The Firemans 04 Willys Build

The Fireman

Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2018
Messages
31
Location
New York
First I'll start off by saying thank you to all who have offered advice as I've planned and executed my build, between that and the amazing amount of information stored in old threads here made my life so much easier as I went. You guys rock :beer-toast1:

A little bit of background about myself and how I got into jeeping, two years ago my winter project was building a teardrop camper for my wife and I to travel around in on vacation. I kept it light as all we had at the time was a Chevy Sonic but as I progressed with the build it became very obvious that towing anything with a subcompact wasn't among my brightest ideas so I began searching for a truck. As we looked at different options the one thing that kept coming up was how long the whole vehicle would be with the camper in tow. Trying to keep things short and maneuverable I decided to look for a jeep, that decision is one that changed our lives for the better. We ended up paying to much for a rusty 01 sport with a leaking heater core and 175k miles on the clock, I safety caped the frame bypassed the core and drove the old girl 1500 miles round trip towing the camper to Maine (fingers crossed the whole way that nothing would go wrong), we had an absolute blast.

IMG_3289.JPG


After that trip we decided to get rid of the Chevy and buy a non rusted jeep to build for a summer toy and kept the 01 for a daily driver (after I replaced the heater core) We ended up with our 04 Willys a year ago and have been building it up ever since and absolutely loving the jeep lifestyle. The 04 started life bone stock with 58K on her when we bought it from a used car lot last January, my plan was to swap our soft top from the 01 over and maybe some 31's....that plan lasted for about 7 months then went out the window as you'll see in this thread but hey its a jeep thing right.

IMG_3409.JPG


I swapped the top added some 31's built a bumper with a winch mount, removed the interior, monstalined the tub and added a trailer hitch, we were off to Maine again for another vacation. This time we were going to do some mild off roading and explore the back woods near Baxter state park after spending two weeks in Acadia

IMG_3706.JPG


Interior shot, I built the console using a 40mm can on the bottom with a 50 cal can on top. The lower can has our winch contatctor in it along with the park brake handle that I got out of a junk fork truck at work, being a heavy equipment mechanic is nice when building stuff for jeep.

IMG_3512.JPG


After our second trip to Mane and some mild off roading up there and in PA we were on the fence thinking we wanted more lift bigger tires and better armor....the rabbit hole is calling. We took a trip to New Hampshire in late august to go on a trail ride with Iamjake from yotube, had a blast and even though it was a fairly easy trail for the lifted vehicles we were dragging fuel tank, belly pan and struggling with limited articulation in some spots. so we decided to take the plunge and make the jump to 33's.

IMG_4211.JPG


We took one last ride through our local county forest after a couple mods to the roof rack so we could fold the windshield down, no real reason other than I've always wanted to ride like that. Definitely a different experience off road, well on dirt roads (it was folded back up before we hit pavement.) After this trip it was into the shop and back on the lift for some major surgery, second winter its spent on my lift...hopefully this isn't a trend.

IMG_4281.JPG


I picked up a 98 with a 4" lift for parts, it had been regeared to 4.56 and had a decent set of 33's on it was just rotted out from our lovely NY salt. I knew from reading hear that I wanted nothing to do with the skyjacker lift that was on that jeep, fact as we were stripping it we found a broken spring and some messed up control arms so that made that choice real easy. We went back and forth on whether we should go with a 2.5" OME lift or spring for the 4" savvy lift, I was leaning toward the OME but my wife suggested we go with the Savvy just incase we ever decided to make the jump to 35's so that's what we did and I'm really glad she talked me into it, the double adjustable arms are amazing and the quality compared....well no I wont even attempt to compare them to the skyjacker arms I threw out.

I was going to swap axles from the parts jeep to our willys but after I got them out and started cleaning them up I was starting to seriously second guess that plan, when I discovered a hole rusted through one of the rear spring mounts I decided to pull the gears and install them into our housings. That plan changed a bit as well and was the topic of another thread where I was asking for advice on gear ratios. Got some very good advice there and after a lot of thought decided to go with 4.88's. My thought process was that I am 99% sure we'll be on 33's from here on but just incase we could step up to 35's also the 4.88's should make towing our 900 lbs teardrop a breeze.

IMG_4292.JPG


This was my first regear on a vehicle, I've done several drive axles in loaders backhoes and log skidders so the principles are familiar but the crush sleeves were a new piece of the puzzle. I had a buddy from work give me a hand with the job the rear axle went together great, got the set up dialed in very quick, .008" back lash and a good contact pattern. When we moved to the front we weren't so lucky took several tries but we finally got it dialed in, got the rolling torque set to 15in/lbs on the pinion, backlash at .007-.008 and a good pattern up there as well. Was quite a relief to get the diff covers back on and filled with lube after we got them adjusted. I cant wait to take her out and feel the difference going from 3.07 with 31's to 4.88's and 33's.

IMG_4323.JPG


It's been a long road but I finally got her down off the lift this weekend, I'm in the process of adjusting the control arms to get the pinion angles right, track bars and waiting for some yj brake lines along with a Savvy ultimate steering kit to show up, after that it's just a waiting game until the salt is off the road so we can take her out an break in the new gears.

Thanks again and I'll keep this updated as we add on to our TJ....it really never ends does it?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jack72 and Chris
Thanks again and I'll keep this updated as we add on to our TJ....it really never ends does it?

I really don't think it does. Anytime I think I can see the end in sight, I always end up finding something else to do to it!

I guess that's part of the fun though... it's a project that never ends.

Anyways, your TJ looks great. You don't see too many of the Willy's models!
 
Thanks its the only Willys I've seen in person. It has been a great project and the people we've met along the way both in person and online have been great as well.

I just got it down and off the lift for the first time since November it moves under her own power again. Didn't take it out on the road yet just up and down the driveway. I still have to do some fine tuning to the suspension, steering doesn't seem to return to center like it should but I'll hold off on messing with that until I get the Savvy tie rod and drag link here so I can set the toe in once and be done with it.

IMG_4336.JPG


I gotta say even though I only drove it less than a half mile from the shop to the house and back I am loving these revolution gears already, totally different jeep (having the daily driver with the same 31's and 3.07's is a good reference point) I cant wait to get her out in the spring.