High travel, high clearance & high octane, a streetable adventure LJ story

cool, thanx.
i got time to read through the whole thing.
i can say that now i don't feel like i've gone overboard. nice work

do you recall where you got the E brake cables from?
 
someguysjeep said:
i got time to read through the whole thing.
i can say that now i don't feel like i've gone overboard. nice work
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Haha! That's the nicest backhanded compliment I've ever received. I'm about to go overboard on the fuel cell too! "Don't follow me, you won't make it." Lol!

someguysjeep said:
do you recall where you got the E brake cables from?
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RockAuto. I think I mentioned it but they are OEM Mopar lines for the LJ.
 
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not meant to be backhanded at all.......i like to see someone else that's not afraid to go balls deep to get it right, no matter how long it takes or what needs done. not afraid to cut to get where your going, and looks to be done correctly. not meant as a dig in anyway.
if anything i'm jealous as hell, i have no place to work in this weather. and it's killin me to see your progress knowing i'm stalled for months.
i already told work i'll be taking my whole 4wks of vacation in late april-early may so i can devote full time to have my rig ready for next season.
 
someguysjeep said:
not meant to be backhanded at all.......i like to see someone else that's not afraid to go balls deep to get it right, no matter how long it takes or what needs done. not afraid to cut to get where your going, and looks to be done correctly. not meant as a dig in anyway.
if anything i'm jealous as hell, i have no place to work in this weather. and it's killin me to see your progress knowing i'm stalled for months.
i already told work i'll be taking my whole 4wks of vacation in late april-early may so i can devote full time to have my rig ready for next season.
Click to expand...

Haha. No worries. I was ribbing you. 2 winters ago (right before I started this build thread and before I had a heated garage) I had taken my Jeep apart that summer for a build on 35" tires. The axles I bought turned out to be incorrectly manufactured and after months of working on it I had to give up as the snow started to fall. In a change of events that I'm thankful for, during that winter I had plenty of time to think about what I really wanted and this build on 37s was born.

You're going to like my next post!
 
Over last weekend I marked up my tub to cut it so I could recess the tank flat to the floor. The plan was to make panels to enclose the tub, much like I did for the coilover hoops. The steel came in on Tuesday and I also happened to be on Motobilts website after receiving their Black Friday ad and glanced at their fuel cells again. I realized that I've been short sighted on making the tank I have fit because no fuel cells are exactly what I want and I put the cart before the horse... Aside from added cost and minor pros and cons of custom fitting the tank I have or buying a narrower fuel cells that just fits, I am making way more work for myself to end up with nearly the same result.

After looking over the available products again I found a way to make my ideal tank:

1) Start with Genright's YJ 23 gallon tank (I have no clue why this isn't also sold shorter in 20 gallons for TJ pumps): https://genright.com/products/universal-tank-23-gal.html Motobilt has a similar YJ tank but isn't quite as perfect at only 34" wide. The TJ tub is 36" wide. Ideally I'd like to have a range of 200 miles but I don't know how many mpg I'll have but I think 23 gallons will be a bit large.

2) I'm going to cut and lower the pump surface by approximately 2" down to 12" so that the pump can touch the bottom. I'm waiting to hear back from a aluminum welder to help me out with this.

3) The fuel pump will be secured with a ring from Genright: https://genright.com/products/fuel-pump-ring-1997-2004-tj-xj.html Does anyone have pros or cons to using a 97-04 or 05-06 pump? I'm leaning toward 05-06 since there's more parts available and the JK pump is also the same size (although I'm not positive the sending unit is calibrated the same). As far as I can tell on my (brief) test drives the fuel map handles the extra pressure of the 05-06 pump just fine.

Unfortunately this is going to delay my build more but I think it'll be all the better for it!

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I was really hoping you were going to recess the tank in a fashion that didn't look like you just setting a fuel cell in the tub. Glad to see this. Any way you can route the fuel filler nozzle in a stealthy position so you aren't having to fill the tank from inside the tub?
 
bobthetj03 said:
I was really hoping you were going to recess the tank in a fashion that didn't look like you just setting a fuel cell in the tub. Glad to see this. Any way you can route the fuel filler nozzle in a stealthy position so you aren't having to fill the tank from inside the tub?
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I'm still working out the details for the filler neck and might not have that part done for a while yet. My plan over the last few years had been to custom build a super shallow fuel cell and mount the filler neck up to the tub (below the top) but that ended up causing more complications than I wanted to put up with. The current plan is to mount the filler cap half way up the top and cut a hole through the soft top so that it can be filled from the outside and any spills will stay on the outside (which will be a lifesaver on long trips when filling up every 3 hours...). I'm looking at fabric kayak hatches but still haven't figured out exactly what I want.
 
nice, your idea is sound, most of their other tanks incorporate a dropped pump recess. the dual vents will work for this as well. it claims a sump labyrinth so that would/could act as baffling. and i'd assume if it has room to run a YJ sender the TJ arm should be no problem.

22gl will net you over 300mi at 14mpg, 130-140# full.
are you gonna try and hang it on the rails , or trim those angles back to let it sit?

they had nothing for me at work, told me to go look busy, so i started my cell today.
 
bobthetj03 said:
These locations wouldn't work?
View attachment 126821
Or old school and put it out the back like the YJ's?
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The forward circle was my first choice however the TJ fuel pump is 11-12" tall and to have enough flow down the filler neck the tank would have to be around 4-6" tall to achieve the slope required. Other options are cutting the floor out and recessing the tank or only recessing a sump for the pump but the antirock, driveshaft, and UCAs are all on the other side. I think it could be doable, but in the end a higher gas cap seems to be the easier solution especially since I don't see using the hardtop anymore.
 
someguysjeep said:
i'd assume if it has room to run a YJ sender the TJ arm should be no problem.
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That's what I'm assuming too although the YJ sender also looks a bit smaller..? I've never held one so I'm not sure if my scale of reference is correct. I know my 04 pump has a shorter arm than the 05 pump. I called Genright asking where the baffles are placed and they of course didn't know... Worst case if I can't make it work I'll use a separate sender.

someguysjeep said:
22gl will net you over 300mi at 14mpg, 130-140# full.
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My wife's TJ on 35s averages 14mpg. Even if my LJ comes in at a similar curb weight I don't think I'll be matching those numbers with larger heavier tires and supercharger. Without having my build completed I don't think I can figure out accurate enough mpg to calculate the ideal tank size. I can always run the tank low offroad if I am ever concerned enough that dumping a few pounds is beneficial.

someguysjeep said:
are you gonna try and hang it on the rails , or trim those angles back to let it sit?
Click to expand...

I'm going to attach it to the floor. Probably by bending an aluminum strap around the cell and bolting that strap to the floor.

someguysjeep said:
so i started my cell today.
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One idea I had is to weld blind threaded bungs on the top so I can secure a protection plate over top of the pump. ;)
 
some aluminum tubing/pipe/rod would be easy enough to tap through and allow any height standoff you might need if any with the recessed pump.

and i found those park brake cables, thanx. i feel like a real idiot. all my searches pulled up TJ drum brake cables, and the JK cables don't work on the top end. it never dawned on me to seek TJ rear disk cables. thanx again.
 
happy turkey day, by the way.

if the fill tube is height or angle is an issue. since your already gonna price the recess, what about a slight tilt at the fill location to facilitate a better fill angle and effectively lowering the exterior fill point.

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Wow - what an impressive project.

I am also doing the Kicker COMP RT 6.75 update in the OEM center console sub enclosure. I've got everything disassembled, trimmed away the plastic behind the sub, so there's no clearance issues there.

What I discovered this morning - and I've not seen addressed anywhere I've looked - is that the basket of the driver hits the wall of the OEM enclosure at the top, directly under where the cassette cubby sits. I'm going to either have to cut that part of the enclosure away and rebuild the wall, or use a spacer around the driver to bring it out a bit - and risk the front of the driver hitting the center console cover.

Did you run into this? If so, what approach did you take? I assume the OEM enclosure has not changed between years. My TJ is an 02 and the OEM enclosure has 56038609AD / 36690 / 7136 on it as a part number.

IMG_5601.jpg
 
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112dB said:
Wow - what an impressive project.

I am also doing the Kicker COMP RT 6.75 update in the OEM center console sub enclosure. I've got everything disassembled, trimmed away the plastic behind the sub, so there's no clearance issues there.

What I discovered this morning - and I've not seen addressed anywhere I've looked - is that the basket of the driver hits the wall of the OEM enclosure at the top, directly under where the cassette cubby sits. I'm going to either have to cut that part of the enclosure away and rebuild the wall, or use a spacer around the driver to bring it out a bit - and risk the front of the driver hitting the center console cover.

Did you run into this? If so, what approach did you take? I assume the OEM enclosure has not changed between years. My TJ is an 02 and the OEM enclosure has 56038609AD / 36690 / 7136 on it as a part number.

View attachment 127155
Click to expand...
I notched mine out and sealed the hole.

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112dB said:
Wow - what an impressive project.

I am also doing the Kicker COMP RT 6.75 update in the OEM center console sub enclosure. I've got everything disassembled, trimmed away the plastic behind the sub, so there's no clearance issues there.

What I discovered this morning - and I've not seen addressed anywhere I've looked - is that the basket of the driver hits the wall of the OEM enclosure at the top, directly under where the cassette cubby sits. I'm going to either have to cut that part of the enclosure away and rebuild the wall, or use a spacer around the driver to bring it out a bit - and risk the front of the driver hitting the center console cover.

Did you run into this? If so, what approach did you take? I assume the OEM enclosure has not changed between years. My TJ is an 02 and the OEM enclosure has 56038609AD / 36690 / 7136 on it as a part number.

View attachment 127155
Click to expand...

Aside from trimming a small amount from the rear I didn't have this issue on my 04 or 05. I did place a ring of sound deadening on before the subwoofer to better seal it and that would have spaced it out some so that may have helped?
 
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