Corbin's 2005ish LJ Rubicon

Owners Name & City-
Corbin Black. Currently in West Jordan.. Moving to Cedar City October 2019!


Make, Model & Year of Vehicle-
2005 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited
Started as a rebuilt title 2005 LJ rubicon, switched to a clean title 2004 LJ sport to get it on the road, and should finish off as a CLEAN title 05 LJ rubicon :cool: so its a 2005-ish LJ :rofl:


Engine-
4.0l I6


Transmission-
42RLE


T-Case-
NV 241OR 4:1
TeraFlex 2 Low
Savvy Cable Shifter



Axles-
Stock Rubicon 44's. Front is sleeved as well as a custom bracket setup to accommodate a wheelbase stretch


Suspension-
TeraFlex short arms with "IR" bushings, 3" TeraFlex Springs, Falcon Piggyback shocks, Artec Industries weld on 1.25" "boat-side" body lift


Wheels and Tires-
Method Double standard matte black 15x8 with 35x12.5x15 Milestar Patagonia MT's


Favorite Trails- Double Sammy, Upper diff hanger, The Maze


Other Mods-
Motobilt spare tire delete / License plate relocation

Affordable Off-road rear bumper
Poison Spyder rear bumper brace kit
Poison Spyder Trail cage w/ grab handles
Genright Offroad frame side track bar bracket
TeraFlex belly up skid plate
TeraFlex gas tank skid plate
TeraFlex axle sleeves
TeraFlex ball joints
TeraFlex hi-steer knuckle with DOM crossover steering
Trucklite knockoff LED headlights
Artec Industries rock sliders
Rough Country 1" motor mount lift
Procomp front bumper


I have a soft spot for LJ's and I enjoy bringing them back from the dead (wrecks). I'm trying to keep this one mild.. but that is proving to be difficult!

wreckedLJ.jpg

It was in a front end collision and the insurance company totaled it. My brother in law picked it up at the auction and I bought it as is from him for dirt cheap.LJ7.jpg
 
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zmotorsports

Hardcore Gearhead
Vendor
Location
West Haven, UT
Great build. I too have a soft spot for LJ's, wish I could have afforded to buy my son's when he sold his.

I like the clean and somewhat subdued appearance of your build until you start really looking at the details. My favorite way to build.

Subscribed.

Mike
 

corbin.black

Active Member
Dude! It looks so good. That extra isolator made it sit perfect.
Thanks Tim! I agree, it was just enough of a difference that it sits perfect.

Looks great Corbin.

Thanks Bart!!

Great build. I too have a soft spot for LJ's, wish I could have afforded to buy my son's when he sold his.

I like the clean and somewhat subdued appearance of your build until you start really looking at the details. My favorite way to build.

Subscribed.

Mike


Thanks Mike! I am really trying to keep this one on the mild side unlike my last one.
 

corbin.black

Active Member
She's alive!! I've already put about 60 miles on it. Still need to adjust a few things but overall I am super happy with it.
Found some full doors at the junkyard too
lj44.jpg


I am hoping to get the TeraFlex belly up skid plate and Rough country motor mount lift done tomorrow as well as install my fan shroud and front driveshaft.
 

corbin.black

Active Member
Got the TeraFlex belly up skid plate and Rough Country motor mount lift done on Saturday and decided to take the jeep on a road trip to see some family in Price. I stopped in price canyon to use the restroom and when I walked back out to the jeep I could see some smoke coming from underneath the jeep. The rear output shaft on the t-case was leaking like crazy and the entire back half of the jeep was covered in ATF. The smoke was ATF burning on my exhaust. I didn't have cell service so I decided to limp the jeep to price as my best option.
Picked up a new seal in Price and tore the yoke off the t-case to get it fixed. As my luck would have it, the new seal was the wrong one and so was the seal inside the tail housing (had a friend help with the t-case rebuild and he installed it for me). Both seals were listed as the correct part from the places I bought them from (Morris 4x4 and O'reilly's) so they are gonna hear from me. The new seal fit better so I swapped it in and it got me back home with minimal leakage.
On my lunch break today I tore the tail housing off of my broken 241 as it had the correct seal still attached to it. a quick tail housing swap in the parking lot and now everything is back together with the factory seal. hopefully no more leaks.. im tired of buying ATF
 

LJTim

Active Member
Location
Herriman, UT
Dude, that sucks. Been there...kinda. When I did the SYE on my 231, the output shaft was bent from the mfg, and the wobbling was causing ATF to spray all over the place. Advanced Adapters replaced it, including the seals without any argument. Glad you had a replacement tail housing handy. Sounds like everything else has come together nicely on this build.

Will you be registering it as rebuilt, or what?
 

corbin.black

Active Member
Dude, that sucks. Been there...kinda. When I did the SYE on my 231, the output shaft was bent from the mfg, and the wobbling was causing ATF to spray all over the place. Advanced Adapters replaced it, including the seals without any argument. Glad you had a replacement tail housing handy. Sounds like everything else has come together nicely on this build.

Will you be registering it as rebuilt, or what?
Yeah, it could have been worse. I'm just glad I noticed it before it was too late.

It is registered as a 2004 clean title sport LJ at the moment.. but will be changing back to a 2005 clean title rubicon LJ next year.. :rofl::thinking:
don't ask ?
 

Bart

Registered User
Location
Arm Utah
Sounds like some of my builds, including the change of vehicles. It's a great rig, and glad you found the problem before it was worse.
 

TJustin

Wonton Wannabe
Supporting Member
Location
Payson, UT
Loved reading the thread. I admired your camo LJ, and like where you're headed with this new one. What was your process with your front stretch? Is it just a matter of new coil buckets on the axle and moving the track bar mounting on the frame forward?
 

corbin.black

Active Member
Loved reading the thread. I admired your camo LJ, and like where you're headed with this new one. What was your process with your front stretch? Is it just a matter of new coil buckets on the axle and moving the track bar mounting on the frame forward?
Thanks man!
Yeah, the front stretch is pretty easy. I cut all of the axle brackets off with the exception of the upper control arm mounts. Then I cut the trackbar bracket off of the frame (hardest part of the whole stretch).
I used JK style spring perches and shock brackets on the axle. They put the axle tubes underneath the spring instead of behind the spring like the stock ones. I also used TeraFlex’s TJ high steer axle side track bar bracket and Genright’s frame side trackbar bracket which allowed me to build a super beefy double sheer trackbar with zero bends in it. Makes the steering super tight, I loved it!

I am sad to say but this Jeep has been sold. I had a neighbor walk up to me and make me a cash offer that far exceeded how much money I had into the build. I’m sure I’ll buy another some day but I will be a full time college student in about a week so it might be a few years for me
 
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