Awesome blue Jeep Build thread(!)

NV03TJ

New Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2017
Messages
5
Location
Washoe County, NV, United States
Gonna post a thread to recap and maintain my Jeep journey.

**I'll add pics to break this up**

Background:

Last year I decided I wanted a dedicated off-road capable vehicle to go out and explore the world around me. I was too afraid to damage my truck on a weekend trip and have trouble getting to work. I considered a Polaris or something, but decided a street legal Jeep could be used as a 3rd (or 5th) car in a pinch.

I have a friend that coincidentally has a '97 TJ and he agreed to help me find a Jeep. He used to work for a company that designed and installed Jeep suspension parts, so he has been guiding me through the process. He suggested a 97-99 Wrangler with the 4.0 so that's what I set out to find.

I was surprised at how expensive these used Jeeps are. I wanted to stay below $10k. The first one I considered buying was an 04 Rubicon that had been beat to shit. It would have cost me $16,600 out the door and I just wasn't ready to spend that kind of money. I looked for about two months from California to Idaho and even Utah. (In retrospect, I should have bought the BUILT green one from that little lot in Reno. It had EVERYTHING, from a warn winch with air, 35" tires, 4:1, poison full cage...)

The Rig:

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Eventually I bought this 2003 Wrangler X 4.0 Automatic with a hard top. It was on 31" Les Schwab All Terrains, Barbie Jeep tube steps, knock-off old school KC lights on mirror brackets and a louvered hood. It had 150,100 miles and I got it for $8,500.

The Long Twisting Road of Mods:

I needed a matching sized spare tire, and then realized the sidewall on one of the tires was damaged. I ended up buying new wheels and 5 31" Cooper STT mud tires.

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I bought a budget boost and installed it a couple weeks after the new tires. I wasn't happy with the ride quality, and I wanted to go higher. I thought the Tranny was going out, so I dropped the pan and changed the filter. The damn pan was bent and many of the holes were stripped. Once I got most of the leaking to stop, it shifted a lot better.

I started looking on Craigslist and found a guy literally down the street parting out his Jeep. I got the lift, 4 33" BFG's, the Dana 30/44 axles and a used transfer case with an SYE installed. This was less than one month after I bought those 31" Cooper tires. :/

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After driving around with the lift for a couple weeks, the rear springs were sagging and the rear upper shock bushings were fried (turns out it was a Rough Country lift, not Rubicon Express). I replaced the rear shocks with some Bilstein 5100's.

The 33" spare didn't fit on the tailgate carrier, so I ordered a Rock Hard rear bumper with tire carrier and jerry can mount. I also got the "patriot edition" Hi-Lift jack, recovery kit, Viair 88p compressor and Smittybilt storage trunk that replaced the rear seat.

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I found an Nth Degree tummy tucker skid plate on Craigslist for $100 so I went down to pick it up. I was stoked to get it on and fix my break over angle...I didn't know I needed so many other parts first. :/

At about this point, my buddy took me over to his friend's shop and introduced me. The friend (former owner of the company) went through my Jeep and pointed out all the issues/potential issues with it and gave me a list of things to fix and how to fix them.

I was able to replace the rear springs with some Nth Degree springs I got off Craigslist, fixing my sag issue and introducing driveline vibration. My bump stops were incorrect so the Jeep sat undriven for a month or two while I tried to locate some appropriate spacers. I started ordering parts to address the issues and get closer to putting the tummy tucker on (spring relocators, trans skid, etc.) then life happened and funds dried up :(

I did some bump stops, lowered the transfer case, took it to the shop and had all the leaks fixed (rear main, axle shaft seals and 5 helicoils on the trans pan), replaced the leaking Griffin radiator, added a CB radio and spent a lot of time "tightening up the nut behind the wheel" (me). I recently decided it was time for a winch so I also replaced the front bumper with the Smittybilt.

Now:


That brings us pretty much to the current state of affairs.

My big hold up right now is deciding which way to go with the rear end. Do I just get some adjustable upper control arms? Do the Nth stinger kit to go with the TT? Which new driveshaft? I really want to do the stinger for ride quality and the built in differential skid so I'm trying to hold out till I can afford to do it right the first time (I've already lost too much money buying and selling tires...


Future:

Once the lift is finished, I can start working on lockers and a roll cage.

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