Jeep Enthusiast Forums banner

My 5.2 build, the free Jeep.

68K views 413 replies 45 participants last post by  Myusername1674 
#1 ·
Here's my Jeep build, nothing to crazy, and for the most part nothing that hasn't been done before. It's a student build as i myself am in school. It is also a student build since I have had to learn everything that I have done to it. So with that in mind please, read on.

The first big post was from 2012 when I first moved the thread over from a different site

Just an fyi, this thread is picture heavy! I sorta like taking pictures and documenting stuff, makes me feel like I'm doing something. :highfive:

All that aside here's my Jeep when I first got her and then with the current setup




My Jeep:
5.2L V8
NP231
Lockright front
Super 35 w/ Detroit Rear
4.5 front lift, Adjustable CA's
RE front double sheer trackbar
5ish rear, Adjustable CA's
JKS rear trackbar
Trimmed
35" Goodyear Wrangler MT/R w/ Kevlar
Black Soft 8's
RC winch plate+homemade tube front bumper
Smittybilt XRC
KOR d-ring shackles front
Trailer hitch d-ring rear
Other Stuff below [not an exhaustive list, I've done other minor cosmetic things]

Stuff
Cowl Snorkel
Exhaust Snorkel
Bumper Fascia Removed, Painted Metal
Front Windows Tinted
Floor Bedline
NP249>NP231 Swap
Trimming, Front Bumper
Lock Right Locker
Trimmed Fenders
4.5 lift
Disconnects
CB Mount
Doorless ZJ Mod Write Up
RC Winch plate and Winch
Bedlined lower quarter
Super 35
Goodyear Wrangler MT/R w/ Kevlar
Front Bumper

----------------------------------------------------------------


Wheeling Trips
First Prentice Cooper Trip
Second Prentice Cooper Trip
Third Prentice Cooper Trip
Video of 3rd Prentice
Fourth Prentice Cooper Trip
AOP.1
AOP.2

----------------------------------------------------------------

Misc:
High flow cat exhaust sound/nighttime mudding
Old Photoshoot
Messin' Around
Wasted $
My Buddy got a Jeep
Throwback wheeling
 
See less See more
2
#38 ·
So my local park flooded today, so I decided I'd drive through it! Sadly the gate to cross the bridge was locked and there was no way around, or else I would have gone further into the park. Here's the only pic I got, this is from the bridge, looking towards the street. The water came up probably a foot and a half I'd say, it came up to the bottom of my rocker panels at a few deeper parts.



My buddy was driving that green tacoma in the background, he hopped in to ride with me across the flooded part.


On the bright side, the water was able to wash some of the mud off of my axles and undercarriage :2thumbsup:
 
#39 ·
Nice flooding, parking lot near us flooded a few weeks back so we tied a boogie board to the trailer hitch and had a blast surfing the lot.
 
#56 ·
Finally fixed my windows, for now. We'll see if any other wires turn up broken. Here's my rant about it.

Power Window Pains

Finally found the wire after over looking it several times, spliced it up!

Capped it, taped it and now I have windows again :highfive:

I also got my new Kor radiator support in since I bent the old one. I'll throw that thing on their tomorrow.
 
#58 ·
Wasted $

Been wasting money on the stupid dana 35. Oh well, I just need her back on the street.

I'm replacing wheel bearings and pinion bearings. Not a big job, but i've spread the task out waay too long. She's been sitting like this in my garage for a few weeks now.



Hopefully will have her on all fours soon.
 
#60 ·
Thanks man!
I spray painted my stock waffle rims in my garage, the end product wasn't great honestly, but it helped some. I'd suggest plastidipping your rims if you want to go black, that way you can remove it if you change your mind.

As for the LEDs in the cab I actually bought lights from autozone and spliced them in, however, I would suggest instead buying led bulbs off of superbrightleds.com (this is for a 95, not sure about other years) as the 'splice' way is less reliable, plus the bulbs off that site are around 5x brighter.

If you wanna do the dashboard lights look read this thread
 
#61 ·
Finally back on the street. No more vibes on the highway which is great.

It's funny, I went in to the rear axle to replace the seal, ended up replacing wheel bearings and pinion bearings. Now that everything's back together, the seal still leaks. :thumbdown: :brickwall: :thumbdown:

I'm thinking about upgrading, I imagine it'd be way easier to replace parts on an axle that's not under the Jeep, plus I can take my time fixing the axle and still drive the Jeep till it's done. Probably will just do a d44 from a newer zj over the summer. LSD anyone? (not that lsd) :highfive:
 
#62 ·
I really dig the d44a in my V8's, but the LSD is supposed to be **** on bigger tires. I'd look for an open and lunch it.

Open and LSD I can follow built TJ's with my little 2.5" OME and 31's all day long.
 
#65 ·
You kno, now that you mention it I've heard that too, though I've also heard street driving a locked rear end isn't advised either. Maybe I'll just run a regular 44...

I know this may be a stupid, rookie sort of question, but I am new to automotive all together and didn't have a dad around to teach me vehicles, so do you mind telling me how you painted the badges? My body is red and I want my badges black, also, I'm getting black headlights and tail lights, and want to copy what you did to your flood lights and black them out, could you also tell me how you did that?
As far as the emblems, if I were you I'd plastidip them .

As far as the lights, you can use plastip smoke, or buy a vinyl tint off of ebay. The vinyl is hard to do without getting bubbles thought just fyi. I went with vinyl and it worked out OK, I've just been too lazy to go back and do them any better.
 
#63 ·
I know this may be a stupid, rookie sort of question, but I am new to automotive all together and didn't have a dad around to teach me vehicles, so do you mind telling me how you painted the badges? My body is red and I want my badges black, also, I'm getting black headlights and tail lights, and want to copy what you did to your flood lights and black them out, could you also tell me how you did that?
 
#64 ·
Sorry Andrew paint is my forte haha. You have to tape the emblems off before you can paint them. Autozone sells everything you need. PM me your number and I will send you pictures of the process and tell you step by step how to:D
 
#66 ·
Yeh locked on the street can suck, something is up with the lsd out back in my niner and when it locks up in a turn it gets really weird.

I've never had a problem with the lsd in the green one though, and it helps with offroad, that and having a v8 :D
 
#67 ·
Who knows I may do it anyways. :laugh: We'll see.

If i can lock my rear then get me some more lift and 33"s. I'll be unstoppable :2thumbsup: hahah (or not, but still better then open/open on 31"s.) :rofl:

And yes, the v8's are fantastic!

Sorta on topic, my buddy's lowered integra got wrecked, he's getting around 5k insurance and is thinking about buying a cheap zj and building it up! I've convinced him zj's are best, now we just need to find him a good one before he changes his mind. :highfive:
 
#68 ·
As much as I love my zj, I can't wait to start tearing into the teggy we bought so my girlfriend could learn stick before her BRZ comes in.

33's locked would be great, d44a will run that all day.
 
#69 ·
i really like the build so far! im still learning things as i go along so i wanna ask a question: didnt a factory v8 ZJ come with a D44a? I'm just curious on the matter because i have a 5.2L and i'm pretty convinced that i have the 44 not the 35 but then again i could be wrong.
 
#72 ·
My Buddy got a Jeep!



Thanks man! And yeah as to your question GCjunkie93 answered ya already. :laugh: :thumbsup:

So if any of you happened to have read the rest of this thread you may have seen the picture with the nose of an Integra in it. Well if you did then this story will make sense. My buddy, who owned the Integra, got rear ended, totalling his teg. He got 6 grand for it and decided to buy a Jeep! :D

He got a 98 zj with the 5.2, he's planning to build it very similarly to mine. Anyways just thought I'd mention his Jeep.

Couple pics of our Jeeps.


 
#79 ·
Sorry... im working on getting around to it. Hopefully I will start on it today! :D
 
#74 ·
Shoulda had a niner.

Dueling jeeps, I like it. First one to 37's wins.
 
#76 ·
Shoulda had a niner.
That's what I told him, but he said he'd rather use the extra $ to get parts.

Dueling jeeps, I like it. First one to 37's wins.
I wish I had that money, my plans are 33s Hahah gonna be this summer hopefully.

X2. Haha no cheating either. Tons, long arms. The works. Ill by the winner a membership lol
Hahahah i'll just sawzall and drive, see how far I get without breaking anything. :thumbsup:
 
#82 ·
Alright fella's, so I'm hoping for some input/advice. I know I'm going to lift my Jeep more, but I can't decide how much I should go. I would like to run 33"s with a 44 rear locked. I'm pretty sure I can get away with that on a 4.5 inch kit. But if i do the 4.5 kit the right way (getting all adjustable arms), I could spend a few hundred more and go long arms front and adjustable short rear. That would put me at 5ish inches.

Anybody want to talk to me about patience being a virtue so I can save up more $?? :laugh:

Oh well, maybe I'll just work on the silver Jeep with that jumping pig ^^ and keep saving.

Pic of the old girl
 
#83 ·
If you're going to go long arms go long arms, no sense in lifting it twice.

Do it right though, IRO at the least, clayton or custom at best.

You could also do front LA and rear shorts until you have the dosh for full LA.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top