First vehicle / daily driver wheeler

Morks

TJ Enthusiast
Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2020
Messages
475
Location
Ontario
Starting this build thread so I don't lose any more photos than I have to since I keep breaking phones and jeep stuff lol. Long story short bought the jeep as my first vehicle when I was 19 and fell in love with the wrenching immediately. Now 2 years later and lots of dumped money being a careless kid it is time to start building it. The pictures go from stock, to tires lights winch blah blah, then came the lift and now the need for bigger tires axles and that jazz. The last picture is currently how it sits but not for long. 4" lift on some 31" all terrains.



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Now throwing a rod through the block all because of this :rolleyes: (somehow sucked a bunch of water that shallow)
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I decided to go "all-out" as much as a student-athlete, in university should be spending if you should even be spending this much lol. So I found a used engine that I will be swapping in as well as a tj rubicon Dana 44 with factory locker, revolution 4.88's, 35" m/t (don't know what brand yet as they haven't been purchased yet need some more paycheques), beefier tie rod, adjustable track bar, some Barnes 1/4" axle bracket, and coil bucket mounts because the previous owner wanted his mounts, etc... Finally, some nice weather rolled around to start the axle stuff. Ripped everything apart today and I am going to try my first regear as soon as my last pinion bearing comes in. I will see how the rear goes before doing the front. (out of the jeep, do not need it to drive so that is the logic)

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Also a fun little winter-spring 2 door, 5 speed Cherokee I picked up and flipped for an amazing profit that will pay for the rear axle build and probably half of the tire price.

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Nice plans. I agree water should not have been sucked in that shallow... maybe you hit the hole too hard?
Crawled right in no splash at all, to this day my buddies and I have 0 clue how it did, but oh well...
 
For the past 2 days, I removed my engine, stripped and painted the new one, and cussed like crazy trying to get the new one in... Was unsuccessful today and I am giving it a break and starting fresh in the morning.

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Hopefully, get this done asap, so I can start with the dana 44...

Also, does anyone have any thoughts on pro comp mt2, and what the road life is? Debating between those and a km3!
 
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I decided to go "all-out" as much as a student-athlete, in university should be spending if you should even be spending this much lol. So I found a used engine that I will be swapping in as well as a tj rubicon Dana 44 with factory locker, revolution 4.88's, 35" m/t (don't know what brand yet as they haven't been purchased yet need some more paycheques), beefier tie rod, adjustable track bar, some Barnes 1/4" axle bracket, and coil bucket mounts because the previous owner wanted his mounts, etc... Finally, some nice weather rolled around to start the axle stuff. Ripped everything apart today and I am going to try my first regear as soon as my last pinion bearing comes in. I will see how the rear goes before doing the front. (out of the jeep, do not need it to drive so that is the logic)
That's cool that you have an opportunity to spend such a big money as a student! Are you working? Me yes and most of my money are spent on education, basic things such as food, and rare hanging out with friends. It's really hard to balance these parts of life, so I use this source http://essaypapers.reviews/ for my edu tasks. It helps me a lot
 
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That's cool that you have an opportunity to spend such a big money as a student! Are you working? Me yes and most of my money are spent on education, basic things such as food, and rare hanging out with friends. It's really hard to balance these parts of life, so I use this source for my edu tasks. It helps me a lot

I can definitely see that as an average university student it would be tough with full-time work and a huge course load. I am on the football team so the financial aspect of that is no worries (plus living at home), definitely blessed to have that opportunity. However, I am going to trades school and or possibly another route that I am entertaining, after hopefully going to the combine either this upcoming or the following spring and playing pro ball, which means I am studying human kinetics but take the minimum I need to obtain the scholarship. Definitely, a great resource though. It has gotten me through a bunch of issues, and has helped build my rig to a very capable yet mild build to some! What're you studying at Uni?
 
Took every free second I could to get the ball rolling on this build I am going to slowly update my build thread as I am super close to finishing the build enough to start driving and doing some wheeling in the near future.

After the last post of the engine swap, I immediately got to work on the Dana 44.

After getting the gears done, and making sure the locker worked I headed to my buddies to get some 1/4" Barnes 4wd brackets put on, right after I primed it and painted it and let it sit overnight.

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The next day I did not waste any time and got right to the swap. It went very quickly. I had a couple of small hiccups that were negligible to mention.


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In between setting up and waiting for mistakes made on my end for the dana 30 regear, I went ahead and did a bit of rest prevention/ touch-ups on the fenders/ frame. Got lots done on the frame, took a grinder to it, and painted it with heavy coats of Rustoleum. Now I can do quick, easy, and inexpensive touch as needed. (Inside of the frame needs to be done before this winter now that I have all this work into it. Also need to find or order a set of the original headlight bezels definitely like the chrome look better!)

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Before this fender had a bunch of small rust spots starting to form due to rock chips, and very faded plastic as you can see in the rear. Each weekend I will do another fender
 
Been a while since updating. Since getting the rear axle in I changed out arms and am slowly dialing everything in. Horrible at taking pics when working on stuff... However rear axle needs to still be moved forward just a tad to get the driveline perfect in the rear, and allow for the most stuff and now it is saving for the rear tire carrier. Gears have 2 very hard wheeling sessions on them and about 5k km and still holding up perfectly, so I am very pleased for a driveway gear job.

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Getting some ice cream after some hard wheeling, while heading up to the fishing spot.
 
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Lots going on lately, and I am going to ramble fair warning. Long story short I was wrapping up all the work I have been doing on the jeep for the summer and got a call from a buddy who said he has got some possible axles for me. Dana 60 rear and full size 40. Both axles have spools, 5.13's the links to go with them, rcv's in the front and the 40" tires on bead locks. This is all in a first gen bronco. He is looking to go back down in size to 35's on a 15" rim with 5 lug bolt pattern, which I have brand new. From what I know he wants to get rid of the built axles with the goodies tires and rims for around 3k. However, I have exactly what he wants tire and wheel-wise with no wait times. The end goal for my rig is in the 40" tire range on big axles. For daily driving how would 40s and 5.13s be the only concern I have is locked axles in a snowy winter towing my snowmobile on the highway lol. Other than that I could care less. One thing I would note is I drive A LOT so I would probably need something like a Detroit or selectable in the rear so I am not ruining tires. The 40's are about 40% tread so at some point in the near future I would need rubber. I do also though have freshly geared axles, one including a rubicon housing with factory locker and plug with the corresponding air compressor, driveshafts, and steering to sell. So I would be in the plus getting the axles.

Concerns:
- Stretching the wheelbase as far as I can with heating and molding the stock tank hoping to get around 98" (not even sure if possible may have to think about alternate fuel cells
- spooled rear end with a daily driver (ie what is the tread life going to look like without a selectable locker)
- can I get away with the stock steering box if I tap it and run a hydro assist ram


That was a long-winded ramble, if anyone cared to read let me know what you think. I know it'll be more than slapping big axles in and done. However, I am ready to comp cut the rear and at least remove the front fenders/ hack them away for now laws aren't crazy strict here for that.
 
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Besides that, I have done a bit more wheeling and it has been a blast and just pondering the 40's idea which has stopped me from purchasing bumpers, fixing paint blemishes etc...


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Sweet little island in a lake, had to cross some deep water to get there but was worth it for the pics!
 
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Just a small clip of some rocks I could finally play in, definitely now know I need a locker, so I will see how these full-size axles go before putting money into the 30.
 
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98 inches of wheelbase isn't really enough for 40's...and I don't know that I'd want to daily a TJ on 40's anyway. That is a WHOLE lot of tire...

As a reference, as my Club meeting a few weeks ago, One of the members parked his rig next to mine. He has a CJ-7 on 42s (pitbull rockers)...I have a TJ on 35's. The difference in tire size is VERY dramatic...

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This^

I would add that running spools on the street - front or rear - would not make for a pleasant daily driver. Also, 40’s on 5.13’s behind a stock 4.0 would not be helping the daily driver role.
 
I know 98" is not ideal, however, I have seen and talked to people in the area who have built some awesome rigs under the 100" mark (40's and tons) and are very capable, on the big rocks out in Arizona, Utah...? That I do not know as we have nothing like that in Ontario. @NashvilleTJ how would it be on 40's and 5.13's. I have only read a couple of posts of people DD a tj on 40's WITH 5.13's. In my area, I love the 4.88's and 35's combo. I slap it in second and bomb through the rutted bogs and slipper rock ascents. That also begs the question, why 40s? If I lock up my front I have no doubt it'll be a very capable rig.

This is all just me shooting the shit with my buddy. I really like the 35's and the challenges it brings on certain obstacles that I have taken on, and have not been able to complete. Just hard to pass up on a good deal for parts lol.


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Always have to toss a pic!
 
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