ThatJeepGuy Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Where to start... This MJ of mine has been around for a long time. Its taken on many different parts, pieces, scratches and dents over the years. So to start of my build thread for the forum Id like to share some of the origin of the truck. $500, 4.0 2wd auto. I'm the 2nd owner - and likely to be the last as well. So after DDing the jeep stock for a little while it found its way into a few of my friends barns and or garages over the course of a few years with a lot of slow progress. It found its way onto 10" of lift. D30 and Ford 8.8 with 4.10's, 36" Iroks and yada yada Wheeled a lot with the renix motor and a few other less desirable things and again some slow progress and the better part of 6 months later I completely swapped/updated the MJ's motor,trans and wiring harness to a 1995 standard. Added some custom long arms, 1-ton steering, ARB Bull bar and then swapped out the Dana 30 for a custom trussed Dana 30. Another Fast forward about 3 years So after beating up the body and bed a bit, i had hit the last straw! I had actually ripped both taillights out inside of 2 wheeling trips and couldn't bare to sacrifice any more. So off with the bed and onto the tube work. Its something that had been on my mind for some time and finally went for it. Also revamped the long arms, upgraded the axle's to 4.56 gears and a Grizzly locker out back, swapped out my Badlands winch in favor of a Warn unit. New set of 36" Iroks, some LED's and some fresh paint. Now catching up the present speed: More tube work, big axle upgrades, new set of tires n rims, major revamping before winter ends and the wheeling season starts up again. Need to protect the cab as once this thing flops and messes up a pillar, i feel like its really game over... Custom Narrowed dodge dana 60, 5.13 gears, Yukon Grizzly locker chromoly shafts, mostly Ruffstuff Specialties and Barnes4wd brackets and diff cover. Shaved 14-bolt, 5.13 gears, Yukon Grizzly locker, disc brakes, Barnes4wd cover and perch's. Soo much more to come, Fresh 4.0 motor built w/ Cam, Hydro assist steering, clean re-wire, some floor repair and some more yada yada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody4359 Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJeepGuy Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share Posted January 29, 2016 New long arms in the making And some 37" Irok tire fitment checking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJeepGuy Posted February 1, 2016 Author Share Posted February 1, 2016 Finished the long arms and included a little Gem for those who decide to look into my suspension setup :yes: Making a beefier track bar and then also finishing my steering and knuckles hopefully soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJeepGuy Posted June 18, 2020 Author Share Posted June 18, 2020 Boy I need to update this... stay tuned folks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 update indeed slacker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJeepGuy Posted February 4, 2022 Author Share Posted February 4, 2022 So its been a little while.... goodness I'm horrible at keeping this one up to date! So its been wheeling... And even more wheeling Then i started bending my own tube work And Covid got me so i spent a few days sleeping and doodling... then a week in the garage bending some more tube! Old and New Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted February 4, 2022 Share Posted February 4, 2022 no such thing as too much tube. good to hear the ol' girl is still getting improvements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchamakalit Posted February 4, 2022 Share Posted February 4, 2022 Disclaimer: I'm not an expert and am asking for my education. Would it benefit from some diagonals below the tire carrier to the outside braces? Or is that just unnessecary weight? Something like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWheeler331 Posted February 4, 2022 Share Posted February 4, 2022 I gotta say..... Awesome rig. I bet that thing really wheels. How does the 4.0 do moving all that around? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJeepGuy Posted February 5, 2022 Author Share Posted February 5, 2022 18 hours ago, Pete M said: no such thing as too much tube. good to hear the ol' girl is still getting improvements. Standard for a project jeep... it truly is never finished! especially when your the one bending the tube ;) 12 hours ago, watchamakalit said: Disclaimer: I'm not an expert and am asking for my education. Would it benefit from some diagonals below the tire carrier to the outside braces? Or is that just unnessecary weight? Something like this. reality - I'm winging this stuff... I'm no expert by any means either. When it comes to tube work - and I'm sure others will know what i'm talking about - You seem to spend more time staring at the thing with artificial tubing in place (tape lines, broom handle, long level. imagination is everything) than you do actually cutting, notching and bending the tube. I love following the body lines and adding triangulation into the nodes/joints. Keeping a path of impact in mind and where the load gets spread to idealy minimal dead T-joints. Also - i can't add tubing there because it wouldn't clear the spare tire. 10 hours ago, JWheeler331 said: I gotta say..... Awesome rig. I bet that thing really wheels. How does the 4.0 do moving all that around? It does well enough i suppose but could use more. It lives on 4-low most the time when its not in 2wd. its a healthy rebuilt 4.0 -HO that has a cam for the high end. 5.13 gears and its now on 39.5" sticky Iroks. The sticky tires make things SOO much easier when it comes to the rocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJeepGuy Posted February 5, 2022 Author Share Posted February 5, 2022 I wasnt very nice to the jeep on the last outing late fall of last year... In a series of not necessarily bad decisions I broke the front driveshaft and split my tcase. Then also bound and wrapped the rear axle/leaf springs. Added to that i broke on of the ujoint tabs on the rear yoke so i lost a ujoint cap... surprisingly though i don't think it was this trip because it looked to have been gone for a couple trips based on the surface rust. Also clipped a poorly routed trans cooler rubber line with the mechanical cooling fan and bled the jeep out. So in we go with a brand-used set of MJ leafs with a cut down dodge dakota main leaf added in -middle of the pack. Rebuilt and "straightened" rear driveshaft. Replaced the rear yoke with new and off course a new oil seal while i was in there. Rebuilt and straightened front driveshaft. Tcase guts survived the ordeal - HD built case with wide chain and 6pt planetary - so a fresh case with new bearings, fork pads, seals and front yoke. For far too long this thing had a little cali lean going on that wasn't terrible but i knew it was there. Thankfully its sitting a little more stout now! Immediate future plans are replacing and re-routing my trans cooler lines with steel lines. Some configuration of a traction bar/anti wrap bar to keep these new to me leafs in good shape. I have day dreamded and doodled a rear winch setup a plethora of times soo maybe this summer the time will finally come. I'd also like to utilize the space behind the panels just behind the cab because there is nothing besides open air there - maybe moving the battery and making an access door? Or simply just another storage option for tools/trail gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted February 5, 2022 Share Posted February 5, 2022 Dog party?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJeepGuy Posted February 6, 2022 Author Share Posted February 6, 2022 21 hours ago, MiNi Beast said: Dog party?? Its been some time since i've made it to a Dog Party and as much as id love to go I'm in the middle of rebuilding the motor in the towmobile. Full DOD delete, a good midrange cam, tighter compression aluminum heads and new pistons. Maybe if i sweet talk the wifey i'll get away with some long tube headers as well Between this engine rebuild and also trying to make progress on my J2000 project - i've got a feeling i prolly ought to share a thread here for the truck as well. - Ive had a busy fall/winter season with these 2 and havent been able to get the other jeeps/ projects in the garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchamakalit Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 1 hour ago, ThatJeepGuy said: i've got a feeling i prolly ought to share a thread here for the truck as well. Yes please!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJeepGuy Posted February 6, 2022 Author Share Posted February 6, 2022 48 minutes ago, watchamakalit said: Yes please!!!!! stay tuned - ill do my best to get and keep that one up to day date Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchamakalit Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJeepGuy Posted December 15, 2024 Author Share Posted December 15, 2024 Throw them hoods up! Gonna try to address my short track bar issue While the geometry angle is right - then length of my track bar co.pared to my steering link its rather short. Tentative plan is to offset the frame side track bar mount and then also move the axle side mount to the front of the coil spring or even to the outside of it. Depending on how this goes may even change the long arm setup from a radius arm to a full length 3 link setup. With that comes new axle mounts and also a bit of exhaust work. Not exactly jumping out of my chair to go that far but it's certainly on my mind So we shall see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJeepGuy Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 New mount is underway! Unfortunately there doesn't look to be enough room on the axle end to add the boxed mount where I want it soo just focusing on a new frame side mount for now. Started out by removed the old bracket and track bar. Welded a bit more of the unibody seams here. Did this a few years back to some of the area while at the Badlands offorad park as the unibody was literally falling apart. The more it's tied together the better! Did a little copy and modify with tracing the old mount and factory bolt locations to some leftover 1/4" plate I had. Honestly wanted 3/16's like the prior mount but this was on hand soo it'll do. Made the outside plate wide enough to offset the new mount some, this also gave me enough room to add a 5th mounting bolt. Straight eyeball guestimation here and it landed right where I wanted it New bottom plate covers more of the unibody than previous Thanks to Offroad Anonymous and their fair priced custom bracket selection - offset panhard mount outside the frame. Tacked together and tape lines drawn, it's looking pretty close. Add to that its almost 4" longer than the old setup as well. Just about 3" shy of matching my steering length. New vs old mount new toob and heim joints to come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJeepGuy Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 Let's kick this off! find a true center for reference. $40 Lazer level from the jungle site. Formerly only 28.5" Cut the bar and sleeved it and now we have 32.25 Set it down on the bumps to check clearances and everything looks good! No coil springs Here we have the sleeved old track bar and the to-be-welded new track bar New track bar mount in a mockup weld jig Had some extra time so I poked around a slow startup issue I've been having. Haven't been hearing the fuel pump prime at key turn lately, had me a little worried I'd be dealing with replacing the fuel pump but when I was checking fuses and relays I found a bit of corrosion and after some wiggles the fuel pump was alive again. Not surprising also found corrosion on the distributor can and rotor - rock auto tune up here I come. Planning to weld up the track bar and mount this week, hoping next weekend I can tackle this tune up and some terminal cleaning. Plenty more on my mental to do list soo absolutely more to come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche SS Posted Saturday at 12:22 AM Share Posted Saturday at 12:22 AM Looking good, keep it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJeepGuy Posted Monday at 02:40 PM Author Share Posted Monday at 02:40 PM Mmmhmm track bar and brackets welds Years ago now I did one of these *bleepin jeep* accessory fuse/relay boxes converting a factory unit. It's about time for someone a little cleaner and more compact. The other main things here is I'm retiring the factory plastic battery tray in favor of a Barnes4wd unit and also contemplating revamping the power and ground cables... we shall see how that goes but for now it's just been tidying the engine bay up some re routing some accessory wires, and improving the fitment on this Thor intake More to come Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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