The lights before lockers build: double tough 97 Sport

[97TJNM]

Been a while since I posted an update. I've done some minor stuff like getting some rubber mallets from harbor freight and building tire snubbers for the tailgate. I also installed stirrups so my lovely bride can climb aboard without having to jump.

Today I wired in my ARB compressor and plumbed the lockers. I installed the switches in the area where the ash tray was. I cut out some aluminum and bent it to fit, and used a cheap plate from Amazon bolted to the front of the aluminum. It's a clean but obviously "shadetree" install, and I didn't have to cut a big ugly hole in the visible area of the dash. No finished pics, but I did grab a few throughout the process.

Tomorrow I'm going to change the oil and maybe the trans fluid. I'm looking forward to getting out on a decently technical trail in a few weeks with my neighbor. He has been wheeling Toyotas for years and he said he knows a great trail locally to try out lockers on!

 

[Cross-Threaded-06TJ]

Great work on your Jeep!

The white wheels look good with the red. I am running the same wheels. I highly recommend hitting them with spray wax regularly. I washed my Jeep regularly and did not drive it that much in the winter. And those wheels grew rust right out of the seams. Within less than 2 years I'll add.

Not bashing the wheels, just tossing out my experience. Not many run the CJ style wagon wheels, but they are cool.

 

[97TJNM]

Great work on your Jeep!

The white wheels look good with the red. I am running the same wheels. I highly recommend hitting them with spray wax regularly. I washed my Jeep regularly and did not drive it that much in the winter. And those wheels grew rust right out of the seams. Within less than 2 years I'll add.

Not bashing the wheels, just tossing out my experience. Not many run the CJ style wagon wheels, but they are cool.

Thanks! It's been a lot of fun so far. I'm really looking forward to getting more seat time in it now that the build is approaching the finish line.

And yeah, I love the look of old school steely wagon wheels, but I'm thinking that rust is going to be an issue. I'll mitigate as best as I can, but if they get really bad, I'll just sandblast them and hit em with a new coat of white paint!

 

[WHBNM]

Just caught up on your thread. Nice work!

 

[97TJNM]

Just caught up on your thread. Nice work!

Thanks, man! I'm going to run Guaje with my neighbor in a few weeks when I have weekends off again. When I have a date planned, you want me to give you a heads up?

 

[WHBNM]

Definitely! I have a few things planned over the coming weekends but will be in if I'm in town. I have another one we need to run this Fall as well.

 

[97TJNM]

Definitely! I have a few things planned over the coming weekends but will be in if I'm in town. I have another one we need to run this Fall as well.

Sounds awesome!

 

[97TJNM]

Since I bought ol' Double Tough, his driver front fender has been pink. I'm pretty sure at some point in his history, the driver fender was damaged and another one was swapped on. You can see the color difference in this photo.

Now, this is not a show jeep by any means, so I haven't been too concerned, but I have noticed that when it it wet, the fender matches perfectly, so I figured the red was right, but there was never any clear coat applied for whatever reason. I'm no body man, so I didn't worry too much about the nicks and dings in the leading edge and what have you, but I figured I could hit it with some clear coat and at least make it look nicer from 20 feet away.

So today, I washed the fender, let it dry, hit it with some 2000 grit wet-dry, washed it again, and once dry, masked off everything around the fender. Then I shot 2 coats of Duplicolor (rattle-can) clear coat. There is a bit of orange-peel going on if you look close, but from 5 feet away, it matches great and that's all I was after. I'll call it a win!

Oh, also, wife got home a little early and asked me to take her for a quick trail run. Who can say no to that?! Pic airing back up after returning to the pavement.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Great work on that fender. Looks much better.

 

[97TJNM]

Great work on that fender. Looks much better.

Thanks! It came out pretty decent for a redneck with a rattle-can!

 

[Beetus]

Thanks! It's been a lot of fun so far. I'm really looking forward to getting more seat time in it now that the build is approaching the finish line.

And yeah, I love the look of old school steely wagon wheels, but I'm thinking that rust is going to be an issue. I'll mitigate as best as I can, but if they get really bad, I'll just sandblast them and hit em with a new coat of white paint!

Hey guys, what wheels are these? Do you have a link by chance? They look good!

 

[97TJNM]

Hey guys, what wheels are these? Do you have a link by chance? They look good!

https://www.jegs.com/i/Cragar/260/3105834/10002/-1

Craiger Nomads!

 

[97TJNM]

So I've been planning the next stage for a few months, gathering parts.

My plan currently is to increase clearance as much as possible so that I get full use of 35's, and to get some armor under this rig.

Currently have a Savvy body lift and cable shift linkage in the shed, and just ordered Clayton offroad trans and oil plan skid plates and a JKS motor mount lift. The trans plate is a "mild" tummy tuck, gaining 1.25 inches over stock clearance, but I'm hoping that by not going to a full on flat pan, I can avoid major exhaust work.

I also have trucklite knockoffs and a hand throttle in the shed. Hopefully I'll be able to start installing these new mods soon.

 

[97TJNM]

Working on getting a Clayton offroad trans skid and oil pan skid painted so I can install it. First coat of primer went on pretty easy. I'm gong to be trying to get it primed today and tomorrow I will paint it as well as prime and paint the oil pan skid.

Of course, it shipped missing 4 bolts. I suppose I will have to run to the hardware store or buy some online before next weekend. My wife and kiddo will be out of town next weekend to visit friends in Phoenix so I will have the weekend to install motor mount lifts, skids, and the body lift!

I'm looking forward to this!

 

[97TJNM]

Finished painting the trans skid yesterday. It is stored in the shed for now.

Working on priming and painting the oil pan skid!

No real reason to go with red on the underside, other than not having enough black to paint the whole thing. I didn't want to go back to the hardware store. Digging around, I had 3 cans of rustoleum paint+primer in matte cherry red, so I figured I'd stretch my black and avoid another trip to the store!

 

[97TJNM]

So last week, I texted @WHBNM and told him that i was going to be a bachelor this weekend, and if he wanted to drink beers and turn wrenches, to stop by.

being the standup guy he is, he reminded me that I only have a carport, and he has a garage, and it was going to be cold. He invited me to bring my Jeep over and we could work on it without laying on our backs in the wind.

So this morning, I loaded up the Savvy body lift, cable shifter, JKS motor mount lift, and Clayton offroad skids into my TJ and headed to his house. I got there about 9am, and after jawing for a few minutes, we got to work.

We started by installing the body lift, which went entirely too smoothly. We took a 20 minute break, then went back in to work. The body lift went so quick, we jumped on the motor mount lift, and knocked that out too, before noon.

@WHBNM being the great host he is, he grilled us some burgers and we washed them back with some beers while watching some SEC football.

We went back out to his garage, and installed the cable shifter, which was probably the hardest part of the whole day, but still wasn't bad.

After that, we hit the skid plate install. It also went pretty smooth, with only 3 bolts being finicky to line up.

So what would have been a long 2 day job doing it myself ended up only taking about 7 hours, and that's with multiple burger/beer/smoke breaks. To top it off, I got to hang out with a bud and B.S. the whole day.

Unfortunately I had to leave soon after, because I had to run home and let the dogs out and take them for a walk, but it was a great day turning wrenches and drinking beer with a great host.

I'm back home relaxing and I'm about to crack a Guinness and raise it to @WHBNM, a hell of a guy and a great friend to have! It's awesome that a couple of Jeepers can meet on a forum like this and realise they live in the same small town, and end up becoming friends and hanging out on the weekends, turning wrenches or wheeling!

 

[WHBNM]

27* outside when we started this morning but 68 in the garage!

We'll remind ourselves of this day sometime when shit goes sideways early on! It was a fun and productive day.

 

[97TJNM]

Today I finally got around to installing the Teraflex hand throttle that has been in my shed for 9 or 10 months.

Install was easy, the whole process took about 30 minutes. I also spent some time straightening the lock rod in the passenger door. It had finally tweaked enough that it was unreliable at actually unlocking the door.

Lastly, I reconnected the DRL module that I disconnected after installing my trucklite knockoffs. The DRLs worked sometimes but not all the time after the install, which bothered me, so I disconnected it. This led to the problem of no high beam indicator though. So today after some research, I clipped the orange/white wire and reconnected the module. No more DRLs, but the high beam indicator works now.

It was an enjoyable couple of hours, even if it was snowing and I was freezing my butt off! It's nice to be at a point on this thing that I can work on and tackle small projects as time allows. I'm thinking this summer I may pull the carpet and go back in with some BedTread or something.

 

[97TJNM]

So, a month or so back, I installed a Bullet Point phone mount in my son's XJ. When he starts driving this summer, I didn't want him to be hanging on to his phone while driving, and after making the Cherokee Bluetooth capable, it seemed like the logical solution. After using the mount in fhe XJ for a few weeks, I realised that the mount was handier than a pocket on a shirt, so I ordered one for the TJ.

I also ordered a "mount for the mount" so to speak, from Amazon. Installation was very straightforward and now Double Tough has one too. The Bullet Point mount is hell-for-stout and doesn't move at all. I really like it.

On the suggestion of @WHBNM I also ordered a pair of Baofeng GMRS handheld radios. I still have to program them, but we used a set of radios that he owns last time we went out, and it was great to be able to communicate while on the trail. I'll get them programmed before we go back out.

On the agenda before summer is over is to get a new weather seal for the hardtop back glass, and to get a Armorlite tub kit to replace the torn, faded, dirty carpet currently in the Jeep. It will probably be at least late spring before that happens, but I think I'm really going to like the functionality of the Armorlite.

 

[97TJNM]

Haven't done any mods lately, but I went wheeling with my brother from Louisiana when he came to visit.

Me and him and our other brother went to the Offroad Wrecker Games put on my Matt's Offroad Recovery a few weeks ago. It was a blast.

We didn't take Double Tough as cramming 3 old fat men into the TJ for a 9 hour drive didn't seem appealing. We took the wife's Taco instead, which was still a decently capable little rig, and much nicer on the highway.

Added a few stickers to the collection.

And today I moved the links on my Swaylock from the softest setting to the 2nd from firmest. I've been meaning to do that for a while now, and I don't know what took me so long. It reduced the body roll significantly. Shoulda done that sooner.