My Jeep Makeover.

[tomcat]

irony is a lifted jeep photographed in a mall parking lot....

i am glad you have trail shots of it too:cheers:

looks good

 

[WaXJ_Skier]

irony is a lifted jeep photographed in a mall parking lot....

Isn't that what lifted Jeeps are for?... those mall speed bumps are harsh on the suspension. :gee:

 

[Gravesdiggerxj]

Your 99" looks like mine when it was new. Poppy red huh?
I'd say all of these guys have good suggestions. I almost bought 36" irocs recently, but realized that I'd only get 1/2 the mileage out of them vs. 35" mtr's because I drive it on the street too often

you need a new suspension for those size goals... and axles as well
and you definately need a slip yoke eliminator to eliminate those vibes

looks like he has a sye and is running a front shaft in the rear

I'd say without cutting drastically or sacrificing too much up travel you'll need 6-7 inches of lift to run 36" irocs (bias ones measure 36.8")

4.88 or 5.13 gears
and axles that will handle those tires (and gears, your 8.25" rear will only let you go to 4.56's now)

 

[w0mps]

That's another thing, is the driveshaft situation. My front one I think maybe toast. I checked the U-joints (have to check them again) but they all seem fine, but its making a violent vibration with it in. My rear was out of a WJ I think, and rebuilt by a shaft shop. I'd like to get a new set of shafts, but it would probably be wise to wait until I am at the height I want to be at first, correct?

 

[Gravesdiggerxj]

your rear shaft was probably out of the front of a ZJ as most WJ's had that stupid ball in cup cv flange thing for their front driveshaft and in the rear had a significantly longer center section that was slip yoke style. i.e. without a splined slip section (like yours)

 

[WaXJ_Skier]

That's another thing, is the driveshaft situation. My front one I think maybe toast. I checked the U-joints (have to check them again) but they all seem fine, but its making a violent vibration with it in. My rear was out of a WJ I think, and rebuilt by a shaft shop. I'd like to get a new set of shafts, but it would probably be wise to wait until I am at the height I want to be at first, correct?

Check the grease fitting, I ripped mine off wheeling and didn't notice till it started doing that. I would replace it.

 

[jekyllrider]

Very nice Jeep, also looks alot like mine.

 

[w0mps]

I think I just screwed up my front driveshaft. I was having a bad vibration with it in, so I pulled it. Checked and saw one joint was fubared. Went ahead and took out all of them, took the entire shaft apart. This is where the mistake came in. Grinded all the paint/debris off it with a 4 1/2" sanding wheel (40 grit) until it was bare metal. I hit the weights a few times and it took a slight amount of metal out of them. Will this throw the driveshaft out of balance?

 

[mfascuba]

Probably. I just wire wheeled mine and painted it flat black, did the same with the rear shaft.

 

[w0mps]

Okay, an update. Put the Jeep on 4 jackstands today, and took off all the tires. Went to work on the first wheel well. Decided I might as well start with cleaning up the front two wheel wells, since they look like hell. Took an angle grinder, 40 grit sanding disc and went to town, only got the driver side halfway done, since I started so late today, and the shock out, next comes the coil and then paint. I'm only doing the wheel well, not the entire frame, but I have a few questions. I hit it with some flat black rattle can, and it seems to look good. Is this good enough on the frame, there is zero rust on this side. Any need to prime it or rubberize it at all? Also, took out the control arm, which I think both lowers are bad, and snapped some pictures. Can anyone tell what kind it is from the picture, and what kind of shape it's in? Also for the hell of it, mocked up some 35" Baja Claws to see how the Jeep would look on 35's... looks good! As it sits on the jackstands now looks sweet, I'd like to match that with my new lift height. It is 27" from the ground to the bottom of the rocker, in the center of the truck. Anyone know what lift would bring me to that height?

Come on guys give me some input and idea's on the build!

 

[w0mps]

Okay wheel well painting is underway. Picked up Rustoleum Hammered in a textured black. Looks great I would reccomend this paint to anyone. Little pricey at $6/can but thats coming from my $0.98 flat black lowes special that you have to hit it 6 times for a semi-nice look

Going to finish up the passenger side, pics to follow.

 

[w0mps]

Also, have a new plan in mind as far as suspension. I'm looking at Rubicon Express' 4.5" superflex lift. I thought long and hard about the long arms, and as much as I would like to spend the money and get them, my budget doesn't quite fulfill that, along with springs, steering, gears, etc. I figure I can always upgrade to the TnT setup at a later date, when I have a little more money. I also came to the conclusion, that since I wheel maybe once a month, and daily drive the Jeep, I should knock it down to 33's. What do ya think?

Like I said earlier, the Jeep is in beautiful running condition as far as the engine and drivetrain (aside from the driveshaft situation) and has really no rust. Pretty much when I clean it up, it looks like it was when it was new, besides being bigger. Just want to allow myself to wheel without worrying too much about breaking down and how I am getting home, being in Jersey and having to travel 2-3 hours west to wheel.

 

[w0mps]

Decided on a lift, finished up the painting, started removing suspension.

Okay so I finally made the decision to hold off on the longarms for the time being. I did decide to go with the Rubicon Express 4.5" Superflex kit, with the JKS disconnect and extreme duty tracbar and bracket upgrade. *Should I be okay with the fixed upper and lower control arms, or am I much better off going with the upgraded adjustable lowers and uppers?* I am planning on contacting Jason for the lift, I've heard good things.

So today, I started with the front, removed everything but the UCA's and steering. Finished painting all the wheel wells, and basically cleaned up. Here's a couple of pictures:

 

[Gravesdiggerxj]

while you have those framerails bare... you should weld on some support plates from tempermental racing

 

[NCjeepgirl83]

Re: Decided on a lift, finished up the painting, started removing suspension.

Okay so I finally made the decision to hold off on the longarms for the time being. I did decide to go with the Rubicon Express 4.5" Superflex kit, with the JKS disconnect and extreme duty tracbar and bracket upgrade. *Should I be okay with the fixed upper and lower control arms, or am I much better off going with the upgraded adjustable lowers and uppers?* I am planning on contacting Jason for the lift, I've heard good things.

So today, I started with the front, removed everything but the UCA's and steering. Finished painting all the wheel wells, and basically cleaned up. Here's a couple of pictures:

Wow that looks really good! Nice job!

 

[AndrewXJ]

...

 

[w0mps]

Alright guys, got the lift installed. Went with the Rubicon Express 4.5" SF kit, with adjustable uppers, lowers, and heavy duty tracbar/bracket. Got everything pretty much done, just making some adjustments.

I installed new ball joints after the lift was installed. For some reason my tires look to be leaning inward at the top, but only at certain positions of the Jeep. It looks like the cambers off pretty bad, I roll forward 20ft, it looks perfect. Really can't think of what it is.

Also, the rear is sitting about 1/2"-1" higher on the passenger side. I tried loosening the leaf spring bolts while it was on the ground, then tightening it back up, and that didn't do anything.

Installed my new stock steering and already have two ripped grease boots. One at the pitman arm, and one at the driver side tire on the draglink. I bolted it all up without greasing them first, then shot a little bit in each. Some were taking the grease, some were just shooting back out of the zerk fitting/grease gun end.

I also can't get my steering stabalizer to sit right, at the bushings. They seem to be tweaked quite a bit.

I haven't had an alignment yet, at all. I don't want to waste money on an alignment then have to fix all this afterwards. Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[w0mps]

So like I said, finished the lift the other day, just wanted to share some pictures:

My big doofy exhaust tip (not installed by me) was hitting my shackle, so I decided to just cut it off. Believe it or not, it made the exhaust sound somewhat different, especially inside the truck.

 

[srmitchell]

Looks good, but I actually liked the end caps, and flares on yours.

Love the lift though!

 

[w0mps]

Alright guys an update on the Jeep. Everythings pretty much the same, just got myself a new bumper (Rusty's Pre-Runner) and a Surco rack. Here's a few pics!

Let me know what you think, good and bad!