Well folks, I figured its about time to document what I've done/plan on doing with my Jeep. I picked up this 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited back in April with the sole intention of building it into what I would consider the perfect vehicle...one that can be driven as a daily driver if needed, be driven up into the vast landscape of Canada when desired, yet also a legitimate formidable offroad vehicle for most trails you could encounter. I plan on using the vehicle for expeditions and also to haul my dirtbike on the rear via a hitch carrier, so it was important to have the suspension setup in a way that can handle the weight of a bike and all of the other parts and equipment that I will have, but not be totally stiff and ruin your day driving it unloaded. The Jeep is a 6-speed with the 4.0L, just turned 100k on the odometer.
One of the other things that was important to me for this Jeep was just simply building it how I wanted to build it. There is so much hearsay and BS out there about what you can't do, what you can do, what you should and shouldn't do, etc. I'm not naive enough to think I know everything about everything, but I have been around the block once or twice with 4x4 vehicles and feel that I have the competence and the know how build a vehicle for a specific purpose in a certain way, without going overboard or on the other hand not building it adequately. So who knows, maybe I can put to rest some of the common misnomers and questions that many people have about certain subjects. I'm always looking to learn more myself, but i would rather learn by trying and failing rather than never REALLY knowing and understanding. So anyway, lets get into it!
Here is an overview of what i've already done and what will be coming soon.
CURRENT-
Suspension/Steering:
-2" OME HD Springs
-1" daystar body lift
-Bilstein 5100/5125 shocks
-Nth degree upper/lower control arms
-Rubi Express rear trackbar axle bracket
-Rubi Express front swaybar disconnects
-RC front trackbar
-RC rear shock relo brackets
-Rustys HD tie rod
-OME HD Steering Stabilizer
Body:
-Highline Fenders (DIY)
-AEV Highline Hood
-Mopar LJ corner guards (for now)
-Rustys rocker guards
Axles:
-Replace LP Dana 30 with HP Dana 30 from Cherokee
-Yukon chromoly axle shafts (front and rear)
-Artec truss w/ outer C gussets
-4.88 gears
-New bearings, seals, ball joints, etc.
Wheels/tires:
-37x12.50R17 Iroks
-Hutchinson beadlocks
COMING SOON-
-Nth Degree Tummy tucker
-Monstaliner tub
-Rear bumper (?)
-Front bumper (?)
-AEV JK tire carrier
-Warn 9.5ti winch
-Diff covers
-ARB front (?)/rear air lockers
-IPF HID lights
-Headlight upgrade
-Engine upgrade
As you can see, I have a large majority already done....the Jeep has been drive-able for about 3 weeks, although I have only driven it about 100 miles because I've been away a bit. I'll start from the beginning here and go over what I've done with it and then move on to it's current state and what will be coming next.
I'm not sure how to insert pictures in the dialog here, so I'll just add the attachments and speak to them as we go
I live in Michigan and had a pretty tough time finding a TJ here that was not completely rusted away. I look at several that had this crazy issue of rotting the windshield away from the inside out...bizarre! I found the one I ended up with down in Ohio, about a 3.5 hour drive from me. Upon seeing it in person, it was pretty much in as good of shape as described in the photos...paint is pretty nice, almost no body rust other than a little on the rear below the passenger tail light, and a little starting on the cowl near the wipers. The underside was a little crusty, but no really traumatic areas.
So the very first thing I needed to do was the fender highline. This section could literally be a thread all on its own, but I'll try to condense it yet make it informative enough for people to reference if they want to do it themselves. I am not the first person to a DIY highline with the factory fenders by any means, but I very well may be the first person to do it in conjunction with the AEV highline hood. Let me preface this topic by saying that even though the AEV hood is absolutely kickass, it would have been a hell of a lot easier to cut the stock hood. The primary reason is because if you use your stock hood, you can pretty much just bolt your fenders up one hole from the stock location and cut the hood to fit. You can't do that with the AEV hood, and I can tell you its cut higher and in a different angle than a stock hood can be cut. Because of that, I had to drill all new holes (not to mention I found all this out the hard way!). We will get into that.
First, dismantling the entire front end including fenders, battery, wiper bottle, air intake, fusebox, and everything connected to the fenders.....this was the easy (kind of fun!!!) part.
One of the other things that was important to me for this Jeep was just simply building it how I wanted to build it. There is so much hearsay and BS out there about what you can't do, what you can do, what you should and shouldn't do, etc. I'm not naive enough to think I know everything about everything, but I have been around the block once or twice with 4x4 vehicles and feel that I have the competence and the know how build a vehicle for a specific purpose in a certain way, without going overboard or on the other hand not building it adequately. So who knows, maybe I can put to rest some of the common misnomers and questions that many people have about certain subjects. I'm always looking to learn more myself, but i would rather learn by trying and failing rather than never REALLY knowing and understanding. So anyway, lets get into it!
Here is an overview of what i've already done and what will be coming soon.
CURRENT-
Suspension/Steering:
-2" OME HD Springs
-1" daystar body lift
-Bilstein 5100/5125 shocks
-Nth degree upper/lower control arms
-Rubi Express rear trackbar axle bracket
-Rubi Express front swaybar disconnects
-RC front trackbar
-RC rear shock relo brackets
-Rustys HD tie rod
-OME HD Steering Stabilizer
Body:
-Highline Fenders (DIY)
-AEV Highline Hood
-Mopar LJ corner guards (for now)
-Rustys rocker guards
Axles:
-Replace LP Dana 30 with HP Dana 30 from Cherokee
-Yukon chromoly axle shafts (front and rear)
-Artec truss w/ outer C gussets
-4.88 gears
-New bearings, seals, ball joints, etc.
Wheels/tires:
-37x12.50R17 Iroks
-Hutchinson beadlocks
COMING SOON-
-Nth Degree Tummy tucker
-Monstaliner tub
-Rear bumper (?)
-Front bumper (?)
-AEV JK tire carrier
-Warn 9.5ti winch
-Diff covers
-ARB front (?)/rear air lockers
-IPF HID lights
-Headlight upgrade
-Engine upgrade
As you can see, I have a large majority already done....the Jeep has been drive-able for about 3 weeks, although I have only driven it about 100 miles because I've been away a bit. I'll start from the beginning here and go over what I've done with it and then move on to it's current state and what will be coming next.
I'm not sure how to insert pictures in the dialog here, so I'll just add the attachments and speak to them as we go
I live in Michigan and had a pretty tough time finding a TJ here that was not completely rusted away. I look at several that had this crazy issue of rotting the windshield away from the inside out...bizarre! I found the one I ended up with down in Ohio, about a 3.5 hour drive from me. Upon seeing it in person, it was pretty much in as good of shape as described in the photos...paint is pretty nice, almost no body rust other than a little on the rear below the passenger tail light, and a little starting on the cowl near the wipers. The underside was a little crusty, but no really traumatic areas.
So the very first thing I needed to do was the fender highline. This section could literally be a thread all on its own, but I'll try to condense it yet make it informative enough for people to reference if they want to do it themselves. I am not the first person to a DIY highline with the factory fenders by any means, but I very well may be the first person to do it in conjunction with the AEV highline hood. Let me preface this topic by saying that even though the AEV hood is absolutely kickass, it would have been a hell of a lot easier to cut the stock hood. The primary reason is because if you use your stock hood, you can pretty much just bolt your fenders up one hole from the stock location and cut the hood to fit. You can't do that with the AEV hood, and I can tell you its cut higher and in a different angle than a stock hood can be cut. Because of that, I had to drill all new holes (not to mention I found all this out the hard way!). We will get into that.
First, dismantling the entire front end including fenders, battery, wiper bottle, air intake, fusebox, and everything connected to the fenders.....this was the easy (kind of fun!!!) part.