my son in it. FWIW, those of you that know of my work, know I don't cut corners.

Although I can't predict the future, I can promise the following two things. First, this jeep is rust free, with the inside of the frame being smooth. Second, it was built to take on serious wheeling and will not disappoint. I've wheeled it on every Black at Rausch, along with a couple Reds. On the road, it drives, stops, and handles better than any TJ Wrangler I've ever owned.

Highlights include:

- 42RLE Automatic with cooler and temperature gauge
- 241 Transfer case with Savvy cable shifter
- Dana 44 Rear, with factory locker and a new factory locker pump
- Dana 30 Front, with Detroit TrueTrac and small locking hub kit
- Savvy Front Bumper
- Savvy Rockers
- Savvy corner armor
- Savvy belly and engine skid (14" belly height on 31" tires)
- Savvy aluminum control arms (Double Adjustable)
- Savvy gas tank skid
- Savvy rub rails
- UCF Rear Bumper, with 2" receiver
- Power steering cooler
- New Mopar radiator and entire cooling system
- RockJock front and rear trackbars
- Rockjock steering
- Complete new A/C system
- Complete new exhaust, including converters and O2 sensors
- Tuffy full center console
- Bedrug, front and rear
- Bartact seat covers, front and rear
- New brakes, everything, front and rear
- Hard Top and Soft top
- Rebuilt starter
- New Mopar alternator
- SwayLoc
- 31x10.50 A/T street tires
- JL 32" M/T wheeling tires
- 2" springs with 1.25' Body Lift
- Revolution rear axle shafts
- ECGS front axle shafts
- Tom Woods driveshafts
- Kenwood Stereo
- Polk Speakers
- Sound Ordinance Powered subwoofer

This is just a partial list and I'm happy to answer any questions. With all that laid out, I'm not looking to separate parts and will reassess based on interest. I need to get it cleaned up and take some new updated pictures. In the interim, here are some pictures of the Jeep during the build process. If you're looking for a fun, reliable, and well-built TJ, you should take a look at this one.

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