First Jeep & build thread!

[mikey3288]

Hey Everyone!

I just picked up my first Jeep and I'm super excited to start my first ever build thread! It's a 1998 4L with 5 speed manual transmission, 106k miles on the clock, and honestly mostly done. I bought it because I got in to offroading quickly after moving to CO and wanted to hit some amazing and challenging trails in CO and surrounding states!

Mods include:
- Warn M8000 winch w/synthetic rope (which badly needs to be replaced)
- Stubby front bumper, hood hoop, and flat fenders
- Dana 44 high pinion axle (front)
- Manual locking hubs (front)
- Ford 8.8 (rear)
- RE Long Arms
- 4" lift (metalcloak springs)
- 1" body lift
- 1" motor mount lift
- Bilstein shocks (only rear, unsure of brand on fronts)
- ARB Lockers (front and rear)
- ARB compressor for onboard air
- Engine skid plate, power steering skid plate, tummy tuck skid plate, Kelly gas tank skid
- Over the knuckle 1 ton steering
- Tom Woods front drive shaft
- SYE rear drive shaft
- Banks Power exhaust (headers back)

Had a PPI and found the following issues I'll be fixing:
- Valve cover, pan, and oil sender leaking
- Front axle seal leaking
- Control arms need to be replaced
- Rear track bar needs to be replaced
- Loose steering
- Failed clock spring

Most of these fixes seem pretty easy so I'll be DIYing as time and weather permit (proud new homeowner but comes with lots of house projects). I'll post some more photos with better lighting but overall the exterior and interior are in very rough shape and need lots of TLC.

P.S. I put it in my new member post but if anyone is in the Denver metro area and wants to go wheeling or needs help wrenching definitely let me know! Also very intrigued in some local wheeling clubs if anyone has recommendations. I'm still new to the area and looking to make some friends in the hobby!

 

[Wildman]

Nice looking TJ and Welcome to the forum.

Do you know where the HP44 came from? What gearing do you have in your axles? Sounds like it has hit most of the marks for being a well built rig.

There are a few members for CO on here. Check out the https://wranglertjforum.com/forums/united-states.219/ for runs coming up in your area.

@tworley @jjvw are a few of the members from CO.

 

[Mike_H]

Welcome! I am envious of your location. Lots of good wheeling where you are. Take a GOOD look at the TJ for Previous owner shortcuts. When I see overspray around fenders it means that whomever was working on it took the shortcut and didn't do it "right" (by masking or removing flares). Things like that make me question what else was shortcut? You got a PPI, which was a good idea.

Good luck with the repairs and build!

 

[Ironman]

Welcome! Nice ride.

 

[Only TJ's]

and honestly mostly done.

Is it ever really done? Welcome and congrats on the Jeep

 

[mikey3288]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes!

Do you know where the HP44 came from? What gearing do you have in your axles?

Thanks for the tip on the runs coming up in my area, once I'm satisfied it's ready to hit the trails I'll definitely keep a look out! Unfortunately best answer I could get was "home built" on the HP44 which made me raise some eyebrows. Gearing is 4.88 so I think it's pretty much ready for 35s

Is it ever really done? Welcome and congrats on the Jeep

Hahahaha facts. I'm starting to realize I have way too many things planned! The amount of aftermarket mods is truly dizzying

Take a GOOD look at the TJ for Previous owner shortcuts. When I see overspray around fenders it means that whomever was working on it took the shortcut and didn't do it "right" (by masking or removing flares). Things like that make me question what else was shortcut?

Oh man.. this is so true. The more I look it over the more things I find which leads me in to my first update!



I did a few small things for security like adding a locking hood latch and gas cap. I've also added functioning mirrors, previous mirrors were cracked and I couldn't see out of them anyways when the doors were on.

I'm starting to hunt down a lot of loose wires that are unattached in either the cabin or the engine bay or both sides. Not sure how well it was maintained by the PO and was definitely told some lies with the sale. Biggest lie perhaps was that it had brand new spark plugs and all fluids were changed. Haven't got around to the fluids yet but the spark plugs are definitely not new.

I changed the plugs out for some Autolite XP985s and put some Mopar spark plug wires on (I need to clean up the wiring, I followed the previous wire lines and it doesn't look very neat). Waiting on the distributor cap and distributor to ship and put them in but they look to be in reasonably good shape.

I started addressing the leaks from the top down with the oil sender and valve cover gasket. While doing the valve cover gasket I also replaced the PCV and.. that other elbow behind it + the grommets as they were pretty much shot and hard as rocks. I hosed everything down and I'll wait to see if I need to replace the oil pan gasket + RMS.

You can see the little rats nest of wiring in the left of that photo that I'll have to dissect. Attached below was one wire I was able to remove that was completely unattached in both the cabin and engine bay. I've counted at least 4 more wires that are unattached that I'll have to hunt down. I also started to clean up the interior a little bit. The seat covers were completely torn, faded, and.. smelly.

Next wave of maintenance items:

- Change AX15 oil and potentially clutch fluids although I've heard they're supposed to be a lifetime fluid
- Change diff and transfer case fluids. I'll have to research but is there anything special to add / different oil for ARB lockers?
- Monitor oil pan for leaks, if nothing then do an oil change. If there's a leak then oil pan gasket +RMS with an obvious oil change
- Figure out what to do with the exhaust. The last exhaust hanger had broken when I purchased it but it was unknown how long it was broken for. Unfortunately upon further inspection the exhaust has been rubbing/banging all over the rear upper control arm and the rear track bar. Not sure if this was a byproduct of the tummy tuck and they didn't modify the exhaust after? I fixed the hanger but there are still rubbing issues.

 

[Wildman]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes!



Thanks for the tip on the runs coming up in my area, once I'm satisfied it's ready to hit the trails I'll definitely keep a look out! Unfortunately best answer I could get was "home built" on the HP44 which made me raise some eyebrows. Gearing is 4.88 so I think it's pretty much ready for 35s

If it's a 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern my guess would be it's Ford HP44. I have one in my TJ that I narrowed myself to Wagoneer width to make it easier to get replacement shafts for it.

Sounds like you've been attacking all the issues with it one by one.

 

[mikey3288]

Hey everyone! Haven't posted in awhile with winter and the snowboarding season. Without a garage I've had to wait for warm days to be able to wrench but now that the weather's been warming up it's been go time!

Quick updates:
- Got a hardtop with roof rack
- Got full doors, fixed them up, and put them on
- Replaced windshield frame (damage was extensive and I couldn't fit the full doors on)
- Swapped dash + center console + new steering wheel + new clock spring + new shift knob
- Removed hood hoop (wasn't my style)
- Replaced unknown steering system with Currie's system (old system was very loose and worn)
- No pictures but I tackled all of the "electrical gremlins", aka poor wiring / wires that were connected to the battery but nothing else
- Changed AX15 oil
- Replaced oil pan gasket + RMS
- Fixed "leak" in front axle seal, it was actually just an overfill by PO

On to the pics, this is the interior before. It was really sun faded. The dash was mismatched to the center console. I thought about taking it out to paint but it was missing the top trim piece and the owner had cut holes out to put pine cones and rocks for display. There was no shift boot and the old knob had definitely seen better days. Also of note the right side of the steering wheel was missing the proper cruise controls. What the heck??

I bought some full doors in pretty rough shape for quite a deal. They had these nasty old purple tints on them I removed. One of the doors had this failed rugged spray paint texture kind of job on it that took forever to clean off (last pic on this series). I cleaned them up pretty well inside and out, put a layer of dynamat inside, re-keyed them, found some door cards, all handles and pulls, and then got a set of mirrors for them!

Random pics from replacing the RMS. Pretty proud of myself, this was the most difficult project I've done so far on the TJ. The top half of the RMS was impossible to get out and wouldn't even budge, I had to drop the crank a bit to get enough wiggle room to get it out. Shout out to this forum for that pro tip or I would have been screwed. Sidebar getting oil in your hair is not fun.

I wasn't sure what steering system was on there and neither was the PO. I was considering just replacing the joints (to try and fix loose steering) but I opted to get a Currie steering system instead. I also purchased a rancho steering stabilizer but the bracket is a damaged inward and I can't get the stabilizer end in yet. Will work on banging it out and getting the stabilizer in. I performed a quick alignment but will take it to a shop to see how I did.

Here's the windshield frame damage from PO. It's kind of hard to see from this angle but in the middle it's bent inward quite a bit. On my test fit for the full doors they wouldn't close because of the damage.

Some fun pictures of disassembly. I took the opportunity to drive around without windshield, doors, or top. Pretty wild experience haha. When replacing the steering wheel apparently there was no clock spring. Oh man.. I never thought I would get so much joy out of turn signals finally returning when you turn the wheel back hahaha. I took the opportunity to throw a little dynamat behind the dash as well.

The hardtop also came with some janky tints like the doors. Although this was 2 layers of janky tints and varying levels of scratches between them. I removed all the tints and left the stock privacy screen which I think looks really good.

Aaand last of the before photos but this was the hood hoop the PO had. Definitely wasn't my style so I chopped it off using an angle grinder and a fire blanket to protect the paint and glass. (thanks again to this forum for the pro tips!) I had a shop weld some small plates on to the exposed ends of the fenders.

Alright! Finally! This is how the TJ sits now!

I'm beginning to realize this is going to be one super long project and it may never truly be done. The next few things I'm trying to address are the long arms (all the bushings are shot), replacing the shocks (ranchos most likely), and rebuilding the winch + getting a new rope for it.