The Little TJ That Could

kyle_craig

kyle_craig

Well-known member
It all started about five years ago. I would be heading out to Colorado for college and decided I needed a reliable four wheel drive vehicle to get around on the snowy mountain roads.

I sold my little two wheel drive pickup...


...and bought a little four cylinder Jeep!


Specs on the Jeep were the following:
-2.5L/ax5
-93,000 miles
-LP30/D35 axle combo
-stock everything

I bought the Jeep in the spring and by summer I had installed some 31" tires, new wheels, and a 2" spring spacer lift.



Then I headed off to school in Colorado and proceeded to wheel the heck out of it!






After a year of school and wheeling I headed home to Minnesota for the summer. That summer I added a 1" body lift and some 33" BFGs.
 
Soon after installing the 33s, I installed a winch and bumper and headed west again.


The 33" A/Ts didn't last long. By winter time I had traded them for some 35" Mud Terrains.


The 35" treads, combined with a 2.5L and 4.10  gearing sucked for power...I ended up gearing the 30 and 35 to 4.88s gears.


With the 4.88s, I was content enough to make a few of trips to Moab to wheel! I even made it to Easter Jeep Safari, which was awesome.






I then picked up some brand new soft doors for $100 and ran them for a week...


...and sold them to help fund collecting parts for my Dana 44 swap and wheelbase stretch. I picked up a rear 44 out of a Canadian YJ, along with a used Rubi air locker, a 4.88 ring and pinion, some XJ leafs, and a Genright stretch tank.









While at a Jeep junkyard in Minnesota scoring some XJ leafs, I found a decent CJ tailgate and decided to buy it. It was a fun project stripping it, rattle canning it, and installing it.








 
After finishing the tailgate, it was time to head out to Colorado for yet another winter.

I did some Colorado wheeling that fall..





Then I packed up my collection of parts for the axle build, leaf swap, and wheelbase stretch. I headed to Denver where my buddy Josh has a shop. He set up the gears in the 44 while my buddy Tommy and I chopped, ground, and welded things together.






Goodbye old Dana 35...you served me well.


Hello Dana 44!


Got the axle geared and in, the leaf hangers tacked, and the shackle angle set.




After lots of use of a tape measure, we finally had everything where we wanted it. My buddy Tommy used his master welding skills to finish burning the brackets in. Then it was sitting on its own weight again.


I was very happy with the setup. It looked clean, rode similar to stock, was very stable wheeling, and flexed well.




 
I ran the shocks in the stock location for a couple weeks before determining that I wanted to outboard the shocks. So I bought some 12" travel Bilsteins and some Ford towers and got to cutting.










With the shocks outboarded, it corners better, flexes better, and is stable as heck!

That winter, I got some 3/8" synthetic line for Christmas...twas a good gift indeed!




I did a little more wheeling...


And decided I want to lock the front, so in went an Eaton E locker.


Then I did quite a bit of wheeling with this setup (4.88s, XJ leafs, 5" stretch, Rubi air locker rear, Eaton E locker front)...I loved it.














[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qLoAcPs6gI&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
 
While in Moab, I twisted a 44 shaft. It was time for chromos...






I wanted more clearance under the Jeep, but didn't want to lift the Jeep any more. While back in Minnesota that summer, I installed a Iron Rock HNT slip yoke eliminator, an UCF ultra high clearance skid, a JKS motor mount lift, a 1350 yoke at the axle end, and a new Tattons driveshaft.






Before:


After:







Heading back out to Colorado last fall, I stopped at TnT Customs in Wyoming. I shot the shit with them for quite a while and decided that they were pretty cool...so I bought one of their rear bumpers.




Then I did some more wheeling.






Here is a picture of mine and my buddies rigs at the top of Sidewinder outside of Kremmling CO.




Then I finally installed the TnT bumper. I also flush mounted my stock tail lights the same weekend.




After quite a bit of wheeling last fall, I treated myself to a Tera Low kit. While I have heard stories of issues with this kit, I have been very happy with mine. It says right in the owners manual not to run above 3-4000 rpm for an extended period of time while in low range. I just switch to 4-hi for the fast parts of a trail. It has not given me an issue yet (knock on wood). I consider it to be the best single purchase I have made for my Jeep. Before I would smoke my clutch, now I smoke my tires!




Last Thanksgiving, my friends and I made a trip to Moab. The difference that the TeraLow made for my 2.5L Jeep was immediately noticeable. I was extremely happy with the control and power it provided.



At Area BFE in Moab, my stock tie rod decided to shit the bed. I straightened it, slid my Hi-Lift Jack handle over it, and continued to wheel!


Here I am with my pimped out Hi-Lift Tie Rod and a ridiculous sweater on in honor of Turkey Day.



 
My 35" KM1s still had quite a bit of tread left at this point.



Unfortunately, they were old, dry, and had been wheeled hard at 6-10 psi for much of their life. Three out of the four were patched or plugged, and all four were leaking air with cuts in the sidewalls and cracks in the tread.



Being the cheap-skate that I am, rather than buying new tires, I picked up some used 35" KM2s on JK Rubicon wheels and some wheel adapters.


I like the look. It cleaned things up a bit.






It wasn't long before I would be in Moab again.










[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT96bpx1oe0[/youtube]




On this trip to Moab, I only got to wheel half of Rusty Nail. I broke a front U joint, then replaced it and kept going. About 50 yards up at the next obstacle I blew up my rear locker. It was a short trip to say the least!








I pulled the locker, removed the broken pieces and limped back to Steamboat with my tail between my legs..
 
Once back in Steamboat, I found an open 44 carrier and swapped that in so I could wheel at Easter Jeep Safari 2013!

EJS 2013 was a blast and the only breakage I had was another Dana 30 Joint blowout. Other than that it was smooth sailing and one heck of a good time!
















Another fun year of School and wheeling had passed, and it was time to go back to Minnesota to work for the summer.



I decided I wanted a bit more sound in the Jeep. I bought a Jerry can, a 10" Memphis M class subwoofer, and a grip of sound mat for inside the can. I filled the can with sound mat and poly-fill and also tacked in some steel braces on the inside of the can to minimize flexing.


Hooked up to my 400 watt Memphis amp, it actually sounds pretty darn good!







Toward the end of this past summer, I did a fluid change on my front diff and discovered a substantial amount of metal inside. My front pinion bearings are shot, and my gears have worn a bit funny due to my bad pinion bearings. I decided all new bearings and a new ring and pinion wouldn't be a bad idea.

Since I would be replacing the gears and bearings anyway, I picked up a XJ High-pinion 30 as an upgrade, along with an inner kit, diff cover, gussets, tie rod, tie rod ends, tie rod flip kit, fresh Spicer U joints, fresh Spicer ball joints, bearings, and of course a 4.88 ring and pinion.





Unfortunately, I didn't have time to build the HP30 before heading out to Colorado this fall. The axle and parts are sitting in the garage in Minnesota and me and my Jeep are out here in CO. I'll be running the LP30 with bad bearings and worn ring/pinion until spring when I'm back in MN for good.

This coming spring/summer I will finish putting together the High Pinion 30. I plan to cryo treat the gears and install RCVs or Yukon Chromos with Super Joints.
 
This fall I did some wheeling at Holy Cross and Chinaman here in CO and dented up my tub pretty bad. I ordered Moab Fab Corners and Sliders to cover up the damage. Bryce at Moab Fab makes awesome parts and offers unparalleled customer service. He cut me a pair of his TJ sliders and some custom corners for a 5" stretch, CJ tailgate, 2" over-sized wheel opening, round tail lights, and a YJ fuel bezel.


Before:


After:





This is how the Jeep sits as of November 2013:










The Jeep is slowly getting to where I want it to be. I will be watching what I spend on it in the next couple of months as I am currently operating on a tight budget. In December, I will be done with school and in the spring I plan to move home to Minnesota.



In the next year I plan on buying a 2500hd and eventually, a car trailer. The Jeep will become strictly a warm weather cruiser and weekend wheeling trailer queen. It will never be finished, but here is a list of things that I plan to do to get it close to being finished.

-DOM front control arms (my stock arms are bent)
-Finish HP30 with cryo'd gears, sleeves, gussets, chromos or RCVs, and my e locker
-Lock the rear up again (spool or Yukon Grizzly locker)
-Do something with the front fenders for more up travel (I'm leaning toward DIY hi-line tube fenders but also like the Durham hood)
-Fresh tires...my well used KM2s are going bald faster than me and will need to be replaced in the next year. I'm thinking 37" KM2s (only 36" tall), 35" MTRs (measure a full 35"), or 35" PBRs (measure 35.5").


Other ideas that I'm thinking about include a sport cage, DOM/heim steering, and cutting the front x-member/pushing the front bumper back 2-2.5" for better approach angle.













******At the end of this month, my buddies Spencer, Gavin, and I will be heading to Moab to wheel for Thanksgiving. We plan on wheeling Wednesday 11/27 to Sunday 12/1. If anyone is interested in joining, let me know!******
 
One of my favorite Jeeps out there . Its going to be tough wheeling in Minnesota after all the different terrain you have had access to over your college career . I am in Minneapolis until sometime around the 20th of Dec . If you make it back to town the first beer is on me  😀
 
Verbal date=1386517120 said:
Nicely done! I'll be making my first trek to Moab very soon, looks like its going to be a blast!
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Thanks man! You'll like it. It is a place like no other.

G Beasley date=1386524000 said:
One of my favorite Jeeps out there . Its going to be tough wheeling in Minnesota after all the different terrain you have had access to over your college career . I am in Minneapolis until sometime around the 20th of Dec . If you make it back to town the first beer is on me  😀
Click to expand...
Thanks Greg! It will certainly be a change of pace but I'm looking forward to living back in MN. I've certainly been spoiled with the wheeling out here in Colorado. My goal is to have a 3/4 ton truck by next Christmas. Once I have that and a trailer, trips to Colorado or the black hills will be more feasible. Long distance trips in my Jeep blow. Speaking of that, I'll be driving it back to MN in a little over a week. If it works out, it'd be cool to grab a burger and a beer with you.
 
kyle_craig date=1386551084 said:
Thanks man! You'll like it. It is a place like no other.
Thanks Greg! It will certainly be a change of pace but I'm looking forward to living back in MN. I've certainly been spoiled with the wheeling out here in Colorado. My goal is to have a 3/4 ton truck by next Christmas. Once I have that and a trailer, trips to Colorado or the black hills will be more feasible. Long distance trips in my Jeep blow. Speaking of that, I'll be driving it back to MN in a little over a week. If it works out, it'd be cool to grab a burger and a beer with you.
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I am leaving sometime between the 20th and 23rd , I will update you when the date is finalized . Burger and Beer sounds good , and a hot lap in the TJ  😀
 
G Beasley date=1386555546 said:
I am leaving sometime between the 20th and 23rd , I will update you when the date is finalized . Burger and Beer sounds good , and a hot lap in the TJ  😀
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Sounds good!
 
What kind of kelty tent is that and do you have more pictures of how it attached to the jeep or is it just a rain fly you rigged up there?  [orcj]
 
LowJ date=1386617045 said:
What kind of kelty tent is that and do you have more pictures of how it attached to the jeep or is it just a rain fly you rigged up there?   [orcj]
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It is a Kelty Vortex 4. Its just a regular old tent.  In that picture, I just had the rain fly rigged up as a sun shade to keep the desert rays at bay while I put the rear end back together.
 
kyle_craig date=1386617635 said:
It is a Kelty Vortex 4. Its just a regular old tent.  In that picture, I just had the rain fly rigged up as a sun shade to keep the desert rays at bay while I put the rear end back together.
Click to expand...

That is a pretty neat idea . I think I will start hunting a thrift store tent for trail duty .
 
kyle_craig date=1386617635 said:
It is a Kelty Vortex 4. Its just a regular old tent.  In that picture, I just had the rain fly rigged up as a sun shade to keep the desert rays at bay while I put the rear end back together.
Click to expand...

Good idea.  Never thought to do that int he sun.  I usually pack my rain fly separately so I can use it for the hammock on a nice evening camping. 
 

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