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Debuilding the Brown Bear ... kinda

41K views 206 replies 37 participants last post by  foco 
#1 ·
I have little kids, so this seemed an appropriate title.

I started a thread on the Jeepforum, but this place seems more tailored to Wranglers, so I thought I'd start a new one here.

I have a TJ that I bought a month ago. My dad and I spent a lot of time with his Jeep at the beach, camping etc. I'd always wanted to buy his Jeep, but it was so eaten up with rust from the salt water.

Now I found myself in a position in life to pick one up and play with it.

2003 Sahara edition
D44 rear, 3.73 gearing, trac-lok.
5 speed
4.0 l

More to come later.
 
#5 ·
And you will want to go with a swing out tire carrier if you wanna keep the spare attached. The tailgate will not hold the weight of larger tires for long. There are alot of choices and prices. Pick your budget and look for what you can afford. Thats the beauty of the jeep world. All price ranges for your budget. Just remember. Most of the time you get what you pay for. But sometimes the most expensive is not always the beast route.

Have fun with it and make it yours!
 
#6 ·
And you will want to go with a swing out tire carrier if you wanna keep the spare attached. The tailgate will not hold the weight of larger tires for long.
Thanks for the tip on this. Maybe I'll move the rear bumper purchase up and throw that in with it with the tires

Have fun with it and make it yours!
I will!
 
#12 ·
Mmmmmm Metaly Cloaky goodness.

Now to figure out how I want to get them painted. I'm planning to paint them the same color as my Jeep, but I don't know if I want to buy equipment to paint them myself or take them to a shop.

Decisions decisions.
 
#19 ·
I started painting my fenders last week and it ended it catastrophe. My basecoat went on way to "hot" and ate into my primer. I had to sand it all down over the week and start over.

This weekend I managed to reprimer, rebase, and clear. Temps weren't ideal, but it's probably the last weekend that I'll be able to do this. At least I'll have the fenders on the car so I can put on my tires. I really don't want to put any more miles than necessary on my old tires since I'll be selling them.

Anyway, tomorrow will consist of color sanding and buffing.

My wife's 4runner is still in the body shop, so I'll probably have to wait until next weekend to actually start putting the fenders on.
 
#20 ·
Cleaned and ready to go


My makeshift paint booth


Second attempt (post disaster)



They're not perfect, but my priority was to get them protected so I can put them on the car so I didn't have to wait all winter to actually start working on my Jeep.

I don't think I'm even going to mess with polishing, since I'm probably going to sand them down next year and repaint.
 
#21 ·
One fender completely off.


The other one just needs all the wiring popped off and it should come out too.

The most difficult part was actually getting that little screw out of the vacuum box under the battery. It would not budge. I wound up taking the Dremel to it. (Actually my wife did)
 
#22 ·
No fenders! D:


New fenders! :D


I decided to leave my 29" tires on for now because we're expecting snow all next week and I think these will actually perform better than my 33" Procomp M/T 2s.

Since my wife is driving it and she's hauling the kiddos around in it, I want it as safe as possible right now. She'll be getting her 4runner back from the body shop next week though, so all bets are off then.
 
#23 ·
I have one small oddity from my blinker installation.

I ordered the MC blinker package.

Installed the new relay and wired everything up. Everything works perfectly.

The weirdness is that after the blinker switch turns off, the relay clicks three additional times instead of stopping immediately. I haven't verified if the blinkers actually continue to flash during this time or not.

Not sure what would be causing this, but it's only a mild annoyance.
 
#24 ·
I put my tires on tonight. I couldn't resist. I think they actually have better grip in the snow than the old ones. I'll try and get a better before and after pic tomorrow.

I definitely noticed people looking at me after I put the tires on though.

 
#25 ·
Still not a before and after shot.




On a side note, after changing tires I think I have angry sparrows. From changing tires?

Edit:
I guess in thinking about it, it makes sense. I'm putting more stress on the drive axles with larger tires.
 
#206 ·
Took her out for her first trail run today. My little boy was pumped.




Lunch break


This is only one reason I love this hobby


Snow is starting to come down hard. Time to head home.


Little guy had too much excitement
I wish there was a "love" reaction over and above the standard "like".
 
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