About a year ago my brother in law took me out in his TJ to the local offroad park. I was never into jeeps, but did like rally racing in my Subaru WRX and working on cars. In less than an hour at the off road park I knew I would be buying my own jeep... I was hooked. So, about a month later I found what I thought to be a good deal online and later that day purchased my 1998 TJ with a manual transmission & 4.0 engine (my only two requriements when looking for a used jeep... if only I knew then what I know now!!!) Here she after I brought her home on day 1:
1998 TJ with 4.0, 5 speed, 3.07 gears (yuck!), newer tires and a couple other updates. It was the middle of summer and I had a blast crusing around with the top off & windows removed. My daughter fell in love with it too. She constantally asked "Jeep Ride?"
The jeep had a couple issues I wanted to deal with, rust on the front fenders & a dent in the rear passenger fender. I could have gotten them fixed... but I liked the way flat fenders looked & because my state does not require fenders I went with body armor to cover the damage to the rear.
After going to the offroad park a couple times I realized that turning 32 inch wheels with 3.07 gears up a steep hill was no fun. The hunt for new gears was on! I got lucky and a month or two later found someone on craiglist selling a TJ dana 44 rear & 35 front with spartan locker and 3.73 gears for $600. I called immediately and sent full payment that day. I was the proud owner of new axles, not quite the gearing I would have choosen, but for the price I could not beat it. I got to upgrade gears and axles for less than what I was planning on spending for the gearing alone. So time for another install...
The axle install went pretty smoothly and I was happy with the results... but after a few more trips to the offroad park I realized I could not get past some of the obstacles my friends were without scraping or punching a hole in the oil pan (I did both). So now it was time to install a new oil pan and put a lift on it. While I was working on the oil pan I upgraded the front end as well, I never liked the way the previous owner installed the "upgraded" grill so I installed it the right way.
I purchased the Zone 4.25 combo lift last week (3 inch suspension, 1.25 inch body, MM lift). I have the suspension lift installed and hope to get the MM & body lift installed this weekend. Once done I will update with additional pics. Once the lift is done next will be new front/rear bumpers, winch & rear locker. That should be about all I need to do to it (HA HA HA....)
1998 TJ with 4.0, 5 speed, 3.07 gears (yuck!), newer tires and a couple other updates. It was the middle of summer and I had a blast crusing around with the top off & windows removed. My daughter fell in love with it too. She constantally asked "Jeep Ride?"
The jeep had a couple issues I wanted to deal with, rust on the front fenders & a dent in the rear passenger fender. I could have gotten them fixed... but I liked the way flat fenders looked & because my state does not require fenders I went with body armor to cover the damage to the rear.
After going to the offroad park a couple times I realized that turning 32 inch wheels with 3.07 gears up a steep hill was no fun. The hunt for new gears was on! I got lucky and a month or two later found someone on craiglist selling a TJ dana 44 rear & 35 front with spartan locker and 3.73 gears for $600. I called immediately and sent full payment that day. I was the proud owner of new axles, not quite the gearing I would have choosen, but for the price I could not beat it. I got to upgrade gears and axles for less than what I was planning on spending for the gearing alone. So time for another install...
The axle install went pretty smoothly and I was happy with the results... but after a few more trips to the offroad park I realized I could not get past some of the obstacles my friends were without scraping or punching a hole in the oil pan (I did both). So now it was time to install a new oil pan and put a lift on it. While I was working on the oil pan I upgraded the front end as well, I never liked the way the previous owner installed the "upgraded" grill so I installed it the right way.
I purchased the Zone 4.25 combo lift last week (3 inch suspension, 1.25 inch body, MM lift). I have the suspension lift installed and hope to get the MM & body lift installed this weekend. Once done I will update with additional pics. Once the lift is done next will be new front/rear bumpers, winch & rear locker. That should be about all I need to do to it (HA HA HA....)
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