Road to LJ build

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BigLJ

New Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2018
Messages
18
Location
Connecticut
Hello everyone,
I would like to introduce myself to the thread. Coming from an 04 four banger, no AC. I picked up a 05 LJ last Monday, with 36000 miles. I'll say that again 36000 miles. Owned by a old lady with no offroading, and being from the north east, surprisingly no rust whatsoever. So the Jeep build began last week. I went into my local off-road shop, and ordered up a 3 inch bds lift kit, steering stabilizer, and adjustable track bar. Alone with some 15x10 fuel revolvers and 33x12.5 nitto ridge grappler.

That's the good news about the build, the bad news. Last week someone also backed into my rear quarter panel so when the lift kit is installed I will be bringing it to the auto body shop to have hopefully just the big dents pulled out. And respray. Considering the Jeep is mint it really bothers me that there is even a ding in it, never mind a massive dent.

Somewhere inbetween the body shop and having my lift installed I need to figure out what to do with my stock subwoofer, which blew yesterday. I knew it would blow at some point just not so soon. For that right now I am planning on a self powered sub that will fit in the center console and has a built in amp. That way I don't have to mess with wiring an amp. Along with that a new single din radio to give the stock speakers some life. Along with the small stuff that I plan on doing, I'm going to order some truck lite head lights. I haven't chose on wether or not to go with China knock off or the real thing yet. Along with smoked tail lights and turn signals.

The next big stage that will hopefully come soon is front and rear bumpers, at least back. I plan on doing dirtworx rear bumper and tire carrier, or an exo tire carrier with a warn or other seprsepate rear bumper.

As for aux lighting and off-road lights I haven't chose anything yet, I like the small round warn lights but there so damn expenvsive.

Oh and I almost forgot, I picked up a hardtop from a off-road shop the other day, and it has a some small things that need repaired, so before winter I will be repairing that and possibly having my body shop paint it.

I am open to any suggestions and would love suggestions from all. Please throw them my way, I'd love to hear them because you may have a better idea than mine. I will keep this post up to date with my project.

Here is a picture of my 04 4 banger and the now daily, LJ

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Let the build begin!
 
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Chris said:
How do you like going from the 4 banger to the 6 cylinder?
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I'm new to this, so I believe I am replying to you in the correct fashion. But I love it. The four banger was fun around town did awesome in the snow, but man compared to the 6 cyl it is like a lamorgini and a Prius. Because I have the six speed, new transmission for 2005, I start in second 90% of the time which I think is okay for it?? Anyways, the four cyl got me into the Jeep life and am now hooked and building my LJ. I was fortunate to sell it to a family friend so I got to keep it close to home.
 
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BigLJ said:
I'm new to this, so I believe I am replying to you in the correct fashion. But I love it. The four banger was fun around town did awesome in the snow, but man compared to the 6 cyl it is like a lamorgini and a Prius. Because I have the six speed, new transmission for 2005, I start in second 90% of the time which I think is okay for it?? Anyways, the four cyl got me into the Jeep life and am now hooked and building my LJ. I was fortunate to sell it to a family friend so I got to keep it close to home.
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The 4 banger is indeed fine in town. It just stinks on the highway and at high speeds, that's for sure.

Nothing wrong with starting in second gear. That won't do any harm. So do you have both the TJ and the LJ now, or just the LJ?

I think you made the right choice going with the TJ / LJ generation of Wrangler. It's destined to be a collectible. None of the fancy electronics and comfort creatures that the JKs and JLs have, which makes for a vehicle that is much easier to work on, with a lot less to go wrong.
 
Chris said:
The 4 banger is indeed fine in town. It just stinks on the highway and at high speeds, that's for sure.

Nothing wrong with starting in second gear. That won't do any harm. So do you have both the TJ and the LJ now, or just the LJ?


I think you made the right choice going with the TJ / LJ generation of Wrangler. It's destined to be a collectible. None of the fancy electronics and comfort creatures that the JKs and JLs have, which makes for a vehicle that is much easier to work on, with a lot less to go wrong.
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I agree, as a jeep lover from the start aswell as trucks and quads etc. I love the LJ, my dad has a fully restored and fully classic I believe 1954 Jeep cj2-a aka a real Willie's. I can't wait to continue to build my LJ. I will not lie at times a thing what the hell am I doing not keeping this thing in the garage and babied but it's not what it's made for. I will keep it clean.

I sold the TJ yesterday, was sad to see it gone but on to bigger things.
 
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BigLJ said:
I will not lie at times a thing what the hell am I doing not keeping this thing in the garage and babied but it's not what it's made for. I will keep it clean.
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It's alright. I baby my TJ more than I do wheel it. We don't do anything hardcore with it anyhow. It's mostly just exploring forest service roads off the beaten path, taking it on the beach, and stuff like that. No rock crawling or hardcore wheeling that would destroy it in short order. Like I said, it's babied, but that's okay. Everyone uses their Jeep in a different way, and there's nothing wrong with that!
 
You mentioned a lift and 33's but haven't said anything about regearing. That's something that you will need to address sooner rather than later, and it's going to be a big ticket item that you will want to get right the first time. I'm assuming that your 05 LJ has the Dana 30 front axle and the Dana 44 rear, with 3.73 gears. Both axles will handle 33's just fine, but you'll want gears in the 4.56/4.88 range to keep the RPM's where they belong. You might also ask yourself if you want locking differentials, because they are much more economical to install when you are getting the gears done. Much will depend on how you intend to use your Jeep (mild or heavy off-roading, daily driver, etc.) and, of course, your budget. My 06 LJ started off looking almost identical to yours (including the Bright Silver Metallic paint and matching flares) and has been a blast to build. Keep us informed on your progress, we all like to see what direction folks go with their Jeeps (and make the occasional snide-but-friendly comment).
 
Neal said:
You mentioned a lift and 33's but haven't said anything about regearing. That's something that you will need to address sooner rather than later, and it's going to be a big ticket item that you will want to get right the first time. I'm assuming that your 05 LJ has the Dana 30 front axle and the Dana 44 rear, with 3.73 gears. Both axles will handle 33's just fine, but you'll want gears in the 4.56/4.88 range to keep the RPM's where they belong. You might also ask yourself if you want locking differentials, because they are much more economical to install when you are getting the gears done. Much will depend on how you intend to use your Jeep (mild or heavy off-roading, daily driver, etc.) and, of course, your budget. My 06 LJ started off looking almost identical to yours (including the Bright Silver Metallic paint and matching flares) and has been a blast to build. Keep us informed on your progress, we all like to see what direction folks go with their Jeeps (and make the occasional snide-but-friendly comment).
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Neal,
Thanks for you input and I will keep you up to date. I didn't even think of regearing due to the fact that 33s aren't huge tires. Do you think it's necessary? Also I should mention that the LJ is a 6 speed manual.
 
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Add a throttle return spring, for $5 this was one of the best mods I did on my manual ‘06. The ‘05 and ‘06 manuals had only one for some dumb reason and it makes the throttle response so touchy that it’s tough to drive smoothly at low speeds particularly if the road or terrain is rough.
 
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Vcook said:
Add a throttle return spring, for $5 this was one of the best mods I did on my manual ‘06. The ‘05 and ‘06 manuals had only one for some dumb reason and it makes the throttle response so touchy that it’s tough to drive smoothly at low speeds particularly if the road or terrain is rough.
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Ahh, the very touchy starts. I know exactly what your talking about. I will look into that right now. If you don't mind, will you explain to me how it works?
 
Pretty much all of the experts who post on this forum (I do not include myself in that category) are of the opinion that regearing is necessary for even fairly modest tire size increases. It probably has something to do with the fairly limited ideal power band of the straight 6 engine coupled with the increasing distance a larger tire has to roll per revolution, and as your tire diameter increases your driveshaft will turn more slowly, which also means your engine RPM will decrease. There may also be other factors involved, such as the position of the planets on the second Tuesday after Lent, but I digress. I now invite anyone more knowledgeable than I (that would be just about everyone) to chime in here. Bottom line, yes, regearing for 33's will make your Jeep run better and more efficiently, especially at highway speeds.
 
Neal said:
Pretty much all of the experts who post on this forum (I do not include myself in that category) are of the opinion that regearing is necessary for even fairly modest tire size increases. It probably has something to do with the fairly limited ideal power band of the straight 6 engine coupled with the increasing distance a larger tire has to roll per revolution, and as your tire diameter increases your driveshaft will turn more slowly, which also means your engine RPM will decrease. There may also be other factors involved, such as the position of the planets on the second Tuesday after Lent, but I digress. I now invite anyone more knowledgeable than I (that would be just about everyone) to chime in here. Bottom line, yes, regearing for 33's will make your Jeep run better and more efficiently, especially at highway speeds.
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Thank you, I want to do it right. But at the same time don't want to do something that right now is not completely needed. After more research I realized that regearing in quiet expensive, so hopefully some other opinions will come through the thread. But for the moment I think I am going to hold off on the regear, see how to runs with the 33s and go from there.
 
3.73 and 33's won't be ideal. But, you do have the 6 spd which has the advantage of a low first gear and a good spread across its range. If you were running the 4 spd auto, you would be sorely disappointed.
 
Rob5589 said:
3.73 and 33's won't be ideal. But, you do have the 6 spd which has the advantage of a low first gear and a good spread across its range. If you were running the 4 spd auto, you would be sorely disappointed.
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Would there be an inbetween for 33 and 35 if I choose to go bigger in the future?
 
BigLJ said:
Ahh, the very touchy starts. I know exactly what your talking about. I will look into that right now. If you don't mind, will you explain to me how it works?
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The autos, and my understanding is other year manuals, have a secondary throttle return spring that we didn't get. I put a dorman universal one on from autozone but I believe the stock jeep part is very cheap if you want to hit your dealer. There were holes there already, I just cut my spring to length and bent it into hooks. Check and see if you have anything in this location under the hood.

MHNuCeu.jpg
 
Vcook said:
The autos, and my understanding is other year manuals, have a secondary throttle return spring that we didn't get. I put a dorman universal one on from autozone but I believe the stock jeep part is very cheap if you want to hit your dealer. There were holes there already, I just cut my spring to length and bent it into hooks. Check and see if you have anything in this location under the hood.

View attachment 43934
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I plan on ordering a Throttle spring quiet soon, working on the jeeps audio system right now. trying to put some plans together with what I want to do. Thanks for the pictures, i will look tonight.
 
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