2005 Rocky Mountain Edition with 53,000 miles

[R3ID05TJ]

Long story short. Finally after an extensive ~6 month physical (years mental) search for the "right" Jeep TJ, I scored this 2005 Red Rocky Mountain Edition jeep with 53,000 miles from one of the dealers I was working with who was trying to find me a nice TJ. It got traded in the day before Christmas and the salesman texted me right away as soon as it pulled up. So I had to wait until the day after Christmas to go look at it and then buy it on the spot. Basically from the parking spot the previous owner drove it to when he traded it in. The dealer hadn't even touched it, serviced it, detailed it, listed it or any thing yet.

When shopping for a TJ my criteria was....
1. Hardtop
2. Full doors
3. NOT RED
4. Low miles (as this will be my daily driver until I buy a truck or Gladiator within the year)

...and I ended up with this. However, I quickly became a fan of the soft top and half doors being able to remove them and put back on whenever on a whim. The softtop was SUPER hard to take off and put back on at first because everything is soo tight, I don't think the previous owner (2 owner) ever had it off if at least only a handfull of times. Every time I take it off it gets easier. First time it took me almost an hour to get it back on.

Anyways, I ordered a few little things and everything came in today so I spent a couple hours out in the garage. 75 and sunny, I could ask for better weather because this is Arizona but I won't rub it in that much for you midwestern / northern folks. I'll still take it.

I tossed and turned about starting a build thread thinking maybe I should start a build thread? or nah because I don't have an endless money train coming at this Jeep yet. It's a daily driver for now so I can't put it up on jack stands to install things that take more than a day. But I did get a few of the smaller things that came in today installed. Sorry not sorry for the picture overload.

 

[R3ID05TJ]

avatar picture

 

[R3ID05TJ]

Flag fender stickers.

 

[R3ID05TJ]

The day I got it. Took the nerf bars off.

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[R3ID05TJ]

Future plans. I want to add a lift. Bigger tires. Black wheels (or the polished Pro Comp 7069 style wheels). Front and rear bumpers. A winch. Replace the factory fog lights. A pillar spot lights. I also want to replace all the speakers and the Kenwood cdplayer to a bluetooth headunit. It has a subwoofer in the center console but it's not hooked up. I want to replace that as well and put an amp on it.

 

[RMETeeJay]

Extremely clean RED Jeep (and bug)!

I got lucky and ended up with a 2004 RME with 109K within a mile of my place on Craigslist after looking for a week or two. It has a cheap front-end paint job so the RME stickers are missing. It was only after looking up the build sheet that I realized what I was looking at. Interesting to see the differences in your RME from mine. I was looking for an automatic with hard top in dark blue or green but I couldn't pass it up.

Don't forget to change all fluids (unless maybe you can get records from the dealer/PO).

 

[R3ID05TJ]

Thanks. The bug is a 63. She's my first born and my baby (before the wife, before the dogs, before the kids). Driven it all over the country and from Chicago to Key West and back when I got married.

The dealer finally got around to servicing the Jeep after a couple days when I bought it. I still need to get the records of what all they did.

It drives like a brand new vehicle. Runs soo smooth. 75mph not a single vibration and tracks straight down the road.

Funny short story. It took me up until last week to accidentally learn how to dim the dash lights. And I had to google how to turn on the fog lights.

 

[ShaveLazer]

Very nice, that's a clean looking Jeep. What makes the Rocky Mountain edition special? I know my 65th basically just had a Dana 44 and nice seats and that made it "special" but I haven't seen a Rocky Mountain before.

 

[R3ID05TJ]

The Jeep Wrangler Rocky Mountain Edition is based on the X package.
Equipped with a manual transmission, the MSRP is $23,025; with the automatic transmission, $23,850.

Features include:
• Color-keyed fender flares
• 15" Ravine aluminum wheels
• 30" x 9.5" Goodyear Wrangler OWL tires
• Dana 44 axle
• Fog lamps
• Unique center console accents
• Unique premium two-tone seat with embroidered Jeep logo
• AM/FM/CD with seven speakers
• Unique Rocky Mountain Edition decal

 

[R3ID05TJ]

Got some ram mount stuff to mount to the top storage bin. Took a long time to ship this stuff and shipping was $25 :0 making this almost $90 in total. it's pretty heavy duty. I think the arm might be too short tho. I'll mount it up tomorrow since it came in late today.

If it works good enough in those two rectangle sections on the front of the top of the storage bin I'll get another ball mount and holder for another phone and or small tablet.

 

[LarryTJ]

Great find and very clean Jeep with low miles. Looks like your extremely happy with it. I would do a build thread, why not. You can update the build thread over the years like a lot of other do on this forum.

 

[R3ID05TJ]

That's what this will turn into. As I do things here and there. Won't be a crazy 6 month build with one thing right after another. I'll just update it over time.


Got this mounted today. Sits kinda high for my liking. I'll have to get the medium arm to make it lower because the small arm knob hits the bin when tightening it.

I really like it. Was expensive but it's heavy duty. Quality is definitely there.

 

[R3ID05TJ]

Put these on today since the wind blew my door open yesterday snapping the factory strap and slamming the door (mirror) into the side of the Jeep.

 

[R3ID05TJ]

Got 73,000mi on the Jeep now and so this is gonna turn into a please help me I have no idea what I'm doing build thread.

Got this stuff in and its all your guys fault. Ordered some more stuff today. Still got more stuff to order.

Currie Rock Jock Currectlync
3" BDS front springs
2" BDS rear springs
1" M.O.R.E. body lift
M.O.R.E. bomb proof motor mount lift
SAVVY 4wd transfer case shifter cable kit
Rancho rs5000x shocks RS55239
Rancho rs5000x shocks RS55241
Black Magic brakes 477 pads and Centric rotors

Just ordered today Currie RockJock double adjustable control arm set from RockJock

Still need to order a slip yoke eliminator from JB conversions
a double cardan driveshaft from Tom Woods (or Adams? haven't decided yet)
5 Pro Comp 15x8 (or 10?) 1069 wheels
5 BFG K02 33x10.50r15 tires

What else do I need? Bumpers and winch and all that stuff will come after this is all done.

 

[JMT]

Got 73,000mi on the Jeep now and so this is gonna turn into a please help me I have no idea what I'm doing build thread.

Got this stuff in. Ordered some more stuff today. Still got more stuff to order.

Currie Rock Jock Currectlync
3" BDS front springs
2" BDS rear springs
1" M.O.R.E. body lift
M.O.R.E. bomb proof motor mount lift
SAVVY 4wd transfer case shifter cable kit
Rancho rs5000x shocks RS55239
Rancho rs5000x shocks RS55241
Black Magic brakes 477 pads and Centric rotors

View attachment 332065

Just ordered today Currie RockJock double adjustable control arm set from RockJock

Still need to order a slip yoke eliminator from JB conversions
a double cardan driveshaft from Tom Woods (or Adams? haven't decided yet)
5 Pro Comp 15x8 (or 10?) 1069 wheels
5 BFG K02 33x10.50r15 tires

What else do I need? Bumpers and winch and all that stuff will come after this is all done.

Tom Wood for sure. I sent a rear Adams shaft back to get it fixed because they insisted. I was going to do it myself. They replaced one u joint and swore it was good. I kept hunting for a flapping noise for 6 weeks. Tore everything down from TCase to diff and axle. Finally rebuilt the whole rear Adams driveshaft and problem solved.

 

[JMT]

Got 73,000mi on the Jeep now and so this is gonna turn into a please help me I have no idea what I'm doing build thread.

Got this stuff in and its all your guys fault. Ordered some more stuff today. Still got more stuff to order.

Currie Rock Jock Currectlync
3" BDS front springs
2" BDS rear springs
1" M.O.R.E. body lift
M.O.R.E. bomb proof motor mount lift
SAVVY 4wd transfer case shifter cable kit
Rancho rs5000x shocks RS55239
Rancho rs5000x shocks RS55241
Black Magic brakes 477 pads and Centric rotors

View attachment 332065

Just ordered today Currie RockJock double adjustable control arm set from RockJock

Still need to order a slip yoke eliminator from JB conversions
a double cardan driveshaft from Tom Woods (or Adams? haven't decided yet)
5 Pro Comp 15x8 (or 10?) 1069 wheels
5 BFG K02 33x10.50r15 tires

What else do I need? Bumpers and winch and all that stuff will come after this is all done.

15x8 for sure, even up to a 12.5” wide tire. With a 10.5 wide not even a question

 

[JMT]

I’ve got a SuperWinch TS 9500 SR for sale locally. It’s in excellent condition. I hadn’t thought about selling it on here.

 

[R3ID05TJ]

I’ve got a SuperWinch TS 9500 SR for sale locally. It’s in excellent condition. I hadn’t thought about selling it on here.

Are you local? I didn't even know super winch was a thing. They have some interesting price points. Are they legit? Is there a reason why I never heard of em?

Ok. Tom Woods it is but I have prolly my biggest question on doing this whole project so far.

This is my daily driver. I'm going to install everything myself. SYE don't scare me I've seen the videos how tos.

However I'm not sure how to plan the timing of taking the transfer case off. Splitting it open. Installing the new SYE. Re installing the transfer case. Then measuring for the new drive shaft. Getting that ordered. Then delivered. Then installed. And back on the road again.

 

[JMT]

Are you local? I didn't even know super winch was a thing. They have some interesting price points. Are they legit? Is there a reason why I never heard of em?

Ok. Tom Woods it is but I have prolly my biggest question on doing this whole project so far.

This is my daily driver. I'm going to install everything myself. SYE don't scare me I've seen the videos how tos.

However I'm not sure how to plan the timing of taking the transfer case off. Splitting it open. Installing the new SYE. Re installing the transfer case. Then measuring for the new drive shaft. Getting that ordered. Then delivered. Then installed. And back on the road again.

When I got on the forum in 2017 the go to best winch was Warn, then SuperWinch and Engo. I couldn’t afford a Warn and I liked the SuperWinch, so that’s what I got. It’s been great. A couple months ago I saw a Warn XD9000i on FB for $300 and I got it for $250. It needed a complete rebuild. I was looking for a project anyway. That’s why I’m selling the SuperWinch. I’m not local. I’m in WA state. I just thought it might work out if you wanted to buy it.

1. Do the entire SYE and re-install the TCase.
2. Aim the pinion at the yoke.
3. Measure for your DC according to Tom Wood website
4. Order. They ship fast. A couple of days.

 

[R3ID05TJ]

The "a couple of days" is what I was afraid of