This is going to be the build thread of my 97 TJ Wrangler. For this first post I will give some background on what I have done to the Jeep during my time with it and what I am planning on doing it from this point forward.
First up, I got this jeep back in 2004 as a freshmen in high school. The jeep had an engine issue which warranted tearing the engine apart and rebuilding it from the head gasket up. During that time we put a 4inch lift on it with some used aftermarket control arms that we replaced the bushings in and 33x12.50x15 bfg all terrains. After about two years in the configuration we replaced the rear axle. I thought it was a Dana 35 at the time but I ran the VIN last week and apparently the jeep came with the Dana 44. The replacement axle was a ford 8.8 out of an Explorer. With this swap introduced new gearing and lunchbox lockers front and rear and we went with 4.56 gears. It was around this time that I decided to removal the carpet and lay bed liner down in the tub, one of many regrets. I also replaced the stock front seats with some after market suspension seats. After this came replacement front fenders, I went with DIY zero flare tube fenders that I can't remember the brand of. A few years later I decided to grab some 35x12.50x15 goodyear mtr's and upgraded the skid plates under the jeep. With the transmission skid I went with the UCF Steel ultra high clearance skid plate. This required the use of 1.25 in body lift and I decided to also go a head and add in a 1in motor mount lift. I also upgraded the gas tank skid with what I believe is also a UCF steel version. Near the beginning we did add a custom rear bumper/tire carrier. This was just 4in 1/4in thick corner bracket steel for the bumper and 4x4inch very thin square tubing for a swing out tire carrier.
After college the jeep really didn't see much use. I would drive it around here and there but ultimately it has sat in my garage for about 4 years with it permanently parked during the past 2 years. The reason why it was permanently parked was a couple of issues that would of prevented it from passing inspection and also the fact that it would no longer start.
Now time to explain where I want to take this jeep. I have always loved camping and I already do quite a bit of backpacking when I find time. So what I am looking at doing is using the jeep to get me to a spot to settle a base camp situation and then do day hikes out away from there. Where I live, most of the good spots are hours if not days away so there will be a lot more highway driving being done than actual offroading. I've toiled with the idea of getting rid of the jeep and buying something new but... I keep coming back to keeping the jeep because it is much cheaper to use what you already have. For me to use what I already have will require some work to get it functional again and to spruce it up for reliability purposes. I do have 35in tires now but I want to drop back down to 33in tires so as to limit the possibly of grenading the Dana 30 and for what I'll be doing I do not believe I will need the 35's vs going back to 33's. I want to get new front fenders as the ones I have now have no inner fenders with them. I will be replacing all 4 shocks in due time as I'm pretty certain my front shocks are not the correct length, plus they were stiff beyond all get out. I'll be replacing all of the control arms with savvy short arms. I'll need to replace the front seats as the suspensions seats I bought years back have seen better days. I need to bring back the carpet to the inside of the jeep, looking at the bedrug carpet liner for this. I want to replace the rear lunchbox locker with a detroit to upgrade the gear housing and I'll be looking at doing the c-clip eliminator for the 8.8 while that is opened up. I will be going with the front swayloc, my jeep has gone without a front swaybar for a long time. The AC system will need to be ironed out as it does not work. I will need to get a new rear bumper and figure out a spare tire carrier. I am leaning towards a dirtworks or olympics4x4 rear bumper and then maybe the exogate or something similar for the tire carrier. There are plans down the road that will see a small offroad trailer included. For self recovery, I already have a 12,000lb winch but I am considering getting a warn replacement unit. I do want to get sliders with a step to ease with getting into the jeep.
Currently all of my armor is steel. I will be making the effort to get aluminum stuff going forward but the transmission skid and the gas tank skids will be the last on the list of upgrades since I already have them.
Here is the best old picture I have of the jeep. Only thing different from then to now would be the transmissions/gas skid plates. Oh and currently there is a TON of saw dust all over the jeep.
First up, I got this jeep back in 2004 as a freshmen in high school. The jeep had an engine issue which warranted tearing the engine apart and rebuilding it from the head gasket up. During that time we put a 4inch lift on it with some used aftermarket control arms that we replaced the bushings in and 33x12.50x15 bfg all terrains. After about two years in the configuration we replaced the rear axle. I thought it was a Dana 35 at the time but I ran the VIN last week and apparently the jeep came with the Dana 44. The replacement axle was a ford 8.8 out of an Explorer. With this swap introduced new gearing and lunchbox lockers front and rear and we went with 4.56 gears. It was around this time that I decided to removal the carpet and lay bed liner down in the tub, one of many regrets. I also replaced the stock front seats with some after market suspension seats. After this came replacement front fenders, I went with DIY zero flare tube fenders that I can't remember the brand of. A few years later I decided to grab some 35x12.50x15 goodyear mtr's and upgraded the skid plates under the jeep. With the transmission skid I went with the UCF Steel ultra high clearance skid plate. This required the use of 1.25 in body lift and I decided to also go a head and add in a 1in motor mount lift. I also upgraded the gas tank skid with what I believe is also a UCF steel version. Near the beginning we did add a custom rear bumper/tire carrier. This was just 4in 1/4in thick corner bracket steel for the bumper and 4x4inch very thin square tubing for a swing out tire carrier.
After college the jeep really didn't see much use. I would drive it around here and there but ultimately it has sat in my garage for about 4 years with it permanently parked during the past 2 years. The reason why it was permanently parked was a couple of issues that would of prevented it from passing inspection and also the fact that it would no longer start.
Now time to explain where I want to take this jeep. I have always loved camping and I already do quite a bit of backpacking when I find time. So what I am looking at doing is using the jeep to get me to a spot to settle a base camp situation and then do day hikes out away from there. Where I live, most of the good spots are hours if not days away so there will be a lot more highway driving being done than actual offroading. I've toiled with the idea of getting rid of the jeep and buying something new but... I keep coming back to keeping the jeep because it is much cheaper to use what you already have. For me to use what I already have will require some work to get it functional again and to spruce it up for reliability purposes. I do have 35in tires now but I want to drop back down to 33in tires so as to limit the possibly of grenading the Dana 30 and for what I'll be doing I do not believe I will need the 35's vs going back to 33's. I want to get new front fenders as the ones I have now have no inner fenders with them. I will be replacing all 4 shocks in due time as I'm pretty certain my front shocks are not the correct length, plus they were stiff beyond all get out. I'll be replacing all of the control arms with savvy short arms. I'll need to replace the front seats as the suspensions seats I bought years back have seen better days. I need to bring back the carpet to the inside of the jeep, looking at the bedrug carpet liner for this. I want to replace the rear lunchbox locker with a detroit to upgrade the gear housing and I'll be looking at doing the c-clip eliminator for the 8.8 while that is opened up. I will be going with the front swayloc, my jeep has gone without a front swaybar for a long time. The AC system will need to be ironed out as it does not work. I will need to get a new rear bumper and figure out a spare tire carrier. I am leaning towards a dirtworks or olympics4x4 rear bumper and then maybe the exogate or something similar for the tire carrier. There are plans down the road that will see a small offroad trailer included. For self recovery, I already have a 12,000lb winch but I am considering getting a warn replacement unit. I do want to get sliders with a step to ease with getting into the jeep.
Currently all of my armor is steel. I will be making the effort to get aluminum stuff going forward but the transmission skid and the gas tank skids will be the last on the list of upgrades since I already have them.
Here is the best old picture I have of the jeep. Only thing different from then to now would be the transmissions/gas skid plates. Oh and currently there is a TON of saw dust all over the jeep.
