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'03 TJ Build - Project Raskull

24K views 89 replies 29 participants last post by  Barrows 
#1 · (Edited)
Well here's the start to my build up. I've had my jeep for two years or so now and have put a lot of money into it already, but it's still not *drastically* different from stock. I speak namely of a full size lift which I don't have yet.

Follow along as I build my jeep!

edit1: All the images in this write-up can be found on my site along with lots of other stuff like modification write-ups, trip reports, general tech and a big gallery with videos too.
http://myjeeptj.com

edit2: If you want a full stats sheet on my jeep: Without prices on my site or with prices on my club's "Garage" section.

edit3: If you enjoyed the thread, please "CRAWL" it!
 
#2 ·
The day I brought it home. It had around 67,000 Km on it, hard top only, Eagle Alloy aluminum rims on 4 corners (no spare), and General A/T2 tires (4). It's a 5 speed, 4.0L.




 
#3 · (Edited)
I started quick on the modifications. A couple of my brother's good friends already had TJs and were into wheeling, and my brother also bought a jeep roughly a week after I bought mine.

We bought CB radios first. We both got the Cobra 75WX handheld unit, and followed the write-up on 4x4xplor.com on installing it.


I mated it with a Cobra External speaker which I think is a MUST. The sound quality and volume are much much better.


I made my own antenna mount from a small piece of angle iron bolted to the bottom two bolts of the tire carrier. I still run this set up today, but I switched it to a stainless version because the rust was killing my ground, resulting in a barely working CB.




I also painted the headlight bezels black.
 
#4 · (Edited)
We went on our first wheeling trip to some trails we grew up on as kids with motorbikes and trikes. The area is out near Caroline, Alberta.. my grandparents have a cabin out there.
I quickly found out that a/t tires do very poorly in the mud, but it was still a blast.

You can see the full gallery for this trip here: Clicky!



 
#5 · (Edited)
The stock lighting sucked really bad so I added some KCs. I put them in the stock fog light location because my jeep didn't come with fog lights.





I later ditched the yellow smiley covers in favour of the black rock guards. I also added rugged ridge rock guards to my headlights and turn markers. I also bought some white markers and a Hella H4 headlight conversion. Not too much to show for all this, but here's a good shot of all the guards in place with the white markers.


Continuing on with small mods that change the looks of the jeep, I added a leather shift boot from a '05+. IT was a pretty basic mod to do.
The gallery of this is found here: Clicky!
 
#6 · (Edited)
I added LiteDOTs to the rear of my jeep because I didn't feel like ripping the stock ones off on the trail, and I really liked the idea of having an integrated back-up light instead of having it separate. I also had a little accident wheeling the jeep sometime ago and decided it would be a good time to buy a 5th matching wheel and tire.
The gallery for the lights can be found here: Clicky!


The lack of a soft top was killing me... so I bought a Viking!






By this point I had really wheeled the piss out of my jeep. I had nearly rolled it several times, and it had taken me places I didn't think were possible. All on A/T tires.. I was wanting more though. My brother had BFG Mud terrains in a 31" on his jeep from when he bought it, and found a great deal on some Swamper TSL Bias tires in a 31". He bought those and gave me a killer deal on his old tires. I also installed a 1.75" budget boost within a day or so.

The tires were worn a lot more than my A/T tires, but they still performed *much* better on the trail. My brother had them mounted white out, and I figured I would prefer them the other way so I got them mounted black lettering out.





I dropped my transfer case skid a tiny bit with a couple washers, due to a small vibration issue I had.
Write-up here: Clicky!
 
#7 · (Edited)
The same week I installed a cheap quick disconnect system for my front swaybar.
Write-up here: Clicky!


My good friend Kyle used to work at a powder coating shop in town. Him and I both removed our door and windshield hinges, sanded them up and powder coated them. The result was a rust-less hinge, it's very durable, and looks great. This is honestly one of my favourite mods.. I really like the look and they are holding up extremely well to the severe beatings I give them off road. Especially the ones on the windshield which get beat up by trees in tight trails almost every trip.
Write-up here: Clicky!




It's incredible what a couple inches of clearance and better tires will do. It literally transformed my jeep off-road, and I have used it much like this for pretty much every wheeling trip I have been on since then. I've had the same tires/lift now for about a year. Shortly after the coil spacer lift and tires I went out to the Cadomin area in Alberta, and we wheeled right to the top of Cadomin Mountain. This trip to this day stands out as the most amazing trip I have been on. The amazing scary hill climbs, the scenery, the trails that are on the edge of a cliff face.. everything. I urge you check out my trip report of that day here: Clicky!
Here's a couple shots from the trip:

This shot is a picture of Cadomin Mountain itself. The really tough hill climb we came up if on the adjacent mountain, then there is a trail that runs along the edge of it all the way to Cadomin Mountain. From there you go up a couple tough hill climbs and an extremely scary off camber section to get right to the tip. We opted out of the last 100 feet of off camber scariness and walked to the tip. The previous day one of the guys in out group almost rolled on the off camber section, and it likely would have killed him and his passengers.. The tumble down the mountain would not be fun.
 
#22 ·
My good friend Kyle used to work at a powder coating shop in town. Him and I both removed our door and windshield hinges, sanded them up and powder coated them. The result was a rust-less hinge, it's very durable, and looks great. This is honestly one of my favourite mods.. I really like the look and they are holding up extremely well to the severe beatings I give them off road. Especially the ones on the windshield which get beat up by trees in tight trails almost every trip.
What if I skip the green tape in the hinges powdercoating process ? Will the doors not align anymore? I want to do this soon because it looks like **** right now my hinges are rusted everywhere.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I have done a number of small things to the jeep over the last couple years I haven't mentioned..

- I removed all my carpets because they don't smell good after being wet and muddy so many times.
- I removed all the back seat belts and seat because I don't ever use them.
- I removed all the milk jugs of course.
- I dented in my tail gate on a trail.. I was attempting for the a mud hole and needed to back out of it for a second attempt. I couldn't see out my rear window because it was too dirty, and the guy behind me had already pulled up right behind me. No damage to his jeep though.

I added a winch last summer as well. I found a real cheap champion used from a guy in one of the 4x4 clubs I am in. It works great and has served me well. My only gripe is that the controller is cheap and I'm going to have to rewire it so the buttons work perfectly, and it's deathly slow.

Once I get money sunk into other major modifications like a larger lift, etc I will likely look for a new winch simply for the faster line speeds.

These pictures are all from a trip a couple weeks ago out in the Prairie Creek area in Alberta. AMAZING trail, and one of the funnest times I've ever had wheeling. Gallery and trip report for it is here: Clicky!


You can see in this last picture that the remote let me down. It wouldn't make a good enough contact so I couldn't get it to spool in. This was the last part of the trail so I just wrapped it up so I could look at it at home once the jeep was clean.

 
#9 ·
That's pretty much all there is for now. I haven't gotten to all the good stuff yet, so stay tuned. I have a set of rockers I am building at work that are nearing completion, and after that I will be starting work on some bumpers!

Here's a teaser shot of the front bumper I plan to build:
 
#12 ·
Yeah I really like it.. I like the way it works, and looks.. but I do have a few major gripes with it, and viking is replacing it for me when they get back into production. I hope the new versions will be better. My biggest issue is that is fits too tight. So tight that the plastic pieces that fit under the edging of the tub are pulling upward out of the tub, which is deforming those plastic runners. It's also so tight that the rear zippers are wrecking themselves from doin up the back window.
 
#13 ·
Just a few other things I forgot.. I've replaced the starter twice (damned things don't like water), the water pump (bad seal, was leaking) and brakes front and rear.
 
#15 ·
I love that last trail shot. Most pictures never really capture how cool an obstacle is, that one looks awsome. Nice build.
 
#19 ·
$695 US plus shipping.. ended up costing me about $800 CDN to get it here with the bestop no-drill header. That doesn't include the $140 or so I spend on door surrounds.
 
#21 ·
A quick update: As it turns out; it's not my winch controller.

I took the controller apart and it looked dry and brand new inside. No rust or corrosion at all. I hooked up my controller while it was apart, and it clicks and gets a signal to the winch just fine. The motor on the winch is dead or something electrical inside.

I called the guy I bought the winch from last year, and he is a helpful guy. He is looking for his receipt for it, and is willing to make a trip to Costco with me to return it. Even if he's unable to find the receipt, they can look it up on his account. I'll then put another $50 or so towards a Champion 9500, or maybe take my money and get a Warn.. depending on funds.

Damn you champion! It's likely due to the fact that it's been buried in water and mud too many times to count.
 
#23 ·
When I got my little lift, 31 MT’s and front sway bar disconnect I was amazed in the difference of performance on the trails. You’re really enjoying your Jeep too and getting great use out of it. Your pics are awesome (especially last page’s hill descent), and the Jeep looks great. Well Done!
 
#25 ·
Installed a Detroit EZ-locker in the rear of my jeep, it does donuts crazy easy on gravel now.

Can't wait to test it out on the trail.. pics soon.

The install took about 2 1/2 hours.. but I'm pretty sure I could do it in 1 1/2 or less.
 
#26 ·
Here's a couple pictures of the locker install.. nothing much to look at really.




The rest of the images from the install are here.

Edit: Keep an eye on the site in the next couple days as I'll be doing an install write-up on it!
 
#27 ·
Nicely done my friend, we are lucky to have easy access to goat trails and cut lines in Alberta.
 
#30 ·
Absolutely man! The sheer amount of trails out by Rocky Mountain House is just... :drool:

May i ask where you got the door surrounds for the soft top?
We are talking about the big plastic pieces that surround the door that the windows attach to right?
The same ones Jeep quoted me 300$ to replace... per side lol!
Yep those are the ones. I got them from a local shop called Take it Offroad. It's run by a guy in our club. They were $140 or so when I got them, but I guess they can no longer get them from bestop, and they have gone up in price to about $300. They are 100% IDENTICAL to the stock ones.. so one company is making them for the other..

Nice jeep! Like everyone else I love that last trail pic. If i can suggest one thing it would be an in cab remote system for the winch. IF the remote is bad or the connections are dirty and we then i'ld look into it. I didn't think it would be a big deal but put one in just cause all my friends said how great they were. I love it! And it was really easy to do also. I got a winch install kit from the 12volt guy and put in new rocker switches in the OEM location. Its an easy upgrade and is water proof with a little silicone.
12voltguy:
http://12voltguy.com/web/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=6&Itemid=43

Rocker switches:
https://www.otrattw.com/index.htm

Edit: just saw that the winch is bad and not the remote. Thats what i get for not reading the whole post before posting. It's still a good easy mod.
Yea that is one mod I have on "the list" for sure. I bought the kit made for the Warn 9.5ti for by brother's winch for x-mas. He absolutely loves it, so I need one now too.
 
#29 ·
Nice jeep! Like everyone else I love that last trail pic. If i can suggest one thing it would be an in cab remote system for the winch. IF the remote is bad or the connections are dirty and we then i'ld look into it. I didn't think it would be a big deal but put one in just cause all my friends said how great they were. I love it! And it was really easy to do also. I got a winch install kit from the 12volt guy and put in new rocker switches in the OEM location. Its an easy upgrade and is water proof with a little silicone.
12voltguy:
http://12voltguy.com/web/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=6&Itemid=43

Rocker switches:
https://www.otrattw.com/index.htm

Edit: just saw that the winch is bad and not the remote. Thats what i get for not reading the whole post before posting. It's still a good easy mod.
 
#34 · (Edited)
And there it is! On the site there is sizes for most common resolutions.

http://myjeeptj.com/2008/06/15/desktop-background-2



edit: Oh, and I cranked the intensity and contrast a little bit so it's really "vibrant" now in comparison to the photo. Makes it look much nicer.
 
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