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Tj's 01 WJ Build thread

70K views 388 replies 35 participants last post by  Bama_WJ 
#1 ·
Well figured I would start my own build thread, seeing as how I have gotten so many ideas of others thread, I figure maybe I can do the same for someone else so here it goes.

Cant find any pictures of when i bought it new, so ill just start with the oldest pics! Right after purchasing it I went to a local off road shop and ordered a 2in bb and some US Wheel D windows
 

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#127 ·
I'm probably not going with a locker. Although it won't be my DD it will still see a fair share of highway and my wife will be driving it. I've driven a locked truck once and it had a different feel to it, along with the click click click. I'm worried about my 4.0L having the power/torque after I lift it and throw on some 32's. I'm hoping the 3.73's will help. I won't be wheeling it hard, just having some fun. My Dana 35 is just starting to howl at highway speeds while coasting only. I replaced the carrier and pinion bearings 4 years ago. The ring and pinion gears were showing wear back then, so I imagine an axle swap is in my future.
 
#128 ·
32's on the 4.0L with 3.73 is a great combination. I have a set of 265/75-16's hankooks that I use as street tires (save some gas and wear and tear on the mtrs) and its perfect. Plenty of power and the ability to cruise without kicking out of overdrive constantly. 3" of lift and 32's with a set of varilok axles will be a great combination for on and off road. Especially if your trim to gain full suspension flex.
 
#132 ·
No axle updates as of now. Still debating on if I want to go the jana 54 route or not, as well as (after watching your and dillonjm's threads) deciding if I want to stick with a lunchbox locker or go selectable. Still have to figure out which way I want to go for a front truss as well. I was considering going with AP's truss that he designed for you, but im thinking I want something that covers a little more of the axle length. Plus your going to be running coilovers so I dont know what would need to be changed in his truss design to run coils. Guess I need to talk to AP some more.

Also, my daughters birthday is coming up, so most of my play money has been going towards that.

Meanwhile, In between everything for the axles, Ive just been waiting to get a open rack and some spare time at work to get the claytons and 231 installed.

Ive also been slowly working on the intake port and polish to get that ready to go in when I do the camshaft upgrade.

1 port half done


1st port done aside from the polish. That wont be done untill very last though. This is a good pic to show how much bigger in comparison the port is compared to stock (on right)


second port roughed in


Its a long process, especially when im doing it 30 min at a time on my lunch break lol.
 
#134 ·
I have a 505 performance stage 1 came kit and some bosch 4 hole injectors sitting on my tool box waiting to be installed. When I put the cam in I will be installing the gasket matched and polished intake (my current mini project) and I will be gasket matching and polishing the cylinder head.

The above will go with my already installed k&n intake, exhaust setup, and superchips programmer.

Parts I will be adding to the list are a bored throttle body, as well as headers and high flow mini cats.

Farther down the road Ill be building up a 42re trans, but that wont be for awhile later. Ive got a spare trans already, but its just low on the list to be modded.
 
#135 ·
That intake will be hi flow. Hahah.

As for the truss, he can make it longer to run down the axle tube. We talked and with the 1/2 inch axle tubes, strength along the tubes shouldn't be a problem. Coil buckets could be easily added to his design to allow that. Along with a passenger side upper for 4 link setup. With my setup, the lower control arm mount on the drivers side has to be welded to the cast.

Coilovers are just a compact setup, that's why you need to get them :D FOA has reasonable prices and Greg's front and rear upper coilover mounts he made for me are pretty *****in. He can always cut another set for you :D

Locker too, if its seeing street time, I'd say selectable. I will be mostly trails, but a selectable front will be nice! Arb's would be sweet, but I'm much more comfortable with electrical over air. And they currently don't make an Eaton e locker for a 14 so I went with the grizzly over Detroit. If a shaft breaks, I've read, the shaft will take out the Detroit carrier. That flaw was fixed in the grizzly.
 
#137 ·
That intake will be hi flow. Hahah.

As for the truss, he can make it longer to run down the axle tube. We talked and with the 1/2 inch axle tubes, strength along the tubes shouldn't be a problem. Coil buckets could be easily added to his design to allow that. Along with a passenger side upper for 4 link setup. With my setup, the lower control arm mount on the drivers side has to be welded to the cast.

Coilovers are just a compact setup, that's why you need to get them :D FOA has reasonable prices and Greg's front and rear upper coilover mounts he made for me are pretty *****in. He can always cut another set for you :D

Locker too, if its seeing street time, I'd say selectable. I will be mostly trails, but a selectable front will be nice! Arb's would be sweet, but I'm much more comfortable with electrical over air. And they currently don't make an Eaton e locker for a 14 so I went with the grizzly over Detroit. If a shaft breaks, I've read, the shaft will take out the Detroit carrier. That flaw was fixed in the grizzly.
Thanks for the info on the truss, ill have to talk to AP then and just get a complete front axle bracket kit.

I would love to go coilovers! I just dont know how far I want to take the axle swap. At first I was planning a low cost (when talking axle building) build, but its slowly been progressing from there. I might just get the axles in, the swap to coilovers later. I agree though, Gregs mounts are just sick! He is what I aspire to be when it comes to fabricating.

I really want to go selectable for a locker, especially since I might as well do it now while im re-gearing. I was always a fan of the e-locker, but I thought I had read that they have a lot of reliability issues? If I do go the selectable route I would probably go arb, but as of now Im really just undecided which way I want to go. I read the same thing about shafts destroying detroits, but a few of my friends run them and they said they have never had issues with a shaft taking out the carrier. Maybe they just got lucky?
 
#138 ·
The auburn ect locker is the electric locker with issues.

The Eaton e locker (which I got), I could only find rave reviews about it. People have had them for years without issues.

At first, I had the same idea about building the axles. Low cost, I wasn't even gunna lock the front. But the I got a dd and decided to make this thing a mostly trail rig. So lockers came to mind and it just got more expensive. Ha. My girlfriend at the time actually helped me decide to go coilovers. If I was gunna do it, might as well be unique. I was then just gunna do coilovers in the front and 6.5" inch springs in the rear, but then again went for full coilovers around.
 
#140 ·
The auburn ect locker is the electric locker with issues.

The Eaton e locker (which I got), I could only find rave reviews about it. People have had them for years without issues.

At first, I had the same idea about building the axles. Low cost, I wasn't even gunna lock the front. But the I got a dd and decided to make this thing a mostly trail rig. So lockers came to mind and it just got more expensive. Ha. My girlfriend at the time actually helped me decide to go coilovers. If I was gunna do it, might as well be unique. I was then just gunna do coilovers in the front and 6.5" inch springs in the rear, but then again went for full coilovers around.
ahh, that must be what I confused it with. Ill have to check out the eaton then. Thanks!
 
#145 ·
little more progress on the porting process. This time I had to get my junk intake to cut into first. The 2 middle ports have these bumps cast into them that protrude a ways into the port. I dont see how that could be good for flow so I wanted to take them out, I was just worried about cutting all the way through. Surprisingly the intake was thicker than I thought and I was able to completely remove the bump. Halfway done! Then comes the polishing!


 
#150 ·
lol yes sir, I should probably put my build link in my sig so people dont have to search. You and Marc have me wanting to finish my axles even faster. I just gotta find time to get these damn long arms on! Good news in I should be getting a cheap DD next week, as soon as that happens my pile of parts will be getting installed. Once thats finished, along with some maintenance, then I can really focus on the axles.
 
#153 ·
Nah, too big of a axle for my plans. Depending on the ratio thats not too bad a deal though, but still to much to make it worth it to me.

Im only into the sterling for about 150- 200 bucks, including the axle, btf truss/diff cover, coil mounts, and disc brake conversion brackets. That 700 would gear it and get me part way to an ARB. Plus it would still be plenty strong for my tires, and have better ground clearance than a stock 14 bolt.

After doing dome reading, the 2" offset isnt a huge deal if you run a cv rear shaft. I found one person on pirate running one in their wj, and I know Greg (AgitatedPancake) is planning on putting one is his other wj, so I dont see it being a problem. Ive already got a cv rear shaft, that will be going in with the long arms and 231hd.
 
#154 ·
Nice! I would like to do a swap, but I need to aquire a mig and some garage space that I can occupy long term. I think at the same time I do a swap I'll change over to Clayton arms. Maybe I can get them to sell me some arms, or make some since I already have half of the Johnny joints I need. I'm just sick of messing with this Radius setup in the front, it is a serious POS even with the Johnny Joints in it. You'll be shocked when I swing by and you see how bad the axle wrap is. It doesn't even make sense with brand new JJ's that have never been wheeled, new Currie TB and Steering...
 
#156 ·
I got my hydro assist setup in the mail..... Well, half of. It was re-boxed quite nicely, and inside the nice box were a steering gear box and a couple hydraulic hoses that have big gashes in them down to the steel cord. Also the ram, along with the mounting tabs were completely gone. In their place was instead a little note from USPS saying that my item was damaged during shipping and if I had insurance I need to contact them reguarding the matter.... FML! At least it was insured. But now I get to spend my lunch break batteling it out with the post office.



 
#157 ·
^^^^^^^ sounds like my luck with parts lately. Hopefully they get it worked out for you soon
 
#160 ·
Brother you dont know the half of it. Its been a hell of a week. This is how my Tuesday went:

:ranton:
yesterday,I got my hydro assist setup in the mail..... Well, half of. It was re-boxed quite nicely, and inside the nice box were a steering gear box and a couple hydraulic hoses that have big gashes in them down to the steel cord. Also the ram, along with the mounting tabs were completely gone. In their place was instead a little note from USPS saying that my item was damaged during shipping and if I had insurance I need to contact them reguarding the matter.... FML! At least it was insured. But now I get to spend my lunch break batteling it out with the post office.

After that I locked my self out of work after putting a new wheel bearing in the silverado, had to wait there for someone to come and let me back in.

Since I had the silverado, my fiance was driving the jeep, no big deal right? Well apparently it was, even though the only place she drove it was around my complex because my daughter wanted a jeep ride. I come home to see it sitting with a nice lean to the passenger rear. Look, and sure enough the tire is completely flat! I go up stairs and ask what she did, "nothing, just drove around why?" FML #2! How the hell do you put a 1/4 in whole between the lugs, on a near new MTR'K? Looks like Ill be ordering another one of those next time I have some spare cash. Ive seen patches do wonderful things, but this is a massive hole!

Well, I sure as hell wasnt going to change a flat tire first thing in the morning, so I decide to tackle it tonight. Of course, my 2 year old (who is sick by the way) wanted to help dad, and of course I let her. I went out to change the tire and everything was going great. That is until she decided she wanted to help dad with the jack, and bent down to grab the handle and didnt realize how close her head was to the steal bumper. BONK! My 2 year old changed her first jeep tire today, and now has a goose egg on her forehead to prove it. FML #3

:rantoff:
Aside from that, I had to leave work early to take Arhi to the hospital yesterday, she had a 104 temp and was throwing up. Ive spent the last 2 nights sleeping on the floor with her because I have to be there when she starts coughing or she will cry. That in turn has gotten me sick, as well as giving me a hell of a back and neck ache. She also has a hell of a cough, which of course they dont have cough medicine for 2 year olds, so ive been trying to get her to drink honey but she wont.

Hows the boy?
 
#161 ·
well, so much for that. The post office was no help. The lady wanted to confiscate all the items, including the undamaged gear box without promise of a insurance refund. I told her that if they took the gearbox which is undamaged, then the total replacement value would be above what it was insured for. She says that thats not their fault and it should have been insured properly.

Ive tried to work things out with the seller but now he wants me to ship him the parts I do have back to him at my expense and he will refund my money. I dont see how this is my fault. I paid for an item that I did not recieve. Ive also been the one who had to do all the work by paying to have pictures printed for proof, along with calling west texas to get a estimate on replacement costs, and printing and filling all paperwork with usps. Now I have to re-box it all and ship it back at my cost? Correct me if im wrong please?
 
#162 ·
Replacement value is only is what you paid for the parts and that is what it was insured for. You cant expect to get a full refund at retail value when you paid for used parts. You are forfeiting the insurance to cover your cost and that of the seller for what? Greed? Or, do you expect to recover $6-700 dollars, retail price, for used parts when you paid hald that for parts, shipping and insurance? The gearbox alone with the labor to tap it is worth what you paid for the whole kit, does that make the sale even then? Since, it appears you want replacement at full retail price of a bew kit.

:dunno:
 
#172 ·
3.2 Evidence of Value

The customer (either the mailer or the addressee) must submit acceptable evidence to establish the cost or value of the article at the time it was mailed. For claims submitted online, the evidence may be scanned and uploaded or sent via First-Class Mail to Domestic Claims, Accounting Services (see 608.8.0). Other evidence may be requested to help determine an accurate value. Examples of acceptable evidence are:

a. Sales receipt, invoice or bill of sale, or statement of value from a reputable dealer.

b. For items valued up to $100, the customer's own statement describing the lost or damaged article and including the date and place of purchase, the amount paid, and whether the item was new or used (only if a sales receipt or invoice is not available). If the article mailed is a hobby, craft, or similar handmade item, the statement must include the cost of the materials used in making the item. The statement must describe the article in sufficient detail to determine whether the value claimed is accurate.

c. Picture from a catalog showing the value of a similar article (only if a sales receipt, invoice, or statement of value from a reputable dealer is not available). The date and place of purchase must be included.

d. Paid repair bills; if the claim is for partial damage, estimates of repair costs or appraisals from a reputable dealer. Repair costs may not exceed the original purchase price.

e. Receipt or invoice for the costs incurred to buy a surety bond required to reissue a lost item.

f. Receipt or invoice of costs incurred for the reconstruction of nonnegotiable documents.

g. A copy of a canceled check, money order receipt, credit card statement, or other documentation indicating the amount paid. For Internet purchases, a copy of the front and back of the canceled check, money order, or a copy of the credit card billing statement is required.

h. For Internet transactions conducted through a Web-based payment network that offers payment services through a stored value account, provide a computer printout of the online transaction identifying the purchaser and seller, price paid, date of transaction, description of item purchased, and assurance that the transaction status is completed. The printout must clearly identify the Web-based payment network provider through which the Internet transaction was conducted.
 
#175 ·
3.2 Evidence of Value

The customer (either the mailer or the addressee) must submit acceptable evidence to establish the cost or value of the article at the time it was mailed. For claims submitted online, the evidence may be scanned and uploaded or sent via First-Class Mail to Domestic Claims, Accounting Services (see 608.8.0). Other evidence may be requested to help determine an accurate value. Examples of acceptable evidence are:

a. Sales receipt, invoice or bill of sale, or statement of value from a reputable dealer.

b. For items valued up to $100, the customer's own statement describing the lost or damaged article and including the date and place of purchase, the amount paid, and whether the item was new or used (only if a sales receipt or invoice is not available). If the article mailed is a hobby, craft, or similar handmade item, the statement must include the cost of the materials used in making the item. The statement must describe the article in sufficient detail to determine whether the value claimed is accurate.

c. Picture from a catalog showing the value of a similar article (only if a sales receipt, invoice, or statement of value from a reputable dealer is not available). The date and place of purchase must be included.

d. Paid repair bills; if the claim is for partial damage, estimates of repair costs or appraisals from a reputable dealer. Repair costs may not exceed the original purchase price.

e. Receipt or invoice for the costs incurred to buy a surety bond required to reissue a lost item.

f. Receipt or invoice of costs incurred for the reconstruction of nonnegotiable documents.

g. A copy of a canceled check, money order receipt, credit card statement, or other documentation indicating the amount paid. For Internet purchases, a copy of the front and back of the canceled check, money order, or a copy of the credit card billing statement is required.

h. For Internet transactions conducted through a Web-based payment network that offers payment services through a stored value account, provide a computer printout of the online transaction identifying the purchaser and seller, price paid, date of transaction, description of item purchased, and assurance that the transaction status is completed. The printout must clearly identify the Web-based payment network provider through which the Internet transaction was conducted.
I dont know why you keep showing me this. Ive read it a hundred times while filing all the proper paperwork. Maybe you should read it though, because remember, you told me that I had to do all the work to file the insurance claim.
 
#174 ·
Bottom line is you're a cheap arse for not insuring the shipment for what the parts are worth. You have no business selling parts online if you're not willing to pay the little bit extra to have them insured for what they cost, I've never shipped parts without doing that. Cost of doing business on forums as this situation is bound to happen sooner or later if you sell enough stuff online.

On top of that, it looks like it was shipped like crap. How much tape is on the outside of that box TJ? Last time I shipped something that heavy I double boxed it.

TJ is a stand up guy. He has been one of only a handful of people to work on my Jeep, always comes through when he says he will do something, and has owed me hundreds of dollars on good faith before and always paid every penny in a timely manner.

If you used Paypal TJ I would give them a call, and be sure to provide them with copies of all your communication. Paypal is usually pretty good about screwing sellers. If he did not offer you the option for insurance that is something that Paypal will side with you on, because you did nothing wrong.

This is both the fault of the seller and the shipper imo, lack of packaging combined with machine sorting tears heavy boxes apart if they're not packed well.
 
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