[StoutTJ]

After crawling this forum for months and looking at great builds, advice, reviews, ect... It finally made me pull the trigger and purchase some significant mod's in the last couple months.

To start off with, this is my second jeep and 3rd daily driver/ wheelin rig. I have allready found myself attached to this one much more then any others. I will use this thread to simply post mod's, trail pics, repairs, write ups, and any other cool jeep related stuff I can find!

First day home:

As you can see It had a few mods done to it but was not quite dialed in.
Mod's/spec's when purchased:
- 4.0L, banks header- 87k
-D30 front, D35 rear
-3.73 gears (stock, unbeleivable the guy even drove it like this)
-37" MTR's, (95% tread)
-Procomp rear bumper
- 4" LED flush mount tailights
-6" RC lift (old style) -very bumpy, all bushings shot
-1.25" body lift

As you can see the person I bought it from was not very knowledgeable and used it only as a daily driver considering the fact that he was running a d35 with 37's and 3.73's. I asked if he had any intentions of ever replacing the gears and he said he wasnt aware he had to For a 98 this thing is CLEAN.

Future mod list:
-D44 swap in the rear
-lockrite rear locker
-4.88 Yukon Gears
-Smittybuilt XRC8 & winch plate
-KC slimlite's and windshield mounting brackets
-Procomp front bumper w/ D-rings
-Custom rock sliders
-Smittybuilt G.E.A.R seat covers
- Curry HD tie rod/ drag link combo
-RC 2.2 series shocks
-RC new X-Flex control arms (complete set)
-JKS quicker disconnects
-Magnaflow high flo cat
-Banks Monster muffler
-oil pan, steering box, gas tank skids
-steering box brace


The first weekend and day off with the jeep me and a friend went and played around on a mountain close to home, great day, good weather, I knew it couldnt do a whole lot because to the D35 so we mostly cruised around and had a good day in the woods



The next day after me and some friends headed up to another spot (wildcat mt.) and played around a little bit. again, I had to be very careful with the D35 so i didnt push it much. BUT, I did manage to slide into a tree



After the weekend of minor 4 wheelin I couldnt wait to swap the rear end and get an axle I can rely on to get me home. That was the first thing on the list. Luckily I managed to find a D44 out of a Cherokee that would make for a perfect swap. Sadly I didnt have my camera and dont have any pics. But heres the setup: stripped the axle, Welded up the teraflex mounting kit and completely overhauled the axle with new seals, bearing, gears, locker, diff fluid, ect. Also added new drum brakes.
Now im ready for some wheelin:



I will be updating this very frequently and hope to you guys would like to join me. Enjoy

[Imped]

Very nice. I can't believe how stupid the PO was. You going to keep that much lift? Why not lower it down a bit?

[StoutTJ]

Originally Posted by imped4now

Very nice. I can't believe how stupid the PO was. You going to keep that much lift? Why not lower it down a bit?

Thanks, and Im still contemplating lowering it down a bit, so far im happy with it although a lower COG would be nice, shorter springs maybe?

[Imped]

I would go 4" springs with appropriate length RC 2.2 shocks. That would work nicely and improve your ride a bit, as well. Your pinion angle will need to come down a bit when you do that. You could also order some nicer adj. control arms when you do that. Currie or Rokmen come to mind.

[StoutTJ]

Originally Posted by imped4now

I would go 4" springs with appropriate length RC 2.2 shocks. That would work nicely and improve your ride a bit, as well. Your pinion angle will need to come down a bit when you do that. You could also order some nicer adj. control arms when you do that. Currie or Rokmen come to mind.

Luckily, I ordered and have been waiting for the new RC X-flex adj. control arms that are on backorder till the 10th. I might as well go get moving with it then. I was thinking about running the RE 4.5" springs

[Imped]

Those control arms look very nice. Good choice. The RE 4.5" springs will yield more like 5.5", not much shorter than what you are now. Why not just stick with the nice new RC stuff? I think their 4" springs and 2.2's would work nicely.

[StoutTJ]

Well winter here in oregon had been raining non stop which meant snow on the mountains. Me and another 4-runner went up to Goat mountain and ran a few trails
This was the hole that the 4-runner was BURIED IN!!
Overall good time, nothing to difficult but it was a good time and good experience getting used to only having a rear locker in some pretty heavy snow, in one spot It was very off camber to the left with a pretty intimadating drop off that made for an hairy pass. But man i cant wait to get those JKS quicker disconnects because these old style RC sway bar's with the dual cotter pin design can be a real pain in the *** to hook back up in the snow.. I cant say enough about the XRC8 smittybuilt, was needed on 3 heavy pulls throughout the day and worked like a charm

[batjeep13]

Jeep looks great!

[RVA_TJ06]

it's cool that it has a matching spare and everything...but it's resting on the stock tailgate..

[StoutTJ]

Originally Posted by batjeep13

Jeep looks great!

thanks alot!

[StoutTJ]

Sooo a little update, had some extra time and a little extra cash. Took a drive through town to 4wd parts and picked up some necessities. Also the guys there are awesome, ended up BS'ing with one of the guys about jeeps for a good 45 min. anyways on with some pics!

Needed an extra D-ring, A handy dandy VIAIR air gauge w/ deflater, swooped up the KCslimlite's and painted the covers green, also picked up some smittybuilt grab handles and a smittybuilt black billet aluminum gas cap cover just for good measures.




Came across these bad boys and couldn't resist. Luckily there was a promotion deal through 4wd.com on these seat covers. Buy one seat cover and get a free $45.00 matching hydration pack. Well, 2 seatcovers purchased and 2 free hydration packs.. never know when a good ol camelback strapped to the seat can come in handy.

And couldnt help but pick up the camoflauge hat, saw it at a market on the trip up wheelin and couldnt resist. The best $8.00 ive ever spent!

[StoutTJ]

So today was a great day for me and the jeep. I met up with a friend that had a great shope complete with just about tool and piece of equipment you could imagine. The tube bender was put to use today..

Our goal for the day:
- replace F/R track bar bushings with prothane bushings
- Install RC 2.2 shocks
- Install teraflex shock relocators
- build a custom front stinger and grill hoop


finshing up the install on the 2.2 shocks.. I have to say these things are beefy and look much better than the older RC shocks that im replacing them with.



The only mishap we found is that the shock relocators we thought we were going to have to use ended up being useless since the new RC shocks canister is upside down compared to the old ones. SO if anyone needs these shock relocators let me know they are brand new!!

NOW, onto the fun stuff..






I didnt snap any pics of the track bar bushing install but let me tell you they were a PITA. ended up using a torch and a 20,000 lb press to squeeze out those old rubber bushings. It was a long but very productive day! let me know what you guys think

[crqflier]

nice job on the custom stinger and bar.

[NotURMailman]

^^x2 That looks great!

[StoutTJ]

Originally Posted by les.delancy

^^x2 That looks great!

thanks