Amateur Resto & Mod - '05 LJ

JP761

Member
Joined
May 20, 2019
Messages
48
Location
Dahlonega, GA
Hey guys- I just bought a LJ, and I don't know anything about wheeling. I keep seeing pictures of guys with full droop and the wheels all up in the fenders and it intimidates the hell out this car guy. I've never worried about my springs falling out of the seat. That's crazy talk. So, I've been lurking the forums for the past few weeks trying to learn as much as I can and all the best info seems to come from you guys.
I'm not mechanically ignorant, just off road ignorant, so feel free to criticize. I need all the help I can get haha.

First things first: rust removal.
The Jeep came from FL, so It had some rust underneath. I wasn't excited about that, but it all looked like surface rust. Once I took the skid plate/transfer case support (I figured out the support part on the job) I did see some light pitting. I was glad I got under there to get that crap off. I went ahead and repainted the bumpers and some of the plastics too to freshen it up a bit.

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I used rust remover, then sealer, then undercoat. I know it's no body off frame-done it right job, but for a long Saturday with a creeper and a rattle can I think it turned out good, and I feel a lot better about it. I'm definitely interested in doing the inside of the frame like I've read about here, so that might be a few more weekends down the road..

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Now for fun stuff. I'm not big fan of the JK wheels on an older Jeep. I prefer the small wheels with big tires look, so I took the back seats out to pick up a set I found on craigslist (the extra space is so nice) and picked up a set of stocker's with 331050's to see how they looked.

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I think I want 33x12.50's. Will I need a body lift to clear them correctly? I was messing around out back and realized these tires barely clear. I did order some Walker Evans that will use the JK adapters (they'll give me an inch+), but they got back ordered until the end of June. We'll see how that goes- and any input on tire size is welcome. I'd rather not tear anything up than run the bigger size.

I put in a steering shock and antirock sway bar today (death wobble is hell guys- track bar is also back ordered, that will be next weekend), I also took off the chrome grill, and then said a few choice words after seeing the painted grill underneath. Hopefully this rattle can 1k clear will blend decently. If not, plastidip it is. I'm working on it now.

FYI don't leave your beer out when you're spraying clear coat.
More to come.
 
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It looks like it's cleaned up well!

To clear 33s and have it off-road capable, you'll need 4" of lift. You can either do that with a 4" suspension lift or a 2.5" suspension lift and a 1.25" body lift. Those are the two most common ways to do it. The suspension lift is more ideal IMHO, as it will give you more up-travel, which is always a plus.

Give this thread a read, I think you'll learn a lot from it:
A Beginners Guide to Lifting Your Jeep Wrangler TJ
 
It looks like it's cleaned up well!

To clear 33s and have it off-road capable, you'll need 4" of lift. You can either do that with a 4" suspension lift or a 2.5" suspension lift and a 1.25" body lift. Those are the two most common ways to do it. The suspension lift is more ideal IMHO, as it will give you more up-travel, which is always a plus.

Give this thread a read, I think you'll learn a lot from it:
A Beginners Guide to Lifting Your Jeep Wrangler TJ

Excellent read. Confirmed my suspicions about control arms. I'm also beginning to get more curious about how big this lift is. 4" seems less likely considering they only installed extended sway bar links, lower control arms, springs and shocks- at least they're fox I guess ha!
I'm writing up this past weekend's shenanigans now, maybe one of you can tell me what I'm even working with here.
 
To find out how much lift there is, measure the springs (just the springs). Stock is 12" front, and 8" rear. Anything over that is your lift.
 
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Reactions: Chris
Excellent read. Confirmed my suspicions about control arms. I'm also beginning to get more curious about how big this lift is. 4" seems less likely considering they only installed extended sway bar links, lower control arms, springs and shocks- at least they're fox I guess ha!
I'm writing up this past weekend's shenanigans now, maybe one of you can tell me what I'm even working with here.

I'd encourage you to stay under 4" unless you really need to run 33s or have a lot of money to spend. I personally think that 2.5" of lift with 31" tires, some lockers, and a winch will get you pretty much anywhere you want to go.

The exception being if you want to do some serious rock crawling, in which case you'll need to build bigger (and spend bigger too).
 
As I mentioned in the OP, I did get my antirock and steering shock installed over the weekend. Steering shock was a pain in the butt. Luckily my pops was coming over to head over to the local pizza joint and cruise some dirt roads- old man had to bail me out again haha.

Getting that old steering shock off was tough! I tried hitting the side of the drag link but that didn't work, tried hitting the bottom of that castle nut and all that did was strip the threads on it. After re-threading it twice I stopped to think about it what I was trying to accomplish. I grabbed a puller and it popped off super easy. Getting the new shock over the link was a pain, I probably should have paid more attention to the youtube video, but whatever. It's on, steering feels way better and more stable. Hopefully the rest of the crap I've been buying will totally fix the issue. Haven't been on the highway with it yet.

Saturday plans got delayed so I ended up with an entire morning/afternoon with nothing to do. I got to looking at quick disco's for the sway bar when Chris up there sold me on the antirock. I did some research on my own, and it does seem superior to regular disconnects. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand it to actually lift and level the body while the front axle articulates, at least to a point. Luckily Summit (just across town from me) had one on the shelf! My wife was super pumped!
Antirock install was way easier. I tried to read up on it as much as possible since the installer is essentially the one that determines its function, at least that's what I got from the write-ups. I left the rod as long as possible for future adjustment. It went on easy and I got to play out back to check for fitment. Brace yourself for some poser pics haha.

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I also grinded, sanded and painted the grill that day- you might have noticed :)

I'd encourage you to stay under 4" unless you really need to run 33s or have a lot of money to spend. I personally think that 2.5" of lift with 31" tires, some lockers, and a winch will get you pretty much anywhere you want to go.

The exception being if you want to do some serious rock crawling, in which case you'll need to build bigger (and spend bigger too).

Yeah I agree, I'm not trying to lift it anymore. The wheels already aren't centered under the fenders, and I'm guessing that a control arm problem? That was pointed out to me here and by a friend. As far as suspension goes I just want everything done correctly, and I want to be confident to take it on the highway or the trail.
I think I'm going to stick with that tire size too (that's an old set of 331050s). Just playing around over the weekend proved that to me. That third picture showed how close it got to rubbing- but it never actually did, at least that I could tell. I'd move a little farther up the hill, get out and check, turn the wheel, check again, and so on.
It's not a daily driver but I'd like to keep it tame enough to do fill that role. Once I get the suspension dialed in (no wobble), I'm doing a re-gear (I rarely make it to 4th), lockers, and getting a winch. That'll be plenty of Jeep for me.

Oh, and I went in to overtime Sunday night. Noticed a coolant leak and ended up replacing the t-stat at 10pm. Jeep thing right? Ha!
 
The OR Fab tire carrier was a bear to install. Good grief. Gave us a chance to work off all of the BBQ though on the 4th haha. Fit and and finish are a little iffy, but it looks great I think! Even if it isn't quite even (I can't tell if it's their welds or our mount job). My dad and I are doing a lot of work tomorrow too. Install new spark plugs and coil packs (the sputter at idle is getter worse quick), Currie track bar and upper adjustable control arms. Going to finish that tire carrier too, I don't know who cut the threads in that tire mount.. they're awful. Hopefully we can figure something out that doesn't involve a welding machine :unsure:
Summit delayed shipping out another week on my wheels too (into August now!). Those poor BFGs have about had it. I'm debating keeping the stocker wheels and just adding a small spacer and throwing on new rubber. Having $800 tied up in wheels I don't have is a bummer.

It's been a few weeks since I've had a chance to do much with the old Jeep. I've been flirting with that little silver thing lately :whistle:

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Been a while since I've been on- found something interesting when I was installing adjustable rear upper control arms.

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I really thought this was the reason of the creaking and popping in the rear end when parking or just turning sharp at low speed, but it still wants to make weird noises. ^ This picture alone should be a good reason to do a lift kit correctly. PO did the bare minimum for a 4" and stuff like this keeps showing up as I'm trying to make it right. Currie track bar fixed my alignment though! The Jeep rides a ton better too, really plants in the corners much better than I thought it would.
 
Did you repair that control arm bracket?

Certainly one option is to cut off and replace the bracket, but it would be easier if you could repair it. Someone else posted the following link on a different thread. Might be the solution you need.

https://www.artecindustries.com/Simple-Weld-Washers-Pair_p_393.html

The welder and the lift aren't in the same place so, no. Those Currie arms have larger bolts so the brackets had to be drilled out anyway. I was hoping that the new bigger bolts and reduced binding would solve the problem. But, now that you mention it, a proper repair may be in order before it wallows it out to 5/8's or whatever size it is. That looks like an easy enough fix too- thanks for the input and for uh, calling out my negligence.
 
Hey guys- I just bought a LJ, and I don't know anything about wheeling. I keep seeing pictures of guys with full droop and the wheels all up in the fenders and it intimidates the hell out this car guy. I've never worried about my springs falling out of the seat. That's crazy talk. So, I've been lurking the forums for the past few weeks trying to learn as much as I can and all the best info seems to come from you guys.
I'm not mechanically ignorant, just off road ignorant, so feel free to criticize. I need all the help I can get haha.

First things first: rust removal.
The Jeep came from FL, so It had some rust underneath. I wasn't excited about that, but it all looked like surface rust. Once I took the skid plate/transfer case support (I figured out the support part on the job) I did see some light pitting. I was glad I got under there to get that crap off. I went ahead and repainted the bumpers and some of the plastics too to freshen it up a bit.

View attachment 95702View attachment 95703

I used rust remover, then sealer, then undercoat. I know it's no body off frame-done it right job, but for a long Saturday with a creeper and a rattle can I think it turned out good, and I feel a lot better about it. I'm definitely interested in doing the inside of the frame like I've read about here, so that might be a few more weekends down the road..

View attachment 95704View attachment 95705


Now for fun stuff. I'm not big fan of the JK wheels on an older Jeep. I prefer the small wheels with big tires look, so I took the back seats out to pick up a set I found on craigslist (the extra space is so nice) and picked up a set of stocker's with 331050's to see how they looked.

View attachment 95706

I think I want 33x12.50's. Will I need a body lift to clear them correctly? I was messing around out back and realized these tires barely clear. I did order some Walker Evans that will use the JK adapters (they'll give me an inch+), but they got back ordered until the end of June. We'll see how that goes- and any input on tire size is welcome. I'd rather not tear anything up than run the bigger size.

I put in a steering shock and antirock sway bar today (death wobble is hell guys- track bar is also back ordered, that will be next weekend), I also took off the chrome grill, and then said a few choice words after seeing the painted grill underneath. Hopefully this rattle can 1k clear will blend decently. If not, plastidip it is. I'm working on it now.

FYI don't leave your beer out when you're spraying clear coat.
More to come.


Nice Ride! I wouldn't worry too much about the surface rust. A good blasting with a pressure washer, let dry and some undercoating will fix that issue. There are a lot of aftermarket parts out there for your jeep and so many places to get parts with dedicated sections just for Jeep owners. Good luck with your build.

https://www.jegs.com/c/Jeep-Parts-Accessories/205704/10002/-1
https://www.summitracing.com/jeep?i...&cm_sp=market-segment-_-truck-suv-jeep-_-jeep
My favorite place to get great parts cheap is Rock Auto

http://www.rockauto.com