311WJ's 04' Unlimited Build

Owners Name & City-
John, Springville


Make, Model & Year of Vehicle-
Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (LJ) 2004


Engine-
4.0 I6 w/K&N Intake


Transmission-
42rle


T-Case-
231


Axles-
Front D30, 4.56, Lockrite
Rear D44, 4.56, Spartan, Axle Truss

Suspension-
2" RE Springs with 1" CrawlerReady Pucks, RE Long Arms w/ Rear 4 Triangulated link by BenHanks, Full Belly Skid


Wheels and Tires-
15" Cragar Soft 8's with 37/12.50r15 Goodyear Wrangler MTR's (old style)


Winch-
None yet


Favorite Trails-
AF Canyon, The Snakes, Anything in Moab


Other-
GenRight Highfenders, Corner Guards and Sliders, Custom F&R bumpers, Hurculined Tub, Relocated Mirrors, Cobra CB, LiteDot LED Tail lights, LED Turn Signals, Rusty's Steering, SmittyBuilt Shovel/AX, On Board Air, rock lights.

 

[Greg]

Beautiful Jeep! I've always loved LJ's, this makes me want one!

 

[Cascadia]

Glad to see you've still got this! I sure miss being able to go wherever I wanted.

 

[311WJ]

Thank you! I bought it from a forum member a year ago and it has taken a lot of work and clean up to get it to this point. I have a lot left to do as well..

I will update this build thread with all the work in the last year and future plans. Currently I need to replace the rear locker and buy new tires. Im going to go with some 35's until I can afford to build/buy a new front axle.

Here was my last jeep which I miss sometimes because it was so clean ha ha
http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?60159-Livi-s-01-WJ

 

[311WJ]

Glad to see you've still got this! I sure miss being able to go wherever I wanted.

Yup! I was going to post a link in ur build of it so u could find this but looks like u did already!

 

[311WJ]

Here's some stats on the LJ when I purchased it


2004 Jeep TJ Unlimited
4.0 I-6
40k miles :thumbsup:
4.56 Gears and LockRight Lockers Front and Rear
Rubicon Express Long Arm Kit with full belly skid and Custom 4 link Rear by Ben Hanks Racing
2" Teraflex coils and shocks
4 Cragar Soft 8 wheels, 15"
5 37x12.50x15 Goodyear Wrangler MTR's (old style)
no name front bumper and burned up winch
GenRight Highfender Flares, Corner Gaurds and Sliders
ORO Rear LED Taillights


Pics from ad

From the Day I bought it

 

[311WJ]

Now yes, it needs some work. And yes it was previously built which goes against every part of me that loves building them... But I got this jeep for a good deal. So for the low miles, it being an Unlimited and all the parts on it, I couldn't pass it up.


As you can tell from the pictures at the top, he slapped the GenRight Flares on and then sprayed primer on them while they were on the Jeep. You can see the overspray on the hood

Between the Time he took those pictures and I bought it, the primer had all but washed away and they were starting to surface rust. So the night I bought it I went to TuffJeeper's house and his dad helped me clean off the Primer on the body and we cleaned some things up and removed the seized up winch..

We then headed to the some snow piles we knew of to play around ha ha ha

 

[311WJ]

So I had quite the list of things needed..


Big things are Axles and Tires
--It has a D30 and D44 and they are a little small for 37's lol
--These tires have like a half inch of tread. so some life but not much


Smaller things / Cosmetics
--Pull Cornerguards/ Fenders and get them painted or something to stop rust
--Relocate Mirrors
--Rear Bumper
--Winch
--Coat the Tub because there is carpet from a house and it scratched up tub
--Figure out how to make the cut hood look better

 

[311WJ]

So I decided the best way to find out what else I need to at to the list was to take it wheeling...


Sorry I don't have any great pics because it was in the dark but I got a pics at the beginning and the end lol

I did figure out a few things...


My pinion angle sucked and my rear lockright was acting up...

So I ordered a Spartan Locker for the rear to get me by until I can build axles..
I also Fixed the rear pinion angle.. the rear uppers where all the way short as they could go. I added 4-5" and got it all fixed.

 

[311WJ]

Next thing I did was change the Oil and ReCharge the K&N

I also picked up some color matched Paint. A little Fingernail polish type bottle and a rattle can.


I used the Little brush bottle to touch up the edge of the hood. Then I added some Black rubber trim so it didnt look as bad

 

[311WJ]

I decided while I waited for my spartan locker I would try to get my Jeep Legal (since I was in the Police academy and all, I'm graduated now)


First thing was the spare tire he gave me was brand new but there was no wheel.

So i ordered a wheel and decided to buy a rear bumper / tire carrier off my friend bradentaala.
I also ordered a license plate bracket, license plate light and 3rd brake light from KevinsOffroad.




Random Pic

 

[311WJ]

Then the parts showed up!


UPS thought he was funny hiding "two in the bush" lol

Spartan

License plate bracket and License plate light / 3rd brake light

I also thought about getting this plate lol

 

[311WJ]

I also got my Spare wheel

And When I was out wheeling I felt the jeep was a little low at 2", I would hit my belly skid on some small stuff.. So I picked up some 1" pucks from my buddy Tyler at CrawlerReady

I also found out that the PO had taken out the Windshield washer bottle and didn't know where it was so LUCKILY I have a ZJ bottle I will have to try to mount under the hood

The PO also gave me a brand new Header Bar and Best Top Bikini TOP :Thumbsup:

 

[311WJ]

Next I decided to install the Spartan in the Rear D44


So I pulled the LJ into my dads garage and popped of the diff cover...


and found this... missing teeth on the ring AND the pinion... a big ole Darn ha ha

So I ordered a Ring and Pinion and Master Rebuild kit from Randy's and my friend helped me Replace them.. Sorry no pics.

 

[311WJ]

Next was time to replace the stock bumper with the tire carrier from bradentaala...


before

after

lights on

Brake lights

When it got dark

 

[311WJ]

pic up at the Police Range in Orem

Now if you've noticed in the previous pics.. the body armor was getting bad.. So it was time to get it taken care of.. I have a friend who does powder coating so I decided to do his standard Black with a little silver flake in it.


Here's how bad they got...

So My Wife and I started pulling them off... it was a ROYAL PAIN! The PO had welded over bolts / nuts and stripped some out so I had to cut some off and drill others out.. Took me all day to get them off...

 

[Cascadia]

I know you're not complaining about me but I dropped my jeep off to a guy and told him to mount them asvhigh as possible so bigger tires could fit. When I picked it up I was pretty ticked he had welded the flares over the bolts. That's the main reason I never got them painted or powder coated. Plus, I never really keep my rigs very long, so my primer was working fine for me. Ha.
In my defense, I didn't like the primer either. I finished mounting everything a few hours before a moab trip. When I got down there rain was in the forecast, so I hurried and primered them.

 

[311WJ]

When we took them off we discovered they had rusted pretty good behind them as well..


I got them back from powder coat the same day I took them off and they turned out good! If you look closely on the inside of them, you can see the rust had eaten down the metal. But not to bad.

The rust had also eaten into the Paint. So i wanted to clean it up best I could and Protect it..
I started with some rubbing compound

Which cleaned up the rust in the paint but still left discoloration..

So I followed that up with some clear Rustoleum Rust reformer and them some color matched paint..

 

[311WJ]

I know you're not complaining about me but I dropped my jeep off to a guy and told him to mount them asvhigh as possible so bigger tires could fit. When I picked it up I was pretty ticked he had welded the flares over the bolts. That's the main reason I never got them painted or powder coated. Plus, I never really keep my rigs very long, so my primer was working fine for me. Ha.
In my defense, I didn't like the primer either. I finished mounting everything a few hours before a moab trip. When I got down there rain was in the forecast, so I hurried and primered them.

Ya I actually had to sawzall those bolts and since they aren't doing anything to support the fenders I just didn't put any back on. Infact the bolt head was still in the hole when they got powdercoated so u can't even tell they aren't attached to anything ha.

 

[311WJ]

Then soon as I could I bolted back on the fenders! This took a lot less time... I did it in about 3 hours total..


I also Decided to paint the little aluminum plate on the front fenders Paint matched Red.. let me know what you think!




I think the Jeep looks MUCH BETTER!!!