My 2005 Wrangler build thread

[Charlie G]

This thread is a little late, as I've had my TJ for close to 3 years now, but I've learned a ton daily driving it and I've done some pretty interesting stuff to it! I was 16 when I got this Jeep. I named her Jolene and I've been working/maintaining her all through high school. I learned to drive manual in it, and it introduced me to this fabulous world of TJ Wranglers.

First thing I did when I got it was upgrade the corroded rims to some American Racing throwback wheels. I liked the chrome look and added on some 31 inch Goodyear Wranglers with the white lettering. I got 31's because I wasn't planning on lifting it and that was just what was available.



Before:

After:

 

[Charlie G]

Next thing I did, (Since it was a daily driver) was to add a new radio with Android Audio, a microphone, and a backup camera. I also replaced/upgraded all the speakers with help from Crutchfield.

 

[Charlie G]

After that came some actual maintenance. I replaced the front brake pads with some ceramic ones hoping they would make less dust and not dirty up my new rims as much. I also took a look at the rear drums to see if anything needed to be done, and I thought it looked fine so...Left it alone, would eventually end up having to replace some of the tensioners in there though.

 

[Charlie G]

After a long time of wishing I could get the doors off (Because they were rust welded to the hinges) I finally got them to slide off. It took a ton of effort and all 4 of the retaining nuts were gone to hell. So I haven't had them on there. I simply just lift the doors up and out when I want then add some mirrors in there place in the hinges. After figuring out that the dome lights stayed on. I replaced the factory door position switches with some Mercedes's ones that have a feature where you can pull the switch out (Like a circuit breaker) and open the circuit.

 

[Charlie G]

After a very cold Jeep trip to Sam Houston National forest. My idle pulley was making some serious noise. So I replaced that and the belt at the same time.

 

[Charlie G]

I grew tired of how bad my fender flares looked, so I took them all off, scuffed it up, primed and painted with black bedliner. They looked really good right after I did it, 2 years later, they look, meh. Still way better than they did when I first got it. Meguiars back to black is just not as good on these fenders. At least for me.

 

[Charlie G]

My next big project was to install a very cheap budget 2 inch lift with some rough country spacers. I bought 2 inch spacers in the front and only 3/4 for the back to eliminate rake. I also bought some 2-4 inch lift rancho rs5000's and they ran way too long so I sent them back and got the 0-2 inch ones.

 

[Charlie G]

Me and my dad also came up with a 3d printable mount for a wireless charger for a phone that fits pretty snug into the front compartment in front of the shifter. Let me know if you want the .STL!

 

[Charlie G]

One day while cruising along, I heard a big boom, and then my transmission started squeaking real bad. My throwout bearing had exploded and I limped home in 3rd gear. This turned out to be a 4 day project. I first lifted the car, removed tires, removed skid plate, removed t-case and transmission as one, then replaced the clutch fork and throwout bearing. To put everything back together was a PAIN. Lining up the transmission spline into the flywheel was damn near impossible. But we managed to do it with a small camera up under the bellhousing so that we could see what teeth were not engaging. I also threw on a Banks Monster Exhaust while I was there.

 

[Charlie G]

A little out of order, but I did add on some cheap amazon halo lights to the front and power the DRL's with a fuse tap. My goal with this jeep for now is to have a cool looking offroader. In the future once I have a place to work and money, I will kind of move over into a retro looking get around town buggy that sometimes goes offroad.

 

[Charlie G]

Next big project was to try and get a new front bumper along with a winch. I was going to buy a like 400 dollar front bumper, but opted to buy the cheapest Rough Country one I could find, then build the other parts myself to save money. So I did just that. I bought the stubby bumper from Rough Country without the bull bar and shackle mounts. It came with a winch plate so that was nice. Then I made my own bullbar myself with some 1/4 inch sheet metal pieces and a tube from some random company online. I also made my own shackle mounts. I was pretty new to welding and building stuff, but I think they came out pretty good. Once I had saved up some more money I bought a RC winch to go along with it.

 

[Charlie G]

I also had to deal with the fuel filling issue with TJ's where it gurgles and spits gas back at you. Don't have any pictures, but it sucked.

 

[Charlie G]

Next project was to add some lights. My parents bought me a light bar and some spotters, so I added them and wired them up to some factory looking switches that I found on Amazon.

 

[FarFire70]

Congrats on the Jeep, enjoying the experience and starting a build thread!

One day while cruising along, I heard a big boom, and then my transmission started squeaking real bad. My throwout bearing had exploded and I limped home in 3rd gear. This turned out to be a 4 day project. I first lifted the Jeep, removed tires...

FIFY

I also had to deal with the fuel filling issue with TJ's where it gurgles and spits gas back at you. Don't have any pictures, but it sucked.

Been there! It sucks. I went through the 'GM hose' trials...

Here's the fix:



While you're dropping the tank - replace the skid (and add a BL - to add the max clearance for most GTS).