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Joined the TJ club, lets build it real quick! LS/tons/dblr/stretch

85CUCVKRAWLER

85CUCVKRAWLER

Active Member
Location
Tooele
So most people here know me from big green K5. Everyone seems it love to see it on the trail. I built it to fulfill a specific purpose back when i lived in VA. Which was to throw all my camping gear, wife, kid and dog into it and drive to the trail system we loved in WV. Well, now that we are on our third summer in UT, ive grown excessively exhausted dealing with it. Its really heavy, wide, tall, doesnt flex super gooder, did i mention its heavy? My plan was to keep this until i could afford a full tube chassis.

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I broke it at Delta, then two weeks later broke it again at Vernal and i finally had enough. I searched on facebook marketplace and low and behold, my horrible wish has been answered. A project TJ, with a mountain of spare parts popped up for sale.

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1997 TJ with a good 4 cyl, AX5, 231/241 doubler (which will all be for sale), JK rubicon axles, pair of sway-a-way 2.5" coilovers, ADS 2.125 air shocks, TG full hydro assist, etc. It also has an LJ 3-link front and single triangulated 4-link rear suspension system that i cant identify (looks early metalcloak or motobilt?) which has the wheel base at 110".

Further plans are to use the Motobilt TJ rear back half kit, Motobilt TJ front bumper, Motobilt TJ fuel cell, Barnes 4WD axle trusses, and the Poison Spyder TJ pre-bent roll cage kit.

Plan is to swap the LS engine, trans, doubler setup, and axles into the TJ and modify the LJ suspension to work. Also to do what I should have done when i built the K5, which is strip out all of the factory wiring and build back circuits as i want/need. The LS wire harness is already standalone and the SM465 and doubler setup doesnt need no stinking speed inputs! So lets jump into this...
 
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Hickey

Hickey

Burn-barrel enthusiast
Supporting Member
Location
Grantsville, Utah
So, you’re pulling the drivetrain from the K5 for this build? Sounds like a good plan. TJ’s and YJ’s have a crazy amount of quality aftermarket DIY support these days. I particularly like that you’re dumping the OEM TJ wiring.
 
85CUCVKRAWLER

85CUCVKRAWLER

Active Member
Location
Tooele
Hickey said:
So, you’re pulling the drivetrain from the K5 for this build? Sounds like a good plan. TJ’s and YJ’s have a crazy amount of quality aftermarket DIY support these days. I particularly like that you’re dumping the OEM TJ wiring.
Click to expand...

Yeah, so 5.3L LS, SM465, NWF eco box, NP205 drivetrain. Then the Chevy KP Dana 60 and 14 bolt axles. I also plan to keep my ancient Trail Ready beadlocks and the 38.5" Toyo tires as i like the setup.
 
Hickey

Hickey

Burn-barrel enthusiast
Supporting Member
Location
Grantsville, Utah
85CUCVKRAWLER said:
Yeah, so 5.3L LS, SM465, NWF eco box, NP205 drivetrain. Then the Chevy KP Dana 60 and 14 bolt axles. I also plan to keep my ancient Trail Ready beadlocks and the 38.5" Toyo tires as i like the setup.
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with that at all. I liked the two K5’s I had way back in the day, but I had the same issues as you.
 
UNSTUCK

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
Have you had good success running the 5.3 without a vss? Did it take a bunch of tuning to get it to run right? I’ve always ran a vss because of the tendency of the engine stalling when coasting to a stop.
 
85CUCVKRAWLER

85CUCVKRAWLER

Active Member
Location
Tooele
UNSTUCK said:
Have you had good success running the 5.3 without a vss? Did it take a bunch of tuning to get it to run right? I’ve always ran a vss because of the tendency of the engine stalling when coasting to a stop.
Click to expand...
I havent had any issues like that, but this thing has been basically trail only since i swapped it in. I also had the ECM flashed to remove everything from the loop but the two upstream O2 sensors.
 
UNSTUCK

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
I think if you do higher speed runs/streets you will want to run one. Probably not a big deal with slow trail stuff.
 
P

Pile of parts

Well-Known Member
Location
South Jordan
This will be a cool build! I'll be watching. (And waiting to wheel with you)

I'm just going to chime in on my, relatively, new experience with a 5.3 and old school manual. My engine is from an '01 and my transmission/t-case are T18/Atlas 4 speed. I'm not running a VSS. Trails have been fine, as well as street driving. No stalling issues. I was told the earlier engines usually did fine with no VSS and manual. So far, that has been the case. With the tune on the computer to manual, it just thinks it's always in gear.
 
UNSTUCK

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
Depends on your driving style I think. Coming down an off ramp and downshifting with the clutch engaged as much as possible vs coasting down the off ramp in neutral and engine at low idle.
 
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