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AirborneTexasRanger

AirborneTexasRanger

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Joined
Sep 14, 2022
Messages
353
Location
Boca Chica, TX
So here's where I'm at

2004, 4.0, 5spd, dana 30 (3.07) up front & dana 35 (3.07) out back. Currently sitting on a 2" sky jacker spacers & shocks from the previous owner with 32's on 17's until I get new 33" tires for the stock 15" canyons on which I prefer. This is not my DD so it will see minimal highway use, just a weekend toy for mild off road use.......at least for now. I plan on doing the following upgrades.
~4" rock jock adjustable short arm suspension lift
1" body lift
1" motor mount lift
Rancho RS9000XL shocks
Currect-Lync
Anti-Rock SwayLoc
Novak SYE w/ double cardan drive shaft
Savvy cable shifter
GenRight tummy tuck
Revolution chromoly 30 spline axles front & rear
Revolution 4.88 or 5.13 front & rear
Yukon grizzly locker front & rear

My question is this, since I cant afford to do all of this at once should I do the re-gear & lockers first or tackle the suspension first? I also don't want to wait & save up do the upgrades all at once because I'd like to keep on taking the Jeep out on the weekends. Yes I'm aware that I could get larger axles however, when it comes time for that I'll more than likely go with dana 60s, a supercharger & 37's with bead-locks. So in the meantime I'll upgrade what I've got, just not sure of the order to go about it.

I'm impressed with the current capabilities as is however, I have to skip over about 50% of the obstacles at my local off road parks due to my limitations and unwillingness to completely destroy the Jeep due to stupidity. I attached some videos of the current capabilities for reference
 

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  • PXL_20221023_193213450_2.mp4
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  • PXL_20221023_195658548_2.mp4
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  • 6587.mp4
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Reactions: Jerry Bransford
Thank you sir.
I'm guessing since I've got the axle apart I should just go ahead and throw on reinforcement trusses?
Any recommendations?
 
I’m just thinking about the title of the thread and that most people don’t ask us that very often 🤣🤣

We sure don’t want you to waste it on anything like bills or taxes or anything irresponsible like that.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: JoseA, BlueC and Irun
Man your in trouble now, you done got AndyG on here ! you better get one of them solid gold credit cards ( no not the one that is gold colored and says gold card on it) THE ONE THAT IS SOLID GOLD ! and thats just for getting glass cleaner :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
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Reactions: Mike Z
tr21triton said:
Man your in trouble now, you done got AndyG on here ! you better get one of them solid gold credit cards ( no not the one that is gold colored and says gold card on it) THE ONE THAT IS SOLID GOLD ! and thats just for getting glass cleaner :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...

I get my glass cleaned professionally thank you 🤣🤣
 
  • Haha
Reactions: tr21triton
Skip the Anti-Rock and go Sayloc. For the SYE, look at JB Conversions. For the lockers, selectable is the way to go. Lastly, why the Genright Skid?
 
Irun said:
Skip the Anti-Rock and go Sayloc. For the SYE, look at JB Conversions. For the lockers, selectable is the way to go. Lastly, why the Genright Skid?
Click to expand...

I liked the Genright because they have a kit that you "fabricate" yourself. I'm a welding inspector and I'm generally not confident in the quality of welds on most bolt on products.
 
I am mostly done w/nearly the same mods you plan and am very happy with the Jeep now. I also use it primarily off-road as you plan to.
I don't want to upgrade the Dana 35 - not because it won't be strong enough - but because I can swap a Dana 44 w/o knowing how to setup gears myself. Not to mention bragging rights. :) Once I get the Dana 44 installed I've got an experienced person lined up that will do the regear for $600 per axle(+ parts). I gotta say though - 3.73's are very usable w/35's....at least down here in fl.us.


Due to this I've only done a spartan locker up front and left the back open for now. I did some rides w/a friend and he struggled where I didn't...and he had the trac-lock rear but open front. He has since regeared and locked both ends....
In fact, the Spartan locker was the first thing I did to the Jeep after I got it....I remember making fun of Jeeps when I was younger because they often came w/open diffs at both ends. That made me think of jeeps as a posers.

I did go w/a Rugged-Ridge Mega-short SYE because I've got a 42RLE which runs a bit longer(per the experts)....and a Savvy shifter. Also, I went w/the 5000 Ranchos...really like the soft ride they give and it didn't hurt that they were also reasonably priced.

The only regret I have is not getting the Savvy Aluminum short arms that are all double adjustable...but I couldn't get any comms from them when I was ready to buy...I'm sure they miss out on a lot of business.

Good luck w/your Jeep! I'm really happy w/making the switch from a SideBySide to a Jeep...way more places to legally ride.
 
nondem said:
I am mostly done w/nearly the same mods you plan and am very happy with the Jeep now. I also use it primarily off-road as you plan to
Click to expand...
Is it still street-able? (not sure if that's a word) I have a 30 min drive to most off-road places and I'm not ready to trailer it everywhere.
nondem said:
The only regret I have is not getting the Savvy Aluminum short arms that are all double adjustable.
Click to expand...
I haven't looked into those but I'll be sure to check them out.
 
Just a thought on the skid plate: why not trying to contact a company like Barnes or UCF and see if they sell you an unfinished/un-welded skid? might even save some dough!
 
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1st, what winch is on the front?
If you can be patient you can keep an eye out for a lot of this stuff on craigslist and facebook or this websites marketplace.

Rancho RS9000XL shocks (I've seen many suggest the 5000x over the 9000) I think it's the 5000x you'll need to confirm
Novak SYE w/ double cardan drive shaft Maybe go with the supershort SYE
GenRight tummy tuck Take a look at UCF, there isn't that many welds I don't think, add engine skid
Revolution chromoly 30 spline axles front & rear Most will suggest staying with 27 spline on the dana 30, I think it's easier to find lockers and have a trail spare (factory shaft)
Revolution 4.88 or 5.13 front & rear If mostly trails and not much on highway I'd go with 5.13
Yukon grizzly locker front & rear Selectable in the rear and lunchbox in the front, again this is not a daily driver so I'd go with a torq locker in the front.

As far as order, I'd start with the skid plates first to keep from damage underneath. Then lockers and gears. Then everything else including 35" tires.
 
rhanna said:
1st, what winch is on the front?
Click to expand...
I was gifted a winch by a coworker. Its a Chicago Electric. I plan on upgrading in the future.

rhanna said:
If you can be patient you can keep an eye out for a lot of this stuff on craigslist and facebook or this websites marketplace.

Rancho RS9000XL shocks (I've seen many suggest the 5000x over the 9000) I think it's the 5000x you'll need to confirm
Click to expand...
The 9000 was what was recommended by RockJock, but I will have to do some research
rhanna said:
Novak SYE w/ double cardan drive shaft Maybe go with the supershort SYE
GenRight tummy tuck Take a look at UCF, there isn't that many welds I don't think, add engine skid
Revolution chromoly 30 spline axles front & rear Most will suggest staying with 27 spline on the dana 30, I think it's easier to find lockers and have a trail spare (factory shaft)
Click to expand...
I got some similar advice from others on this forum & I'm most likely staying with 27 spline
rhanna said:
Revolution 4.88 or 5.13 front & rear If mostly trails and not much on highway I'd go with 5.13
Yukon grizzly locker front & rear Selectable in the rear and lunchbox in the front, again this is not a daily driver so I'd go with a torq locker in the front.

As far as order, I'd start with the skid plates first to keep from damage underneath. Then lockers and gears. Then everything else including 35" tires.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice. This is the first Jeep that I will be building myself, well mostly. So I'm learning a lot.

Ashamedly My first few Jeeps were already modified when I bought them or I had a shop do it giving them a vague description of what I wanted.
 
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