First of all, a big thanks to all the members on this forum - I've been lurking the forums for a good minute since before I bought my TJ and it's been a great source of technical information and opinion that's helped me on my path.
I bought this May 2021 sight unseen from an older couple on the in the Sydney northern beaches area (Americans in the audience, I'm sure you have n.f.i where that is) and had it trucked up to me.
It's an AUDM 2005 TJ with a touch over 135,000km on the odo, khaki gold with khaki/grey interior.
Factory fitment included the dana 44 rear, larger fuel tank, hardtop with rear wiper and a tow pack.
As far as I can tell the TJs gone pretty much unmolested during its life, the only additions I noticed were the hands free unit left in the glovebox and the overwhelming scent of the elderly.
Overall reasonably good condition for a 16 year old car but it had rough spots - pretty quickly I found:
As it sits now a few months after I began I'm happy enough to drive it to work and wheel it on my days off without fearing for my life.
I'll rattle off some of the stuff I've done, and stuck with, and ignore the things I planned on doing and never did for whatever reason. I'll admit the reason for 90% of my choices were purely stock availability due to being a kangaroo and the shortage of parts coming out of the USA.
I just want to enjoy her for the time being and just let it break to see what else I need. Us Australians have a pretty beat not babied attitude towards wheeling, and you can get pretty far through some sketchy stuff on smart driving alone. May go wild in the future, we have plenty of LS1 variants down here and that sounds pretty fun
Happy to be in a real solid axle 4x4 though. The fuel economy is bad, it's "small" but weighs more than it should and drives like a pig - but I dig it severely. Hope to hold onto her for a long time to come.
I bought this May 2021 sight unseen from an older couple on the in the Sydney northern beaches area (Americans in the audience, I'm sure you have n.f.i where that is) and had it trucked up to me.
It's an AUDM 2005 TJ with a touch over 135,000km on the odo, khaki gold with khaki/grey interior.
Factory fitment included the dana 44 rear, larger fuel tank, hardtop with rear wiper and a tow pack.
As far as I can tell the TJs gone pretty much unmolested during its life, the only additions I noticed were the hands free unit left in the glovebox and the overwhelming scent of the elderly.
Overall reasonably good condition for a 16 year old car but it had rough spots - pretty quickly I found:
- surface rust on the left hand front engine bay, spring hat and chassis
- brakes were basically non-existent
- power steering lines were nearly rusted through
- stock suspension was very ordinary, shocks were also basically non-existent
- lots of small annoyances like the door limit straps broken and rear door struts shot
- damaged wiring
- smelt absolutely horrible
Over the course of a few weeks I had it up on jack stands in the shed and worked my way through the list of things to do. Fluids and filters first up and gave her some new brake pads, rotors, shoes, new brake lines. New power steering pressure and return lines (which were a nightmare to source due to RHD being different to LHD), replaced missing caps on bottles, solid interior clean out and a new double din fascia / fancy head unit. Went through and gave it a very thorough inspection for rust (inspection camera up the chassis rails and everything), didn't find much except for what was obvious around the front left - sanded back, killrust, primed, painted - beautiful. Wired up some driving lights and bought a new battery for peace of mind. Spent some coin on some things that I will probably regret later (some I already regret). As it sits now a few months after I began I'm happy enough to drive it to work and wheel it on my days off without fearing for my life.
I'll rattle off some of the stuff I've done, and stuck with, and ignore the things I planned on doing and never did for whatever reason. I'll admit the reason for 90% of my choices were purely stock availability due to being a kangaroo and the shortage of parts coming out of the USA.
- Micky Thompson Classic 3s 15x8" 5x4.5 -22 offset
- Dynapro MT 33x12.5
- Dynapro MT 33x12.5
- Bushwacker flat fender flares (terrible purchase, regret)
- Rancho's Moab 2.5" lift kit with RS5000 shocks and steering dampener, OME track bar drop
- Superior Engineering front track bar
- Smittybilt XRC front bumper
- Smittybilt XRC rear bumper w/ tyre carrier (haven't fitted yet)
- Rugged Ridge rrc side steps
- Rugged Ridge SYE / Tom Woods driveshaft
Next on the list is the sport seats and carpet kit I've ordered from America, still a few weeks till I lay eyes on them. Beyond that is a trip to the diff shop to get put some appropriate ratios in because going from 90km/hr to 100km/hr makes my fuel usage go from 16l/100km to 21l/100km, not real good. New flares are on the list too, probably just going to go for the stock-style 7" wide flares like I should have to begin with. The flat flares are too narrow to keep johnny law happy and an absolute bastard to install because of warping.I just want to enjoy her for the time being and just let it break to see what else I need. Us Australians have a pretty beat not babied attitude towards wheeling, and you can get pretty far through some sketchy stuff on smart driving alone. May go wild in the future, we have plenty of LS1 variants down here and that sounds pretty fun
Happy to be in a real solid axle 4x4 though. The fuel economy is bad, it's "small" but weighs more than it should and drives like a pig - but I dig it severely. Hope to hold onto her for a long time to come.
