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High School TJ build

This little Tj is coming along, that big dent in the side is gone due to a friend in town, repainted the hood and part of side panel where the dent was, the paint didn't match to what I thought it would, but that's ok, it gives it character. Repainted the the fender flares black, looks so much better than it did. Put on some Rugged Ridge rockers on it, took the old front bumper off, working on building a new one. It has a cute 2" coil spacer lift, I swapped the tires I had on the XJ and put them on the TJ. I've put some quick disconnect sway bar links on her as well. The heater wasn't working very well, turns out the heater core was clogged inside the pipe and as well as the fins, cleaned it up just enough to get a welcome breeze of nice warm air. As of plans on this daily high school driver, the floppy mirrors need to go, every time I close the door they move out of position, I have a hp d30 and a Ford 8.8 that need a little work before I throw them under. I also plan on putting 4.10 gearing and a lunchbox locker in the front, the 8.8 came with a limited slip that I'm going to keep in there for "High School Budget" reasons. Hoping that I can get 35" tires on there after my axles. I want to do high-line fenders just to get me that extra tire clearance that I may or may not need. This little Tj has been a good little Jeep for me so far, has done what I've wanted it to do for me so far, haven't taken it wheeling yet, but I can tell you it climbs curbs no problem.
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mbryson

mbryson

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Bountiful, land of rocks
Not sure if Eric can see this while he's in Baltimore MD mission or not but this will be getting some 33" BFG that were left from the MJ build. I MAY add a lunchbox locker in the rear? He can change that, if he desires, to a selectable with his own $ when he gets back?

I'm not wanting to put a bunch of $ into his Jeep while he's out but it's a handy spare car at times. Might need to be a spare for @cbryson to drive at EJS 2019 on a couple trails. He's still got the puck lift on there. I'm sure he has lift springs in my mess of a garage but I'm wondering if anyone has run 33" tires on a puck lift with maybe some tube fenders?
 
N-Smooth

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
mbryson said:
Not sure if Eric can see this while he's in Baltimore MD mission or not but this will be getting some 33" BFG that were left from the MJ build. I MAY add a lunchbox locker in the rear? He can change that, if he desires, to a selectable with his own $ when he gets back?

I'm not wanting to put a bunch of $ into his Jeep while he's out but it's a handy spare car at times. Might need to be a spare for @cbryson to drive at EJS 2019 on a couple trails. He's still got the puck lift on there. I'm sure he has lift springs in my mess of a garage but I'm wondering if anyone has run 33" tires on a puck lift with maybe some tube fenders?
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2” pucks? We did that on a buddy’s TJ and he wheeled it like that for years. I think we added a 1” body lift at some point in there, just because it rubbed under a lot of flex but that probably won’t be an issue for a “high school” rig.
 
mbryson

mbryson

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It is a 2" puck lift. I don't want to open the SYE can of worms and whatever else follows behind that. The 31" tires and the 4.10 gears are fairly peppy. I think the 33" and 4.10 will work things a little more but still be ok. Hoping with the 2" pucks and at most some aftermarket fenders (or a sawzall?) will work with the 33".
 
zmotorsports

zmotorsports

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West Haven, UT
That's turning out to be a nice little TJ and a GREAT father/son project. I'll bet when he returns there will be a lot more fun to be had between wrenching and wheeling.

Mike
 
DAA

DAA

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West Bountiful, UT
Front does look like it could use a bit more elevation. Can't hurt to put the lift springs in and see where it's at. I'd be thinking about shock length though, if they are the right length now, might be too short with lift?

- DAA
 
mbryson

mbryson

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Gravy said:
That going to rub like crazy without some major bumpstops in the front even when you lift it. I'd guess you need at least 2" more up front.
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Bumpstops will be required. Hoping the springs give me an 1" to 1.5" and I can bumpstop to functionality. Not sure if I'll need to get him some tube fenders or not? If anyone hears of some take off fenders (don't I need the inner fenders for tube fenders?), give a shout. I could have a shock that will work? I've acquired quite a few sets over the years. I need to assemble all that stuff, use what makes sense and see if other folks need it before I chuck it.
 
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mbryson

mbryson

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Elevated front. I might be able to get away without an SYE if I add the rear springs? At 2”, I have all kinds of clearance at the transfer case yoke.

Front is elevated now. If only there was a cheap winch around to level this thing out57F61691-B747-49FA-8DEA-79DDBBAD35B8.jpeg4E4F1D00-5B22-42E7-A378-286E942A35D2.jpeg

Don’t you love coil spring Jeeps?
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Those are some pretty sweet #Teraflex shocks. I probably need to scrounge up some after market control arms but this thing needs an exhaust. I don’t even want to pay for that and the piggy bank is pretty empty after buying the trailer. He might want to do long arms ? Not sure I’ll use it enough to hate on the stockers or not
 
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I Lean

I Lean

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Utah
There are cheap winches around the internet, and the HF Badlands 12K can be had for $289 pretty regularly.
 
mbryson

mbryson

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I Lean said:
There are cheap winches around the internet, and the HF Badlands 12K can be had for $289 pretty regularly.
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I actually need a winch mounting plate (and an exhaust). Is there an RME exhaust specialist?



We got a wee bit 'o snow but it's looking a lot more trail worthy at this point. I'd like to get a good look at it. It is a little front high but not to bad from what I can tell.
119201
 
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N-Smooth

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
I think you're going to want LCA's before anything else. In my experience putting that much lift on them changes the caster so much that death wobble comes a knocking at your door. Some "lift" or adjustable LCA's will push it back into better caster #'s.
Looks good though and it's amazing how much fun you can have with a lil' TJ. Your kiddos are lucky.
 
mbryson

mbryson

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Bountiful, land of rocks
xj_nate said:
I think you're going to want LCA's before anything else. In my experience putting that much lift on them changes the caster so much that death wobble comes a knocking at your door. Some "lift" or adjustable LCA's will push it back into better caster #'s.
Looks good though and it's amazing how much fun you can have with a lil' TJ. Your kiddos are lucky.
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It went up about 1-1.5" from the spacer lift. We'll see how it runs out? I do have some older Teraflex lower control arms kicking around but am not really a fan of those. I've spent PLENTY of $ on my mission son's Jeep this year (still an exhaust to go). I'd like to stop the bleeding. All for a couple days with the new daughter-in-law to experience a couple mild trails. I'll be driving this and my son/daughter-in-law that just got married will be in my "big" Jeep
 
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