Jesseshoots' TJ Build

[jesseshoots]

What's up everyone, my name is Jesse and I have a '97 Wrangler that I bought back in Feb. '19. I first was introduced to the off-road world when I took my first job out of engineering school (go Jackets!) with Rugged Ridge designing parts for the JK and eventually JL. After almost three years of working on Jeep related projects full time, I figured that I might as well get one for myself. A friend of mine, who had the Jeep since 2013 and bought it from the original owner, needed money for a 4x4 truck so I made an offer and was the new owner of a TJ. About a month after I bought it, I left Rugged Ridge to work for a company five miles from home (instead of 30) with way better pay to help build the TJ.

I'll go ahead and throw in some pics from the last year to start out.

I bought the Jeep with pretty much everything done to it that I needed to start having fun, but of course there's always room for improvements and upgrades. Currently the Jeep sits on 35" KM2's with about 4.25" of lift thanks to a spring/body lift combo the PO pieced together with Zone and Skyjacker parts. It gets me where I want to go, but the ride could certainly be better.

Here's a list of all the current specs of the Jeep.
- 4.0 / AX-15 / NP-231 with 127k miles
- Dana 30 front with Lock Right locker and RuffStuff cover
- Dana 44 rear with Detroit locker and RuffStuff cover
- 4.25" lift (tubular lower arms, stock uppers)
- 35" BFGoodrich KM2's on Rugged Ridge 15x8 steelies
- Warn Rock Crawler front/rear bumpers and rock sliders
- Warn M8000 winch with Rugged Ridge synthetic rope
- Warn fog lights
- Snorkle of some sort (I think Safari)
- Bride Vios III driver seat
- Bedlined interior
- Muffler delete
- Some sort of swaybar quick-disconnect end links up front (anodized red on the top mount)

Looking forward to wheeling with some of y'all and updating this thread with the build of the Jeep.

 

[bobthetj03]

Nice looking TJ, and welcome! How did you tuck the soft top rear corners up like that and still keep tension on the top?

 

[jesseshoots]

Nice looking TJ, and welcome! How did you tuck the soft top rear corners up like that and still keep tension on the top?

Thanks! I tuck the corners on top of the roll bar and then wrap them with a bungee ball. It does a pretty good job at keeping the rear bow from springing all over the place. I like the solid top to give me shade and still get the open air feeling of no windows. I need to get a couple more to keep the rear seat belts from flapping when I use them on the top.

 

[jesseshoots]

I forgot to add my first mod that I did. Swapped out the 23 year old mirrors for some NOS export mirrors. The driver side has the same lens as the passenger side which is a wide angle. It's SUPER helpful when on the road.

It took a few drives to get used to, but once I did it was great. Those first few drive made me sick though... it was weird looking at a wide angle on the driver side.

 

[bobthetj03]

Thanks! I tuck the corners on top of the roll bar and then wrap them with a bungee ball. It does a pretty good job at keeping the rear bow from springing all over the place. I like the solid top to give me shade and still get the open air feeling of no windows. I need to get a couple more to keep the rear seat belts from flapping when I use them on the top.

Bungee balls are the best invention next to sliced bread! I have them on the seat belts to keep them quiet and wrap one around the rear corners to limit the flapping in the wind, but never thought to tuck them up like you did. I'll have to try that this summer.

 

[jesseshoots]

Last night I got out and messed with the Jeep to make sure all is ready for some wheeling at Choccolocco this weekend. I just need to change the oil and we should be set. Realized it's been 7k miles and about 5 years since the last change... whoops! That's what I get for not paying attention after buying it.

It's been some time since I disconnected the sway bar so I figured I'd check that it still comes off, which it does. Took it for a lap around the block while disconnected and realized that it's been the source of a gnarly squeaking when going over bumps. Time to grease up those rod ends real well and hope it fixes the problem. If not, I guess I now have an excuse for an antirock! Anyone selling one? I prefer the softer ride with it disconnected but I know it's stupid not to have a sway bar up front for cornering above 30mph.

 

[jesseshoots]

Got the oil changed today. It’s the first time I’ve ever paid for an oil change, but when the Jeep can run conventional oil and pretty much any filter it’s so much cheaper to pay for it to be done. $23 and 15 minutes later the oil was changed. I couldn’t do it in 30 minutes for under $30. Plus I didn’t have to get rid of the old oil!

When I got home I checked over everything since and cleaned up some oil drips from the filter being removed. My passenger seat has been squeaking since I bought the Jeep (the fold and tumble bushings are nowhere to be found) and I figured I’d see if I could make it stop by stuffing some of the clean bits of paper towel into the track. Sure enough it worked! I hardly use that feature so it ought to stay rattle free for a little while.

 

[jesseshoots]

Took the Jeep out to Choccolocco Mountain on Saturday and wheeled with some new guys. I had the smallest tires and least built rig, but was still able to hang with them... well for the most part. I had to get winched out twice throughout the day. The first time I just didn't have the clearance to get over a ledge, the second time I took a bad line and wedged myself in a spot where all four tires were trying to climb some slick rocks.

Overall, I was super impressed with how the Jeep performed and wouldn't hesitate to go again. It may be time to upgrade the steering components though, they're looking a bit rough after taking a hit on the ledge I couldn't get over.

I'm cleaning her up tonight and then gonna start going through and searching for any actual damage tomorrow.

 

[Blondie70]

Nice looking jeep Jesse. I got the mirrors today. Looking in good shape. Thanks again.
Pete

 

[jesseshoots]

Nice looking jeep Jesse. I got the mirrors today. Looking in good shape. Thanks again.
Pete

Thanks Pete! Glad they showed up on time. Hope you liked the doodle on the side of the box

Right before I took the pic at the bottom of the slick muddy hill, I folded the mirror in on the wall and was cursing myself for getting rid of them. It wound up only having some small scratches on the housing so it was all good.

 

[jesseshoots]

Finally pulled the trigger on the last part for the winch rebuild. The sliding ring gear had seized to the housing and the clutch lever was about halfway broken from me trying to use brute force to free it all up. Also ordered a replacement lower shift boot since mine is ripped all the way around. Think I'm gonna try and find a leather upper boot to install once the lower gets swapped out.

All I have left to do on the rebuild is paint the housings and clean up some bad wiring done by the PO in the control pack. Thinking about splicing in an in-cab control switch while I'm at it. Then pack it full of some AeroShell 64 grease and button it up.

Before:

After some cleaning, sanding, and painting:

 

[Blondie70]

Lots of work on that , jesse. Looks great.

 

[jesseshoots]

I decided on making an in-cab winch controller. It’ll use an on-off kill switch with momentary switches for spool in and out. The switches showed up yesterday but I was too busy enjoying the nice weather and drinking beer outside by a fire to do any wiring.

When I got home from work this was waiting for me!

I have a color picked out to paint the housing, just need to buy it and spray away. Waiting on the weather to clear up as more rain has rolled in to Atlanta.

 

[jesseshoots]

Got the winch painted and bought my AeroShell 64 at the local airport. Ran my wires for the in-cab controls and now it’s time to design the switch panel. Nothing beats some good ol’ CAD work for figuring out button placement!

 

[jesseshoots]

Welp, this weekends winch rebuild didn’t go as planned. Got the switch panel tested with the motor and it worked exactly as I hoped. That’s where the good things stopped. I got the gears all greased up and put in the housing, bolted all the pieces together, and when I was tightening the last bolt on the brand new clutch housing using a 1/4” drive the casting cracked in two at the bolt hole. Tomorrow I’ll reach out to Warn about a replacement since this is clearly a casting defect. There’s no way that it should have cracked that way.

 

[Blondie70]

That is got to be a pain! Sorry it happened Jesse.

 

[jesseshoots]

That is got to be a pain! Sorry it happened Jesse.

It’s certainly not ideal, but fortunately Warn has the best customer service hands down when it comes to off-road. Maybe even in general. Just got off the phone and the guy didn’t even hesitate to send me out a new end housing. 10/10 would recommend a Warn winch to anyone that is searching.

 

[waoracing]

Nice looking rig! I'm thinking about doing in cab controls for my Warn as well so I look forward to seeing how this goes. Warns customer service is top notch! I'm glad I'm not the only one that says it.

 

[jesseshoots]

Nice looking rig! I'm thinking about doing in cab controls for my Warn as well so I look forward to seeing how this goes. Warns customer service is top notch! I'm glad I'm not the only one that says it.

Thanks! The wiring was super easy. I have a 5-pin controller so it was just connecting one switch to the “in” solenoid, one to the “out”, and bridging the ground of those solenoids to the winch body instead of getting grounded through the controller. I’m going to pull the signal power from the cig. lighter in the center stack.

 

[jesseshoots]

Found this neat 6 rib to v-belt pulley for the alternator on another forum. The guy put it on his LJ alternator for use with his York 210. This will likely be the route I go when I piece my OBA kit together.

https://douggieschopshop.com/produc...0-209-engine-driven-compressor-mini-truck-air