Hello brutally honest forum members! I am considering selling my TJ, but rather than simply post it I was hoping some fellow members could let me know that they think a ballpark figure for an average Jeep buyer might be. The backstory is I wanted a Jeep to tow behind my RV with occasional wheeling but also significant time in the road (with good road manners). I bought it with over 200k miles on it, with some good stuff/some stuff that needed sorting. Here is what it comes with/what I did to get it to where I felt comfortable using it/relying on it:
1997 TJ sport 4.0 5-speed with hard top, fulls doors, half doors.
Entire running gear built or rebuilt 8k ago
4.7 stroker engine with Russ P 2.02 valves/roller cam/rockers. CA compliant header, larger injectors, CA compliant open dry filter/kit, CA compliant upgraded ignition. Passed smog with flying colors, all CARB stickers intact under hood with some clear Gorilla tape on them
Prorock 44 front diff (1/4 inch tubes) with 5:18 JK ring/pinion Black Magic Super 16 brakes/nodular iron Cs, Ox Lockers, RCV joints. I got it to 6 degrees of caster and I run 1/16 toe in. 70 mph no death wobble or wandering or vibration.
Yes, not Currie, but Synergy steering (y-setup). Flat pitman arm (I had to source that and it is correct for box...1 ton tie rod fitting. No index notches in arm, so steering wheel is straight with pitman arm being straight. Fox steering stabilizer (unnecessary but whatever). Metalcloak upper passenger control arm (lock and load with off road adjustment for additional 3/4 inch movement in either direction). I get that better stuff/setups exist, but it works. Barnes 4x4 double shear track bar bracket (about 1.5 inch shorter than stock, hence the flat pitman arm...no more bump or torque steer because angles are correct as they can be)
Rear diff is rockjock 44, relocated rear shock brackets (welded not bolted), JK ring and pinion, 5:18 gears. Ox lockers. Custom driveshaft, Black Magic brakes
Tcase is NP231 with wide chain kit with STR. Running double cardan and rear pinion is within 1.5 degrees of shaft. B&M cable shifter (yes I know Savvy is better).
Tranny is AX15 with heavy duty clutch pressure plate flywheel with reasonable pedal pressure
Suspension was straight up Rough Country long arm...but after talking to Blaine he stressed the shit factor of RC, and mentioned a company that may have a correction kit to at least address the horrid single-pivot geometry of the cobbled kit. I bought the correction kit and now after welding the upper and lower control arms in the rear do not share a pivot point...uppers are located inside the frame well above the lower (no more bobbing/pogo stick action). Progressive springs are 5 inch Metalcloak front, with Fox shocks and adjustable bump stops, rears are 4.5 inch MC progressive with adjustable bump stops. Yes I realize the bolts are really long through the brand new Johnny Joints/Trail Forged flex bushings but I didn't cut them down just yet...In sought grade 8 bolts with threads only towards the nut and they were not available any shorter.
Poison Spider cage (yes I know angle brackets for a-pillar are not the best design) with grab handles welded in and cross brace at lower windshield and brace behind driver passenger seats.
No AC from factory, and heater wasn't hot, but it did initially have an aftermarket AC kit (ACME). I spent part of my summer yanking out the entire HVAC system, putting in a new copper brass heater core, fixing the crappy plastic piece that broke off the heater control door and replace that, and bought a new Jeep air kit and installed it. Now has hot heater and cold AC. While I was at it, I gave away the three row aluminum radiator, and put in a two core copper brass radiator along with a proper clutch fan. I also gave away the electric fan from Mishimoto along with the electrical harness.
I know there are some anti-android folks out there but I installed an Android head unit that is double din, along with the kit for the dash required for double din, and front and rear camera. Now even with the spare tire, I can push a button on the head unit and have a constant on rear camera or a constant on front camera. There was a 1200 watt pioneer amp under the driver's seat as well as pod speakers from a wake boat on the rear roll cage. I also put some kicker speakers in the dash area with adapters to be able to use the larger round speakers than the OEM ones.
As for the wheels, it came with monster KMC beadlocks. Somebody had had them off and on often as well as washers on one and not the other, and after weighing them and the Cooper tires that came with them I decided to go with some much lighter Mammoth wheels and some ko2s. The KMC were five on five, with 1.25 in spacers, so I ditched the spacers and went with five on four and a half. I know that wouldn't be everybody's choice but without spacers and with the new tires that measure under 37 when measured properly do not scrub even lock the lock or full droop or full squish.
There is a LED light bar across the windshield, and there are rigid fog lights up front and rigid ditch lights. There is an ARB compressor for the ox lockers.
For towing, I went to my local genright warehouse and purchased a stubby front bumper that has proper tabs that are plugged welded through the rear. They are the exact width I needed, with the exact diameter pin holes. My weapon of choice for towing is already break surge setup, one that applies breaking through a cable that I was able to mount to the Jeep through the bottom of the bumper. Rather than rely on an electronic unit that operates over the air, the ready brake setup is bomb proof because as the towed vehicle stops it automatically relaxes the force that's applied to the brakes so there's never any danger of ruining the brakes on either vehicle.
It is a Southern California vehicle so there is zero rust, there is the mild trail scuffing one would expect but nothing major on the body. I just replaced the gasket that goes between the hardtop and the windshield frame, and going down the road it is actually rather bearable. Door locks and tailgate locks work, I replaced the ignition switch because the key was getting old and beaten up. It had a carpet kit put in it, and I have the back seat but I took it out so that my dogs would fit in the back. Headlights are led, as I believe the lights in the metal cloak removable fenders are. Rear bumper has a swing out for the spare tire carrier. Warn VR EVO winch with synthetic line.
Can anybody chime in as to what something like this might go for these days? I get that lots of folks in the forum with way more Jeep experience would have made many different build choices, but keep in mind that I bought the Jeep as it was and I didn't want to have my wife make me sleep on the curb if I kept putting money into it.
1997 TJ sport 4.0 5-speed with hard top, fulls doors, half doors.
Entire running gear built or rebuilt 8k ago
4.7 stroker engine with Russ P 2.02 valves/roller cam/rockers. CA compliant header, larger injectors, CA compliant open dry filter/kit, CA compliant upgraded ignition. Passed smog with flying colors, all CARB stickers intact under hood with some clear Gorilla tape on them
Prorock 44 front diff (1/4 inch tubes) with 5:18 JK ring/pinion Black Magic Super 16 brakes/nodular iron Cs, Ox Lockers, RCV joints. I got it to 6 degrees of caster and I run 1/16 toe in. 70 mph no death wobble or wandering or vibration.
Yes, not Currie, but Synergy steering (y-setup). Flat pitman arm (I had to source that and it is correct for box...1 ton tie rod fitting. No index notches in arm, so steering wheel is straight with pitman arm being straight. Fox steering stabilizer (unnecessary but whatever). Metalcloak upper passenger control arm (lock and load with off road adjustment for additional 3/4 inch movement in either direction). I get that better stuff/setups exist, but it works. Barnes 4x4 double shear track bar bracket (about 1.5 inch shorter than stock, hence the flat pitman arm...no more bump or torque steer because angles are correct as they can be)
Rear diff is rockjock 44, relocated rear shock brackets (welded not bolted), JK ring and pinion, 5:18 gears. Ox lockers. Custom driveshaft, Black Magic brakes
Tcase is NP231 with wide chain kit with STR. Running double cardan and rear pinion is within 1.5 degrees of shaft. B&M cable shifter (yes I know Savvy is better).
Tranny is AX15 with heavy duty clutch pressure plate flywheel with reasonable pedal pressure
Suspension was straight up Rough Country long arm...but after talking to Blaine he stressed the shit factor of RC, and mentioned a company that may have a correction kit to at least address the horrid single-pivot geometry of the cobbled kit. I bought the correction kit and now after welding the upper and lower control arms in the rear do not share a pivot point...uppers are located inside the frame well above the lower (no more bobbing/pogo stick action). Progressive springs are 5 inch Metalcloak front, with Fox shocks and adjustable bump stops, rears are 4.5 inch MC progressive with adjustable bump stops. Yes I realize the bolts are really long through the brand new Johnny Joints/Trail Forged flex bushings but I didn't cut them down just yet...In sought grade 8 bolts with threads only towards the nut and they were not available any shorter.
Poison Spider cage (yes I know angle brackets for a-pillar are not the best design) with grab handles welded in and cross brace at lower windshield and brace behind driver passenger seats.
No AC from factory, and heater wasn't hot, but it did initially have an aftermarket AC kit (ACME). I spent part of my summer yanking out the entire HVAC system, putting in a new copper brass heater core, fixing the crappy plastic piece that broke off the heater control door and replace that, and bought a new Jeep air kit and installed it. Now has hot heater and cold AC. While I was at it, I gave away the three row aluminum radiator, and put in a two core copper brass radiator along with a proper clutch fan. I also gave away the electric fan from Mishimoto along with the electrical harness.
I know there are some anti-android folks out there but I installed an Android head unit that is double din, along with the kit for the dash required for double din, and front and rear camera. Now even with the spare tire, I can push a button on the head unit and have a constant on rear camera or a constant on front camera. There was a 1200 watt pioneer amp under the driver's seat as well as pod speakers from a wake boat on the rear roll cage. I also put some kicker speakers in the dash area with adapters to be able to use the larger round speakers than the OEM ones.
As for the wheels, it came with monster KMC beadlocks. Somebody had had them off and on often as well as washers on one and not the other, and after weighing them and the Cooper tires that came with them I decided to go with some much lighter Mammoth wheels and some ko2s. The KMC were five on five, with 1.25 in spacers, so I ditched the spacers and went with five on four and a half. I know that wouldn't be everybody's choice but without spacers and with the new tires that measure under 37 when measured properly do not scrub even lock the lock or full droop or full squish.
There is a LED light bar across the windshield, and there are rigid fog lights up front and rigid ditch lights. There is an ARB compressor for the ox lockers.
For towing, I went to my local genright warehouse and purchased a stubby front bumper that has proper tabs that are plugged welded through the rear. They are the exact width I needed, with the exact diameter pin holes. My weapon of choice for towing is already break surge setup, one that applies breaking through a cable that I was able to mount to the Jeep through the bottom of the bumper. Rather than rely on an electronic unit that operates over the air, the ready brake setup is bomb proof because as the towed vehicle stops it automatically relaxes the force that's applied to the brakes so there's never any danger of ruining the brakes on either vehicle.
It is a Southern California vehicle so there is zero rust, there is the mild trail scuffing one would expect but nothing major on the body. I just replaced the gasket that goes between the hardtop and the windshield frame, and going down the road it is actually rather bearable. Door locks and tailgate locks work, I replaced the ignition switch because the key was getting old and beaten up. It had a carpet kit put in it, and I have the back seat but I took it out so that my dogs would fit in the back. Headlights are led, as I believe the lights in the metal cloak removable fenders are. Rear bumper has a swing out for the spare tire carrier. Warn VR EVO winch with synthetic line.
Can anybody chime in as to what something like this might go for these days? I get that lots of folks in the forum with way more Jeep experience would have made many different build choices, but keep in mind that I bought the Jeep as it was and I didn't want to have my wife make me sleep on the curb if I kept putting money into it.
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