High Mileage 2001 Sahara Build

Funny joke!


I coudn't imagine ever selling this thing. It is worth so little money that I'd rather turn it into a bar or a couch before I sold it off to someone else just so they could ruin it. $4k - $5k isn't worth losing the Jeep I grew up with!

I'm also having my old frame cut up so I can make a table. That should be an interesting thread if I ever get time to take on the project. I'm considering some sort of engine block / frame table if my block ever gets ruined... Too many ideas, too little time!

I know, I hear you. It's like mine... with this much money into it, what is the point of selling it? I'd have to be absolutely desperate for money and down on my luck. At that point I'd just as soon take out a second mortgage on our house than sell the TJ. There's just no point. I'd lose so much money I can't even comprehend.

Your old frame is being turned into a table? So is this a rusty table? Going for a real vintage look? At least it will have some patina ;)
 
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I know, I hear you. It's like mine... with this much money into it, what is the point of selling it? I'd have to be absolutely desperate for money and down on my luck. At that point I'd just as soon take out a second mortgage on our house than sell the TJ. There's just no point. I'd lose so much money I can't even comprehend.

Your old frame is being turned into a table? So is this a rusty table? Going for a real vintage look? At least it will have some patina ;)

I'm in the same boat. The lockers and the suspension are worth more than the entire Jeep. Makes no sense to sell it... I'd probably live in the Jeep before I sold it.

I'm going to have my frame cut into two foot sections. I'll have to play around with it for a while to come up with a design for my table. I may try to learn to weld by making a table out of it. Luckily I have easy access to a welder here at school.

The table idea really depends on how rusty the inside of the frame is. The outside has almost no rust which is surprising due to how bad some of the internal sections are. No matter how rusty the inside is, I can easily wash it out and try to treat it considering the frame is in pieces. There aren't any holes in the bottom of the frame besides the one near the control arm mount. The top part of the frame is 100% fine so I'm not too worried, especially because the table doesn't need to support much weight.
 
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I'm in the same boat. The lockers and the suspension are worth more than the entire Jeep. Makes no sense to sell it... I'd probably live in the Jeep before I sold it.

I'm going to have my frame cut into two foot sections. I'll have to play around with it for a while to come up with a design for my table. I may try to learn to weld by making a table out of it. Luckily I have easy access to a welder here at school.

The table idea really depends on how rusty the inside of the frame is. The outside has almost no rust which is surprising due to how bad some of the internal sections are. No matter how rusty the inside is, I can easily wash it out and try to treat it considering the frame is in pieces. There aren't any holes in the bottom of the frame besides the one near the control arm mount. The top part of the frame is 100% fine so I'm not too worried, especially because the table doesn't need to support much weight.
You could always media blast the inside and get all the rust out that way. Either way, it's a pretty cool idea. At least that way you'll always have a piece of your old frame around, and a cool story to tell with it!

That's interesting that your frame is so clean on the outside but so rotted on the inside. Usually there's a bit of both, or at least some tell tale signs on the outside of the frame!
 
You could always media blast the inside and get all the rust out that way. Either way, it's a pretty cool idea. At least that way you'll always have a piece of your old frame around, and a cool story to tell with it!

That's interesting that your frame is so clean on the outside but so rotted on the inside. Usually there's a bit of both, or at least some tell tale signs on the outside of the frame!

My Jeep is a bit of an anomaly. I have next to no tub or body rust and no external surface rust on the frame but the inside of the frame is rotted. My body mounts could be off an Arizona Jeep (they have absolutely no rust). If my body was rusted out I wouldn't bother with the frame swap. Body rust is not worth fixing in my opinion.

I still think I could post underside photos of my Jeep on here and people would tell me it is rust free :)
 
Nice to see another Sahara out roaming the world with some miles. Awesome build by the way
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My Jeep is a bit of an anomaly. I have next to no tub or body rust and no external surface rust on the frame but the inside of the frame is rotted. My body mounts could be off an Arizona Jeep (they have absolutely no rust). If my body was rusted out I wouldn't bother with the frame swap. Body rust is not worth fixing in my opinion.

I still think I could post underside photos of my Jeep on here and people would tell me it is rust free :)

Which begs the question... how did you find out the inside of the frame was so rusted? Endoscope?
 
Which begs the question... how did you find out the inside of the frame was so rusted? Endoscope?

The hole that came through the passenger front control arm mount was a pretty good indicator. I can also pull chunks out of the frame from the holes near the rear control arm mounts. I've known this frame was a goner for the last few years.

Nice to see another Sahara out roaming the world with some miles. Awesome build by the wayView attachment 64941View attachment 64942

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Nice looking Jeep.
 
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I got plans for it, I just keep running out of money to do things I want to do to it

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Having the shop order a Genright rear plate bumper, 35" Maxxis Trepador Radials, and Revolution front and rear USA made 4340 Shafts. I'm done ordering parts after this. It'll have to go back for steering and beadlocks at some point, but I'd rather get the Jeep out of the shop and go drive it again.

I'm going to see how it looks with 35's and 4.25" of lift. It'll probably need 4" springs. I'll order those and new shocks if they are needed.

Motor is currently getting resealed and the axles are under the new frame. Getting close! But waiting on driveshafts and tires might hold it up a bit.
 
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Any photos by chance?

My GenRight rear plate bumper came today, it looks great, as expected.

FYI, my 35s with 4" of lift wasn't enough, it was visually obvious. The extra 1.25" was necessary IMHO, unless you want to limit your up-travel even more.
 
Any photos by chance?

My GenRight rear plate bumper came today, it looks great, as expected.

FYI, my 35s with 4" of lift wasn't enough, it was visually obvious. The extra 1.25" was necessary IMHO, unless you want to limit your up-travel even more.

No photos yet. I might head down soon to see it myself. The shop is an hour away and I'd be taking an uber so thats sorta stopping me.

I have a Savvy 1.25" body lift because of the under armor. It currently has Savvy 3" springs. I'm going to see how it looks with that combo before I order springs. It'll probably need them. I'm either looking at getting the Savvy tuned shocks or ones from Paul Coplin. Need to figure out his website first and see if he makes what I need.
 
No photos yet. I might head down soon to see it myself. The shop is an hour away and I'd be taking an uber so thats sorta stopping me.

I have a Savvy 1.25" body lift because of the under armor. It currently has Savvy 3" springs. I'm going to see how it looks with that combo before I order springs. It'll probably need them. I'm either looking at getting the Savvy tuned shocks or ones from Paul Coplin. Need to figure out his website first and see if he makes what I need.

I'm not sure who tunes the Savvy shocks, but I'm sure they're great. Paul is an awesome, awesome guy. I talked to him for a few hours in person, and he knows his shocks inside and out, that's for sure.

I think you're ultimately going to spring (no pun intended) for the 4" springs.

With 35s, it really seems 5" (or 5.25" in my case) is the perfect amount of lift. I'd rather have the extra lift and not have to limit the up-travel as much. But you can be the judge of that. Adding new springs isn't a hard thing to do yourself anyways.

Oh... and a 1" Uber trip couldn't be cheap!
 
I'm not sure who tunes the Savvy shocks, but I'm sure they're great. Paul is an awesome, awesome guy. I talked to him for a few hours in person, and he knows his shocks inside and out, that's for sure.

I think you're ultimately going to spring (no pun intended) for the 4" springs.

With 35s, it really seems 5" (or 5.25" in my case) is the perfect amount of lift. I'd rather have the extra lift and not have to limit the up-travel as much. But you can be the judge of that. Adding new springs isn't a hard thing to do yourself anyways.

Oh... and a 1" Uber trip couldn't be cheap!

I'm a bit picky when it comes to lift heights. I absolutely hate Jeeps that have too small of tires for the lift that they run (just visually). That is why I chose my 3" lift for my 33's. It has worked well for the last couple of years. I'll probably end up with 4" Currie springs and Savvy shocks.

Yeah, the Uber over to the shop is around $45 - $55 depending on the time of day. It is about the same every time I have to go to Ohare. Really annoying because it is only around 13 miles!
 
I'm a bit picky when it comes to lift heights. I absolutely hate Jeeps that have too small of tires for the lift that they run (just visually). That is why I chose my 3" lift for my 33's. It has worked well for the last couple of years. I'll probably end up with 4" Currie springs and Savvy shocks.

Yeah, the Uber over to the shop is around $45 - $55 depending on the time of day. It is about the same every time I have to go to Ohare. Really annoying because it is only around 13 miles!

I hear you! And truthfully, 4" of lift is perfect for 33s, no doubt. Where mine is at now with 5.25" on 35s, it looks great. By no means does it look like it has too much lift and not enough tire. It think the only way it would look like that is if I added tube fenders or highline fenders... then it would look like it needs 37s.

I'm lucky my shop is about 2.5 miles from my house, that's for sure!
 
I'm a bit picky when it comes to lift heights. I absolutely hate Jeeps that have too small of tires for the lift that they run (just visually). That is why I chose my 3" lift for my 33's. It has worked well for the last couple of years. I'll probably end up with 4" Currie springs and Savvy shocks.

Yeah, the Uber over to the shop is around $45 - $55 depending on the time of day. It is about the same every time I have to go to Ohare. Really annoying because it is only around 13 miles!

At that point you’d be better off with a zip car or regular old car rental
 
At that point you’d be better off with a zip car or regular old car rental

Huh. Never looked into zip car. I know we have them here on campus but it has never crossed my mind. Don't know if they'll let me drive considering I'm not 21.
 
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Huh. Never looked into zip car. I know we have them here on campus but it has never crossed my mind. Don't know if they'll let me drive considering I'm not 21.

Yeah not sure, we have getaround in SF which is similar but I think zipcar has a membership, whereas getaround is just like cars around $10 an hour. Not sure the age restrictions though and if you’re just getting it for this one use might not be worth it. Are you up at northeastern?
 
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Yeah not sure, we have getaround in SF which is similar but I think zipcar has a membership, whereas getaround is just like cars around $10 an hour. Not sure the age restrictions though and if you’re just getting it for this one use might not be worth it. Are you up at northeastern?*

Edit

I'll have to see how it works at O'hare. They want $15 a year and then around $8-$15 an hour depending on the car. There is a Zip Car station 3 minutes away from my dorm on foot. The Zip Car stations at O'hare seem to be a mile or so outside the airport. It probably makes sense to get a membership, I just have to see how all the logistics work out.

I'm a second year at Northwestern.

EDIT: Northeastern is near Boston. Northwestern is in Evanston/Chicago. People get them confused all the time.
 
I'll have to see how it works at O'hare. They want $15 a year and then around $8-$15 an hour depending on the car. There is a Zip Car station 3 minutes away from my dorm on foot. The Zip Car stations at O'hare seem to be a mile or so outside the airport. It probably makes sense to get a membership, I just have to see how all the logistics work out.

I'm a second year at Northwestern.

EDIT: Northeastern is near Boston. Northwestern is in Evanston. People get them confused all the time.

Hahaha I originally wrote north western and then second guessed myself. I lived in Chicago for about four years.