Yellow LJR build, i've been waiting years to start

[DiverDarrell]

Hello all, I have a bone stock 2006 LJ R, 6-speed manual that i have had for about 10 years, and it still is under 100k in miles. Being active duty military and currently on deployment, i've decided its past time to set this jeep up into my dream car i have always wanted. Thanks to hours of reading on this fourm I have already ordered the following parts to run it on 35's. I will finish the install when i return from deployment as i will be getting 30 days off. I am planning on giving myself 2 weeks to install it all, and then 2 weeks of off road adventrue starting from seattle going to MOAB and back.

1. Savvy Mid Arm full kit, with fox 2.0 shocks (not outboarding yet)
2. Savvy Under Armor, Engine /trans skid, 1.25 body lift, and 1" engine lift
3. Savvy front bumper
4. Transfer cable shift kit
I kind of really like the Savvy stuff, and working with them over the internet has been a wonderful experiance. Also they know how to ship things safely.

When i went home on leave i was able to install the Under Armor and associated parts. set up my new welding outfit, and wish i had more time to keep working on it before i had to leave again.

What i still need and plan to order

1. Currie currectlinc
2. a winch
3. Rocker/sliders
4. exhaust
5. axle shafts
6. Drive shafts when i know the needed lengths after the axles are back under.

Some things i'm seeking advice on, is

1. the necessity of re-gearing. with the 4.11's and the 4-1 transfer, how horable will it be for mild wheeling, and the beginner stuff in MOAB? Adding a gear swap into my time line, may put me over what i can get done and still do the trip. Gears will happen later if I dont get to it before the trip.
2. Wheel size. I currently have 16" wheels, for 35's should i be looking at going to 17's? and on the topic of wheels, should I just bite the bullet if i change sizes and get the beadlocks.
3. Exhaust, any recommendations for a compact system? I've already saved every photo of the Savvy mid arm and exhaust routing photo i could find. I may have to replace my Cat too, my whole system looks like its original. It's in quite poor shape.

Everyone thanks for all of your awesome post, and replys. I have learned so much.

Attached are my before and after photos of the tummy tuck

 

[Midnight LJR]

1. I ran around like this for a few weeks, it’s way nicer being regraded but you will be able to still have fun until you are able to get it done.

2. If you want a load range C tire for the best ride quality, you will need to go to 17’s. If you don’t plan to get bigger brakes I suppose you could also go down to a 15. You can get a load D for your 16’s which would be a solid budget compromise.

Someone much more expierenced than me once said. Beadlocks are a solution to a problem if you don’t have that problem you don’t need them.

3. I think the exhaust will basically have to be done custom after you finish. Seems like everyone’s is a little different.

 

[DiverDarrell]

Awesome thanks for the advice. only considering beadlocks, as it's better to buy once, and cry once. then to goto 17's, and in a few years buy wheels again if i need the beadlocks. I'm pretty sure in the long run i'll also go to bigger brakes.

 

[L J]

I have a similar history of ownership. I bought my used LJR in '08 and daily drove it in a mostly stock form for nearly ten years. I dove into the rabbit hole head first.

1. the necessity of re-gearing. with the 4.11's and the 4-1 transfer, how horable will it be for mild wheeling, and the beginner stuff in MOAB? Adding a gear swap into my time line, may put me over what i can get done and still do the trip. Gears will happen later if I dont get to it before the trip.
2. Wheel size. I currently have 16" wheels, for 35's should i be looking at going to 17's? and on the topic of wheels, should I just bite the bullet if i change sizes and get the beadlocks.

1. 4.11s and 35s with the 6 speed is tolerable on flat ground and in 4 wheel drive but terrible in the hills and mountains
2. I made the mistake of going with 15" wheels. Go with the 17" beadlocks so you can get the 17" Black Magic Brakes kit.

 

[DiverDarrell]

Thanks for the input. What the best mod and the worst mod you did for your jeep. And your jeep looks awesome.

 

[L J]

Thanks for the input. What the best mod and the worst mod you did for your jeep. And your jeep looks awesome.

worst mod: heavy steel bumpers/sliders
best mod: Fox DSC coil-overs

 

[Fouledplugs]

Go 17’s with big brakes. Rememver that your stock brakes were engineered around stopping a ~29 inch tire. Now you have a 35 inch tire. Its a bigger diameter plus it weighs a lot more, bigger brakes would be great here.

Also, have you looked into his hydro brake booster setup? It would be a great addition to the bigger tires and stopping them.

If you really want to air down, get bead locks. Trail ready makes some really nice forged ones.

Re-gearing is a no brainer here. Its regains the stock like performance. Night and day difference when re-geared correctly.

 

[Irun]

As @Fouledplugs said, definitely go 17" wheels, largely due to being able to upgrade brakes. Also, you'll want to stay away from E rated tires, but happily there are C and D rated tire choices in a 17" size. Given you have a 6 speed, you can get away with running the stock gearing for a while. The Rubicon transfer case low ratio will help offroad. Onroad, 6th gear will be useless and performance will suffer, but you can address that later.

As for the beadlocks, many, many people run without them on hard trails. Keep in mind that cast beadlocks are significantly heavier than regular wheels and will add more rotating mass, unless you get forged versions. I just looked up a Trailready forged wheel and it was almost $900 per wheel.

If you're considering sliders, I installed a set of Savvy sliders, with steel step, on my previous TJ and loved them. Lastly, that's a super sweet LJ and, most importatly, thank you for your service to this great nation!

 

[DiverDarrell]

17" wheels it is. May just get some steels for now, as it looks like i'll spend the cost difference in 4.56 gear sets, and see if I can get some friends to install them while i'm working on the rest of the install. Looks to be an 8 hour project. But at least the axles will be out of the jeep and easy to work on.

Reading up, it looks like at 3000 rpms in 6th gear the difference will be one mile an hour higher on the new setup going from 4.10's on 30.5 inch tires to 4.56's on 34.4 inch tires. and the NVG421OR's 4:1 ratio will still keep it crawling off road.

I think i'll be going with the savvy sliders, why not as i have basicly a Savvy Jeep. This jeep has been my dream car since the LJ was released. When I bought it, I didn't do anything right away because for such a low production jeep I wanted to do it right the first time. in the ten years i've owned it i've put on 25k miles, and it just passed 77k when i was home on leave. Luckly I have motorcycles to commute on, and I have deployed alot to help keep the miles low, and fill the build piggy bank. Having stared and dreamed about this lift for 10 years, and the wife giving the go ahead to build vs, buying a diesel JL (prefering the smplicity of the TJ). The time is now!! I'll hopfully return in July and get started on the rest of the instalation. However my next duty station is a ship that will be away from home port until the end of the year. this gives me a 30 day window to build and get to moab and back. Jeesh this sounds like it could be an episode of Gas Monkey Garage.

 

[taylormade73]

17" wheels it is. May just get some steels for now, as it looks like i'll spend the cost difference in 4.56 gear sets, and see if I can get some friends to install them while i'm working on the rest of the install. Looks to be an 8 hour project. But at least the axles will be out of the jeep and easy to work on.

Reading up, it looks like at 3000 rpms in 6th gear the difference will be one mile an hour higher on the new setup going from 4.10's on 30.5 inch tires to 4.56's on 34.4 inch tires. and the NVG421OR's 4:1 ratio will still keep it crawling off road.

I think i'll be going with the savvy sliders, why not as i have basicly a Savvy Jeep. This jeep has been my dream car since the LJ was released. When I bought it, I didn't do anything right away because for such a low production jeep I wanted to do it right the first time. in the ten years i've owned it i've put on 25k miles, and it just passed 77k when i was home on leave. Luckly I have motorcycles to commute on, and I have deployed alot to help keep the miles low, and fill the build piggy bank. Having stared and dreamed about this lift for 10 years, and the wife giving the go ahead to build vs, buying a diesel JL (prefering the smplicity of the TJ). The time is now!! I'll hopfully return in July and get started on the rest of the instalation. However my next duty station is a ship that will be away from home port until the end of the year. this gives me a 30 day window to build and get to moab and back. Jeesh this sounds like it could be an episode of Gas Monkey Garage.

You get 2 WTJF demerits for calling your rig a car, but they are cancelled out by your service to our country. Thank you.

 

[DiverDarrell]

You get 2 WTJF demerits for calling your rig a car, but they are cancelled out by your service to our country. Thank you.

yes I messed up big there, and take full responsability for my actions. Currently locked up in quarantine as a result. I call this my little truck as it's one inch shorter than my Ram 3500 crew cab long bed. And so i parked it in compact car parking here.

Also i can't tell for sure but I think these tires should go on without rubbing. they are dual beadlocks, and have run flats. Should be a simple bolt on i'm sure.