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20K views 146 replies 23 participants last post by  vstre 
#1 ·
:DFigured I'd start one of these. Had the Jeep now for 4 years. Hasn't gotten as much love as it deserves, but my other hobbies are boating and mountain biking, and I'm a full time M.E. major, so the budget isn't huge.

It all started here:

1999 Wrangler SE
2.5 Liter Low Output
AX-5 Transmission
Dana 30/35 combo...not off to a good start :rofl:
 

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#2 ·
The Defender next to it is a total pile of crap, however the one my buddy owned prior (TDi, tall skinny tires, rear locker, snorkel), was the inspiration for getting a 4x4. I was simply amazed at where that thing could go in comparison to my 2wd dodge dakota. Being a Mopar guy and not having 45,000 dollars laying around, I decided on the jeep.

Defender TDi



Wheeled it stock.



Rainbowed the tie rod.



Replaced it with a Big Daddy Monster Tie Rod and kept wheeling it stock.

The rubicon pictured above was traded in on an Audi and the Defender never gets wheeled, so I lost interest in modding and offroading for awhile. Then my buddy picked up an Xterra for real cheap and I joined a club with him. I had already acquired some Soft 8s, 30" General AT2s, steering skid, stock rubicon springs, 3/4" spacers all round, savvy g.t.s. and overall the jeep performed beyond expectation. But some little curve balls were about to make this build a bit more interesting and a lot more frustrating.

The Xterra (Up to date)

 
#3 ·
Monstalined the interior and the front bumper. The front bumper is a Jeeperman for reference.













CURVE BALL 1:

The rear pinion bearings in my turdy five were over torqued by my last ever mechanic and about a month later sounded apocolyptic. Out came the axles and in a desperate act of complete stupidity and ignorance I rebuilt the Dana 35....myself.

It got TrueTrac LSD, 4.56 Superior Gearing, and Superior Discovery Chromolly Axle Shafts.

















Prettiest this turd will ever look.


The 30 got matching gear set and a full diff rebuild, and my Jeep was back on the road. Took it out the night we finished up with no top or doors in 18 degree weather.
 
#4 ·
That bumper looked real silly without a winch, so after weeks of pouring over specs I chose one. Chose a Superwinch EPi9.0. Has excellent specs, works well, has a phenomenal warranty and superwinch is 45 minutes from my house. Downsides are its a pig, and its made in Taiwan. Can't win them all. But still very happy with it.

Installed it in a thunderstorm :cool:





The galvanized aircraft cable never even made it outside. Winching with steel cable is simply terrifying. This winch got 100 ft. of 6mm SK-90 Dyneema rated at 12,000 lbf. Then was covered in polyester chafe gear. Also got an SK-75 Dyneema moveable chafe sleeve. Saved close to 30 lbs on the front end and no fear of any vehicle or human damage whilst winching. :2thumbsup:

Getting used.



Xterra being recovered after not being able to peak "Diaper Hill." Notice the Jeep Recovery Vehicle sticker.


Recovering another XTerra after she slipped sideways attempting to climb the ledge.

A few months after these pictures were taken the jeep got its only form of lift. A 1" body lift was paired with some Brown Dog +1" motor mounts. Otherwise just a 3/4" spacer was maintained up front to compensate for the winch and the rear spacers were removed.
 

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#5 ·
Curve Ball 2:

To continue the little purple jeeps story...

Its not doing too well. The frame has rotted to the point that it is on the verge of breaking in half and the T.C. skid/crossmember is beginning to seperate from the frame. :(

But with my evolved theory of "with the proper tools and the internet, you can do anything" it will be fixed. Picked up a never used Lincoln 180T on craigslist, taught myself how to weld, helped build a SAE baja buggy as well just to reinforce my learning. Turned out awesome. Placed 22nd down in Auburn this year in the endurance race, not bad considering we built it in one semester.



Big Miller is dead, hence my little lincoln sitting on it :rofl:

Future also holds JK front seats, front locker, some aluminum skids, tube fenders, maybe some custom chromolly Johnny Joint control arms? Plan is to make it a daily driver friendly rig that is a sleeper on the trail.

Here goes...

:welder:
 
#7 ·
Frame sections have been acquired from Auto Rust Technicians in Cranston, RI. Awesome people and looks to be a great product. The JK seats have been acquired from a member here. (Thank you again). Just gotta pick up a bottle of gas and a whole lot of cutting wheels :D

I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures thursday.
 
#9 ·
Well, like my signature says. "It could be worse." I've invested a lot of blood, sweat and aggravation into this rig. Its taught me more than I could have ever imagined. A couple years ago I was impressed with being able to swap out shocks. Now I've regeared the jeep and will be welding the frame back together.

After this is done, I have two body mounts to fix and it'll be ready for an AX15/NV3550/NSG370 swap and eventually a diesel :D
 
#10 ·
Got the mid section of the frame done thursday. Didn't get to the rear control arm mount area, as there is already a plate there that I'm going to have to somehow remove. This was just a temporary fix to get my by until Auto Rust came out with the sections. Any input on getting them off is much appreciated.

On to the pictures.

Damage:







Was able to pry this side of the T.C. Crossmember off. :eek:



The fix:

Cut out rotted bits. Best to keep as much good metal as possible. The driver side was substantially better than the passenger. Go figure. A plasma cutter would have been ideal, however I had very little trouble with a 4.5" grinder.









Test fit and ensure the edges of the cap are just touching the aft weld of the forward lower control arm mount and the forward weld on the rear lower control arm mount.



Once satisfied, remove and clean up areas to be welded. I used an Avante paint removal disc from home depot. Did a great job, but was destroyed with only a few minutes of use.

Buy these instead: http://www.amazon.com/3M-SandBlaster-9681-2-Inch-Clean-N-Strip/dp/B000BQURDI Norton also makes a really good one. Sears has them.



Ensure everything fits tight and the weld joint is tight with a few c clamps and tack all around.



Once you're certain everything is perfect, burn it in.



Repeat on other side. Next thursday the other sections will go in and I'll get some finished photos up soon. Got too dark for good photos and a few areas need some detailed finishings, but its coming along.

:cheers2:
 
#11 ·
Got the rear control arm sections in. Unfortunately, no pictures. Was mostly working by myself with my girlfriend making sure I didn't light myself on fire. Suffered a few burns and one severe one on my stomach, but all is well and it'll heal. :D

In the midst of reassembly, noticed the rear control arms were mostly shot. Could have got new stockers, but opted for some curries.

Up next will be:

-Savvy/Currie rear arms (done)
-JK two tone seats (half done)
-265/75/16 Kelly Safari TSRs (done)
-MCE 3" Gen II Fenders (done)
-Homemade On-Board Air
-Aussie locker up front
-Repainted dash
-Undercover fab 1/4" aluminum T.C. skid and Engine skid
-Some other aesthetic stuff. (Save that for last.)

Throwing around the idea of trussing the Dana 35, now that I've put a good chunk of cash and time into it. Also need some tipe of rear recovery point. I remove the tow hitch for wheelin.
 
#14 ·
Got the tires and wheels fitted. Got the driver side JK seat in and installed in a way that maintained the ratcheting height adjustment :2thumbsup:. MCE 3" Gen II fenders will arrive shortly. Just have to finish up some odds and ends, get the other seat installed, then front locker and wheeling my club's best annual event in September...god willing :cheers2:

Pictures to follow.
 
#20 ·
Saying Goodbye to a bit more rust.

My fenders had started to rust...not surprised. Bearing in mind that I have a 120 hp engine, I didn't want to go with anything too heavy and I didn't want to shell out the cash for Genright aluminum. The MCE Gen II 3" fenders fit the bill. Excellent guys to deal with and a top notch product with excellent instructions. Took about 5 hours, with a whole lot of slacking off, eating and drinking beer. So I'd say 2 hours of actual work.

Rust:




Damaged passenger side fender:



1st step, cut:





2nd step, fit and drill:



3rd step, look like an idiot:





4th step, complete installation:





5th step, install two wire LEDs which you neglected to understand wouldn't work properly.

6th step, make adapters, because you neglected the LED issue:



7th step, figure out why your adapters don't work :rofl:.

Alright. Here's an updated shot. I'll post some more detail on the seat installs and the fender install soon.

 
#22 ·
good work on the rebuild man. but may I ask why on the JK seats? I had a JK for a year and I found them horribly uncomfortable. I found they have even less lumbar support than my TJ.
 
#23 ·
Thanks for the feedback and compliments!

The JK seats I find pretty comfortable. They're not perfect, but I paid very little for them and the existing seat was for lack of a better word, catastrophic. It was destroyed. I needed something even decent. I was gonna order seats, but had no means of sitting in them first. Ran by a local dealership to check out the JK seats and they weren't bad so I grabbed them.

Tried to get my running lights working today to no avail. Got psycho blinker issue fixed with an LED relay. Gonna have to strip back to harness and intergrate both into one.

Think I'm gonna box off the front bumper right at the frame. Should look pretty good.
 
#29 ·
Now that this lighting junk is wrapped up, I'll be focusing on getting ready to go wheeling this coming weekend. Transmission oil, oil change, new outer axleshafts/ujoints, rubber bushings to replace the poly in my motor mounts, etc.

Next objective is to get the tummy up a bit. There is no low profile mount for the AX-5, so a crossmember (possibly genright's) will go in and a UndercoverFab T.C. skid, aluminum of course to keep weight down, will go in. Also some low profile amid-jeep body mounts will likely go in as well. I still need to put the new frame side coil buckets in, which will go nicely with a rear shock outboard. :2thumbsup:

Front control arms will need replacing. And the JKS disconnects will get swapped out for an antirock.

Pretty sure I'm going to truss the 35 as I'll probably stick with it. I appreciate its ample ground clearance. Its weakness seems to be mostly related to how much it flexes. I will also TIG the tubes. Polishing a turd, yeah yeah, but its served me well so far and my wheeling style combined with the decent stock suspension doesn't allow for much wheel hop.

I still plan to do the AX-15 swap and the 1.9 TDi, but that's going to be a heavy investment.

I do have a buddy who may be getting rid of an AX-15 though, so we'll all be getting an education in rebuilding one. :2thumbsup:

This won't be happening quickly, but stay tuned. :cheers2:
 
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