what to buy first?????

[SW86]

alright ive got some cash in the bank and looking to upgrade the manche. its bone stock, no bumpers, no "good" offroad tires, no nothing. things i want to do are - 6" long arm lift, 33s, 4.56s, front and rear bumpers (front being a winch), locker in the front, so on and so on. where to start though? I'm sure some of you've had this problem, what was your first upgrade? I'm not really in a BIG hurry but i want my list to be set up for when i start buying. thanks :cheers:

[xjrev10]

I would make sure all the mechanicals of the Jeep are in great working order before you start.

 

I hope you have something else to drive when the work is being done. I would dive in headfirst with the suspension and tires. Then onto lockers and gears. But its all up to you.

[Darren]

Armor it up first thing. Everything else is an easy fix compared to trying to fix unibody damage.

[87Warrior]

Generally I would say armor (skids and bumpers). But, I see you are south so I imagine most of your wheeling is mud, which armor will not help you.

 

Having lifted a few Jeeps, this is what I would do, if I lived in mud country.

- Tow points, front and rear - Sway bar disconnects.

- Axle work. Lock, gear, and upgrade. Yes, the 4.56 will be a tad deep for a stock truck, but not unbearable.

- Lift as desired.

[Pete M]

I'd throw armor on the Jeep first and then buy a separate pair of axles to build up. that makes it simple to swap those in to the truck in a weekend along with the lift.

[Comanche County]

Whatever you do, DO NOT decide what the purpose of the truck will be and build it to that purpose. Don't research, don't plan, and don't develop goals. If you do develop goals, you can always ignore them. :smart:

 

Just start buying any and all parts, stock or not, that you can. It doesn't really matter if you use them or not. Preferably spend your whole paycheck.

 

I'm only saying this because I don't want you to miss out on all the fun of spending a lot of time and money on "stuff" that you will have to change later. Plus, spending two or three times the money doing something the wrong way is much more fulfilling than spending a little and doing it right the first time.

 

I mean,,,jeeez! Who makes a plan,,,its way better to self discover and feel your way through problems. Make yours like mine - 8-10K spent with only about 5K actually on the truck now.

[MjPioneer]

..Hey now, those without goals often get things done as well you know, especially when they keep changing their minds. When I lifted mine I wanted to be a rock crawler, when I decided to get some Super Swampers I wanted to be a bogger, when re geared I wanted it to be a daily driver, when I locked her I wanted to be a rock crawler again, currently I think I'm in another bogger phase.

 

Remember; just because your wife kicks you out of bed and doesn't talk to you for days for spending all of the families money, does not make those new parts work worse then before. She just needs to learn..

[Comanche County]

Sounds like your doing it right to me. We must be related? :D

[88pioneer]

i'm with pete, strong axles are a good start. I would say a at least one locker, 2 would be better. Then it depends on what your doing with it. Rocks= armor, mud= nasty tires

[Automan2164]

Rear axle, front axle beef. If you think about it, our trucks are pretty stout, capable rigs right out of the box. The biggest weak link is the rear axle. Throw a D44 or 8.8 back there, gear it accordingly to what you want to do, and from there, its all pick and choose.

 

Rob L.

[DJM/78]

As much fun as a lift kit or cool bumpers look on your truck , I think its better to have a dependable , working drivetrain . My vote goes to new axles , transfer case upgrade and HO motor upgrades .

456's are a plus and a locker is a must .

 

Most of my vehicles are sleepers , I'd rather be hauling azz in a primer gray bucket with a highly tuned V8 than stuck in the mud with shiny bumpers . Don't cheap out either , go all the way with the important stuff like axles and

you shouldn't have to rebuild them anytime soon . I spent 1500 per axle on a complete build up of each axle . Solid axle shafts , alloy gears , welded and reinforced housings and tubes . After my gears broke in , I found out

how much of a benefit it was to have overbuilt axles with 456's .

 

I've already pulled two Jeeps out of a bad situation , one of them was stuck in mud all the way to the rockers on a 6" lifted XJ with 35"s .