I've been perusing a number of build threads, most of which have been good at documenting along the way, and while I have taken pictures along the way, I am currently not working on a specific project (just finished a suspension overhaul) I figured I'd better at least throw something up.
Some backstory- My father had been into wheeling since a young age, he mainly focused on Early Bronco's, then went onto Full-Size Bronco's, then ended up in a YJ, which he's now had for almost 30 years. When it came time for me to get my first vehicle, I naturally wanted a Jeep. I settled on a 95 XJ. I put on a fancy Explorer Pro-Comp lift, and my dad's old set of 33" BFG Mud Terrains 0nd drove it around through high school years. Fast forward to the end of high school, I sold it and moved away for to do some things for my church.
Upon returning home, my father had gone through the local classifieds and identified some potential vehicles. My current TJ was one of those. At the time it was 8 years old, had 43k on the clock, and had been in a minor accident, but had not yet been repaired. I walked away paying just under $5,500 for it. Good luck finding an 8 year old Wrangler today with 40,000 on it for 5k! In my area today, 5k would get you a well used TJ with 150-200 on the clock.
I installed a Superlift 4" lift and commuted back and forth to college, doing mods here and there as time allowed. The first phase was the 31" BFG AT KO's that came on it with 33" KM2's, then came replacing the 3.07 gears with a Super 35, 4.88's and Detroit Lockers. Then came a Ford Focus commuter car. Eventually came a Ford 8.8, Antirock sway bars front and back, Rokmen control arms, 3" springs, body lift, 35" Kevlars, HP30, other miscellaneous mods, and finally the holy grail winch (at least in my eyes) a Warn 9.5CTI. 4 months after that, I did the wife-mod, and Jeep mods in general slowed down to a crawling pace. It stayed about like this for a number of years.
After we established ourselves somewhat, i slowly began to build the Jeep again. I found a TeraLow on Pirate that had been burned up, so I bought it from the guy, and drove an hour north to Teraflex, and had the unit rebuilt. I wheeled on it for 5-6 years without issue, until one day in 2018 while playing in the sand at Sand Hollow in St. George, UT, i overreved the planetary set, and ruined it. It was essentially scrap at that point because Teraflex had quit supporting them. I ended up parting out the AA SYE, 2 Low gear selector, and gave my father the old case and other misc items since he still has a functioning Teralow.
6 weeks after finding out the fate of my NP231, my Atlas II arrived. I quickly installed it and was back on the trail.
In early 2019 I installed a Poison Spyder Trail Cage, powder coated it, and hung my Yaesu HAM radio on it (Callsign: K6TJR), as well as purchased a 2-stroke shovel for playing in the sand. Back in high school I'd spend many weekends shredding sand on a '96 Yamaha Banshee. I had been longing for one since selling it, and opportunity presented itself in June 2019.
Late 2019-early 2020 I decided that I wanted to change my suspension, so I installed what more or less turns out to be a GenRight Stage 1 Suspension with misc items coming from other various companies. I am fortunate enough to work at a place that welds daily as part of production (I work for Equal-i-zer Hitch, and Fastway Trailer Products) I was able to weld everything together over a 6 week period on my days off. While I was redoing the suspension, I stretched the front axle 2" forward. It is a simple mod (relatively speaking) mainly consisting of new coil buckets, shock, track bar, and sway bar mounting modifications. I have been out on a few wheeling trips since completing the suspension, and love how it handles.
Going forward, in the near future, I aim to get the Savvy LED tail lights, and more long termI am looking to do a stretch to get to a 100" wheelbase. At that time, I'll be adding aluminum corner armor, tube fenders.
Some backstory- My father had been into wheeling since a young age, he mainly focused on Early Bronco's, then went onto Full-Size Bronco's, then ended up in a YJ, which he's now had for almost 30 years. When it came time for me to get my first vehicle, I naturally wanted a Jeep. I settled on a 95 XJ. I put on a fancy Explorer Pro-Comp lift, and my dad's old set of 33" BFG Mud Terrains 0nd drove it around through high school years. Fast forward to the end of high school, I sold it and moved away for to do some things for my church.
Upon returning home, my father had gone through the local classifieds and identified some potential vehicles. My current TJ was one of those. At the time it was 8 years old, had 43k on the clock, and had been in a minor accident, but had not yet been repaired. I walked away paying just under $5,500 for it. Good luck finding an 8 year old Wrangler today with 40,000 on it for 5k! In my area today, 5k would get you a well used TJ with 150-200 on the clock.
I installed a Superlift 4" lift and commuted back and forth to college, doing mods here and there as time allowed. The first phase was the 31" BFG AT KO's that came on it with 33" KM2's, then came replacing the 3.07 gears with a Super 35, 4.88's and Detroit Lockers. Then came a Ford Focus commuter car. Eventually came a Ford 8.8, Antirock sway bars front and back, Rokmen control arms, 3" springs, body lift, 35" Kevlars, HP30, other miscellaneous mods, and finally the holy grail winch (at least in my eyes) a Warn 9.5CTI. 4 months after that, I did the wife-mod, and Jeep mods in general slowed down to a crawling pace. It stayed about like this for a number of years.
After we established ourselves somewhat, i slowly began to build the Jeep again. I found a TeraLow on Pirate that had been burned up, so I bought it from the guy, and drove an hour north to Teraflex, and had the unit rebuilt. I wheeled on it for 5-6 years without issue, until one day in 2018 while playing in the sand at Sand Hollow in St. George, UT, i overreved the planetary set, and ruined it. It was essentially scrap at that point because Teraflex had quit supporting them. I ended up parting out the AA SYE, 2 Low gear selector, and gave my father the old case and other misc items since he still has a functioning Teralow.
6 weeks after finding out the fate of my NP231, my Atlas II arrived. I quickly installed it and was back on the trail.
In early 2019 I installed a Poison Spyder Trail Cage, powder coated it, and hung my Yaesu HAM radio on it (Callsign: K6TJR), as well as purchased a 2-stroke shovel for playing in the sand. Back in high school I'd spend many weekends shredding sand on a '96 Yamaha Banshee. I had been longing for one since selling it, and opportunity presented itself in June 2019.
Late 2019-early 2020 I decided that I wanted to change my suspension, so I installed what more or less turns out to be a GenRight Stage 1 Suspension with misc items coming from other various companies. I am fortunate enough to work at a place that welds daily as part of production (I work for Equal-i-zer Hitch, and Fastway Trailer Products) I was able to weld everything together over a 6 week period on my days off. While I was redoing the suspension, I stretched the front axle 2" forward. It is a simple mod (relatively speaking) mainly consisting of new coil buckets, shock, track bar, and sway bar mounting modifications. I have been out on a few wheeling trips since completing the suspension, and love how it handles.
Going forward, in the near future, I aim to get the Savvy LED tail lights, and more long termI am looking to do a stretch to get to a 100" wheelbase. At that time, I'll be adding aluminum corner armor, tube fenders.
Last edited: