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the UTwj Build and other crap

121K views 1K replies 55 participants last post by  Diggerdale440 
#1 ·
well I bought this Jeep as my third (5th if you count my wifes 2). I had a 96 XJ whe I was in highschool that I put a skyjacker 3'' lift and 31's on. It was very basic but I immediately fell in love with it and love beating the crap out of it. Sometime during my years at the University of Tennessee I sold it and bought a 97 ZJ. Being a poor collee kid limited my funds so the ZJ stayed stock until about 3 years ago when it was totaled. For some reason I went and bought a charger that I drove for about 2 years. Terible decision. I just realized I am a JEEP guy and had to get one back. When I began looking for what I wanted to build I new I wanted it to look like a street queen but perform like a real rock crawler. I began searching forums for ideas and settled on the WJ. It was a luxury vehicle but still had solid axles. I like the WK but could bring my self to go IFS and new I didnt have the experience to do a solid axle swap (maybe one day!). I was really inpired by THEKSMITH's jeep I had seen on here. Anyways, I never really intended to make a build thread but now I just kinda want a way to keep track of all I do and maybe help inspire someone else like this forum did for me. I am NO mechanic and had almost ZERO experience working on cars before this. I bought my WJ with the intent to build it myself and learn as I do it. My goal will be to do as much as I feel I can on my own and hopefully build a pretty bad crawler one day that can still win some local car shows ;) All right, lets get to it. Like I said, i didnt intend to do this when I started working on this thing about a year ago. This first post will mostly just be pictures of what all I have done to this point so I can pick it up from here. Hope you like it. All input is welcome.
 
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#2 ·
the first few things I dont even have good pics of. 1st mod was d-shackle in the rear hitch. I was walking through o'reilys and saw it sitting all by itself on the shelf for $20 bucks. I have never seen one in an autoparts store since. The next thing I picked up was the ROLA rack. I kicked around the idea of the Yakima load warrior for a while but just decided I think the low profile of the ROLA is the best look for the WJ. it rolls well with its lines. I got this thing of roofracks.com or something like that for $180 bucks. When I placed the order the upgraded me to rush shipping for free for some reason. Anyways, I ordered it on a Wednesday morning and it was on my door when I got home from work Thursday. Best online shopping experience ever. Up next was the muffler delete. I had planned on the Clayton lift at this point and new I needed a small muffler so I bought a Flowmaster Hushpower II. Once I cut the old muffler off though, I liked the sound s much I just left it. Threw on a turn down and called it a day.
 
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#3 ·
Up next was some Husky cargo liners to keep my carpets in good condition. This jeep was CLEAN when I bought it and wanted it to stay that way. I always managed to wear holes in my cars floormats so I had to get away from the cloth ones. They match well and are easy to clean. I think the next was the addition on the Spyder halos and fog lights. I am still to this day debating going back to OEM lights. I like the halos but they just dont say JEEP when you look at them. They may be for sale soon. The fogs lasted about a month before I did the lift and removed the bumper. That was a waste of money. I think I did the K&N around this time too. After that came DVD headrests. I picked them up online for CHEAP. they are leather (match really well) and came with two remotes, two wireless headphones and game controllers. You can watch different movies on each at the same time. This was a must for my son who couldnt go anywhere without Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It was a mod for him but for $200 bucks it was a steal.
 
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#4 · (Edited)
Finally came the lift. It was a hell of an install. Took about 9 hours total. Had my brother in law and his dad help. They are experience welders and really helped the process along. My brotherand law and I work for company that produced road construction equipment. He is the service manager so we have access to the shop and every tool under the sun. Definately helped out. Only had a few picks I took at work a few days after the install
 

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#5 ·
next was the split seats. I always liked the luxury SUVs with the captains chairs. I was considering trying to put stock WJ front seats in the rear but it was looking impossible due to the rise in the floor. I threw the idea out here and was pointed to gcjeepin's thread. He had just cut the rear bench seat then used a Voyager(i believe) console. I hadnt thought about doing a center console but really like his idea so I deiced to make my own. It is about 80% finished at this point. The console has just been on the back burner for a while. I am going to skin it in black diamond plate to match the husky liners pattern. I used a junkyard ZJ armrest to top it off. I flipped it around backwards so the cup holders can be used. I am also building storage in it. The seats can still lay flat.
 

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#6 · (Edited)
took it and did just a little test flex. still fully connected but can tell I will need to trim some so that was next
 

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#7 ·
the cut was pretty straight forward. I decided where I wanted the final body line to be then taped off about 1/4'' below that line. Once you make he cut, this extra 1/4'' will be rolled under. I used a cutoff wheel to make the cut and some lock pliars to help roll the sheet metal. Once done i used a small hammer to help beat down a few spots that stood out and didnt flow well. I also made some relief cuts on the pinch weld and hammered it as flat as I could get it. Once you roll the fender, the paint is going to crack. I sanded it down only as much as I had to up into the fender then used duplicolor to match it back up. I think it came out pretty good for my first attempt a cutting on a car. I was nervous until I made the first cut. Then it was smooth sailing. When I stop being lazy Ill do the rears. I gotta install my aussie soon so mabe Ill do it then
 

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#8 ·
got room for 35's now!

pinch weld beat down
 

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#9 ·
little wheeling during lunch break. I had also gotten tired of the 100% black look. When I bought it, it had the OEM chrom grille inserts. One of the first things I had done was pop those out and paint them black. So one weekend I busted out the sand paper and let the chrome shine back through. I think it looks much classier. FYI, always use plasti-dip if you even THINK you may want to take something off down the road. Hours of sanding tought me that lesson
 

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#10 · (Edited)
G2 diff cover for the 30 as well as gear oil and TC oil change
 

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#11 ·
looks good man, I like that rear seat modification!

Tighten the jam nut on the track bar in that last pic though! Without having the jam nut tight the threads will start to wear/stretch and cause slop.
 
#27 ·
looks good man, I like that rear seat modification!

Tighten the jam nut on the track bar in that last pic though! Without having the jam nut tight the threads will start to wear/stretch and cause slop.
thanks...it was alot of work to get the leather back looking right but I am glad I did it. its isnt something you see done often. And yes, i was doing some other work on the tracbar during those pics. i got it back tight. thanks for the heads up though
 
#12 ·
got bored on a saturday and decided to get my steering stabilizer up out of the way. I hadnt bashed it yet but knew it was only a matter of time so i went ahead and did it. My junk yard didnt have any WJ so I snagged some c-clamps off of a ZJ drag link and used it to tie the SS into the track bar
 

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#13 ·
you can see in the last pic one of the lower retainers I made. I also have uppers just like it. basically just a "L" shaped piece of 1/4'' plate bolted to upper perch area to keep springs from falling out
 
#14 ·
wheelin at WOOLY's. if any of yall watch Xtreme4x4 on the weekends on SPIKE tv they film alot of their trail runs out here. Its a fun place
 

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#26 ·
Love your WJ!

I agree 100% on the chrome grille inserts, and if you decide to sell your headlights, let me no!
if I go that way you got dibs
 
#17 · (Edited)
forgot to throwin some pics of the sliders. I bought some JCR stage II's. They are BEEFY and a PITA to install....all i had at the house at the time was a littlw bottle jack. balancing these on that little jack to do the install was quite difficult but I got it done and am very pleased with how they look as well as how they were designed. They should take anything I can throw at them
 

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#18 ·
just a few shots of the jeeps. My WJ and the wifes WK overland. I tried some of that turtle wax Black Ice or whatever its called that is specifically for black vehicles....it works GREAT!
 

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#19 ·
finally pulled the trigger on Kevins OffRoad Clayton specific TC skid...although its so freaking big its almost a belly skid. Man!!!! wht a PITA. I broke 6!!! drill bits trying to putthat thing on. It is 60lbs of 1/4'' steel. I have no worries now about putting the full weight of the jeep on it. This was mid install...i havnt taken final pics yet. Once it got it on it was rattling on th Cat. I had to take it back down and wrap the Cat in exhaust wrap to keep it from hitting metal on metal. It sounded terrible to the point it was kind of embarassing.
 

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#20 ·
Merry Christmas!!!! ok, well maybe its JULY but it felt like Christmas
 

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#21 ·
also did the rear sway bar delete in prep for the BTF cover and sold my IRO rear links. I can barely notice the difference on road but it really lets that rear 4-link flex like it should
 
#25 ·
thanks brother...always good to see grands around nashville!!! its all freakin JK's around here with NO WAVE LOVE
 
#23 · (Edited)
The wife hated the look of the Jeep with the bumper cover off. I was hoping she would hate it so much shedbreak down and buy me an LSR. it almost worked! had it not been for school loans, oh well. maybe next year. Once her NP masters at Vandy is done she can buy me all sorts of Jeep stuff. Anyways, to keep her happy and the money flowing ;) I cut the bumper up to match the fenders. I also cut our the Fog light holders. I had taken the washer bottle out a while back. I have a ZJ one in the garage to need to get stuffed in there.
 

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#24 ·
well that about brings it up to date. Im sure ive left out a few things but thats alright. Ill try to keep up with it from here. Hopefully be doing the aussie install soon. Maybe ill do a quick write up on the install for those who havnt done it. I know I had a hard time finding a 44a specific install thread.....layta
 
#28 ·
Just picked up a new Bilstein steering stabilizer....my Tenneco was shot. gonna start saving for a new HD steering set up. Im starting to get to much shimmy so instead of just changing out TRE's ill take the opportunity to upgrade everything. possibly OTK, not sure yet
 
#29 ·
got the bilstein 5100 SS thrown on...now the decision for KOR's heavy duty tie-rod/drag link with Mood TRE's or RuffStuff 1 ton OTK steering.....
 

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#31 ·
thanks man...ive had a few people ask about it. like I said its made for the JK. Bilstein doesnt make a WJ specific one, but its compressed length is just over 13'' (just slightly longer than the WJ one). where I have it mounted I have about 14.5'' so even at full lock it wont bottom out. I REALLY wanted the JK FOX one but its way too long
 
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