Rebuilding my LJ

AgentLJ

AgentLJ

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
May 26, 2020
Messages
137
Location
Spanish Fork, UT
Well for those who don't know me, I live in Utah and have been playing and working on jeeps for many years. I stared the club Utah JeepCrew over a decade ago and it had become a large club that is non-profit and we do a lot of local trail maintenance with the US forest service.

So let's get to the LJ. I bought this 2004 LJ in January 2011 with about 42k miles. When I bought it, the previous owner was most of the way through building it. I got it for 10.5k because apparently people are scared of getting someone else's projects, but after inspecting it I could tell the things that were done, were done right.

Over the last 9.5 years I've wheeled the crap out of it and it owes me nothing, but it is time to revamp and rebuild it.

Here is a brief list of whats done to my LJ as of this post.
2004 LJ sport
-Genright highfenders, corners, rock sliders.
-37x12.50r17 BFG KM2.
-Front Dana 44, Sierra racing 4.88 gears and chromoly shafts, Detroit locker, teraflex cover.
-Rear Dana 44, Sierra Racing 4.88 gears, Detroit locker, axle truss, teraflex lower shock relocation brackets.
-Rustys Steering.
-3.5" Rubicon Express Long arm kit w/ custom set up triangulated rear uppers done by Ben Hanks Racing, upgraded upper joints to half inch bolt size.
-teraflex and rancho shocks
-glass pack lol
-litedot tail lights (like my 5 or 6th pair)
-lots of led rock lights
-Warn VR8
-CJ7 tailgate
-front antirock
-a bunch if other stuff...

So current plans are to replace my suspension without really changing much in relation to wheel base or antisquat. I really like the way my jeep handles the trails and rocks. My main issues are worn joints that have been rebuilt multiple times and belly / rear long arm clearance.

I've ordered everything on this list and have received about half of it.
-Barnes 4wd skid plate
-Barnes 4wd lower control arm axle brackets for my rear axle. Going to try to move them up to axle centerline.
-Genright DIY 4 link and 3 link frame brackets
-Genright amber LED turn signals. I smashed one when I flopped last.
-Savvy Dana 44 axle truss
-14 Johnny Joints
-14 weld in bungs
-14 Jam nuts
-bunch of pipe to build arms
-all new tie rod ends
-new track bar
-BDS NX2 shocks
-RockKrawler 3.5 springs

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So I gather you've been using 37s on the stock Dana 44s (with upgraded shafts), correct? If so, I would imagine you've been eating through ball joints?

Other than that though, have the axles handled the 37s without issue? I'm asking because the general consensus seems to be that the safe limit for built Dana 44 axles is 35s, but maybe you've proven that to be wrong?
 
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Chris said:
So I gather you've been using 37s on the stock Dana 44s (with upgraded shafts), correct? If so, I would imagine you've been eating through ball joints?

Other than that though, have the axles handled the 37s without issue? I'm asking because the general consensus seems to be that the safe limit for built Dana 44 axles is 35s, but maybe you've proven that to be wrong?
Click to expand...

When I bought the jeep it had old style 37" MTRs on steel wheels and a Dana 30 with lockright lockers.

About 8 years ago I swapped in a brand new tj rubi Dana 44 front axle with the current upgrades (including polyperformance ball joints) and went to an aluminum wheel. I have had zero issues or breakage. Im still on the same ball joints with no issues. I try to replace my u joints at any signs of wear, but other then that I havent had to touch anything other then tie rod ends.

That being said, I may wheel a lot but I'm not overly hard on my jeep. I dont like to bounce and break crap. Maybe my style of wheeling has prolonged my lifespan? I will most likely build one tons in a year or so. But the current project is what I can currently afford.


 
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AgentLJ said:
When I bought the jeep it had old style 37" MTRs on steel wheels and a Dana 30 with lockright lockers.

About 8 years ago I swapped in a brand new tj rubi Dana 44 front axle with the current upgrades (including polyperformance ball joints) and went to an aluminum wheel. I have had zero issues or breakage. Im still on the same ball joints with no issues. I try to replace my u joints at any signs of wear, but other then that I havent had to touch anything other then tie rod ends.

That being said, I may wheel a lot but I'm not overly hard on my jeep. I dont like to bounce and break crap. Maybe my style of wheeling has prolonged my lifespan? I will most likely build one tons in a year or so. But the current project is what I can currently afford.


Click to expand...

That's interesting! It may be your style of wheeling, yes. I'm the same way though in that I've never pushed overly hard or tried to bounce around. But whenever you hear about 37s and stock axles, you always hear about the ball joints being the weak point, and 37s usually making short order of them in no time.

Your story is inspirational though in the sense that maybe it will give others the balls to run 37s on their stock axles without worrying too much about it.

I think with a lot of things like this, it can often be attributed to the driver, so I can't say I'm completely surprised. Put an 18 year old kid behind the wheel and I'm sure they'd be snapping things in no time.

What do you do for a spare? I noticed you don't carry one.
 
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Chris said:
That's interesting! It may be your style of wheeling, yes. I'm the same way though in that I've never pushed overly hard or tried to bounce around. But whenever you hear about 37s and stock axles, you always hear about the ball joints being the weak point, and 37s usually making short order of them in no time.

Your story is inspirational though in the sense that maybe it will give others the balls to run 37s on their stock axles without worrying too much about it.

I think with a lot of things like this, it can often be attributed to the driver, so I can't say I'm completely surprised. Put an 18 year old kid behind the wheel and I'm sure they'd be snapping things in no time.

What do you do for a spare? I noticed you don't carry one.
Click to expand...

I have a viair pump and about 150 tire plugs. The benefits in the rocks without the leverage on the back have been awesome.

I strap my spare inside when going on longer trips or keep it in town when at moab or sand hollow. Never had a flat in 20 years... :knocksonwood:
 
Super excited for this revamp. You got the LJ for a steal and have obviously gotten your money's worth a few times over haha. You already have an awesome platform to build/rebuild off of, I'm anxious to see how it turns out and compares to its current setup.
 
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AgentLJ said:
I have a viair pump and about 150 tire plugs. The benefits in the rocks without the leverage on the back have been awesome.

I strap my spare inside when going on longer trips or keep it in town when at moab or sand hollow. Never had a flat in 20 years... :knocksonwood:
Click to expand...

That's why I keep thinking about not running a spare. The reduced weight, and reduced leverage. Of course everyone seems to tell me I really should be running one, but I'm torn.
 
@Chris I guess it could also be that my jeep is an Auto. That definitely helps with things being less harsh on drive train parts.

@Ryanoceros thanks! It was a steal of a deal. I sold my 2001 WJ to buy it. The WJ was 2009 grand cherokee of the year on JF. My wife cried when I sold it but I knew I needed something more capable and that would last for years.
 
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Chris said:
That's why I keep thinking about not running a spare. The reduced weight, and reduced leverage. Of course everyone seems to tell me I really should be running one, but I'm torn.
Click to expand...

Same obstacle, same set up on the jeep (axles, lockers ect)

Spare
No spare
 
AgentLJ said:
@Ryanoceros thanks! It was a steal of a deal. I sold my 2001 WJ to buy it. The WJ was 2009 grand cherokee of the year on JF. My wife cried when I sold it but I knew I needed something more capable and that would last for years.
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It's a bitter sweet thing! You seem to have made a good choice regardless. Did she ever warm up to the LJ?
 
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Ryanoceros said:
It's a bitter sweet thing! You seem to have made a good choice regardless. Did she ever warm up to the LJ?
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Depends on the day. Exactly one year after selling the WJ. I bought her an overland WK. We had it for many years til our family outgrew it. Now she has a minivan.
 
AgentLJ said:
Same obstacle, same set up on the jeep (axles, lockers ect)

Spare
No spare
Click to expand...

It's hard to tell how much the spare tire is affecting things there in the first video. It seems like maybe it's adding so much weight to the rear, that when the front end comes up to climb, it's maybe not getting as much traction as it could since the back is wanting to tip more rearwards due to the weight of the spare. Is that wrong?

All I know is that I'm heavily considering not running my spare and just taking it with me inside the back if I go on a longer trip or somewhere where I feel like I'll absolutely need it.

I suppose the only thing you can't fix is a sidewall, right?
 
Ryanoceros said:
I absolutely will, I appreciate it! I have a Flame Red LJ also, so I'm partial
towards your setup haha.
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Nice! Mine actually isn't flame red anymore. When it was brand new someone flopped it and the insurance totalled it because of the hard top and windshield frame. It has a rebuild title (supposed to be better then salvage around here). When it was rebuilt they painted it a darker red. I went to buy some paint to do my half doors and found out it was a different color lol.

My plan over winter is to sand blast my fenders again and paint them the current color which is what I did to the half doors and cj7 tailgate. One day I'll repaint my whole jeep. The rebuild paint job had horrible clear coat and its starting to peel on my hood. I also need a new hood because I smashed the front passenger corner when I flopped 2 years ago.
 
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Chris said:
It's hard to tell how much the spare tire is affecting things there in the first video. It seems like maybe it's adding so much weight to the rear, that when the front end comes up to climb, it's maybe not getting as much traction as it could since the back is wanting to tip more rearwards due to the weight of the spare. Is that wrong?

All I know is that I'm heavily considering not running my spare and just taking it with me inside the back if I go on a longer trip or somewhere where I feel like I'll absolutely need it.

I suppose the only thing you can't fix is a sidewall, right?
Click to expand...

Well you could shove a ton of plugs in a sidewall and try to at least get off a trail. Gunna suck, but most likely doable.

Ya on that obstacle I have no weight on the front tires when I had a spare.
 
AgentLJ said:
Well you could shove a ton of plugs in a sidewall and try to at least get off a trail. Gunna suck, but most likely doable.

Ya on that obstacle I have no weight on the front tires when I had a spare.
Click to expand...

Yep, so it's like a teeter totter. You go over that obstacle and the front end starts to rise when you have a heavy spare back there. I see the advantage to having no spare, very clearly.

Guess this is more excuse for me to buy a trailer and trailer it places. I can keep the spare on the trailer :LOL:
 
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