BGERALD'S 06 TJ BUILD

BGERALD

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2017
Messages
82
Location
Moultrie, GA, United States
Hello all, my name's Brett and on Halloween 2016 I became a member of the TJ clan. I work for a GM dealership and have primarily driven GM products, but always wanted a Jeep. I'm now the proud owner of a 2006 TJ 4.0/6 speed soft top with 90k miles. It came with a winch bumper on the front and a steel d ring bumper on the back, 2" suspension and 1" BL, and 5 brand new 285/75r16 ko2's and looked like this:

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My original plans were to keep it stock and just relax and enjoy riding with the top off etc. Coming from a guy who once had a turbo truck and loves projects, I started lurking on forums and started getting more involved with builds. I joined this forum for insight and assistance!

Current mods include:

-Spare tire delete
-Sold the BFGs and bought some 33" mud grapplers on 17" Hostages from a friend
-Smittybilt XRC 9500 pound winch
-Removed step bars
-50" light bar with 4" cubes
-580w 12" flood bar on front bumper
-Smoked Smittybilt soft top (old one was tearing)
-interior carpet delete

Looks a little something like this now:

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This is my most favorite vehicle I've ever owned! Future plans include:

-Line-x the floor pan
-4" Rough Country lift
-Leaving the 1" BL on and putting 35x12.50 TSL Boggers on these Hostages
-Negative flare colormatched Poison Spyder front flares
-Poison spyder rear corner armor
-4.88 Gears with front and rear ARB air lockers
-on board air compressor for lockers and to air slack tires
-CNC some fake beadlocks for the hostages PC'd red
-short snorkel of some kind
-possibly a freer flowing exhaust
-SYE
-tummy tuck
-Antirock front/rear sway bar disconnects

And I know the list will continue as time goes on. Any insight is appreciated! I do ALOT of creek/river riding and offroad/mud. Not really anywhere to crawl so i'm not extremely concerned with flex. This isn't my daily so I'm good with loud obnoxious tires, just want it functional!

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Looks good - good find. Welcome. A lot of things you've got and have planned are great. Some of them you'll get some constructive criticism on from some of the other members here. Good luck with the help build!
 
My favorite color too!

Welcome to the world of TJs. These things are the biggest money pits you can possibly imagine, but they're also the most fun vehicle you'll ever drive.

I like where you're going with the build so far!
 
Looks good - good find. Welcome. A lot of things you've got and have planned are great. Some of them you'll get some constructive criticism on from some of the other members here. Good luck with the help build!

I've been a member on performancetrucks.net and pirate4x4..I'm used to people with internet hard ons. I'm open to opinion and help in steering me the right way with my build, but ultimately I work for my money, ill spend it how I want. If anyone wants to chip in on parts, i'll build it their way lol
 
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My favorite color too!

Welcome to the world of TJs. These things are the biggest money pits you can possibly imagine, but they're also the most fun vehicle you'll ever drive.

I like where you're going with the build so far!

Yeah, the way it's setup now is how I wanted to leave it and just enjoy a cruiser. First time I got stuck I decided to go bigger, and the pile of parts came with it...oh well! Thank you!
 
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I hear ya. I wanted to leave my TJ mostly stock with just a couple of mods (lift and tires), but that quickly ended. Once you get the mod bug, you can't stop!
 
I know it's a cheap lift, I'm avoiding dropping 2k on a lift. My roommate has a 4" RC with 2.0 shocks and no SYE on 33's and its just as functional as it needs to be. I mostly ride dirt roads and go through the occasional river
 
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I know it's a cheap lift, I'm avoiding dropping 2k on a lift. My roommate has a 4" RC with 2.0 shocks and no SYE on 33's and its just as functional as it needs to be. I mostly ride dirt roads and go through the occasional river

The worst part about the RC lift is the shocks... My god they are just throw away, bottom of the barrel, completely shit garbage. Sorry for the rant, once upon a time I had an RC lift and I can't say anything but negative stuff about their cheap, cheap, cheap, shitty parts!

Rant off!

But hey, as long as you go into that knowing this, then you'll be okay!
 
Next manner of business, I ordered the 6" pocket style flares and was going to put them on but decided to go with fender replacement. I first landed on poison spyder and was about to pull the trigger, then I found these:

http://shop.ccfabs.com/Front-HOODLINE-Tube-Fenders-with-No-Flare-Pair-FrontHoodlinesNoFlare.htm

I definitely want hoodline fenders in the front...no clue what I want to do in the back yet. Thoughts on the CCF versus PS? Also, what air compressor is everyone using for the ammo can OBA mod?

Another question (I have searched and haven't found anything definitive): when having a winch, 4 LED/Lightbars, OBA, a system, and God knows what else hooked up to the battery, does anyone use a distribution block or anything similar? Shit's starting to get crazy under the hood. All my wires are loomed and tucked, but I have a feeling there shouldn't be so many wires hooked up to a battery. Especially because I use my winch at 2-3 times a week and I can sit there and watch the voltage drop tremendously when pulling with it. Thinking about a high output alternator.....
 
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I can't find the thread, but there was one very recently where distribution blocks were being discussed. This seemed like one of the popular options: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017YG8I6/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Of course, take your pick, because there's tons of them on Amazon and other places:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...+block&sprefix=dis,aps,504&tag=wranglerorg-20

I can't comment on OBA, but I know there's a lot of others here who are running it so it might be of benefit to post a new thread about OBA systems.
 
I'm just going to go with the ARB CKMA12 compressor, I'm going to mock up a front and rear permanent hose hook up and mount them in the bumpers so instead of having to pop the hook every time i can keep a hose with chuck in a bag with my winch control and just hook to a neutral point in the front and rear. I have an idea in my head just have to start with everything and make the hose.


Thanks Chris for the links to the blocks!
 
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Great looking ride. I like the way you eased into being a Jeep owner. Like a cannon ball off the high dive. :aaaaa:
 
Great looking ride. I like the way you eased into being a Jeep owner. Like a cannon ball off the high dive. :aaaaa:

its like going swimming, don't dip a toe either jump or get pushed in lol



it may sound gay, but on the fenders where most companies CNC their logo, i'm paying extra to have my initials "BG" CNC'd into it instead...color matched fenders with a black background behind my initials...or an LED light. who knows...whats y'alls take on that?