Justin's TJ

Been wheeling the TJ as it sits for a couple years now with anticipation of eventually going tons and 40’s. The opportunity arose sooner than anticipated.

Scooped up a pair of Currie 60’s off a JK. They’re JK width, 5.38’s, Detroit Front, Elocker rear, and semi float. Some might raise an eyebrow on the semi floats, but for this rig weighing 4,000 lbs wet with the old axles I think these new Currie axles will be plenty stout. Plan is to use the Genright Twisted Pitman arm and stretch the front as far forward as possible while retaining the steering box in the stock location. I’m hoping I’ll end up around 105”-106” wheelbase.

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While at TH, I got a new set of Raceline Avengers, and a Yukon Zip from Dustin Sexton at Sexton Off-road, both items at super good deals. I originally planned to get an ARB to replace the Elocker (bad previous experience with them) but the deal was too good to pass up. What I’ve learned, the Zip should do just fine.

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I’ve ripped out the old axles and sold the front G2 Core 44 to a friend. Just now needing to sell the rear 8.8 and 37’s KM3’s.
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Congrats on joining the big leagues.

I’m happy your used parts sales went to a good cause 👍
 
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Been wheeling the TJ as it sits for a couple years now with anticipation of eventually going tons and 40’s. The opportunity arose sooner than anticipated.

Scooped up a pair of Currie 60’s off a JK. They’re JK width, 5.38’s, Detroit Front, Elocker rear, and semi float. Some might raise an eyebrow on the semi floats, but for this rig weighing 4,000 lbs wet with the old axles I think these new Currie axles will be plenty stout. Plan is to use the Genright Twisted Pitman arm and stretch the front as far forward as possible while retaining the steering box in the stock location. I’m hoping I’ll end up around 105”-106” wheelbase.

View attachment 466459

While at TH, I got a new set of Raceline Avengers, and a Yukon Zip from Dustin Sexton at Sexton Off-road, both items at super good deals. I originally planned to get an ARB to replace the Elocker (bad previous experience with them) but the deal was too good to pass up. What I’ve learned, the Zip should do just fine.

View attachment 466460

View attachment 466461

I’ve ripped out the old axles and sold the front G2 Core 44 to a friend. Just now needing to sell the rear 8.8 and 37’s KM3’s.
View attachment 466463

I’m excited for you! I’m ready to do some more wheeling
 
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Mocked up the upper link mounts on the Currie truss. Both the Genright upper link mounts and the truss are works of art. Plan to burn the link mounts in this weekend and sling the axle under the Jeep to start cycling for fitment.

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I've now just about sold all the old drivetrain components, which is a relief. I had to sit on some of the parts longer than anticipated. It appears that TJ parts don't sell like they used to. My assumption it is due to the large number of 4 doors wheeling these days.

I've welded the upper link mounts to the axles, and have test fit the front axle under the Jeep. It looks like the factory lower mounts will be fine, but will need to redo the coil buckets and figure out how I'm going to mount the track bar. I'm thinking of running the track bar over to the passenger side knuckle. I still have a couple inches of outward adjustment in the front arms so I'm crossing my fingers that when I push the axle forward, it won't necessitate new links. For the rear, I am planning to start with a bare housing and redo it all. Not looking forward to cutting all the brackets off. Did I mention how much I dislike using angle grinders?

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This last Saturday, I installed 2 tires on wheels so I can begin cycling the suspension in the next week or two. I added some Apex RPV's before the tire install.

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Mocked the tire up alongside the Jeep. I'm digging the look.

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I finished my frame chop just over a week ago. Having the shock towers already installed made it super easy to install the frame chop. @sunnysideup_lj helped me with SolidWorks to draw up a mount that will allow me to re-use the gas tank skid with the stock location for the front crossmember, and the heightened rear cross member.
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Last Saturday I installed the axle for kicks and giggles to check out the stance. I'm digging it.
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On New Year's Day, I installed the THOR cowl intake. Going to hilines looked to make it hard to reuse the stock intake and I wasn't a fan of other options on the market. I don't really care about the potential of hp or tq gains, just that the install looks tidy and after a bit of wire management, I think it will be a success. Jury is still out with the K&N style filter. I am more comfortable with it having the prefilter, as I used this same setup back when I used to head to the dunes on my Banshees, and this setup did well keeping the intake clean. I may try to find a paper cone style filter or even look at a foam oiled setup if I'm not happy with the cleanliness of the intake.
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While I was cutting the gas tank up, I decided to do a logo delete. My Jeep suffers from schizophrenia because of all the logos. I was glad to clean up the back of the jeep some.

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Spent the available time yesterday installing the GR Hilines, and trimming the hood to fit. I still want to work on the reveal a bit more but it is getting close. The initial cut went fast but the tedious part was opening/shutting the hood countless times finding the high spots and slowly trimming hood away until it sat properly.

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