I decided it's time to officially start the build so it's time to start the build thread as well.
First, let me say this forum has been an immensely helpful resource since I got my LJ late in 2019. I've spent more hours perusing, browsing, and studying its pages than I can count.
I grew up in southwestern Colorado so the mountains are in my blood. After years of school, kids, and career I realized how much time had gone by without making time for the altitude and the quiet expanses of the wilderness.
I rented a JLUR in Ouray in the summer of 2019, and I knew I'd found something worth spending time and money on. We've lived in TX for nearly 15 years, so getting to the mountains of Colorado would be an occasional thing. Fortunately, my in-laws and parents live in the Front Range and Western Slope respectively, which made the logistics easier.
The next task was choosing a Jeep. I was totally ignorant of the two-letter designation system, but I knew I wanted something that bridged the present and the past. Inline-6 motor in; V-6 out. Fuel injection in, carburetor out. Manual transmission goes without saying. I have to carry kids on these trips, and when I discovered the existence of the LJ it was settled. I looked for a few weeks and found one at a CJDR dealer about 40 miles away. Rust-free, sitting on 33's but not too far from stock.
The tires were shot, there were some terrible HID headlights, and a CAI. I restored the factory air box and intake (junkyard finds), got Hella halogens which are plenty bright and a great price compared to any LED.
The antifreeze was green, which didn't seem right based on the forum guides about HOAT. Flushed the whole system which looked clean and put in Zerex G05. Brakes were weak so on went the Black Magic pads with the BMB-recommended Centric rotors.
I had the gas-spitting problem pretty bad. Thanks to the great thread on this topic, it was pretty straight-forward to fix.
I nursed the old tires along for a year on a dozen mild trails, but finally replaced them with Dick Cepek Fun Country. So far so good and a unique tread pattern.
The lift initially appeared to my inexperienced assessment to be stock springs with 2" rubber spacers. ProComp shocks according to the helpful members here. It rode fine unless you were to encounter a bump, in which case it was like a brick. The trails were VERY rough, slow going. I knew I had to upgrade the suspension. I think running 33's is where I want to stay, so I settled last month on one of DPG's packages.
In preparation for the upcoming install, I took a closer look at what was under there; I discovered that I've been on close to 4" all along. The springs are actually 2" ProComp springs, in addition to the 2" spacers on top.
This greatly reassured me since there were no vibes at all and I was going down to ~2.5" with the OME and adding the MML. Shortly thereafter, I started thinking, "Well, if there were no vibes at ~4" of suspension lift... why not go with 4" springs (Currie anyone?) + the planned BL and move up to 35s with a tummy tuck?"
But that can of worms will have to wait.
The short-medium term plan is:
-install the OME kit. Coils and shocks are here, Brown Dog on the way, but all the JKS items are who-knows-when.
-re-gear. still with stock 3.73 which isn't bad with the NSG370, but I'm sure 4.11 or 4.56 will be better.
-lockers. I'm not set, but probably the Eaton E-locker front and rear.
-bumpers. I'm not a fan of the chrome tubes. I'm pretty sure I'll go with Savvy front and rear. I like the raw aluminum look.
I'll post on the above as it happens. I don't have much time to wrench with the other demands of life, but I'm enjoying the wrenching almost as much as the wheeling. And it's already taken me places most folks never go!
First, let me say this forum has been an immensely helpful resource since I got my LJ late in 2019. I've spent more hours perusing, browsing, and studying its pages than I can count.
I grew up in southwestern Colorado so the mountains are in my blood. After years of school, kids, and career I realized how much time had gone by without making time for the altitude and the quiet expanses of the wilderness.
I rented a JLUR in Ouray in the summer of 2019, and I knew I'd found something worth spending time and money on. We've lived in TX for nearly 15 years, so getting to the mountains of Colorado would be an occasional thing. Fortunately, my in-laws and parents live in the Front Range and Western Slope respectively, which made the logistics easier.
The next task was choosing a Jeep. I was totally ignorant of the two-letter designation system, but I knew I wanted something that bridged the present and the past. Inline-6 motor in; V-6 out. Fuel injection in, carburetor out. Manual transmission goes without saying. I have to carry kids on these trips, and when I discovered the existence of the LJ it was settled. I looked for a few weeks and found one at a CJDR dealer about 40 miles away. Rust-free, sitting on 33's but not too far from stock.
The tires were shot, there were some terrible HID headlights, and a CAI. I restored the factory air box and intake (junkyard finds), got Hella halogens which are plenty bright and a great price compared to any LED.
The antifreeze was green, which didn't seem right based on the forum guides about HOAT. Flushed the whole system which looked clean and put in Zerex G05. Brakes were weak so on went the Black Magic pads with the BMB-recommended Centric rotors.
I had the gas-spitting problem pretty bad. Thanks to the great thread on this topic, it was pretty straight-forward to fix.
I nursed the old tires along for a year on a dozen mild trails, but finally replaced them with Dick Cepek Fun Country. So far so good and a unique tread pattern.
The lift initially appeared to my inexperienced assessment to be stock springs with 2" rubber spacers. ProComp shocks according to the helpful members here. It rode fine unless you were to encounter a bump, in which case it was like a brick. The trails were VERY rough, slow going. I knew I had to upgrade the suspension. I think running 33's is where I want to stay, so I settled last month on one of DPG's packages.
In preparation for the upcoming install, I took a closer look at what was under there; I discovered that I've been on close to 4" all along. The springs are actually 2" ProComp springs, in addition to the 2" spacers on top.
This greatly reassured me since there were no vibes at all and I was going down to ~2.5" with the OME and adding the MML. Shortly thereafter, I started thinking, "Well, if there were no vibes at ~4" of suspension lift... why not go with 4" springs (Currie anyone?) + the planned BL and move up to 35s with a tummy tuck?"
But that can of worms will have to wait.
The short-medium term plan is:
-install the OME kit. Coils and shocks are here, Brown Dog on the way, but all the JKS items are who-knows-when.
-re-gear. still with stock 3.73 which isn't bad with the NSG370, but I'm sure 4.11 or 4.56 will be better.
-lockers. I'm not set, but probably the Eaton E-locker front and rear.
-bumpers. I'm not a fan of the chrome tubes. I'm pretty sure I'll go with Savvy front and rear. I like the raw aluminum look.
I'll post on the above as it happens. I don't have much time to wrench with the other demands of life, but I'm enjoying the wrenching almost as much as the wheeling. And it's already taken me places most folks never go!