My Dream LJR

[Sgt Jarhead]

Spending an abundant amount of hours researching about the TJ Platform when I owned my very first one back in 2017 link to my first TJ here. From those that have read my prior Jeep’s bio and are now here-I could never see myself without being behind the wheel of a Jeep .

I’ve not only learned how to work on my rig but watched and researched about other members rig such as the LJR. As much as I loved my TJ, the LJR has always sat in the back of my mind. I would loving nothing else but to own it one day. Well this dream became a reality 2 days ago.

I came across this on the Facebook Marketplace. After talking with the owner since the 10th of August I bought a one way ticket down to San Diego.

I’m now the proud owner of a 2006 LJR with 6 Speed Manual. She’s not perfect nor a blank canvas by any means but I see it as a new challenge to build it the way I’ve been picturing it since we began talking.

It’s currently on a unknown brand long arm lift with Rancho Air Shocks, Moryde Tire Carrier, Truck-Lite Headlights and from what I can tell Smitty Bilt Fenders, Sliders and Bumpers with 35” Tires.

I’ll be updating this hopefully in a true timeline format on my Journey with my LJR (I’m still stoked to this minute saying I own a LJR ).

 

[mvigo]

well done, laddie! One day, I will own one...

 

[thekidwithquestions]

dude nice jeep, that as well is my dream jeep, one day... one day
can't wait to see what you do with it

 

[Modoc Guy]

Congratulations on getting your dream Jeep!

 

[Lax22]

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/2006-lj-rubicon.53867/
here is the build

 

[Sgt Jarhead]

well done, laddie! One day, I will own one...

dude nice jeep, that as well is my dream jeep, one day... one day
can't wait to see what you do with it

Congratulations on getting your dream Jeep!

Thank you guys!
I’m excited to begin the tear down. I’m slowly annotating all the things I’ve been considering for this build and once I’m back home I’ll be getting started.

 

[Sgt Jarhead]

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/2006-lj-rubicon.53867/
here is the build

That is the one! I’ve scrolled through it and read over its issues from other threads that I’ll be tackling once home.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Nice find - looking forward to seeing what you do to it.

 

[Sgt Jarhead]

Well she made her grand voyage from El Cajon back to Southern Oregon. What’s a 12 hour drive without a issue right?

Well, good thing I had a few

2 hours into the drive in Sylmar, CA just North of LA on I5 the Jeep began to overheat. I pulled over to the side of the interstate and pop the hood. At a glance I saw the wires to the electric fan/aftermarket radiator were up against the radiator itself and had melted the insulation exposing the wires to each other. Funny, I had planned on getting rid of the fan/radiator set up and opt for OE when I returned home. Guess the rig wanted me to do it now.

*Note, another reason to stick to a mechanical fan.

I let it cool down while weighing my options as it was Friday afternoon. Luckily out of all the places to break down I found out there was a Jeep 4x4 Shop called Mazzotti Auto just a few minutes away right off the Interstate. Once it was cool enough I turned it on and drove the rig over quickly. From there I spoke to the owner Josh regarding the situation. We quickly set a plan in motion and had ordered a fan clutch to be dropped off immediately though realized there wasn’t a TJ Fan Blade in stock and couldn’t get one in until tomorrow for the steep price of $150ish.

Well Josh went up and looked around his parts bin and found a couple of old fan blades from God knows what vehicles and lucky enough one of them managed to work while the other had a clearance issue. We got it put together, threw some water in and back onto the road! I appreciate Josh’s time and patience given the situation all the while he has his shop full of vehicles getting work done when I had originally pulled up.

Luckily the only other issue was the Rancho Air Shocks wouldn’t hold in air another hour into it… so it was a bouncy ride to say the least for the remaining 9 hours

Once home with the other rigs I gave it a much needed wash. Oh and I do plan on swapping the cooling system back to OE. If that wasn’t reiterated enough.

Everything said and done it was a pretty memorable road trip I won’t forget. Especially now that it’s on here for everyone’s enjoyment and to look back on.

Plus for the price I paid, the subtle headache was worth it!

 

[Sgt Jarhead]

Thought I’d start with everything that’s good with the rig before I begin showing the parts that will need to be replaced.

The interior is in near immaculate condition! The rear tire carrier was upgraded to the Moryde thus saving me spending the money to carry my 35” Spare Beadlock. New CA Compliant Magna Flow Mini Cats we’re installed. I also noted these brackets bolted under the Engine Mounts which make me believe this had a tummy tuck or at the least a skid plate installed. I’ll be switching my Terraflex Belly Up Skid Plate and will look into incorporating these brackets to avoid mounting the oil skid to the Engine Block. There’s also the GenTex Mirror with Compass, Temperature and Dome Lights that I’ve seen mentioned within the forum. Really is a nice touch for our Wranglers!

Finally, in the glove box it came with the original manuals for the LJR and even found a title application receipt dated back in 2011 within the State of Texas. It sold for the cool price of $25,000 and some change then. Crazy to see how little the prices have changed as of late…

 

[Sgt Jarhead]

Been slacking a bit on the updates.

Between working on swapping parts with my Turbo’d TJ and LJR, renovating my lawn before the Fall/Winter and touching up our home due to my mini me’s tearing it up has kept me on my toes.

Removing the front bumper was a hassle. At some point one of the previous owners decided to tack weld all 6 bolts onto the winch plate/bumper. Once the welds were broken and with the help of my oldest son (6 year old) we started off by swapping over my Poison Spyder Bumper and Steering Skid alongside my Warn 9.5 CTI winch with Accessories over to the LJR. Then followed it by switching over the MORE 1” Body Lift and Ordered a 1” MORE Bomb Proof Motor Mount to go on before following it up with the Terraflex Belly Up Skid.

I left the Smittybilt Rock Sliders off for now as I’ll be replacing that alongside the front and rear fenders for a complete package (exception of front and rear bumpers) from Nemesis Industries Aluminum Armor in the near future.

We ended it by doing a 3 way headlight swap due to my wife’s old Pro Comp Headlights hazing/cracking. I gave the Trucklites off my LJR to my wife’s JKU, threw on the JW Speakers from the TJ to LJR and left the Pro Comps on the TJ. I’m actually talking to Pro Comp now since they supposedly can warranty them at no cost to me.

 

[Sgt Jarhead]

Not pictured is switching all the OE Speakers over in favor of my Polk Audio between the LJR and TJ not to mention my kicker sub/amp and Bedtread Bedliner.

I continued on by removing all the wiring to the electrical fans and air lines for the Shocks. At one point it looked like a “temp” fix was conducted of a leaking airline… now I’m left with quite a few holes on the panel under my steering column.

If anyone has a lead to a replacement Khaki Panel I have your name on a 6 pack of your choice!

Worst case I’ll pick up a black panel and paint it to the original color.

While finishing up removing everything I noted that the original OPDA was still in the LJR. With 100k miles and have read about this in the past I thought it be a smart idea to check the conditio…. yep. I have the Crown Automotive replacement on its way.

I also noted some Black RTV used where the seal for the OPDA goes instead.

All the parts are in to have the lift replaced though am currently waiting on my friends shop he recently built to finish getting the electrical installed. Hopefully soon we’ll get this lift knocked out and riding 100x better!

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Oh man - tack welding the bumbler bolts? That’s crazy. No locktight available where the PO lived?

 

[Lax22]

Oh man - tack welding the bumbler bolts? That’s crazy. No locktight available where the PO lived?

Maybe did it for security reasons?

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Maybe did it for security reasons?

I thought that too - but why do all of them?

 

[Nickgsjeep]

Oh I remember this rig! Guy wasn’t too far from me, should’ve shot me a message when you were in town! Nice jeep and good luck man, whats the plan for the TJ?

 

[Sgt Jarhead]

Oh man - tack welding the bumbler bolts? That’s crazy. No locktight available where the PO lived?

The owner before me received the rig as is and only did some maintenance that I recall. From what I understand one of the other previous owners did it for Security Reasons. But 6 bolts? It was a tad much in my opinion

 

[Sgt Jarhead]

Oh I remember this rig! Guy wasn’t too far from me, should’ve shot me a message when you were in town! Nice jeep and good luck man, whats the plan for the TJ?

It was very short lived while we were there! Just visited for a few hours total before doing the trek back up North. Though next time I’ll keep you in mind when I’m in town!

Making good headway so far though once this lift is swapped over it’ll provided the much needed ride quality it so desperately needs.

Sadly, the yellow TJ will be sold once I get as many things swapped over to the LJR (to include the turbo). I’ll use whatever left over $ I make (after paying myself back for purchasing the LJR) to spend into the other upgrades I have in mind.

 

[Sgt Jarhead]

As shown previously the rig came with a hardtop. With it showing it’s age and still having some Flood Penetrol left over when I did my TJ hardtop I got to work on reviving it! It went relatively quick and decided to touch up the Smittybilt Fenders and Rock Sliders with it before I post them for sale.

I’m currently torn whether I want to Order Nemesis High Line Fenders or Flat Fenders…

The long term plan for this rig is 35” Tires, 4” Short Arm Lift, 1” Body Lift. Far down the road I’ll end up doing a Savvy Mid Arm and Rear Shock relocation.

With High Lines:
I love the idea of more available up travel with Proper Shocks/Shock Towers installed, not to mention reducing the amount of bump stops based on scrolling through the forums though I’m worried it might look silly with only 35’s with no plans for 37’s.

As for Non High Line:
My primary reason it would make it much easier to fit everything the Banks Turbo kit comes with onto non-high line fenders compared to the other.

Any advice?

 

[taylormade73]

As shown previously the rig came with a hardtop. With it showing it’s age and still having some Flood Penetrol left over when I did my TJ hardtop I got to work on reviving it! It went relatively quick and decided to touch up the Smittybilt Fenders and Rock Sliders with it before I post them for sale.

I’m currently torn whether I want to Order Nemesis High Line Fenders or Flat Fenders…

The long term plan for this rig is 35” Tires, 4” Short Arm Lift, 1” Body Lift. Far down the road I’ll end up doing a Savvy Mid Arm and Rear Shock relocation.

I love the idea of more available up travel with Proper Shocks/Shock Towers installed, not to mention reducing the amount of bump stops based on scrolling through the forums though I’m worried it might look silly with only 35’s with no plans for 37’s.

Primary reason why I’m also for non high line is making it much easier to fit everything the Banks Turbo kit comes with onto non-high line fenders compared to the other.

Any advice?

View attachment 276762

View attachment 276763

View attachment 276764

View attachment 276765

View attachment 276766

View attachment 276767

I dont think LJRs look silly with only 35's. Matter of fact, I think they can look damn good.