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Taming the BEAST! 5.3L V8 Powered TJ-6

91K views 562 replies 62 participants last post by  clintrivera 
#1 ·
The Beast

On a trail ride this year a member nicknamed my Jeep "The Beast". It's a fitting name, unfortunately, and the reason I recently tried to sell it. It's loud, it's big, it's ugly, and it's all around not very enjoyable to drive any distance.

Since giving it away isn't an option I needed to focus on this winter's build and set clear objectives. This has to be a vehicle I want to drive, and drive on a regular basis. It has to be much quieter. Ride nice. Drive nice. Good storage. Nice sound system. Lastly, it needs to look good too.

Most of the trails I like to run here in the Northwest aren't exactly Johnson Valley. It's mostly dirt, mud, roots, tight trees, and moderate climbs. Not much in the way of rocks. The way my Jeep is setup now almost makes it boring it's so easy. I think we all have been there. Build the rig, can't make an obstacle, build the rig bigger... Eventually the rig is basically too big on the street and is only fun on extreme "either I make it, or I total the rig" sort of challenges.

To know where we are going, we first need to know where we are.

 
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#505 ·
i love my 97 5.2 zj. i plan on building that into an overlandy vehicle once my yj is sold as well. theres an appeal to a sweet wheeler but i also wanna be able to go places in it.
 
#509 ·
Ive owed a ZJ 5.9 and now an WJ 4.7ho. I prefer the WJ.... I have had no dependability issues with the 4.7 and am happy with the quadradrive system other than being picky with $ fluids. 3" lift 32" tires and some armor it does well. Its not extreme by any means but works for what I want right now.
 
#512 ·
It's a tough world selling built jeeps. They have almost literally no resale value over stock

I tried to sell my fully built Tj on 35's I only got offers a grand more than I originally bought it for

So I kept it haha

Good luck with sale though

I have been thinking of a wj DD and baby trail wheeler. 3" on 32's or so
 
#515 ·
It's a tough world selling built jeeps. They have almost literally no resale value over stock

I tried to sell my fully built Tj on 35's I only got offers a grand more than I originally bought it for

So I kept it haha

Good luck with sale though

I have been thinking of a wj DD and baby trail wheeler. 3" on 32's or so
I'm defiantly selling to a smaller market, that's for sure. I'm trying to advertise it as many places as possible.
ive only gotten offers of 4-5k on mine. given yours is a lot nicer than mine. it sucks being on the selling side
I had an offer of $10K before I stretched/ axle swapped / 37'd / linked it/ so I'm hoping to get more than that now.
Selling stuff in that price range seems to be difficult... Most guys can come up with 5-8k every now and then, but above 10K they need a loan.... and since loan to book on your rig is less than it's worth. You are basically looking for someone who's got cash or cash and a loan set up... and that much cash is hard to come by. Have you put a feeler out for a trade + cash? Get the vehicle you're looking for and some money for mods.
I know what you mean. I'll need to find someone who can sell something of equivalent value to get cash for mine. Or someone that has a healthy savings account (what's that?) When it gets closer to D day if I haven't sold it I'm going to try to list it on Ebay. I think I can get a wider audience on there.

In the mean time, I'm going to start a build thread for the WJ... Only one month till Moab!
 
#513 ·
ive only gotten offers of 4-5k on mine. given yours is a lot nicer than mine. it sucks being on the selling side
 
#514 ·
Selling stuff in that price range seems to be difficult... Most guys can come up with 5-8k every now and then, but above 10K they need a loan.... and since loan to book on your rig is less than it's worth. You are basically looking for someone who's got cash or cash and a loan set up... and that much cash is hard to come by. Have you put a feeler out for a trade + cash? Get the vehicle you're looking for and some money for mods.
 
#525 ·
Unless you drive like a 'tard or decide to visit Pritchett Canyon or Area BFE I doubt you'll break anything. You HAVE to do Hells Gate. I'm happy G Beasly was there to spot me and the other guys gave me the courage to do it.

Wanna make me one Clint? I always wanted the PS BFH bumper with the Brawler bar :drool:
 
#528 ·
I'm still waffling about the next choice for rig. If I get a WJ it won't be a question of if it needs a new motor but when. I'm only interested in the V8 model and of the 5 or 6 4.7 WJ's I've owned all of them had issues with the engine. The exhaust manifold bolts break, head gaskets suck, and the motors are notorious for sludge and then destroying the #8 rod bearing.

I would also want ARB's front and rear, and for that to happen I would do a JKD30 front and JKD44 rear for the WJ and a HPD30 from an XJ and a 8.8 from a explorer for the ZJ. The ZJ would be cheaper and easier in that regard. Plus the engine bay of the 5.2 is much easier to work on than the 4.7. I plan on lots of solo adventures so ease of maintenance is important and having less sensors and gadgets on the ZJ is nice. I suppose an XJ would be king in this regard, but I want something not as spartan as that.

I'm really hoping this next rig is something that will satisfy me for a long time as I really want to stop building Jeeps for other people and have one for myself.

Thoughts?
 
#530 ·
Straight 6 wj. Problem solved

4.0's may lack some power compared to the v8's

But they sure are pretty reliable and near bulletproof motors
I think I would regret getting an I6 especially with 33" tires and a roof rack. Also, the 99-2001ish motors had issues with cracked piston skirts and also had the garbage heads that crack. My girlfriend has a 99 that lost a skirt and took out the motor. Also, they have the crappy 42re transmission so that would need to be addressed.
 
#533 ·
How about this option.

LJ hardtop
Stick on heat and sound pad,with custom carpet.
Hydro assist
Adapt the 5.3 AC compressor to TJ components
Mastercraft suspension seats front and rear.
Seat heaters
Roof rack
Rear tube flares
Color match the armor and fenders

BADASS Jeep for dual purpose.
That option is certainly still on the table. I would most likely drop down to a 2.5" lift or so and go with 34"-35" tires. Everything else on your list is exactly what I was thinking. After my adventure with painting my doors, I'm not sure I'm ready to tackle the color match, although I'm sure most of it is my crappy HF gun. With cloth seats I could probably skip the seat heaters.

LJ hard tops to pop up every once in awhile around here. I just need to figure out if I'm ready to pop another $5K into this rig, and if I would be satisfied with the final product.

Working on the front bumper did give me some satisfaction though... It was nice working on something that didn't require so much time and effort to get a result.
 
#534 ·
I just put a fan relay in mine and it was nice. Instant gratification haha

Sent from AutoGuide.com App
 
#538 ·
#535 ·
Featured on the JF news letter! That's gotta be good for at least a couple grand more! Haha. :cool:
 
#539 ·
It is an email from Jeepforum with Jeep news and highlight some awesome threads
 
#541 ·
Last time I went wheeling my fancy pants spal variable speed fan controller died. So I threw that away and bought some 80 amp relays so the chevy PCM can control the fan. At the same time I swapped my flex-a-lite fan for my Lincoln MKVIII fan I had in my shed. You can see the difference here.



The MKVIII shroud fully covers my radiator and is much more powerful.

Here's the relays mounted up



And the fan mounted and coolant bottle relocated



Also finished up the bumper and painted it.



I was hoping that all this light fab work would make me like the Jeep again but it hasn't. It is going to be too much work to get the Jeep where I need it to be to fit my lifestyle. So, the Jeep is going to be sold. Final answer. It's on Ebay now, and the auction closes next Wednesday assuming it doesn't get sold through the forums or craigslist.

In my constant craigslist searches, I finally found something to replace it.



Details and build thread to come.
 
#546 ·
I would be more sorry if I kept it. Life is too short not to have what you want if it's attainable.
I

Details and build thread to come.
What are the details on the GC front bumper looks nice..[/QUOTE]
It's a trail ready bumper. It does make it look pretty mean!
I'm sad but excited... the beast is leaving, but WJ builds are cool when someone knows what they're doing.
I'm not sure I know what I'm doing! Maybe I'll cut this one in half and make it a 6x6? ....Not really. ;)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Jeep...pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item338557e36a&vxp=mtr

Good luck with the sale . Whoever buys it will be getting a heck of a nice rig for the money .
That looks familiar! Thanks, I hope they enjoy it and hopefully they will be / are a forum member so I can see it's continued adventures.
 
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