Tim's stretched 2004 LJ

Owners Name & City-
Tim Saunders - Herriman, UT

Make, Model & Year of Vehicle-
2004 Jeep LJ

Engine-
Stock 4.0

Transmission-
Stock 42RLE (auto)

T-Case-
Stock NP231 with Savvy cable shifter and Slip Yoke Eliminator

Axles-
FRONT: JK Rubicon Dana 44 with truss, sleeves, gussets, RCV's, Cryo treated 5.38's and Ox air locker, JK steering, home made track bar & Teraflex flipped drag link.
REAR: Teraflex semi float CRD60, 5.38's and ARB.

Suspension-
FRONT: Core 4x4 short arms with Johnny Joints all around, 3.5" front RK coils, Billstien 5100 shocks, Antirock and custom track bar.
REAR: Custom 4-ling, triangulated uppers with Artec frame brackets, and Metalcloak joints, 2.5" rear RK coils, outboarded rears with 12" Billstien 5125 shocks.

Wheels and Tires-
17" Pro Comp Series 85 bead lock wheels with 40" Pro Comp MT2's

Winch-
Warn VR 8000 synthetic with the solenoid stashed under the hood & wireless remote.

Favorite Trails-
- The Maze
- John's Trail
- Hell's Revenge
- Milt's Mile
- Fawlty Towers
- Cliffhanger
- Golden Spike

Other-
- 110" wheelbase with frame stretch
- Poison Spyder "Daddy Longlegs" rear corner armor
- JCR highline fenders
- Poison Spyder Rock Brawler front bumper
- Swag Off Road Big Hit rear bumper
- Home made flat t-case skid with DIY trans crossmember
- Teraflex engine oil pan skid that ties into trans skid
- Rokmen gas tank skid
- Warrior sliders
- 1.25" JKS body lift, 1" M.O.R.E. motor mounts
- Adam's rear driveshaft
- Crown extended brake lines
- Magnaflow muffler
- 1993 Ford Explorer 9-blade fan & clutch
- LED headlights
- LUX MAX magnetic rock lights (8)
- 20w LED spot lights mounted to front coil buckets
- 13" low profile LED bar mounted under winch bar
- Savvy low profile LED tail lights
- Stock hard top, Bestop OEM style soft top, Spiderweb shade
- Savvy aluminum half doors
- Savvy aluminum tailgate skin
- Kentrol tailgate hinges
- Cobra CB 75WXST
- 3' Firestik antenna w/ low profile coaxial cable
- BaoFeng BF-F8HP
- 10lb co2 tank for tires
- OX Locker Duty Compressor for lockers
- 1.25" alloy seat risers
- Black Widow Roof Rack extension modified to fit LJ cargo area
- Pioneer MVH-S600BS
- Metra double din Dash Kit
- Polk Audio DB 522 5.25 speakers with Select Increments Dash-Pods
- Roswell 6510 In-Boat Speakers in roof bar

See later posts for current photos. She's constantly evolving.

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LJTim

Active Member
Location
Herriman, UT
There's something I didn't realize when putting the new armor on the jeep. I had intentions of putting the tailgate hinges on top of the armor, and using a Savvy tailgate skid to clean up the look of the back. I was caught off guard when I went to put the hinges back on. Apearently the OEM hinges don't sit flush against the tub. There is actually an indentation in the tub that the hinge recesses into. I had no idea, so I had to order some new hinges that would sit flush on the new armor. I ordered them, and made a special request that the seller expedite the shipping, since I had a Moab trip in less than 5 days from the time I ordered them. I got an email 3 days later with a tracking number - for 2 days after we return from our trip. So, I had to use a make-shift tailgate out of plywood for our Moab trip. It did the trick, but I'm happy to have these nice Kentrol hinges on. Now I'm just trying to figure out what to do with my license plate. Pretty sure I'l just bend it and put it on the corner. I wish I didn't have to though.
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glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
What is going on with your soft top there? I run my soft top without windows all summer. Looks like you just tuck the back corners up and tie the frame down? How does that work out? I'm too cheap to go buy a frameless top.
 

LJTim

Active Member
Location
Herriman, UT
What is going on with your soft top there? I run my soft top without windows all summer. Looks like you just tuck the back corners up and tie the frame down? How does that work out? I'm too cheap to go buy a frameless top.
That's exactly what I'm doing. My rear corners (particularly the drivers side) always fall out when my windows are pulled out, so I have been tucking them up under the bar, and securing them with a bungee.
 

LJTim

Active Member
Location
Herriman, UT
I took the plunge on some 40’s. The timing and the price was right on these and the beadlocks, which I am loving so far.

I had to trim the rear portion of my armor, which I was not excited to do since the armor was already powder coated. But it turned out all right.

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glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
do you drive this thing on the road very often? If so, how much grief have you got over your lack of mud flaps and flares? Jeep looks sweet. I wish you would paint it so it isn't an exact model of what mine could look like:)
 

LJTim

Active Member
Location
Herriman, UT
do you drive this thing on the road very often? If so, how much grief have you got over your lack of mud flaps and flares? Jeep looks sweet. I wish you would paint it so it isn't an exact model of what mine could look like:)
I wish you wouldn't ask questions like that. I figure if the subject is avoided, so will any attention it gets :rofl: :rofl:. I have driven this thing around town (SLC, Herriman, Holladay, and everything in between a lot over the past couple years with no flares or flaps. When the weather is nice, I probably drive it more than half the time. I just picked up a set of teraflex flaps a couple weeks ago that I keep in the trunk just in case I decide to add them one day. Maybe a fix-it ticket? That doesn't solve the flare issue though. I try to avoid the interstate if I can. From what I have gathered, UHP is more anxious to harass the big tire guys than the local PD is. I have tried to make a point of driving near, or even in front of local PD to test that theory for the past few months.
 
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Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
Many years ago when I lived in So Jordan, I was always getting pulled over for flaps and flares and tint and anything else they could come up with. The only other city I've been pulled over for any of those is So Salt Lake and that was for flaps and no front plate.
 

LJTim

Active Member
Location
Herriman, UT
I just completed my rear axle swap, 4-link, and while I had it over to my friend Jeromy's shop, I had him add some stuff to my cage that I had sitting in my garage for the past few months. I ended up with a Teraflext semi float CRD60. The process of getting this axle built for my set up was amazing. I was able to take my jeep to the shop and Corbin took measurements so we would have the correct pinion angle and correct shock mount spacing and angles (since I already had outboarded my shocks and used the high clearance, correct oriented Artec axle mounts). I can't thank the axle team enough for the amazing job they did, and they cranked it out for me in lightning speed.

I am also using custom built links using Metalcloak joints. My initial plan was to use OEM JL front lowers for the lowers on this project as they are close to the same length Savvy and Rokmen are using for their mid-arm set ups. I had planned on doing a mid-arm set up all along, and since it's pretty easy to score JL arms for free, I figured that would be a great option for the lowers. It turned out, because the Artec frame mounts put the lower mounts inboard quite a bit, there is too much binding using the JL arms. So we went with a matching custom set of adjustable lowers using the Metalcloak joints.

There was quite a bit of measuring before and after the old axle was pulled, in attempt to get the same ride height and axle position. Due to the HUGE axle tube, a couple of those measurements ended up being changed slightly. I think I ended up with 1/2" extra height in the rear, which I may adjust at some point, but it doesn't bother me a ton.

The triangulated upper links makes a super solid set up. I was delighted to eliminate the rear track bar, as I have never enjoyed how the jeep drives with the track bar. Dips in the roads at 40+ have always felt weird, and the rear end always dropped more on one side than the other. With the 4-link set up, it tracks evenly and has no odd manners on the road anymore, regardless of the speed.

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