The usual suspects: 2004 LJ build

raycer12

raycer12

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Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2018
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39
Location
Cape Cod, MA
I bought this stock 04 lj last 4th of July. Replaced the stereo with a double din one with nav and Sirius adding an amp and new speakers. It also needed tires so I replaced them with stock size ones. Got a great deal at Walmart for 4 new tires installed. Of course those are now going with only 5000 miles on them. But I've got my OME lift, rancho control arms, front and rear end links (jks, not Currie) and a front track bar. Also ordered a 1" bl in case I need it as I'm going to get some 33x10.50 KO2's for it.
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Cleaned out the garage this morning so I would have plenty of room to work on it and pulled the Jeep in after lunch. Jacked it up and put stands under the axles and then the fun began. First wheel and only 1 lug nut would come off with the air gun. Figured I'd try the other wheels and they all came off, some easier than others. So back to the first wheel with a breaker bar. Got 3 more off by standing on it but the last one I ended up putting a 4' pipe on it. Big mistake. So after the lug nut snapped off flush with the rim I proceeded to try to drill out the rest of the lugnut thinking I could weaken it enough the get it out wit a hammer and punch. After drilling 8-10 holes and breaking about 10 drill bits and still no luck I gave in and drilled out the stud (and another couple broken bits). Not the way I wanted the lift install to start, getting the wheels off should be the easy part. Looks like I'm adding pulling the rotor to replace a stud to the job.
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That sucks about the lugnut, but hopefully things turn around for you. Remember to use one of PB Blaster/Liquid Wench/Kroil on the bolts you intend on removing, shocks, links, arms and track bar. Do That a couple times before removing to ensure they are as loosened up as much as possible.

Why are you opting for 10.5 over 12.5?
 
Sprayed pb blaster a couple days ago and again this morning. Most of the bolts don't look too bad. The worst ones are the upper bolts on the rear shocks. I'm going to wire brush any loose rust and coat with a rust converter paint, maybe por15 but would rather use something like rustoleum's rust converter as spraying would be easier. For a Jeep that's spent it's whole life in New England it's actually really clean underneath. Spent almost a year looking at rusted out crap before stumbling on this one. So of course I'll be trying to clean the pb blaster off everything before I can paint...

It's a daily driver for another year and a half till my daughter leaves for college. The 10.5's should be better on the road. We do beach cruising in the summer which 12.5's would be better for but have no problem with the factory 9.5' so they're not really necessary there and in the winter when the snow flies we'll head right into the storm to wake up in ski country (or at least the New England version) first thing in the morning with the fresh snow. The 10.5's should also be a little better for foul weather driving.
 
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How is the rust on that thing living in Massachusetts and all?

The 10.5" wide tires will indeed be far better on the road than the 12.5"s. That's why I stick to my 11.2" wide tires (285/75r16s) because they're about half way in the middle. But I prefer the taller and narrower tires since they are better for on-road driving, rain, packed snow, etc. I can always air down if I need them to have a bit more footprint.
 
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raycer12 said:
Sprayed pb blaster a couple days ago and again this morning. Most of the bolts don't look too bad. The worst ones are the upper bolts on the rear shocks. I'm going to wire brush any loose rust and coat with a rust converter paint, maybe por15 but would rather use something like rustoleum's rust converter as spraying would be easier. For a Jeep that's spent it's whole life in New England it's actually really clean underneath. Spent almost a year looking at rusted out crap before stumbling on this one. So of course I'll be trying to clean the pb blaster off everything before I can paint...

It's a daily driver for another year and a half till my daughter leaves for college. The 10.5's should be better on the road. We do beach cruising in the summer which 12.5's would be better for but have no problem with the factory 9.5' so they're not really necessary there and in the winter when the snow flies we'll head right into the storm to wake up in ski country (or at least the New England version) first thing in the morning with the fresh snow. The 10.5's should also be a little better for foul weather driving.
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Good plan of action. Don't forget to use anti seize on the new(or reused) bolts going in.

I am a Masshole as well, in CT now, but when I installed new shocks I only broke one rear shock upper bolt, and that was on me because I didn't realize those upper bokts are slightly angled so my socket was not fully seated.

Agreed on the 10.5, should in theory be better on snow.
 
Chris said:
How is the rust on that thing living in Massachusetts and all?

The 10.5" wide tires will indeed be far better on the road than the 12.5"s. That's why I stick to my 11.2" wide tires (285/75r16s) because they're about half way in the middle. But I prefer the taller and narrower tires since they are better for on-road driving, rain, packed snow, etc. I can always air down if I need them to have a bit more footprint.
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Where did you find this 11.2" tire? Kidding, I know a typo when I see one.

Have you personally tested 12.5" vs other sizes? I have not and why I would like to try out 12.5" over the 10.5".
 
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skrelnik said:
Where did you find this 11.2" tire? Kidding, I know a typo when I see one.

Have you personally tested 12.5" vs other sizes? I have not and why I would like to try out 12.5" over the 10.5".
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No typo, a 285/75r16 is indeed 11.2” wide believe it or not. Crazy but true!

I’ve had wider tires on previous Jeeps. They don’t do as well in the rain or bad weather as they want to float. That means more hydroplaning and sliding in the snow for the most part.
 
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Chris said:
No typo, a 285/75r16 is indeed 11.2” wide believe it or not. Crazy but true!

I’ve had wider tires on previous Jeeps. They don’t do as well in the rain or bad weather as they want to float. That means more hydroplaning and sliding in the snow for the most part.
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You don’t drive your jeep in the rain or snow tho I thought? Not poking fun I thought yours stays out of the elements to keep it mint ou said at one time.
 
Starrs said:
You don’t drive your jeep in the rain or snow tho I thought? Not poking fun I thought yours stays out of the elements to keep it mint ou said at one time.
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I drove my old one (the black one) in the rain and snow quote a bit though!
 
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Chris said:
No typo, a 285/75r16 is indeed 11.2” wide believe it or not. Crazy but true!

I’ve had wider tires on previous Jeeps. They don’t do as well in the rain or bad weather as they want to float. That means more hydroplaning and sliding in the snow for the most part.
Click to expand...

I forgot about that thing they call the metric system. Gives another option to look at.
 
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