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GTX's low rider TJ build

122K views 687 replies 82 participants last post by  offroader80 
#1 ·
GTX's low rider TJ build - now 4500 Ultra4 wannabe

***updated Dec 2015 - This has turned into a nearly full blown 4500 Ultra4 wannabe build!

The 1/2 ton version of the build is complete (I broke my D30 in half at the dunes) and moving onto one tons, see page 39 for 1 ton Eaton hybrid
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For the fastest updates, follow me on Instagram: @jeeps4Trevin

I'm nearly finished with the first "phase" of things. I know a few of my buddies on here have wanted to see it so I'm posting up.

First up, background-

'97 TJ Sport
4.0/AX-15/NP231
LP D30 with 3.55s
D35 with 4.10s
Smittybuilt bumper
chrome EVERYWHERE
sagging 4" Skyjackoff lift
3" bodylift...yeah, wow

The good stuff:

Full banks stainless exhaust, the good kind of header and flowmaster
came with a HP30 with 4.10s
got a great deal on it
swapped in 4.0 with less miles and all is good
Alpine deck and 6.5s, Kicker 5 1/4s
Came with 35 MTRs in good shape on black steelies
Sold some of the crap for cash
hard top
hard doors too

The plan (old, see last pages)
long arms - done, with stretch
0-1" suspension lift, 1" body lift done
cage
8.8 swap done
HP30 swap done
4.10s done
locked on both ends done
RCV shafts done
SYE + CV done
35" Krawlers on alum rims done
warn upright winch done
high line fenders done
sliders
rear corner armor done
front and rear bumpers

I'll add more to the list and update as time and build goes on.

This belonged to a guy's wife. She just liked having a lifted Jeep to ride around in, didn't care about 4wd or anything like that. Can't blame her, it's a cool Jeep. The sound of the full exhaust is awesome!

Pics when I got her


Euro tails :laughing:


Pics now, page 45-



 
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#85 ·
Insane build! I'm following it now.
 
#90 ·
Guess I'll update this a bit...I was gone for 6 months. Came back, went wheelin.

Onto the wheelin pics! I got there friday and it wasn't long before we went on our first day run
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Victor, running 40s and the smallest axles he could find, broke coming out a huge hole. I have a video of it, I'll get it uploaded as soon as I can.

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My only damage from the weekend went to my hard top-

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And a broken oil pressure sensor...but I hated that thing anyway. So I took the top off :D
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#91 ·
My camp site

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Some of the rigs at the campgrounds

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I broke this thing too, damn cartwheels and jumps

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We then woke up early (hah!) saturday morning to run Busy Wild, only to find out it's CLOSED. :( Here's my TJ at the entrance-

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So we ran some other trails and waited for a chopped up and broken willys wagon to get fixed and off the trail. It broke again about 20 feet after they fixed it.
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Mike trying to show off his long arm kit…why hasn't he flopped that rig yet?

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Greg has his hands up...because Victor is stuck and broke...again.
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#94 ·
More random shots from the trip

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Then there's me...stuck. This is the only time I got stuck and I was very impressed with the way my rig handled all the obstacles on the trails. I followed a rig with stretched wheelbase, swapped axles, and 38s for most of the 2nd day. Apparently he got stuck here too but I wasn't there to see it. If I would have given it more gas I would have rocked over it but I didn't give it enough momentum to pivot on the frame and skid. Those ruts are DEEP and swallowed my 35s but I look forward to giving that one another go after my rig goes under the knife!
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#101 ·
Thanks mallard! I'm going to try to make the ultimate wrangler thread a bit more "little guy" friendly so it's not just 40s and 1 tons everywhere. I actually like having a smaller TJ right now, they're a lot easier to maintain and so much more fun to drive!

I posted this in Henrix's thread but thought I'd toss it in here. I bought some Heretic fab 4130 chromo links for my lowers and have another Crane diff cover on the way too. I'll be ordering some dimple dies for this build too.
 
#103 ·
Looks good....question on the rear. How do you plan on getting your lower link @ the axle end 1.5" from the axle centerline? Maybe it's a typo......:D

That suspension should perform very, very well. It looks like the pinion will track perfectly, you'll have little to no flex or roll steer, and it'll squat just enough. Looking forward to you building it. :thumbsup:
 
#105 ·
gtxracer said:
Nah, not a typo. I don't have the jeep in front of me right now so I can't measure the distances on the front axle. Thanks I can't wait to build it and have the wheelbase.
I tried the front calculator, but I am confused. I want to do a modified short arm on mine. Keeping all the links in there current frame locations. Just pushing the front out as far as I can. I just do not know the guidelines for the front geometry.
 
#106 ·
From what I can tell, it's 33" from inside of frame rail to inside of frame rail where the stock mounts usually are. It might be narrower, so bust out the tape measure to make sure (I'd do it but I'm far away from my rig). Then measure the distance from the ground to the LCA mount at the frame (center of the bolt) and do the same for the UCA mount. Repeat this at the axle and make sure to measure the same way at the axle end and also their horizontal separation. Measure the panhard bar and link lengths and you should have everything you need to plug into the calc.
 
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