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No-Longer-A-Budget-Build LJ

13K views 69 replies 16 participants last post by  Redrklj 
#1 ·
I've always wanted an LJ but they were too much money new so I held off until this January when I came across one that I really liked. I always wanted an Impact Orange Jeep, especially an LJ and I absolutely had to have a 6 speed.

Anyways a friend emailed me an add for an Impact Orange 2006 Jeep Unlimited w/ a 6 speed for $14,300 with 29000 miles in San Marcos, TX (30 miles north of me) so I went to take a look and bought it that same day.

Here's a few pics of when I brought it home.



Messing around at my friends house.





Anyways I was working for the railroad at the time making good money so I had plans for lifts and tires and gears and lockers, etc, etc, but like many other people I got laid off about two weeks after getting the Jeep :mad: so plans changed.

I've decided to go ahead and spend a little money on it at a time and do little upgrades to it that are cheap. The first thing I did was build a rear bumper for it. The only reason I did this was because I needed to be able to pull a trailer around and didn't want a stupid hitch on it and didn't have the money for a big badass aftermarket bumper so I did what I could.

A friend of mine had some 2X2 tubing at his house that I could have for free cuz it had a lot of surface rust on it but the only problem was that it was thing wall stuff, about 1/8 inch so I thought about it and decided to use it anyways. The trailer I pull is light and I don't pull it on the street unless it's just right down the road no more than 25 mph but mostly I just pull it around on my dad's property. So I build the bumper itself out of the tubing by stacking two pieces of the 2X2 tubing and making a couple small welds down the center. I thought about fully welding it in and grinding it down but that's way too much work and it didn't turn out bad anyways. The hitch I mad ties into the frame as well as the bumper so it's plenty strong for what I need. I also have a basket I hang from the hitch when I go camping and it holds up fine. I didn't paint over one of the welds on the bumper so it sticks out like a sore thumb and the hitch is also removeable but I didn't remove it for the pics. Also it cost me a total of $43.00.







The thing I hated about my LJ was the stupid rake it had. It just looked horrible. I really didn't want to spend the money of a lift quite yet and after looking at some lifted LJ's I noticed that they still weren't level so I decided to take care of that right off the bat. Eventually when money is available i'll lift it up 4 or so inches and make it level with coils but for now some 1 3/4 inch Rubicon Coil spacers will do.

Before





After





I had only one issue with it and that was death wobble. I'm not sure if everyone experiences death wobble with such a small lift but I did and it sucked so today or tomorrow I need to take it in for an alignment.

For now i'm gonna have to leave it like it is. I plan on finding some used 32's, and trimming the fender flares to give the appearance of more lift. Also, my bday is coming up so I asked everyone for ONE Crager Soft 8. More free (free to me) upgrades anyways.
 
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#7 ·
Well i'm having some death wobble issues. Here we go...First after I leveled the front out I took it and got it aligned cuz the death wobble was bad. That didn't fix it. Then I rotated the tires and had them balanced. A little better but still randomly does it. Then I thought about the trac bar bolt on the axle, I had already tightened it down but I wondered if it would do anything if I completely backed the bolt off and retorqued it. It seems to have gone away but when I hit bumps I still feel some wiggle in the steering wheel and now it's pulling to the right!!! WTF!!! So now I might go get it realigned. I'm getting a little irritated at this point.
 
#8 ·
DEATH WOBBLE!!!!!

I figured out that my tie rod ends were worn cuz when I got the Jeep all the ends were dried up and it appeared as if it had never been greased. I greased it but it was too late I suppose. Anyway I figured it was time to upgrade. I purchased the Currie heavy duty steering system. Hopefully it will be here friday but i'm not sure.

Steering modifications were not on my things to do list yet but since it came up I decided to do something about it.
 
#9 ·
I installed the Currie HD steering kit today but I was unable to install the factory steering stabilizer. I'll have to pick up an aftermarket one and get it installed this weekend. The reason I ordered the Currie steering kit is because all my tie rods were wore out so I decded instead of replacing all the factory parts I would just upgrade. Good news is that the deathwobble went away. Even without a steering stabilizer it's all good.
 
#11 ·
I started on the front bumper yesterday, no pics yet but i'll have some soon, hoping to get done in a couple days but i'm probably gonna be busy as hell at work so it might have to wait til this weekend. Super simple design and very light as well. I don't want it to weigh a whole lot since i'm incorporating a fishing pole holder into it as well plus the winch weights alot so I don't want the front end sagging several inches when fully loaded.
 
#12 ·
Looking great man. And a steering stab will do NOTHING for preventing wobbling. If you have wobbling, it's certainly not caused by not having a steering stab. If you don't care about not having one, then don't bother buying one. You should always be able to drive just fine without it and I'll be damned if you can even feel the difference.
 
#15 ·
Looks great and LOVE the color and trans choice but I am a bit bias. The orange ones are pretty rare so keep it forever. I hope the currie steering fixed it for you, that was one of my first major upgrades too. I do not run a ss and have not for almost the entire time Ive been owning mine.
 
#16 ·
It's been a while since I updated this thread. I've done a few things but not much. It's not really a DD anymore so I can afford to take it down for a few weeks at a time and work on it without being in a rush to get it reassembled.

I installed a lift a while back.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/rough-country-4-x-series-install-2768498/

After I installed the lift, I ran into some driveline vibration issues. I went ahead and installed a JB Conversions SYE, as well as a Tom Wood's drive shaft. The shaft ended up being 25.5" long just in case anyone is running the same combo and needs a measurement. I had to install the SYE, measure and then wait for the shaft to be delivered. Luckily, it didn't take long to arrive.

Last night I decided to go ahead and order gears, install kits and a rear locker. I ordered everything from ECGS since they had everything I needed for a great price. Oh, the rear locker I chose is a Yukon Grizzly locker. Pretty similar to a Detroit locker so we'll see how it holds up. I already have a Lock-Rite up front.

I need to get my winch reinstalled, as well. I'm heading to a local park at the end of the month so I have a ton to do before then.



 
#21 ·
I may have mentioned this is other threads but a while back (2012, ~45,000 miles ago) my NSG-370 6 speed starting giving me issues. It had actually been giving me issues for quite sometime and I was about to have to make weekly commutes back in forth from San Antonio to Houston, so something was in need of being done about my transmission issues. I knew that eventually I would be getting my Jeep to where it is now so I wanted to do this once and "right" (the most subjective word in the Jeep world).

All the hardcore guys preach NV4500's and I seriously looked into them, but at the time my Jeep was my only reliable vehicle so I couldn't take it down for that long and risk not finishing in time. If anyone is interested in putting one into their Jeep, it is very possible, but not a simple swap.

Oh, and before I continue, I did consider buying another 6 speed or having mine rebuilt but decided against it. It probably would have been more than sufficient but, at the time, rebuilt NSG-370's were not a cheap solution and I couldn't justify investing that much into it, especially considering the one in my Jeep was a POS, so I wasn't particularly fond of them.

I ruled out the NV3550's pretty quick, as well, considering that most people complained so much about them. Keep in mind, I have no real-world experience with them so I had to base all of my opinions on internet research.

Some how or another I stumbled onto Rockland Standard Gear's website and made notice of their Jeep "Terminator" AX-15. I searched for a few days and came up with limited information on them but what I read about them was good, so I gave them a call. They sold me on it after a few conversations. Good warranty, good price and, best of all, it was brand new, not rebuilt. The order was made.

I don't have a single pic of the install, naturally, but I can tell you that it was very straight forward. They only issue that arose was that the CPS needed to be moved and spaced appropriately from the sensor on the flywheel. Not the biggest issue but it's crucial enough that it necessitates taking a little time to get it right.

Since I didn't have a shifter for a 5 speed, I ordered one up from Advance Adapters. It places the shifter up a little higher than factory but I've grown to like it.

http://www.rsgear.com/products/transmissions/terminator™.aspx
 
#23 ·
I don't have an exact figure but it was under 2k.

Craigslist AX-15 bellhousing - $40

Transmission - $1700ish

Clutch (Luk brand) - $150ish

Shifter - $20

Fluid - $30

That should give you an idea.

Oh, I also went ahead and installed a Novak cable shifter for the transfercase while I was at it.

Something else that I just recalled was that you will need to do something about the reverse lights. The plugs don't match up so I had to swap a connector to make it work.
 
#24 ·
I rarely take pics but I found some from the SYE install.

The new shaft before being slid back into the case.



Woody pic.



Skipped all the silly details and straight to the finale.



This was supposed to be a pic of the lock-ring pliers which were very helpful during the install, but as you can see, it ended up being a pic of the handle. All the same, I picked them up at Sears for $15 so they were well worth the money.



I'll try to be a little more fastidious about taking pics from now on. I tend to forget.
 
#25 ·
I received some goodies in the mail today.



I've been driving it on 35's with the stock 3.73's and it's OK but obviously will be addressed now. Since my speedo is off, I downloaded an app on my phone to avoid speeding through the umpteen-zillion school zones that surround my neighborhood.



The packaging from ECGS was very good. The prices were stellar and the customer service was excellent, as well. I'll do business with them again.

I have some work ahead of me.



I'm really anxious to give this locker a shot. I have a genuine Detroit locker in my old Ford and really like it so I'll have something to compare it to.





I drove out to my friend's house to help him install a new transmission pan on his '12 Cummins and snapped a quick pic. Can't help it, I love the look. I also noticed just how bad the damn transfercase is leaking since the SYE install so that will need attention sooner than later. Yay.



That's it for now. I'm gonna sort through my tools and get stuff in order and come up with a game plan for the gears. I really want to drive it to work on Monday and show it off, so I'm gonna resist tearing it apart just yet.
 
#26 ·
No real update but I received my speedo gear. I'll install it when I fix the leak.



I've been collecting a few of the tools needed for the gear swap. The last time I did it was about 10 years ago at a shop I worked at so I had everything I needed there, so I've had to buy a few tools to complete the swap. No biggie, I like buying tools.

After I swap gears I'm going to sit back and relax for a bit and just enjoy driving it. I have a few club runs I plan to attend and I'll just take it easy and enjoy the experience.

On another note, I'm really having a hard time deciding what to do about the front axle. I don't want to dump tons o' money into the Dana 30 to make it bulletproof or as close to that as possible. This is why I installed a Lock Rite instead of a full locker and haven't ordered fancy cromoly shafts or other components for it. I don't mind regearing it now because I'll be able to recoup some money back if I resell it but I certainly don't want to be out of a lot of money.

What I'm looking at is a Currie JK44 63.5" wide and I'll add spacers in the rear to compensate for the width difference. It's not a more cost-effective option than upgrading the Dana 30 BUT it would be much stronger and give me much more peace of mind when driving to CO and back, among other trips.

More than likely I'll wait until the end of the Summer and save up some more cash and then take the plunge. If something catastrophic happens to the D30, then I'll likely do it sooner.

Oh, I have received quotes from Currie and Dynatrac and I just can't justify the extra expense of the Dynatrac. It's a quality piece for sure, but it's not worth it to me. I figured someone would mention Dynatrac so I wanted to mention that I've already looked into it and ruled it out.
 
#27 ·
I'm not gonna be moving forward with any Dana 30 modifications. Next week I'll be ordering a Currie JK Dana 44. I'm trying to figure out exactly how I'll be ordering it.

I will be ordering just the housing and assembling myself but there's still some things to figure out like bracketry. I can't decide if I should order it with Curries brackets welded on or source out my own brackets and go from there.

There's other things to figure out but I'm excited to be building an axle that *should* provide a more long-lived option versus the lame-o Dana 30 that currently resides under my pile o' Jeep.

This is in no way a cheaper option than building the Dana 30 but it should be worth it in the long run.

Oh, I also need to order a rear trackbar. The bracket from RC didn't perfectly locate axle between the frame rails, and while it's not terribly off, it's enough to irritate me.

In all seriousness, I should have put a little more into the suspension, however, at the time I wan't committed to all the mods that I am now. No big deal, I can always upgrade in the future.

I guess I really should change the title of this thread seeing as how it's not really a budget build anymore.
 
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