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New Jeeper planning upgrades

5K views 32 replies 14 participants last post by  doug schlosser 
#1 ·
Well I bought myself a 2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited not long ago.It came with a premium package. So it has two-tone seats/ Chrome grille/auto dim mirror stuff like that.
Anyways, i'm in the process of picking out upgrades i'd like on my jeep. I plan on getting everything done within a years time. I plan on educating myself on many things that I know mostly nothing about at this time. It'll be a long journey but definitely worthwhile.

Here is some of the stuff I have in mind currently.

First thing I plan on getting is tires/wheels. At first I was thinking about Cragar series 397 soft 8's but now I'm leaning toward the all chrome soft 8's. For the tires I'm leaning toward the BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO 33x12.50 R15

I'll be getting a lift. Have not yet learned enough about this to even make a decision. I'm probably going to go with a 3-4inch lift.

Other things I'll be getting once I make a decision on brand/type/specifics.
Floormats/Rhino line tub.
Winch/bumpers
Grab handles.
Frameless soft top.(Rampage?)
Off-road jack

Most likely won't get but may be a possibility.
Exhaust.
Sound system.
Off-road lights

Now this could change completely at anytime.I'm open to recommendations/opinions/references etc.

No budget.

Will be updating with pictures as I make progress along the way.
 

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#3 ·
Quick update:
I got myself some Quadratec floor mats and grab handles. The floor mats especially have been extremely helpful.

So far with the research I've done the things i'm planning on getting are
Poison Spyder LJ Rock Brawler front bumper with Brawler bar.
LJ RockerKnocker with sliders. Unless I can find good retractable step/slider for a TJ/LJ.
Warn VR8000-s Winch
Cobra 75WXST 40-Channel CB radio with Firestik 3' Antenna
BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO 33x12.50 R15

What I'm contemplating.
Lift kit. Thinking about the Zone 4.25 combo. With possibility of upgrading just certain parts. As for what parts I have no yet decided.
New Headlights. Either Hella E-code H4 or the poison spyder trucklite led headlamp
Poison Spyder Hood Louver
New complete exhaust system.
HighRock Element Doors
Rampage Sailcloth trail top
 
#6 ·
I've decided on getting the Rock Crawler 3.5inch lift and the BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO 33x12.50 R15. I'm currently looking into what backspacing I should run and if I should regear or not.
 
#7 ·
For backspacing, nothing less than 3.75" and I think no more than 4.25". BFG makes great tires. Are you getting the KOs or KO2s?

Also for the regear, you don't need it right now but it should be a future investment. If you ever plan to get lockers, that would be the time to do it. Also, depending on what tranny will decide which gear ratios to run.
 
#11 ·
I've been debating getting the hella ecodes for some time. Not sure if I just want to go ahead and do it already or not.

33"x12.5" or 33"x10.5"?
Was planning on 12.5
 
#13 ·
Just ordered a 3.25 rough country jeep suspension lift kit with premium N2.0 shocks. I've been looking on craigslist and found a set of 4 33x12.5 BFgoodrich Mud Terrains with black 15 inch wheels for $600.( Can't quite determine the type of wheel. Looks a lot like soft 8's) They appear to have a decent amount of tread left at least 50% hoping to get these while I wait for the KO2's to come out with the 33x12.5's later this year.
 
#14 ·
I've been looking on craigslist and found a set of 4 33x12.5 BFgoodrich Mud Terrains with black 15 inch wheels for $600.( Can't quite determine the type of wheel. Looks a lot like soft 8's) They appear to have a decent amount of tread left at least 50% hoping to get these while I wait for the KO2's to come out with the 33x12.5's later this year.
That's a good plan. Only problem is not having a matching spare. Luckily, for a Mud Terrain tire, the BFG KMs are very tame on the road and are very good offroad tires. Just watch yourself on wet roads with them.
 
#16 ·
One thing u can do instead of getting a new front bumper would be to unscrew those milk jugs on the sides of the bumper and get some end caps if that's your style. Then u can use the two torx 55 screws that attach to the bumper and either buy some tow hooks or d rings whichever is ur preference. I personally like hooks think they look bad ass. The front bumper is pretty strong I've hit a handful of trees and rocks and it bends a little at the ends but nothing too bad... The rear bumper is not strong enough to use recovery points so I would suggest changing that one out... Hope I helped save u some cash time and make sure u have lots of fun with ur LJ :)
 
#17 ·
Started installing my lift kit today. The front is done. Ran into some trouble with a few things.

1st was getting the shocks off. The shaft kept free spinning so we had to grind down the shaft until we were able to grip it with vice grips and were able to remove them.

They 2nd was the stock sway bars, after unscrewing the nut it just wouldn't come out of the hole.We ended up using a pickle fork to pry it out of the hole.

When putting on the new shocks we ran into the same problem with the shaft free spinning. We used an impact gun and worked the thread until we got the nut tight enough that it felt safely on there.

The new sway bars bolts and nuts that were provided didn't have the same thread pitch and caused some trouble, luckily we had a lot of bolts and nuts to choose from and we managed to find a usable set for the job.

Ran out of time in the day to do the rear end, hopefully will be getting that done tomorrow.
 
#19 ·
Started installing my lift kit today. The front is done. Ran into some trouble with a few things. 1st was getting the shocks off. The shaft kept free spinning so we had to grind down the shaft until we were able to grip it with vice grips and were able to remove them. They 2nd was the stock sway bars, after unscrewing the nut it just wouldn't come out of the hole.We ended up using a pickle fork to pry it out of the hole. When putting on the new shocks we ran into the same problem with the shaft free spinning. We used an impact gun and worked the thread until we got the nut tight enough that it felt safely on there. The new sway bars bolts and nuts that were provided didn't have the same thread pitch and caused some trouble, luckily we had a lot of bolts and nuts to choose from and we managed to find a usable set for the job. Ran out of time in the day to do the rear end, hopefully will be getting that done tomorrow.
Let me know how u like ur lift. I am in the middle of installing the same thing. I reheated to 4.56 and love it. Not bad to do. The hardest thing was getting the backlash correct other than easy. I currently have 31x10.5 Goodyear duratrac and love them. They are quite on the highway and good off-roading here in WV. I will be selling them soon with only 1300 miles on them with a set of rims for 900.00. Going to upgrade to 33s in the same tire. If u have any questions about regearing give me a shout. Can't wait to see some pics and happy trails.
 
#18 ·
Pictures, Too dark to take a picture of the current lift.
 

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#22 ·
Finished lift

The rear track bar was a pain to remove to re-position it into the new bracket.
Getting the spacers on proved to be challenging as well.

The bolts and nuts provided with the lift kit seemed a bit off so going to be checking everything next weekend to make sure it's held up, if not will replace the bolts with better quality bolts.

After driving it hear a random clunking sound coming from the rear can't quite make it out yet, mainly hear it when hitting bumps. Doesn't sound terrible. Will be checking it out and hopefully find the cause.
 

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#23 ·
Next on the list once tax return comes in; Trucklites and Soft top (probably Trektop NX).
Still waiting on the BFG A/T KO2's in 33x12.5.

Side note: Looking into seatcovers, Wet Okole looks promising.
 
#24 ·
Been a year.
Since my last post I haven't done too much.
Got myself some 33x12.5 KO2's and mounted them on Level 8 Bully pro wheels.
Got the Trextop NX which I encountered an issue with the rear zipper shortly after getting it. Talked to besttop and they sent me a replacement which was for the wrong type of jeep and then after a few more tries I finally managed to get the proper replacement piece.

I got the Trucklites and love them, huge upgrade from the stock headlights. Definitely recommend if you have been wanting new headlights.

Also got myself a high-lift jack, which i'm currently looking to get a roll bar mount for.

Some items i'm researching for upcoming upgrades.

Front bumper. Pretty committed to getting the poison spyder rock brawler front bumper. Don't plan on purchasing anytime soon though. Waiting until I buy necessities and can decide on a winch to go with it.

Rear bumper that's rated for towing. Currently looking into the smittybilt classic SRC bumper which is Class IV rated.

Exhaust- Not cause I want a ridiculous exhaust or anything. My current exhaust is very rusted and is started to develop holes in the muffler. It's starting to become my main priority for new upgrades.

Fender Flares. Looking into multiple types of fenders. My favorite look so far is the tube fenders but haven't been able to find a specific one that i need to get.

Mirrors for when I take my doors off, mainly for local laws.
 
#25 ·
Little update. Will hopefully take some pictures soon as the Jeep is looking very different from the last photos I took.

I posted about this in another topic but awhile back I had a pretty severe death wobble. Ordered and installed a MC front track bar and it fixed the issue. Fast forward about 6 months after getting new tires and rotating them for the first time. Started experiencing some speed wobbles at 40 MPH. Nothing like the Death wobble I previously experience so most likely a tire balance issue, but decided to take this as an opportunity to replace my steering system before I actually needed it so I ordered the Currie Heavy duty Steering system and OME Steering Stabilizer.

Hoping it turns out as good as all the reviews I've read have stated. Will also re-balance and do an alignment after I get the system installed toward the end of the month

During the Summer I ordered a Magnaflow catback system. Sounds nice. Could be a bit louder.. Maybe I'll replace the actual cat soon and that should change it.

Purchased some mirrors and foot pegs for when I take the doors off. Definitely like them so far, only complaint is for the mirrors. They're hinge mirrors and hand tightening definitely doesn't work as the wind will just blow them around once you get over 35MPH. Just have to use a pair of pliers and tighten it as much as I can and it works wonderfully.
 
#26 ·
Quick picture with top off

Tires and Wheels 33x12.5R15 and Level 8 Bully Pros

Under Front and MC Front Track Bar



Novak Transfer Cable

Magnaflow Cat-Back Exhaust


Also took some pictures of some rust that I noticed. Will look into possibly painting it or finding a way to prevent any more rust from building up


 
#27 ·
So since the last update, haven't done all that much. Painted most of the frame with por-15. Stuff is pretty sweet will most likely redo it once I get stationed in Hawaii next year.

Helped a friend transfer commands and in the process received a free fire extinguisher nothing big and hopefully i never have to use it but better safe than sorry!

Currently waiting on some parts in the mail. Ordered the smittybilt classic rear bumper that's tow rated. Will be needing it for my upcoming transfer so was a must in my mind. Also purchased some touchup paint for the hardtop( I definitely don't recommend dragging your hard top on concrete... 'woops') as well as a 31 tooth gear for my speedometer to finally get it realigned to the proper readings.

In the process I almost impulse purchased some Xenon 4" flat fenders. While I'd love to have some new fenders I think I should definitely hold off for the MC or poison spyder ones that I've had my eyes on.
 
#30 ·
Well little update. I bought some Bushwacker flat style fender flares in January and had put them on. Had one bolt I was unable to remove from the stock fenders(was free spinning) so it made the install a little more difficult than planned. after finally managing to get it removed the install went smoothly... although I feel the adhesive strips never really sealed the way I expected them too.

I drove from washington to san diego. Made a long road trip out of it 2500 miles later I ended up at my destination. Jeep handled wonderfully and was definitely thankful I only had one incident... I was rear ended in stop and go traffic.. reasons why you should never text and drive.. you may find yourself slamming into the rear bumper and spare tire of a Jeep.. Now her car is probably totaled and I thankfully only ended up with about 2300 in damages that was fully covered by her insurance.
The extent of the damage was..
1.) Spare Tire Carrier/Tailgate
2.) Exhaust
3.) Scratches on rear bumper.
She ended up going under the rear bumper when she hit me and ended up smashing my tailpipe and making it so my exhaust was touching my suspension.

Thankfully the body shop that the insurance company uses is awesome. They hooked my up with a new tailgate even though the old one wasn't really damaged in my opinion. They decided to give me a swing out tire carrier which was a full rear bumper+tire carrier combo.
Now it's just a smittybilt SRC bumper and carrier so it's just the upgraded version of the rear bumper I had but still nice to get a small upgrade at no cost. They didn't replace my exhaust the just had someone basically reshape it back to the original but in the end it only took a couple days to fix and they even detailed my jeep inside and out which I definitely wasn't expecting. And on top of that I got to keep my old bumper so I can sell it for cheap to someone local that needs it and maybe get a new upgrade of sorts.












 
#31 ·
Been a long time since updating this. Just recently had to deal with opda issues. Have gotten that resolved after much troubleshooting.

Replaced all my control arms with metal cloak arms. Wish I would have done sooner, they're excellent quality.

Also changed my shocks out for bilsteins. Riding much smoother, now looking into upgrading my tie rod and drag link as the bushings are worn. My tires are also 7 years old now, so will be looking into replacements soon just due to age.

Working on a dual battery setup as well just working on the logistics for locating the battery at this point.

Will be installing a high amp alternator once it arrives and new led tail lights.

Would love some recommendations for the rest of the steering system since metal cloak doesn't have a tie rod setup for tj/lj.
 
#32 ·
I recently replaced by worn and bent factory TJ tie rod/drag link, with factory ZJ bits. Quite a bit beefier and a pretty cheap upgrade. I think it was about $140 using moog parts ordered off amazon.
ES3096L
ES2079S
DS1312
DS1430
I didn't replace the stabilizer
 
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