Greg's 05 LJ Build

LJGreg

TJ Enthusiast
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2018
Messages
605
Location
Pitt Meadows, BC, Canada
So I picked up an 05 Silver LJ which is in great shape about a month ago. My brother has an 05 LJ as well (in black) so there will be some sibling rivalry going on!

I have been putting a parts list together and will post some progress pics as I go along.

My Currie 4" lift arrived earlier this week and I am about half way through the install on the front. I plan on doing everything myself at my own pace.

My Jeep today:

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Looks good! What size tires are you going with?
 
Sounds great. I think the lj look best on 35s. Your going to have a great setup
 
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So I am a few months into my build but haven't been posting so time to catch up on my thread....

I have finished my front end with Currie control arms, bumpstops, antirock, and Currectlync steering. Decided to go with the Ranch RS5000x shocks. I have YJ brake lines ready to go in as well.

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I actually found a great deal on a OTC balljoint press on Craigslist so decided to throw in some Spicer balljoints since I had everything apart.

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My tailgate hinges were all rusted out and sagging so I decided to go with the MORryde Tailgate Reinforcement Kit since I will be running the Mopar Rockcrawler bumper (thanks @Chris ). It is a great product but I was pretty disappointed with how it arrived. All the hardware was loose in the box and a lot of the paint was chipped. Fortunately, ExtremeTerrain were very good to deal with and made it right.

I have Savvy taillights on order so once I grind out the plate to make it fix I will send all parts to the power coating shop.

I broke a few body bolts getting the old hinges out but was pretty easy to back them out and replace with new stainless hardware.

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I had to limp the LJ out of the garage so I could put the hardtop back on my JK. Made for a nice side by side picture. I will be getting rid of the JK once my LJ build is complete.

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I built a nice little system to swap out my hardtop. I have a HarborFreight hoist mounted on a Unistrut trolley that slides back and forth. I can then lift the top and slide it forward to store on a ceiling mount storage rack. I use a strap to grab the front and found these cool clips that connect to the rear glass hinge to give anchor points.

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Started in on the rear and despite best efforts - heat & soaking in liquor wrench (can't find Kroil in Canada) I broke one of the upper shock bolts. I was putting in a body lift so it was pretty simple to just raise the body and air chisel it out and then clean it all up with a Dremel.

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Installed the Savvy body lift and decided to also put in some MORE Bombproof 1" mounts since my old mounts were shot. I broke another bolt - this one being the the nut welded to the frame. A few hits with a BFH and the spot welds came loose. Fortunately I have an auto parts store nearby with an amazing selection of 10.9 fasteners. A few of my body mounts are shot so going to replace with new ones.

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My tailgate hinges were all rusted out and sagging so I decided to go with the MORryde Tailgate Reinforcement Kit since I will be running the Mopar Rockcrawler bumper (thanks @Chris ). It is a great product but I was pretty disappointed with how it arrived. All the hardware was loose in the box and a lot of the paint was chipped. Fortunately, ExtremeTerrain were very good to deal with and made it right.

I have Savvy taillights on order so once I grind out the plate to make it fix I will send all parts to the power coating shop.

I broke a few body bolts getting the old hinges out but was pretty easy to back them out and replace with new stainless hardware.

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That's odd! My MORryde arrived very nicely packed with everything wrapped individually!
 
To be fair to them, I did get in touch with ExtremeTerrain and they provided me a credit to make good. I would have no issues ordering from them again. It sounds like this was a one-off issue and a powder coat probably won’t set me back too much.
 
Greg where did you get your Unistrut stuff? If you could take a close up of that and how your winch is mounted to the trolley trucks that would be helpful. I'm looking at building at least a top hoist/lift that my wife can operate if I'm not home. Thanks, MOE
 
The length of Unistrut was from Lowes and the hangers and trolleys were from Amazon.

Two trolleys:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KQ0LS1Y/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Four hangers:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MH3M7KE/?tag=wranglerorg-20

To connect it, I used two lengths of 13/16 strut bolted together with the trolleys sandwiched in between. The bolts run through the trolleys. The hoist came with a u-shaped brackets that fit over it. To connect the hoist to the hardtop, I made a Tee using two 2x4 on end joined using some strong-tie brackets. The top of the Tee has two hooks that connect to the Topsy brackets I showed above. The bottom of the Tee just has a ratchet strap around the front of the top. I then used an eye-bolt to connect the hoist but had to play with a few different locations to find the right centre of gravity.
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If you are planning on just using the hoist to store it at ceiling height be careful of the one you buy. Some of them do not have brakes so will slowly start to unwind if left long enough with a static load. This is why I have all my weight on the ceiling storage rack.
 
When do you think you'll get to modifying the front bumper to fit the Antirock? I want to see the finished result! Hopefully you do a clean job. Some of the others I see look very hacked!