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the UTwj Build and other crap

121K views 1K replies 55 participants last post by  Diggerdale440 
#1 ·
well I bought this Jeep as my third (5th if you count my wifes 2). I had a 96 XJ whe I was in highschool that I put a skyjacker 3'' lift and 31's on. It was very basic but I immediately fell in love with it and love beating the crap out of it. Sometime during my years at the University of Tennessee I sold it and bought a 97 ZJ. Being a poor collee kid limited my funds so the ZJ stayed stock until about 3 years ago when it was totaled. For some reason I went and bought a charger that I drove for about 2 years. Terible decision. I just realized I am a JEEP guy and had to get one back. When I began looking for what I wanted to build I new I wanted it to look like a street queen but perform like a real rock crawler. I began searching forums for ideas and settled on the WJ. It was a luxury vehicle but still had solid axles. I like the WK but could bring my self to go IFS and new I didnt have the experience to do a solid axle swap (maybe one day!). I was really inpired by THEKSMITH's jeep I had seen on here. Anyways, I never really intended to make a build thread but now I just kinda want a way to keep track of all I do and maybe help inspire someone else like this forum did for me. I am NO mechanic and had almost ZERO experience working on cars before this. I bought my WJ with the intent to build it myself and learn as I do it. My goal will be to do as much as I feel I can on my own and hopefully build a pretty bad crawler one day that can still win some local car shows ;) All right, lets get to it. Like I said, i didnt intend to do this when I started working on this thing about a year ago. This first post will mostly just be pictures of what all I have done to this point so I can pick it up from here. Hope you like it. All input is welcome.
 
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#888 ·
Looks good man! Just so i know.... the drag link end (passenger side) would have to be drilled out and new inserts installed the same as the tie rod right just with the RHD tie rod end? This one might sound stupid but the reason for drilling out the tie rod is just because of it being tapered the other direction or is there more to it? do you use the same rod ends on the tie rod?
 
#889 ·
yep, all three spots on the knuckles where the TRE's mount would need to be reamed out and new tapered inserts welded in. once you do this, your standard TRE's will slide right in (just on top of the knuckles rather than under). If you simply flipped them, the taper would be wrong and they wont go it
 
#890 ·
had to pull out and old "before" shot, but this lets you see the amount of clearance gained

BEFORE:



AFTER

 
#891 ·
That is quite a difference, i am definitely going to do this especially if it helps the bump steer feel. Have you figured out where to mount that fancy (bilstein) steering dampener , I am going to have to get a different one as my current RC dual wont work with the tie rod flip.

Was there a reason you got rid of the G2 diff cover for the ARB other then the ARB is beefy as hell, just wondering if something was wrong with the g2 cause i just put mine on last week end .

Thanks for helping me with understanding what was done it will definitely help when i do mine
 
#892 ·
That is quite a difference, i am definitely going to do this especially if it helps the bump steer feel. Have you figured out where to mount that fancy (bilstein) steering dampener , I am going to have to get a different one as my current RC dual wont work with the tie rod flip.

Was there a reason you got rid of the G2 diff cover for the ARB other then the ARB is beefy as hell, just wondering if something was wrong with the g2 cause i just put mine on last week end .
probably gonna have a mount welded onto the drop bracket and clamp the other end of the SS to the drag link.. I had it connected to the trac bar and drag link before the flip but it doesnt look like its going to fit there now.

And I got rid of the G2 for 2 reasons. 1st, i got it because it was cheap to me at the time but its just think aluminum. I wasnt 100% confident how it would do if hit hard enough. Odds are it would do fine but figured I might as well upgrade when I had the money. 2nd, the ARB came out in black and just looked awesome. And yes, its beefy as hell. I really like the dip stick it has in it too so you can check the fluid. It will have an ARB in it soon enough, so its only a lie for a littl bit longer hahaha
 
#893 ·
dead caliper

 
#894 ·
 
#896 ·
i got it back on this morning.....i think the angles are going to work. if not Ill give that a shot.

Also got the new caliper on this morning



 
#901 ·
hit a bump on the way home and my blinkers instantly started working again :dunno:
 
#903 ·
Ive never had a problem with my blue hose ( thanks to lots of zip ties) but I'm on my second set of internal seals, im not pleased with my arb. But i wheel with a guy who's had the same arb set up for at least 10 years, same hose and all.
 
#908 ·
well last weeks drive to work sucked. It started last Sunday when I noticed a stick on wheel weight sitting in my driveway. If I lost one there is no telling how many more fell off and judging by the vibrations Id say I lost A LOT of them. Then, everytime I'd hit the brakes I would pull violently to the pass side. I had done the pass side caliper this past weekend and thought I had screwed something up. Then I remembered!! Im an idiot. I must have had an early production run WJ on 2002 because I still had the Teves calipers. When I put the new one on I had bought an Akebono. Well lesson learned kids. Dont miss match a brand new Akebono with a 117k mile Teves. They dont get along.

So I went and bought a new Akebono for the drivers side today as well as new rotors. While I was under there, I noticed one more reason I might have been pulling to the pass side during breaking:



I dont know when that fell out but it must have been early on during the week. SO I used what I had available until I can get a new bolt assembly from JKS



Out with the old rotors



IN with the new



Also noticed I have a leaking inner axle seal on the front axle. Guess ill have to get to that soon too. The never ending joy of JEEPS :laugh:
 
#909 ·
washed, waxed and detailed......just in time to get her dirty again :2thumbsup:







 
#912 ·
How have the Spydertrax spacers worked for you? I have heard some horror stories with spacers but never Spydertrax and I'm hoping if I shell out for them they will work fine.
 
#913 ·
ZERO issues. I make sure to use a good bit of loctite and re-torque them every 5000 miles or so. They are always hard to get off. which tells me they are staying right where they are supposed to be.

and if I ever take the jeep ANYWHERE that touches my wheels, I always make sure to check the spacers again, I just dont trust others to tighten them back down correctly
 
#914 ·
did a quick little flex test on break. didnt have much time so I didnt disco the front. I need to try and find a good spot to test it out this weekend. Im trying to figure out if my JKS trac bar is going to contact the new IRO drop bracket when the pass side is stuffed.

As you can see , the JKS trac bar bends forward towards the front of the jeep. Im thinking that when disco'd and fully stuffed, the trac bar might actually hit the drop bracket limiting uptravel.





If so, Im probably going to torch out an arch in the bracket right where it contacts. Im not to worried about weaking it. Its 1/4'' plate. If I go that route though, ill probably end up welding the bracket on rather than just relying on the 9/16'' bolt........

weak sauce flex :rolleyes:

 
#917 ·
Im thinkin doors are coming off tonight. Might be doing the Tennessee Dirt Devil roads tomorrow
 
#918 ·
Doors are off and its an amazing day here in nashville. About to head out for a nice relaxing ride. Wish my computer would work so I could load some pics, guess they will have to wait till monday
 
#919 ·
I give up.....computer wont work. Ill try and add pics another time
 
#920 ·
Hey man, got another question for you. I notice you had the Nitto Trail Grapplers at one point and now it looks like you still use one of them as your spare, which looks worn as hell. Just wondering what you thought of those tires and how they treated you. I don't get why they aren't more popular, other than the fact that they're heavy, I think. The best info i could find was that a 255/75/17 one is 58 or 60 pounds, whereas a BFG KM1 or KM2 in that size is about 52 pounds (both of these are pretty light for a mud terrain anyway, since that size is the random size that MT's seem to come in a C-rating, but I assume the Nitto is just heavier in any size). They are an awesome looking tire that are supposed to be pretty decent on the street and quiet for an MT, but I rarely see them. Just wondering what you thought of them and how they compare to your Guard Dogs. And I also notice they looked pretty new in pictures you have posted about a year ago (I think) but the one you still have as your spare is worn out. So how long/how many miles did they last?? Thanks.

By the way, do you have any audio modifications? Just wondering if you have any good audio stuff to look at in this thread before I try to dig through your 62 pages to find it :)
 
#921 ·
1st set of nittos I had were 33s. Those were nice but a bad experience with the IRO tie rod killed the tread on the fronts. I then bought a pair of used 35 inch nittos. Those are the bald ones you seemin some pics. I got them cheap just to get me through the winter. 2 reasons I didnt buy them again. 1st is that they are expensive. 2nd is they ARE heavy. My 35 inch and old steele wheel weighs in at 120lbs a piece. My new treadwrights and aluminum pintlers come in at just under 100. I kept 1 nitto just as a spare for emergencies. And no real audio stuff yet. Ive just got a simple 8 inch polk in the back. Although I do have an audio upgrade I might tackle soon. Its been floating around in my head a while and my recent doorless outing has methinking Iits time to get started on it. And excuse my terrible scentences. Im trying to type this on my sons mini tablet thing
 
#922 ·
4 hours of cleaning and its almost spotless again. Sucked about 2 gallons of water out of the carpets. We will see how they do this week. If they start smelling it may be time to think about Raptor liner
 
#923 ·
too many pics to put in any real order. Just a bunch from this weekends drive down the "dirt devil" roads. Its about 200 miles of 100% public roads 25% paved (although its hard to believe anything but a serious 4x4 could make it down some of these in the rain). We did about 50 miles or so Saturday. ALOT of fun and just a relaxing ride. Of course it woulda been alot better if the rain had held off haha





















 
#924 ·
more:










this couple in the white JK was from Illinois. Just happened to see us all getting ready for the ride and decided to pull a u-turn and follow!










 
#925 ·
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#926 ·
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#930 ·
thanks man! doors off was a TON of fun :highfive:
 
#928 ·
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