I thought I would start another build thread. I deleted my first after life getting busy and just not being able to keep up with it. Well here I am again and this time to stay. I bought the jeep in September of 08. The body was super clean and there was very little rust. I paid 5k for it. It is a 1991 6 cylinder 4.0. It had 147,000 miles on it when I bought it. It was mostly stock except for the
4" procomp lift and the 31" procomp m/ts. I bought the jeep for a daily driver/weekend warrior. My plans for the jeep are to go SOA with 35's, 4.56s gearing, Rear 8.8 with ARB air locker, and front aussie locker. I plan on trying to keep the fenders. I plan on making my front and rear bumpers as well with fabbing some sort of rock sliders that will still look good with the fenders. I was hoping to start my SOA project this winter and have it finished by next summer. Well my engine is on its way out and I have had some other unexpected issues which have put the SOA plans to the back seat. For now I plan on replacing the engine with a remmaned and then start saving again for the SOA. Well here are the pictures of the progress so far
Here is the jeep when I bought it
After owning the jeep For about 4 months I noticed I had huge issues with the steering. It would track straight and then all of a sudden want to go one way or I would turn a corner and after turning the corner I would turn the wheel back straight but it would still try to corner so I would have to turn the opposite way to go straight.... I ended up taking it to a trusted guy at a local front end shop. He told me the ball joints were shot, my steering shaft u joints were shot, my tie rod ends were done, my steering stabalizer was done and I needed to adress the panhard bar. I brought the jeep home and started saving. I decided to go with the rugged ridge HD steering setup. I also decided to throw in an Old Man Emu steering stabalizer. Both of these I have been more than happy with. A lot of people have told me the Rugged ridge has a week set up on the passenger tre and if you break it your screwed but if you just cary a spare like you should its really not that big of a deal. Well at the same time I decided to do all this work to the front axle I decided I should go ahead and throw in the aussie locker. The aussie has been one of the best mods by far. As for the panhard bar I removed it as long as the one in the rear. I also talked my Grandma into buying me some Rough Country quick disconnects. The only thing I regret not doing is replacing the inner seals and the axle U joints :brickwall: I plan on doing this however when I have the gears installed. I also replaced the u bolt plates. Here are the pics
Yes I put the bolt on the u bolt plate...I just figured I should snap a picture or I would forget but rest assured guys.:laugh:
I also stripped the axle down to metal and repainted it with some Rustoleum Hammered
The install with the Aussie was super easy. The thing that took the longest was finding one of the little springs my dad dropped:laugh:
Passenger Tre
Comparison of Stock vs Rugged Ridge
After getting the steering addressed I enjoyed the jeep for a little and then got rite back into it. I decided to tackle the front bumper. So with the help of my dad tack welding and a family friend completing the welding I did it. I started with some 5x3x1/4" steel. More pictures
Everything Removed
Back of the clevis mounts
The end capped it goes straight for 1" then curves towards the center for the remaining 2"s
It test fitted on the jeep and me standing next to the jeep
While building it I decided it would be best to go ahead and build a winch plate and fair lead reinforcer. Well I also decided to ask my parents and Grandma to pitch in and help me buy a XRC8 winch for my graduation present
Also once I got the bumper mounted My dad and myself didn't like the gap inbetween the fender and the bumper so we decided to add some bends. I think they turned out well
4" procomp lift and the 31" procomp m/ts. I bought the jeep for a daily driver/weekend warrior. My plans for the jeep are to go SOA with 35's, 4.56s gearing, Rear 8.8 with ARB air locker, and front aussie locker. I plan on trying to keep the fenders. I plan on making my front and rear bumpers as well with fabbing some sort of rock sliders that will still look good with the fenders. I was hoping to start my SOA project this winter and have it finished by next summer. Well my engine is on its way out and I have had some other unexpected issues which have put the SOA plans to the back seat. For now I plan on replacing the engine with a remmaned and then start saving again for the SOA. Well here are the pictures of the progress so far
Here is the jeep when I bought it
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
After owning the jeep For about 4 months I noticed I had huge issues with the steering. It would track straight and then all of a sudden want to go one way or I would turn a corner and after turning the corner I would turn the wheel back straight but it would still try to corner so I would have to turn the opposite way to go straight.... I ended up taking it to a trusted guy at a local front end shop. He told me the ball joints were shot, my steering shaft u joints were shot, my tie rod ends were done, my steering stabalizer was done and I needed to adress the panhard bar. I brought the jeep home and started saving. I decided to go with the rugged ridge HD steering setup. I also decided to throw in an Old Man Emu steering stabalizer. Both of these I have been more than happy with. A lot of people have told me the Rugged ridge has a week set up on the passenger tre and if you break it your screwed but if you just cary a spare like you should its really not that big of a deal. Well at the same time I decided to do all this work to the front axle I decided I should go ahead and throw in the aussie locker. The aussie has been one of the best mods by far. As for the panhard bar I removed it as long as the one in the rear. I also talked my Grandma into buying me some Rough Country quick disconnects. The only thing I regret not doing is replacing the inner seals and the axle U joints :brickwall: I plan on doing this however when I have the gears installed. I also replaced the u bolt plates. Here are the pics
Yes I put the bolt on the u bolt plate...I just figured I should snap a picture or I would forget but rest assured guys.:laugh:
I also stripped the axle down to metal and repainted it with some Rustoleum Hammered
The install with the Aussie was super easy. The thing that took the longest was finding one of the little springs my dad dropped:laugh:
Passenger Tre
Comparison of Stock vs Rugged Ridge
After getting the steering addressed I enjoyed the jeep for a little and then got rite back into it. I decided to tackle the front bumper. So with the help of my dad tack welding and a family friend completing the welding I did it. I started with some 5x3x1/4" steel. More pictures
Everything Removed
Back of the clevis mounts
The end capped it goes straight for 1" then curves towards the center for the remaining 2"s
It test fitted on the jeep and me standing next to the jeep
While building it I decided it would be best to go ahead and build a winch plate and fair lead reinforcer. Well I also decided to ask my parents and Grandma to pitch in and help me buy a XRC8 winch for my graduation present
Also once I got the bumper mounted My dad and myself didn't like the gap inbetween the fender and the bumper so we decided to add some bends. I think they turned out well