Hunt's Debadged RME TJ

Owners Name & City- Hunt, Carmel , NY

Make, Model & Year of Vehicle- Jeep, TJ 1997

Engine- 2003 5.3L LM7 from a truck, LS1 Oil Pan, ECU re-flashed for 325 HP and 375 Ft lbs of torque,
Sanderson Headers with 2.5” collectors and 3” exhaust with Magnaflow muffler, Aluminum radiator with 2 speed Taurus electric fan,

Transmission- TH 350 (recently rebuilt and resealed!) with full manual valve body & engine brake, Summit Racing 12” 2000 RPM stall converter, Art Carr shifter, Spal transmission cool, Advanced Adaptors, deep extra capacity aluminum transmission pan,

T-Case- Advanced AdaptorsAtlas II with 4.3 to 1 ratio, 32 spline outputs front and rear, Roark Fab Atlas mount

Axles- Rear- Dana 60 with 40 spline Mark Williams 1.75” shafts, 5.13 gears, spool and disc brakes, Tera HD diff. cover, Width=62”, 1.5” spacers at both wheels, TeraFlex axle bridge truss,
Front- Tera CRD60, Dodge Kingpin Knuckles with chromo shafts, 5.13 gears, ARB locker, 35 spline outers(not chromo) and Warn Premium hubs, crane diff cover, Width=64”, Full hydraulic steering with single-ended ram, PCS pump and Appleton power steering cooler/reservoir/filter, 83” wide from the outside of the tire to the outside of the tire,


Suspension- TeraFlex longarm LCG for an Unlimited Wrangler, Rear coil buckets have been moved back 11”, wheel base is 104”, 3” of suspension lift, 1” body lift under the tub but not under the radiator shell, TeraFlex Dual Rate S/T swaybar, BTF coil mounting kit, Custom from 3 link with the upper link built using lower components, TeraFlex Belly-Up 1/4” t-case skid plate,

Wheels and Tires- 17”x9” Cragar Soft 8 steel black wheels, 5 total, 3” back spacing, 6 on 5.5 lug pattern, Staun internal beadlocks @ 30 psi, 40x13.5x17 Maxxis Creepy Crawlers DOT compound running 6 psi rear and 8 psi in the front,

Winch- Warn M8000

Body Modifications and Protection- BTF Crusher Corner Comp Cut rear quarter panels with LED rear brake lights, BTF Rocker Protection, Highline hood, Ben Hank’s Racing custom front fender raised for more tire clearance, Custom Ben Hank’s Racing roll cage tied to the frame in 6 places, BTF front bumper with d-rings, BTF winch plate,

Favorite Trails- Hell’s Revenge and Hell’s Gate Moab, UT

Other-Summit Machine aluminum fairlead (I need to get a synthetic rope or switch to a roller fairlead), Orbial battery, Corbeau Ultra SS seats tied to the roll cage, RCI seat harnesses, Custom 15 gallon fuel cell behind the rear seat built by Ben at Alliance Metal Works in SLC with a Napa P5000 pump, Bestop Super Top with soft doors, Bestop Bikini Top, AutoMeter white face Hotrod style gauges,
 

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Hunt

Active Member
Location
Carmel, NY
Sold the 48'er. It worked well as storage until I got settled in here in CA but that thing was just too big. It was HUGE. Got out of it and into a 32' Brown's Motorsports wide body. By far the nicest trailer I have ever owned.
 

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Hunt

Active Member
Location
Carmel, NY
The jeep is at a point in it's life that I need to either sell it or do a major overhaul. Not that there is anything wrong with it in it's current configuration. Just simply that it does not fit the type of vehicle I would like at this point in time. I have been gathering parts for some time now and it's time to start reveling the new direction.

Parts on hand for the back:
A second TJ tub that will be used to stretch the overall length to an LJ. The goal is to be able to still run a standard LJ top and doors.
A set of 55" Ruffstuff trailing arms that I will be welding up soon.
The back will get a set of 16x2.5" remote reservoir coilovers and a set of 18x2.5" remote reservoir bypasses.
A 32 gallon tank Fuel Safe cell will replace the aluminum cell. I sold the AL one to my brother for his build.
Artec back half frame transitions
New bump cans with double pinch bolts (Don't ever buy the solid cans or only single pinch bolt versions!)
I have a ton of left over filters, -AN fittings and other misc stuff from other builds.

For the front:
16x2.5" remote reservoir coilovers and a set of 16x2.5" remote reservoir bypasses
Artec High Steer arms
Bronze bushing kit
Oil cooler


GenRight is literally about 2 miles from my house. Hopefully I can get a deal on a set of blank LJ Aluminum tub guards. I have never liked the rear wheel cut outs from an ascetics point of view. Once everything is in place a nice well formed wheel opening will be in order.

Have not completely hashed out the steering yet. For now I will leave it full hydro but I am really leaning toward putting the box back in it for some street use. I have most of the components to put the AC back in it as well. A lot of little things will get cleaned up and redone along the way. I want to move the trans shifter to a more within reach position as well as extend the Atlas shifters. I will build a consul, switch plate and mount the GPS, Race Radio and Intercom permanently. A lot will have to change under the hood to accommodate the shocks. This will not be quick or simple its all things I have been wanting to do and now I have a small work area to take it on.

PS: Everything is always for sale.
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
Wow, that's a LOT of work! But an LJ tub, top & doors would be so nice. Sounds like you want to drive it on the road & trail more? Would a quality double-ended full hydro setup work well? Having a trans with OD would be nice too.
 

Hunt

Active Member
Location
Carmel, NY
A double ended ram may work but still not "legally". OD would be nice but the only way I would do it is with a 4l80e and at this point I am opening up a big enough can of worms.
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
Yeah, on the road a steering box is pretty damn comforting. Maybe the 4L80E can come later on. :)

Shortly after a built the TJ, we were in Moab in the tow rig running 'scenic' trails and saw 2 Jeeps driving back into town at 60 MPH on the Hwy 191... a TJ and LJ, both on 40's and slung low, with hydro assist. At that point I wished I had gone with a steering box and assist, it looked like they had been out on the trails all day and were coming back into town w/o tow rigs. I was jealous instantly.
 

Hunt

Active Member
Location
Carmel, NY
My buddy I co drive for at KOH has been doing some awesome stuff with the 4l80E trans. He has all the weak points figured out after burning the one up at race mile 7. Now even has paddle shifting figured out with all the programming.

I have gone back and forth on taking the TJ parts and building a buggy. I don't have the budget or time to race and I like creature comforts! At the same time I would love to more effectively prerun and look cool at the mall parking lot. There are so may desert roads near my house here in CA I kind of want a more traditional desert PRERUNNER. Trying to make one car do many things well.
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
I think you can make it work, it would be cool to see that TJ as a desert bomber! Perhaps smaller tires and a bit more up-travel?

The 4L80E would be a nice change, eventually. Sounds like you know the right people!
 

Bart

Registered User
Location
Arm Utah
Yeah, on the road a steering box is pretty damn comforting. Maybe the 4L80E can come later on. :)

Shortly after a built the TJ, we were in Moab in the tow rig running 'scenic' trails and saw 2 Jeeps driving back into town at 60 MPH on the Hwy 191... a TJ and LJ, both on 40's and slung low, with hydro assist. At that point I wished I had gone with a steering box and assist, it looked like they had been out on the trails all day and were coming back into town w/o tow rigs. I was jealous instantly.

Glad to read this. I'm struggling with the hydro assist on my rig now, but want to keep it so I can feel comfortable driving down the road at 60 to 70 mph.
 

UFAB

Well-Known Member
Location
Lehi Ut
Running properly setup full hydro at 60mph can be rather cozy.

Single ended ram or double ended ram options work, although the single ended ram turns one way faster than the other.
 

skippy

Pretend Fabricator
Location
Tooele
Glad to read this. I'm struggling with the hydro assist on my rig now, but want to keep it so I can feel comfortable driving down the road at 60 to 70 mph.

My old YJ handled Great at 65mph with full hydro... Did it a couple times after running Pritchett and just hopped on the highway back into town
 
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