I'm a total newb but have been driving my 92 YJ for 12 years and plan on keeping it alive forever. I just recently got some 33's from a coworker and am scheduled to get a 3.5" BDS lift on 6/2/09. Eventually I want to go bigger with the tires but...Rome wasn't built in a day and I want to make sure I'm doing things in the correct order. This brings me to the 8.8 axle swap. After doing a bunch of research I've decided that I'm want to go with the 8.8 over the D44. Bear in mind that right now, my jeep is pretty much stock. I dropped a new engine in it a year ago so it runs like a champ but...I still feel humiliated anytime I pull up to the local 4x4 shop. Needless to say, I'm very excited to finally be doing mods to my ride.
Here are my plans.
3.5" BDS Suspension lift with 33's
8.8, 31 spline axle swap and lockers. (not sure what kind of lockers yet)
Front D30 upgrade (guy at the shop says this upgrade will make the D30 just as good as a D44)
1-2 inch Body lift
Get some 35's
Armor (bumpers and such)
Winch
rack on top for my boat
maybe a paint job but...I actually don't mind it looking like hell because then it gets broken into less. Unfortunately I live in a rough part of town. Planning on a kill switch so at least the jeep itself won't get stolen AGAIN.
That's...about all I have for now. At this point, I would love some advice. I'm not a rich guy so each modification needs to count. I'm not a mechanic so any major work will most likely be done at the 4x4 place. I'd still like to start buying parts so I am working towards my goals.
I live in Devner. Anyone know where I can pick up a good 97 Explorer 8.8, 31 spline 4.10(ratio not super important, I'll probably go up to 4.56 anyway but 4.10 would be good) I'm also starting to ask around about which lockers I should go with.
I'm not going to wheel much until I get this axle upgrade done after hearing some horror stories about the D35's.
Anyway....this is only my 2nd post here so....go easy on me. I'm really looking forward to some input so I can start working on my master plan. I'm going to post pics once I start actually getting some stuff done.
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YJ Build Plan
