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One More Beer....I mean time / Mild TJ build (updated with final pics)

45K views 283 replies 63 participants last post by  itchy 
#1 · (Edited)
Well.....I'll save all the bullshit and lies for Pirate 4X4. Picked this nice little 97 TJ up last October to fix and sell. It needed a new gearbox that the owner supplied with the sale. Quick fix and ship it down the road. And after it sat in my garage a few weeks I started drinkin and thinkin:beerbang: Like I needed another project. I wasnt going to do a build thread till this was 99% done, but that may be another 2 yrs. so what the hell.



My plans for the jeep were to keep very mild. 35"-37" tire, dana 44 & 8.8, link it with c/o in the front, stock springs out back, stretch it, and blah, blah, blah.


Picked up a few brackets from Ballistic Fab for the suspension. Started with the 8.8. My initial plans were to build everything to save some extra cash, but its just not worth it to me to make all these brackets, for the price they sell for. After what seemed like 5 days of grinding, I got started on the axle. Bent up the truss out of 1.75 x .120 wall DOM, and made a couple little braces for the ends out of 3/16 plate. Hopefully it doesnt shoot off the first time my foot slips off the clutch.:sonicjay:



You guy's have any problems with the welding, you can take it up with this guy. He's got a temper though.















 
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#37 · (Edited)
Just worried about the shifters being cobbled up. I want to make sure that I can use some kind of cable shifter, or a twin stick set up so the shifter comes thru the stock position, if possible......I havent done any research on the swap yet, so at this point the only thing I know about the swap is that it will work behind my AX-15 with a clocking ring.


I know you used a flipped 300 in yours, but its been a while since I browsed thru your build. What did you end up using for the shifters? Did you make your parts, or use a kit?
 
#39 ·
Midwest control cable shifters from the D300 thread on Pirate. Made my mounts and modified the stock shifter housing to bring them up through the stock center console. Let me know what you want pictures of. I doubled the seals up after polishing the rails and it still leaks pretty badly. I'd run a 231 with HD sye and the posi lock do hicky to run 2wd low if I had it to do over. Let me know what you want pictures or more information on. :thumb:
 
#38 ·
Northwest Fabrication has a pretty nice cable shifter kit for little more money than it'd cost to piece together your own. I was gonna go that route with a flipped 300 but I'm just gonna throw an SYE on the 231 and run that for now.
 
#48 ·
tell the truth, you stuck MR. Potato head in you ass and that's why he packin heat.

Fuck the haters. I like it.
X2 looks like shit. :finger:

Ill hold back the comments, get this done sooner than two years so we can go wheeling. Looks good so far
:sonicjay:

the last one was almost as far as this one and got parted out. half of it is sittin in my garage and STILL not done!!! :sonicjay:

nice work as always Keith. may see you out on the trail yet this year. i do have a four banger YJ on 33's i can wheel. LOL!
 
#49 ·
Hahah...Yeah Creepy We'll get'em done man. And this one is way farther along smart ass. It has a.....Yeah your right, damn it.

I just finished the exhaust, cold air intake, and Superchips Flashpaq tuner on the wifes JK tonight, and wow what a difference. Gonna start the lift tomorrow after work. So at least we'll have something to wheel this year, cause you know I change my mind about things:sonicjay:

 

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#53 ·
Pretty sure they're for the JK, not the TJ. Should be fine for what they have in store for that:thumb:
 
#58 ·
Yeah, he's not to bad when he's not on the sauce.:sonicjay:
Dont expect much of thoes tires, they suck on the street!



THEY ARE LOUD

Another 5 months and ill have a good excuse to replace mine.
Loud? I cant hear shit over the exhaust, and cold air intake. Thats shits loud.
very nice :thumb: it reminds me I need to finish mine lol
:sonicjay:
Hey now, I resemble that remark too:beerbang:
Hell ya.....:beerbang:
 
#59 ·
Finished up the lift on the wifes JK this weekend. Overall I'm happy with the way it turned out. Lift went on with out any complications, but all this new computerized stuff is a pain in the ass. The E.S.P. was going crazy, guess I didnt get the wheel straight enough. Messed around with that for a little while, and finally got it to stop. Still have to get it to an allignment shop, and put the Warn bumpers, and winch on.

The biggest difference with this was the exhaust, programer, and intake. You could really feel a difference. That is until I stuck a 35" tire on it. Here's a list of parts the JK got.

Rough Country 3.5" lift
17X9 Eagle 197 Wheels
35X12.50X17 Elderado Mud Claws
AEM Cold Air Intake
SuperChips Flashpaq
Gibson Cat back exhaust





Wanted to leave it like this, but she wasnt diggin it:(






 
#62 ·
Looks Great!
Thanks guy's. Maybe my wife will let me drive it.:sonicjay:

Back to mine tomorrow. Should have the cage finished this week, and then have to tear it all back apart to finish welding everything. This is the part I hate. You work on these things for what seems like forever, and just when they seem to come together and look like you have something, you have to take it all back apart. :(
 
#65 ·
Finished up the tube work for the cage last week, and havin been trying to get it welded up all week, but things just arent going as planned. Had to finish up the wifes JK, and get it out of the garage. Finally got the bumpers back from the blaster, and got them painted and installed this weekend. Its done, and out of my hair......for now, anyway.

Cage is 90% done, just need to do some final welding, and get it out and painted. Here's what I have so far. This is my first complete cage build, so there are some thing that I would do a little different next time, but thats hindsight I guess.










Went thru the dash with the A pillars, but wish I would have just used the cage stansions fron GenRight. Not going to be able to use the factory soft top hardware.
























 
#70 ·
Looks great! Why isn't the soft top gonna work now? I've seen lots of people build very similar cages with no issues running the factory hardware, just some slight trimming of the forwardmost window surround mount to clear the bend radius at the A pillar
 
#71 ·
Too many bends for me.........:sonicjay:

No, I just didnt get the bend tight enough at the windshield for the surround to work. I'll figure something out. Just seemed easier with the stansions, cause you only had the one bend to deal with, instead of the two. I'm still gettin the hang of this whole angles and degree's thing.
 
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