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'03 TJ Build - Project Raskull

24K views 89 replies 29 participants last post by  Barrows 
#1 · (Edited)
Well here's the start to my build up. I've had my jeep for two years or so now and have put a lot of money into it already, but it's still not *drastically* different from stock. I speak namely of a full size lift which I don't have yet.

Follow along as I build my jeep!

edit1: All the images in this write-up can be found on my site along with lots of other stuff like modification write-ups, trip reports, general tech and a big gallery with videos too.
http://myjeeptj.com

edit2: If you want a full stats sheet on my jeep: Without prices on my site or with prices on my club's "Garage" section.

edit3: If you enjoyed the thread, please "CRAWL" it!
 
#36 ·
Try palying in the dirt out by Chetwynd or Tumbler Ridge just inside the BC border, most of them are drilling rig roads, but they got some wicked cuts.
 
#38 ·
Ya I'll sign up, don't many people in Edmonton which is why I had no idea that there was a jeep club until I read your buildup and your buddies last night. I am interested in passing by the next show and shine. Is there one coming up?
 
#40 ·
Yeah July 19th is our 2nd annual. There is a thread on the EJC site with details.

You should come out to wings nights and meet some people from the club. Tuesday nights, Bo-Diddly's on 118th Ave and 142ns St. 6PM.
 
#46 ·
Right close to St, Albert trail and 118th ave. You should come out to a wings night on tuesdays! 6pm at Bo Diddly's on 118th ave and 140some st.

1280x1024 doesnt work and thats the one i need :(

Says "404 Not Found"

Any chance of getting that one up?
Ahah! Thanks for pointing that one out. Fixed!
 
#47 ·
Yesterday I replaced my passenger's side hub (unit bearing) on the D30. My jeep was making some pretty bad scraping noises going down the road, and I figured it sounded like a bearing.

I put the jeep up on jack stands so all four tires were off the ground, then started it up and put it in 4wd 1st gear. I let it run so I could listen and find the noise, lo-and-behold.. the drivers side was turning and the passenger tire was not. My front axle is open, so I figured there's gotta be some sort of resistance there, and I tore into it.

Once I got the unit bearing out, it was real clear that it was the culrpit. It was real rough sounding.

I replaced it with a used one (which is in pretty good shape) from when my brother did a swap of his.. It will hold up for a while until I can get new ones to swap in.
 
#52 ·
Went out wheeling with the EJC club this weekend for Canada Day.

We went to the Alberta Safari Park near Edmonton.. we had a blast, and the mud was as thick as ever!






After some hotdogs we went out a second time to Bill's Gate. Crazy little off camber and wash out area. My tire pressure was too low (I lost some somewhere on the trail), and I blew a bead a little bit after these two pictures.. getting pulled out I got my passenger side fender pushed in.




Booboo fender. :( No big deal I guess.. I had planned on putting on flat fenders anyway.



The full trip report is here, and the gallery is here (including some pretty cool videos).
 
#53 ·
Excellent videos, well done Davin!
 
#55 ·
It's so fun to wheel in, but sucks afterwards when you realize the $40 tab to wash it.

Oh well, it's worth it. Not my favorite terrain, but there is too much of it out here to ignore. I prefer technical stuff like hill climbs, wash outs, off camber stuff... etc
 
#56 ·
Ok here's a little tech for you guys. I "fixed" my front fender today.. I used a hi-lift with a block of wood to lift it up a little above level and let it sit like that for 15 seconds or so to fatigue the metal back to level.

I let off the jack and it looks almost perfectly level now.

Technique:


Before:


After:


-------------

I also put some XJ coils in the front which gained be about 5/8" to 11/16" height.

-------------

One more thing: When I was putting the XJ coils in the front I noticed my passenger front tire was leaning a little.. I grabbed it (it was already off the ground) and was able to move it up and down by hand quite easily. I took of my tire, caliper, axle nut, and got down to the unit bearing. I pulled that out and the bearing literally fell apart in my hands. The outer seal, ring, and inner ring fell out exposing dry roller bearings... I replaced that with a new one and it's all better! :kiss:
 
#57 ·
Got my rockers done yesterday! The total cost with material, paint and hardware (not including my labour of course) was about $170 or so.

They are 3/16" formed plate with 1.5" 120 wall DOM tubing for the tube steps. I kept the steps as close to the body as possible so I wouldn't always get the back of my leg dirty when getting out of the jeep.

The inside of the steps are just a tad less than 1" away from the rockers. The tubes are angled upwards 20 degrees. I painted them what I like to call "nth degree grey" to be different.

Here are a few select pictures, check out the full gallery of them here: http://myjeeptj.com/wpg2?g2_itemId=11567






 
#58 ·
Nice work as always buddy. They look very sweet.
 
#59 ·
nice work, those sliders look awesome...:thumbsup:
 
#61 ·
Thanks for the great comments guys!



It turned out great! It's easily one of the best investments I've made to the jeep. I notice the improvements every time I wheel, and I love it more and more each time I get to use it.

On 31's I don't foresee it being a big problem (knock on wood). Although I know locking the d35 isn't necessarily smart, I would still lock the rear before the front any day. It's only common sense. You generally won't get stuck going downhill.. but you will need as much traction when climbing out of mud holes (upward), and climbing hills. When you're facing upwards most of the weight is on the rear tires, so a rear locker will benefit you much more. Granted if you're climbing out of a mud hole, the front tires will hit solid ground first, so locking the front is not a bad thing for sure.

When you're doing technical stuff like rock crawling, it's nice to know that if you get a tire in the air you can usually still move. It sure makes getting right to the edge on an RTI ramp easy, that's for sure. :p

To answer your question directly.. yes it's "as good" as a full time locker or selectable locker on the trail. It locks solid and can not slip. On the street it's another story however. It makes ratcheting sounds when it's unlocked around a corner (barely audible from inside), and will crack and pop occasionally. The more I drive it on the street the more I get used to having it, and it doesn't bug me at all anymore. The first few days I had it I was honestly regretting it, having to think about it all the time to keep the jeep from tire hopping and popping.. but just like driving a manual tranny, you get used to it and barely think about it after a while.

My recommendation would be to go for it. If you can spend $1000 on a locker go selectable, but you will love a lunchbox locker.
 
#62 ·
Today me and Kyle (Cyborg) went out to a small area on range road 24 near Edmonton. It's private land, but we called Hal (the owner) to get permission before going.

Anyway, we ran into some quadders out there and we were havin' some great fun an a huge skeg pit. I told the one guy jokingly that one of the really tough routes through it was the "easy way"... he believed me for some reason and here's the result!

At the end of the video he can be heard saying "I though you said it wasn't bad, you ****in' set me up!"

http://myjeeptj.com/wpg2?g2_itemId=11883

In good sport I pulled him out. :p

This is the part we were trying to get through.

http://myjeeptj.com/wpg2?g2_itemId=11889
 
#63 ·
Ok, they are really done now. I got the stainless hardware I needed for the sides, and picked up some Clear Outdoor Acrylic caulking to seal them up. I talk about this more in the write-up here.

I made new sandwich plates for the insides because a couple didn't fit right. I also went ahead and made sandwich plates for the sides too, which is something I have never seen in an aftermarket set.. so NYAH-NYAH to all them!

For the paint I did 3 coats of primer and 3 coats of paint.

I learned a few things about paint this time around..
1: 3 coats is "enough" but I would prefer 5 or more. The paint is still fairly thin, but I assume I will need to touch it up on the bottoms after using them offroad no matter what, so this is not a big deal.
1: Get a paint can trigger thingy.. Something you attach to the top of the can that adds a handle and trigger. My fingers hurt real bad after all that painting, and that would have made it much easier. Maybe it's just Tremclad.. but the nozzle is pretty stiff.
2: Painting inside gaps is hard. the paint is really thin on the part of the tubes that face the body because it was hard to get in there. If I was prepared better I could have hung the rockers so I would be able to spray better at that angle.
3: Glyptal is CRAZY stuff. It dries to an almost rubbery finish at first, and takes about 72 hours to dry completely to a hard-ish finish. When I coated the inside of the stand-offs with it it made a huge mess. I regret not preparing more (tape tape and more tape) for this step, but I am really glad I did because there's no better way to coat inside something like that. After I learned my lesson the 2nd rocker went a lot smoother than the 1st.
4: 12 hours from final coat to install is not *near* enough time. I knew the paint wouldn't be fully set yet, so I was careful.. but I still messed up the paint pretty bad in a few places. especially where the counter sunk bolts sit. I will need to remove the bolts, mask off and repaint those later. I can't remove the rockers from the jeep anymore because they are glued on with acrylic and I don't want to try to clean that up if I remove them. Next project I do the paint will sit for 48 hours+ before I touch it.

Some other lessons learned:
1: Cut the holes in the stand-offs before welding them to the rockers. I could have just put them in a drill press.. once they were welded to the rockers, it was too much of a pain to drill them so I used a plasma torch. This worked ok because I found the right setting that would burn through the 1st layer, but not the 2nd... but it made a nasty mess inside.
2: While 1" seems like enough space between the tubes and rockers, it's very difficult to weld. It's great because I don't get the back of my leg dirty every time I hop out of the jeep, but it's very hard to weld properly.

I'm very pleased with the results. Cows are less beefy. They look good, work great as a hi-lift point, and will perform great offroad.

Here's a few more pictures.

Old hardware (before I got the stainless outside bolts)




Sandwich plates including the new side ones, and the new hardware




Clear Acrylic to seal them


All done!

 
#64 ·
looks good, what thickness is the metal for the backing plates...
 
#67 ·
Thanks :p

I don't think I will be making another set of rockers unless I get a business going. They are just too complicated to "one-off". If I was getting all the parts plasma cut and I was making say... 10 sets at a time it would be worth it.
 
#68 ·
How long do I have to wait?:D Put me in for a set. I've been considering rockers and yours would look sweet on my TJ. I've also been thinking about getting my own "practice" welder since I now have a garage to do that stuff. Any recomendations? I'm looking for somthing affordable, maybe a welder from crappy tire or princess auto. Should I go stick or wire feed? I did some welding waaayyy back in high school but that was it. I would love to build my own custom rockers, bumpers, etc.
 
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