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1M views 7K replies 494 participants last post by  MO2500 
#1 ·
Project REDLYNER: Ultra4 Race Jeep Driven Daily...

EDIT: VillagePhotos has crashed, taken their customers money and lost all of their pictures. This means roughly 1,000 pictures in this thread are now dead links. I switched to a new server and pictures start back on page 99. SORRY!!

Pics start back:
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f22/project-redlyner-rock-crawler-driven-daily-1046789/index99.html

This is way late in the game to start a build thread, so it is not a from scratch build.

I'll try to give a little back ground on the jeep and the build so far-

Number one, I have one of the most understanding wives out there. Not only does she support most of the mods, but she talks me into higher quality parts when I want to normally go cheap.

Number two, I bought this TJ when I lived in Colorado and immediately got addicted to rocks. But more importantly, addicted to the slick Rock in Moab. Every single mod on this rig was built or added with Moab trails in mind. So to keep this thread from being too wordy, I'll start throwing out some pics.

I bought the Jeep with a Rubicon Express 3.5" lift and 33"s. It had never been offroad according to the previous owner and after I inspected it, I was pretty convinced he was telling the truth. Not a spec of dirt in anything underneath the rig and not a scratch to be found. I think I got a deal.

This is a multi-stage build. Each stage represented taking to the next level of trail difficulty.

Pictures were not that great until like 2009 when we got a nice camera...

Here is a short recap of stage 1:

Day I brought it home back in 2006- I almost broke the Dana 35 because of the amount of Armor All on it:



Stage one was getting this thing so I could recover myself and be recovered. Also need to protect the easiest areas to damage- so the short list was:

Warn Rock Sliders
Warn Front Bumber
Warn Winch Mount
Tow Hooks
ARB Shackles
Warn M8000 Winch
Auburn Front Selectable Locker and install kit
Uniden CB
Kilby Gas Tank Skid

The 4 Wheel Parts show and local 4x4 board made it pretty easy to get some smoking deals:



And on went the first round of mods:

Bumper and winch:


Gas tank off, new tank on:





With the armor on, CB in and Auburn Locker front locker installed, it was time to go play in Moab:

 
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#436 ·
The jeep is back together and ready for the next run! We are thinking a snow run up in Mountain City, TN after Christmas. Should be cold and miserable.... :D

I photoshopped some B to C pillar bars in (one of the next mods) and whited out the rear Hi-lines. The wife was thinking the all white would be a cleaner look. I'm 50/50, not sure which direction to go. I'm planning on some TNT Hi-line fronts in the next month or so and thought when they were being painted I could have the rears painted too.

Opinions?



 
#438 ·
I like the B to C pillars but I would keep the Hi-line black, unless you extend the rockers to the wheel well, having that little bit of white extend down looks kinda odd to me, just my :2c:
 
#441 ·
Damn Jay! QUIT STEALING ALL MY IDEAS!!!

I actually have bar cut & notched for the cage in the same spots.

I personally like the black better. Looks meaner. Though the white does have a certain "modified-yet-stockish" sort of look to it. And since I'm going black on mine and I like the look better, I say go white since you'll look different from me that way. :laugh:
 
#449 ·
Though the white does have a certain "modified-yet-stockish" sort of look to it.
Josh- I'm actually trying to go away from the "stock'ish" look, but also keep it as streetable as possible since Melody drives it in the summer. My inspiration has been shifted towards the KOH rigs. Most people probably won't see it in mine, but ever so slowly, I am building it up based on the track that they run (also keeping my yearly trips to Moab in mind), just not quite at their speed (where most damage occurs imho).

Keeping that in mind (KOH style), I'm right where I want to be on specific:

  • Lift height
  • Belly clearance
  • Beadlocks
  • Tires
  • Seats
  • Harnesses
  • Armor
Needs to continue that direction:

  • Recovery - synthetic winch line
  • Cage tie-ins and more tubing
  • Hi-line fronts
  • Coilovers
  • Wheelbase: Front axle moved forward about 2" to get to roughly 103"
  • 1 Ton axles (but I need to keep it streetable, so weight is keeps me leaning towards the 44's.

Ill be interested in your current tubes if you decide on the highlines.
I will list them for sale in this thread first, then open it up to the masses. I'll take TNT's price and knock off a good bit so someone gets a deal!

Rainbow.....:teehee:
:rofl: I thought you would have recommended chrome!

Where do you go in Mountain City? Callanente?
Yep, still waiting on some snow to fall though.

Highlines on that thing will be badass. Are you keeping your current lift height?
It is already hi-lined in the rear, so I need the fronts to match. Probably staying with the 3.5" lift for now. I'm sure I'll move into larger tires at some point that will fill up the wheel well.

Since you actually use your jeep, I would leave corners black. Easy touch up and looks tough. Lovin your build.
Thanks, I build it to break it essentially.
 
#448 ·
I would go longarms in the front maybe. Hyline Phantoms or 3'' flare?????? Def sell your old fenders to compensate the cost of those sexy beasts. How far is Mountain City from greenville, sc? Id love to see your rig in person and wheel with yall. Im no where near as wild build as you but I could do other trails.
 
#451 ·
damn i know i'm late but srry to hear bout the axle shaft, and i would def. keep it black, but i'm a black truck/car/bike/jeep kinda guy... although by bike i mean my 21 speed...
 
#453 ·
I've seen several done that way too, but they always look a little off. Plus you have to deal with that gap on the bottom. Not totally out of the question, but if I can swing it, I would rather get a purpose built set.

Also want to mention Gerald at SAVVY- once again providing top notch service. My Curry tie-rod is en route to you right now. Thanks for the help!!
 
#454 ·
Sweet! Just won a set of Rubicon speaker pods!

I'm getting some cage work done here this week or next andI ripped up my speaker bar a couple of weeks ago (laid the TJ sliiiightly on it's side), so I needed to do something about my speaker bar.

$49 makes these a steal and they come with a warranty!

 
#456 ·
Getting to work on my speaker and cage upgrades this weekend. Speakers arrived on Friday, then Saturday I headed out to MarsFab Offroad 4x4 shop for some welding work.

Since I can't weld (yet) I depend on the pros to help me out. Chris (owner of MarsFab) did unbelieveable TIG welding work that has certainly earned my business in the future!

Progress so far:

Getting ready for stripping-



Chris testing for length-



More grinding on the notch-



Tacked into place, starting to take shape!



Welded up! Man, the TIG welds come out clean!



Bars welded in, ready for paint!



So today I will be sanding down, priming, and hopefully painting the rear of the cage. Then wire the new speakers and lights from the pods and we should be all set!

I love how the new cage additions turned out.

:cheers:
 
#459 ·
Duuuuude this project sucks. The paint is impossible to work with. Plus, this spray can is like a flame thrower and I think I got paint EVERYWHERE. :thumbdown:

I spent about an hour sanding and cleaning, another hour painting, and then a third hour with a Magic Eraser cleaning up overspray. But, the white is now on! To be honest, I need a one more full can to cover up some thin areas, but at $24 per can, I think I would rather spend the cash elsewhere. However, it did come out to a perfect body match.

So tomorrow, I'll slap the black paint on the B pillar, then wet sand the white to a smooth finish. Clean up all of the paint dust and what not, then on to the speakers!

 
#460 ·
Man i just went through your whole thread and have to say your attention to detail(or OCD:) is EXCELLENT!
I find myself wondering what your gonna do on the front. I know you said a stretch is in order but with mid arms mabey?

Also you are a luck man, wife, job, and dog wise...

How do you like the tires on the H3? Kumho KL271's right??? How do they do on the road wear wise? Also do they have good traction wheelin wise??

Keep up the good work and have fun man!!!
 
#463 ·
Man i just went through your whole thread and have to say your attention to detail(or OCD:) is EXCELLENT!
I find myself wondering what your gonna do on the front.

I know you said a stretch is in order but with mid arms mabey?

How do you like the tires on the H3? Kumho KL271's right??? How do they do on the road wear wise? Also do they have good traction wheelin wise??
:rofl:

The wife complains about the OCD daily. This latest cage project has been a pain. The paint needs another coat, but like I mentioned earlier, I think I'm going to let the sun hit it for awhile before retaping and masking everything.

You are correct, the H3 is running the KLMs and they have been a pretty good tire. I would guess that I could get 30,000 to 40,000 miles out of them based off of the wear and mileage I have now. They seem to be pretty good offroad, super flexy when aired down too. One of the biggest things I have noticed about them is that my wife loves driving through the mud and they never seem to cake up.

the new bars look really good man
Looks great one of the top well built rigs on here! :thumbsup::thumbsup:
Thanks guys!

While at Marsfab we discovered that I need to replace my passenger side u-joint and think we found out why I broke my axle shaft: My driver side wheel bearing is completely shot. When we lift up the Jeep, you could wiggle the tire in any direction you wanted. It is basically comepltely blown and the consensus was with that kind of movement and good wheel spin, my axle shaft was doomed to fail.

So, I'll probably be picking up some this afternoon. :thumbdown:. These are the "no fun" mods. Blah, but they have to be done.
 
#464 ·
If your bearing was that shot, how did you not feel that while driving it? If anything on my jeep is out of whack I feel it.
 
#466 ·
I've only been driving it to the gym and back recently, so in the 6 mile round trip, it hasn't been that bad. I trailer it to the trails and it is 4 wheel drive before it even leaves the trailer, so again, no real opportunity (as of lately) to really feel it.

You can feel it now though! Any one know any coupon codes for Advanced Auto or Autozone?
 
#474 ·
Simply BEAUTIFUL :2thumbsup:

Also I noticed the Auburn flag in the background. Did you go to school there or ever live around there?
Nice pic:rofl:

Very nice man like the cage!

Are you an auburn fan, did you go there?
Ha! I only break out the truck nuts for trail runs.

The wife and I both graduated from Auburn. We're super fans and are trying to get to the BCS title game, but ticket prices are over $1,000 each for the nose bleeds. Soooo that's probably not happening.
 
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