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Dom

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Jan 8, 2017
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Location
Visalia, CA, United States
Hey what's up guys I'm new around this parts as I'm not a big forums person. I'm currently only part of Comancheclub.com and have been for 3 years since I got my MJ love my Comancheclub family:) anyways I'm more than likely going to buying a 1997 Tj 2.5 5 speed with 90k miles tomorrow and would like to find a second family for me and the new to me tj. I'm curious as to what exactly I should be concerned about and look for tomorrow? I'm assuming the usal rust areas jeep are famous to. I'm new to TJs how ever have had cj5s,xjs,mjs and a j20 for abit. So I'm not new to jeeps just tjs:)

TIA - Dom
 
Also of course after a complete go through and tune up. What are some very useful upgradeds to do asap as I'll have some extra $. My final plan for this is 3-3.5 lift max but a quality lift. And 31s LSD rear arb front and 4.88 gearing. So aside from those type of up grades what are some every day useful type upgrades
 
Post some photos of your TJ and your MJ when you get a chance. I can always appreciate a nice Commanche, that's for sure!

As far as some useful mods aside from a quality lift, I think a Winch is hands down the most important and most useful mod anyone can get (especially if you off-road at all). Aside from that, we highly recommend Revolution alloy axle shafts around here. Not only are they the only axle shaft made in the USA, but they're also strong as hell!

Welcome to the forum though! I hope we see more of you around!
 
Welcome aboard! This is the place for all things TJ.
If you are only planning on 31's that much lift isn't necessary. Something like the OME 2.5" will work and gets great reviews. You could later on add in a 1.25" body lift for 33" tires.
4.88 is good for the 31's but 5.13 would be better if you plan on bigger tires in the future.
If you have the Dana 35, very likely, some alloy axles would be a good idea for moderate to heavier wheeling. A Truetrac in the rear and ARB frt would make for a formidable off road rig. If you plan on a rear locker/ARB etc, you need the alloy axles. The factory axles won't hold up to a locked diff.
Useful upgrades will depend on your usage but, a winch is always a good, if not must, have. Along with recovery gear. Under armor/skids are a great upgrade as well.
 
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Dom said:
Hey what's up guys I'm new around this parts as I'm not a big forums person. I'm currently only part of Comancheclub.com and have been for 3 years since I got my MJ love my Comancheclub family:) anyways I'm more than likely going to buying a 1997 Tj 2.5 5 speed with 90k miles tomorrow and would like to find a second family for me and the new to me tj. I'm curious as to what exactly I should be concerned about and look for tomorrow? I'm assuming the usal rust areas jeep are famous to. I'm new to TJs how ever have had cj5s,xjs,mjs and a j20 for abit. So I'm not new to jeeps just tjs:)

TIA - Dom
Click to expand...

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/what-should-i-look-for-when-buying-a-used-wrangler-tj.375/

@Chris put together this link in the FAQ's forum. Hopefully it will give you a few things to look for when you are buying your TJ.
 
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Hey thank you for the welcome guys :) will be picking the tj up tomorrow hopefully. I'll get some pics of on here asap when I'm on a real PC.

Chris- A winch if definitely on my lift! Do you have any recommendations for the lightest winch/bumper combo (to help the i4). I'd like to keep this build very light and basic but VERY capable. Kind of why I chose the i4 wanted the under dog
 
Rob5589 said:
Welcome aboard! This is the place for all things TJ.
If you are only planning on 31's that much lift isn't necessary. Something like the OME 2.5" will work and gets great reviews. You could later on add in a 1.25" body lift for 33" tires.
4.88 is good for the 31's but 5.13 would be better if you plan on bigger tires in the future.
If you have the Dana 35, very likely, some alloy axles would be a good idea for moderate to heavier wheeling. A Truetrac in the rear and ARB frt would make for a formidable off road rig. If you plan on a rear locker/ARB etc, you need the alloy axles. The factory axles won't hold up to a locked diff.
Useful upgrades will depend on your usage but, a winch is always a good, if not must, have. Along with recovery gear. Under armor/skids are a great upgrade as well.
Click to expand...

Think ill be going 3 inch for the extra little ground clearance. I wanna keep 31s and kind of build this as the little wrangler that could :)
 
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Dom said:
Hey thank you for the welcome guys :) will be picking the tj up tomorrow hopefully. I'll get some pics of on here asap when I'm on a real PC.

Chris- A winch if definitely on my lift! Do you have any recommendations for the lightest winch/bumper combo (to help the i4). I'd like to keep this build very light and basic but VERY capable. Kind of why I chose the i4 wanted the under dog
Click to expand...

Hopefully @Jerry Bransford will pop in. I think I read that he runs an aluminum front bumper made by Savvy. Should be light and plenty tough.
 
You'll want to get a Savvy aluminum front bumper if you're concerned about weight. That is going to be the lightest front bumper out there.

In addition to that, if you buy a winch I highly suggest the Warn M8000, as it is by far the most popular winch for our TJs.

Another upgrade you'll thank me for big time is upgrading your headlights to LED headlights. You can read more about that here:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/headlight-upgrade-options.538/
 
Yep you can't beat Savvy's aluminum bumper which has a built-in winch mount. It's also way stronger than some would suspect aluminum can be.

This is mine while I was winding a new winch rope on several years ago...
IMAG1875cropped.jpg
 
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I would pay particular attention to the shifting. The AX5 will be the weak link in the entire driveline. If it's noisy, grinds, kicks out of 5th, or really hard to get into reverse, it won't fix itself over time. If you plan on doing much off-roading or axle/wheel mods, then you might have to think about the $2500 to upgrade to a new AX15 retrofit.
 
Thank you very Much for the replies everyone! I'll be on my way shortly to hopefully come home with the TJ. I'll defo be looking into that aluminum bumper didn't know there was Ome tbh lol. @Chris I haven't yet decided on leds or not. With the MJ I was plently happy with the putco harness upgrade. When extra light was needed had my bar/pods to help lol
 
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RaymondT said:
I would pay particular attention to the shifting. The AX5 will be the weak link in the entire driveline. If it's noisy, grinds, kicks out of 5th, or really hard to get into reverse, it won't fix itself over time. If you plan on doing much off-roading or axle/wheel mods, then you might have to think about the $2500 to upgrade to a new AX15 retrofit.
Click to expand...

Yeah if heard bad things about this ax5 hopefully I should be able to find a ax15 donor some where for the conversion
 
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1. Good quality lift (coupled with extended bump stops and maybe extended front brake lines)
2. Good quality Winch (Warn is the only way to go, obviously)
3. If you put a bigger than stock spare on your tailgate, be prepared for it to eventually sag - or buy a bumper / tire carrier combo, or an exogate to avoid this problem.
4. Don't use wheel spacers (just incase you come across the idea of buying some; just know that they aren't worth it!)
5. I have been pondering how to upgrade my axles as well: everyone here has been pushing me towards Revolution axles and to not jam the gas whenever you get in a sticky situation - that's when you start to break things.
 
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Good call on staying away from the rust. Rust is a pain in the ass to deal with. If you wait, eventually a better TJ will come along.
 
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