L.Ross

New Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2020
Messages
3
Location
Alberta, Canada
Hey everyone, just getting started on the forum today and figured I’d start with my own build thread!

Please keep in mind this is my first post on any kind of forum so if I neglect some forum etiquette or rules please let me know so I can fix it!

Also, while being a student free time to wrench and to actively be a part of this forum is hard to come by in the school year, the budget isn’t huge and all of this is done with mostly hand tools, bear with me if this thread and I go quiet every now and then.

Moving onto the good stuff,

This will be my second TJ build after my 2003 TJ Sport, it was reliable, capable and tons of fun but I was always looking for LJ’s because the extra storage space and wheel base would be nice perks for camping and for lugging the lads out to get some skiing done in the Rockies, all while enjoying the classic TJ feeling that I’ve come to know and love.

Ultimately this thread follows my 2006 TJ Unlimted ’LJ’.

For some history, the picture below is of my 03’ TJ sport ‘Betty’ which I bought bone stock. It never once left me stranded or let me down. With 180,000km on the clock, she still runs strong and garners appreciation from everyone... except those riding along with lower back problems.

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Fast forward about 4 years or so and a LJ came up on one of my typical kijiji searches and it ticked all the boxes!
It had insanely low Kms on it, around 109,000km, but I’m sure those were hard kilos! Hood paint was all faded, rusted rocker panels, a well used 2.5“ lift, spider webbed windshield, bald 31’s, dented drivers side fender and a pretty filthy interior. I got the feeling it was almost exclusively used as the PO’s slightly roomier side by side / quad.

Really basic trim level and options, meaning no A/C, cruise or fog lights. My TJ never had anything fancy either, might do an A/C install down the line for the occasional really hot BC summer days.

But it has dual tops, a 4.0, the 6 speed manual NSG370, minimal body or frame rust (excluding rockers), a Dana 44 with the limited slip in the rear and most importantly it’s a LJ!

Here‘s some photos from when I bought it...

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So, it needed new tires and the shocks were leaking, what’s a guy to do other than throw in a new lift and some new 33” shoes?

Went with a Zone 4” short arm suspension lift, a procomp adjustable track bar, 15x8 procomp 97 steel wheels and 33x12.5r15 Duratracs. Almost identical to my previous build, but hey, if it ain’t broke?

Sorry for the limited and poor photos of the lift install, I get caught up with installing mods! Taking photos is usually an afterthought unfortunately.

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Only real issue I had with the install was a stuck front lower control arm bolt at the axle, a little time with the torch and the BFH and it eventually came free from the bushing.

With the lift and adjustable track bar installed this is how it turned out! (Borrowing my old TJ‘s tires at that moment just to get the full effect.)


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Past this point reality swoops in with a swift kick. About a week later after the lift install, on my way home from work, I almost lost my skid plate on the highway. I naively neglected to install the transfer case drop pucks in the place of the PO’s stacked washers. As it turns out, the washers were stacked too high and the guy had used the factory bolts which were not long enough to get more than a few threads into the frame with so many washers.

The reason the plate was only lowered by a few washers was because the PO had installed a low profile transmission mount to correct drive line angles. With the pucks installed 2nd, 4th, 6th and reverse gears would hit the edge of the trans tunnel shifter hole due to the angle that it was sitting at! Luckily I had all my tools and the drop pucks in the back of the Jeep so I put it back together in a grocery store parking lot and drove home using 1st, 3rd and 6th. Only lasting losses were a couple bolts and washers... and a little bit of dignity.

Must’ve been quite the sight for a bystander to see the Jeep roll in there with a skid plate hanging off the side and then some kid jumps out and starts wrenching on it wearing a dress shirt and shoes. I wouldn‘t get these kinds of interesting memories driving something like a modern Camry.

The parking lot repair session, the before photos technically :
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After that fiasco I inspected all the motor mounts, due to the probably remarkable force exerted on them by almost dropping transmission on the highway.
Sure enough the metal casing on top of the drivers side motor mount was split wide open. The weird part was that it was corroded on the split metal so it must’ve happened before I even got the Jeep? Who knows.

One quick order to rock auto and I had both of the engine mounts and the trans mount replaced with OEM equivalents.

I don’t have many photos of that process, just one from trying to line up the holes on the drivers side mount, which wasn’t exactly a thrilling experience.

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So after that ordeal I got all excited cause I could finally drive the thing.

But with every new vehicle and after every mod I spend the next few weeks listening carefully for ANYTHING that might be out of line. And then along came the engine tick...

And some may say: “An engine tick?? At 100,000km? No way, AMC 4.0‘s are virtually indestructible!” And normally I’d agree with that, to some extent. The loudest part of the 4.0 in my old TJ was it’s helicopter of a belt driven fan.

But, the LJ ticks.

Symptoms are:

The tick is only there AFTER it reaches operating temperature and oil pressure (which both read out as normal values). It also won’t show up until after the engine has been under any kind of load, driving or revving. I tested it without the serp belt and I’ve been up and down the engine countless times with a stethoscope, by just standing over the engine it sounds like the drivers side near the cylinder 3-4 area. It’s not the timing chain and it’s not any pulleys, not the rockers (pulled them and the wear is uniform and minimal), Im also fairly certain it’s not an exhaust leak. Maybe lifters, maybe piston slap, broken skirts etc.

Bottom line, I’m planning on starting a different thread for that issue eventually. I’ll be sure to update this thread with results.

For now it runs and drives fine with no loss in power or response so I’m gonna try an oil additive, as much as I don’t really like “band-aid” fixes.
Marvel mystery oil is the plan, I’ve heard good things on the forum and if push comes to shove I’m sure an engine rebuild would be a cool project to take on.

Back to some other upgrades, I managed to get my hands on some wide stock style flares. I’m warming up to the look and loving that my windows aren’t painted brown every time it’s wet out. Gonna miss the aggressive stance of exposed wheels but such is life.

Mods for the future are repainting the head light bezels, try to buff out the faded hood paint (or re-paint it), repair rocker rust, paint and install rock sliders and get the tear in the soft top and the rear window zipper fixed!

The photo below is how she’s sitting now:

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Hoping to keep this thread updated as I continue with the build.

I’d love to hear from anyone with questions about the build, generic Jeep banter or answers to mysterious ticking noises!

Hope y’all found this to be worth the read, see ya on the trails!


There’s some photo duplicates at the bottom here that I can’t seem to delete so... enjoy?

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Welcome to the LJ club. Mine had an annoying tick for a few seconds after startup and the solution was to add 1/2 litre of tranny fluid to the oil a few hundred kms before a scheduled oil change. Changed the oil and haven’t heard it since.
 
Welcome to the LJ club. Mine had an annoying tick for a few seconds after startup and the solution was to add 1/2 litre of tranny fluid to the oil a few hundred kms before a scheduled oil change. Changed the oil and haven’t heard it since.

Thank you! I’m pretty stoked about it! And thanks for the tip, I’ve been trying a few different things to narrow down the source of the tick. Did an Engine flush changed the oil and now I’m running a quart of marvel mystery oil for a while to see if that helps.
trying all the easy fixes before I pull the head!