2003 TJ Wrangler

piratemonkey

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 4, 2017
Messages
180
Location
Australia
Hello,

New member here from Australia.
Been a zook owner for about 20 years, but a growing family has led me to needing something slightly bigger with a bit more power.
Have been looking for a TJ for around 6 months. Was wanting a silver or green TJ and wanting it to be as stock as possible with lowers ks (naturally).
Average prices here are $8000-$13000.
All the ones I was interested in were never close and by the time I organised to go see them I missed out.

This one was listed for $8600 with 130,000km (81,000miles), but I wrote it off because it was red. Really didn't want red. Over the months the price slowly dropped to $6500 but still didn't attract me.

4 days ago it popped up on a different sales platform for $5000 and with it being relatively close to home (4 hour round trip), I organised to go have a look at it.

Car has been sitting for several months, but was still registered. A few signs of rat poo under the bonnet, and the interior covered in dog hair I was semi convinced I was going to walk away.
I decided to take it for a drive.
Started it up and it purred. Oil levels and coolant levels were good, no service history, but it was somewhat looked after.
It drove well, smooth, pulled hard, and didn't vibrate or at 100kmph.
What the hell, it's only a colour after all.
I knew the price was good, being about half of what else was on the market.

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So what's the plans?
Minimum mods to get me as far as I need to go.
As little lift as possible, 33's, diff gears, flat fenders, twin locked, sway bar disconnect, and a bloody good tidy up. I also want to put the other TJ stock front bar on it and the factory spotlights.
 
That looks like a great canvas to start from! Are TJs rare down in Australia?

By the way, what's a zook? We must not have those in the United States.
 
That looks like a great canvas to start from! Are TJs rare down in Australia?

By the way, what's a zook? We must not have those in the United States.

They're not really rare, but no where near as many as you guys have in the US.
I see a lot more JKs than TJs.

Zook is short for Suzuki. I've had a lot of Sierras (Samurais) but they are starting to get rare here and parts were getting harder to find.
 
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They're not really rare, but no where near as many as you guys have in the US.
I see a lot more JKs than TJs.

Zook is short for Suzuki. I've had a lot of Sierras (Samurais) but they are starting to get rare here and parts were getting harder to find.


Ahhh, that makes sense. You guys get a lot of cool off-road vehicles out there that we don't get though, such as the Toyotas and the Land Rovers (though I wouldn't trust the reliability of those Land Rovers).

I hear parts for the TJs are harder to come by in Australia for sure.
 
Ahhh, that makes sense. You guys get a lot of cool off-road vehicles out there that we don't get though, such as the Toyotas and the Land Rovers (though I wouldn't trust the reliability of those Land Rovers).

I hear parts for the TJs are harder to come by in Australia for sure.

I'm sure I'll discover that in the near future.
I've been looking for a front bumper and can't find one for sale on ebay, facebook etc.
I put it up in a group on facebook and a guy has come good and has one he said I can have which is a winner.

I thought there would be a few listed on ebay but couldn't find a single one.
 
I'm sure I'll discover that in the near future.
I've been looking for a front bumper and can't find one for sale on ebay, facebook etc.
I put it up in a group on facebook and a guy has come good and has one he said I can have which is a winner.

I thought there would be a few listed on ebay but couldn't find a single one.

Post some wanted ads on this forum as well. It gets a huge amount of page views a day, so if you post something there’s a very good chance someone in Australia will see it eventually!
 
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I'm sure I'll discover that in the near future.
I've been looking for a front bumper and can't find one for sale on ebay, facebook etc.
I put it up in a group on facebook and a guy has come good and has one he said I can have which is a winner.

I thought there would be a few listed on ebay but couldn't find a single one.
There is a ton of great stuff here in the states available for the TJ. Unfortunately getting it to AUS can be cost prohibitive. Shoot Robert @ Dirtworx.com an email and see if he ships your way.
 
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Nice find on the TJ. I like the color!
I've had a couple Zooks and still have one now. They are great rigs off road, but going down the Hwy just doesn't cut it with them. With the TJ you have the best of both worlds. Goes down the Hwy good and does great off road with so many aftermarket things available for them. You'll have a lot of fun with it.
What part of Australia are you from? I spent two years in Australia when I was in the service 850 miles north of Perth in Exmouth. Was pretty remote out there at the communication station. I learned a lot about the Outback. I meet a nice family that had a 10,000 acre station North of Canarvon. They raised sheep there.
Anyway..... welcome to the forum mate!
 
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Nice find on the TJ. I like the color!
I've had a couple Zooks and still have one now. They are great rigs off road, but going down the Hwy just doesn't cut it with them. With the TJ you have the best of both worlds. Goes down the Hwy good and does great off road with so many aftermarket things available for them. You'll have a lot of fun with it.
What part of Australia are you from? I spent two years in Australia when I was in the service 850 miles north of Perth in Exmouth. Was pretty remote out there at the communication station. I learned a lot about the Outback. I meet a nice family that had a 10,000 acre station North of Canarvon. They raised sheep there.
Anyway..... welcome to the forum mate!

I'm in Canberra but have the Mountains starting 40 minutes from home and the Snowy Mountains are about 3 hours away.
I only wheel through winter. I like wet and snowy wheeling when all the surrounds are a nice lush green. I hate the dry dusty hot summers.

Loving the TJ, such a nice car to drive and can't wait to take it into the hills. Probably won't be until Autumn though.

I've got a project I need to finish up first so I have a car to drive when I start working on the Jeep :)
 
My current project:

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and the last zook project the day I got the 33's

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Did a virtual lift and tubbed the rear as well as stretching the chassis to run RUF (REAR springs UP FRONT).
Also replaced the carby motor with a EFI motor out of the later model Suzuki Jimny.
 
I've been busy browsing the forums and have come across some handy threads.

I've not had much spare time to do anything, but thought I'd spend five minutes this morning to clean the IAC valve.
The car idles fine, but occasional takes a few seconds to drop to idle.

I wouldn't say it was dirty, but I cleaned it and the throttle body which had a small carbon build up around the butterfly.

I'll check after work if it has improved the speed it drops the idle.
The piston was quite stiff to move, not sure if it's meant to be that way or not.

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Wanting to run 33's, I thought I'd decipher what axles I have.
If I'm not mistaking looks like I have:
Front - Dana 30
Rear - Dana 44

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G'day mate from across the ditch...you would have thought the guy you bought that from would've at least try and clean it haha....if you think parts in Oz are rare don't look over her in NZ..Ive found that Morris 4x4 in the states ship pretty quickly and prices aren't too bad. luckily Ive not needed anything heavy just yet.
I do know some people in Aussie who may be able to help with parts etc..let me know if I can help.
 
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G'day mate from across the ditch...you would have thought the guy you bought that from would've at least try and clean it haha....if you think parts in Oz are rare don't look over her in NZ..Ive found that Morris 4x4 in the states ship pretty quickly and prices aren't too bad. luckily Ive not needed anything heavy just yet.
I do know some people in Aussie who may be able to help with parts etc..let me know if I can help.

Cheers man.
Seems cleaning up a car for a sale is a thing of the past haha.
I've had a lot of heavy items from the US. I had 5 wheels come across because I couldn't get them here, and looks like I'll do it again for wheels for the TJ.
Things here can be pricey too, so getting it from the states isn't that much more most times.
 
No worries.. As part of my job I deal with a couple of companies in Victoria and one in Moonbi NSW as well for jeep parts etc.
 
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