2006 TJ unlimited LJ new to me

chaplinfj60

chaplinfj60

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Nov 17, 2020
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Loc
marshalltown iowa
so long story short....
GF and I were on the way back from SMORR monday and she was on the internet looking at jeeps. she is a jeep girl through and through. but likes them factory. she has a 2015 wrangler sport. complete stock. complete. she loves going off roading with me. but i have **** box buggys or my beat up landcruiser. she has been looking on and off for a LJ that she could take off roading. not buggy life off roading but easy trails. maybe get stuck use a winch. 33-35 tires type of rig. but will not take out here JK. sh she got this on the way back. she said chappy. you can basicly do whatever you want here. but it still has to be a daily driver.

we have a trip planned to colorado with a group this summer and plan on taking this jeep.
my thoughts are this.

33-35 tires.
gear axles to 5.13 maybe rear spartan locker or grizzly. unsure. maybe leave limited slip.
front open. find extra shafts. maybe get chrome.
little bit of a leveling lift like 2 inch to clear bigger tires.
some body armor.


and this is the plan. but i am sure this will go to **** as soon as we start going off road more.


she for sure does not want a raisin so its not gonna hit dumb trails. but if we are out and slide on a rock and dent some panels its also ok because this is the trail jeep.

aside from my little red 4cyl tj i got a couple months back this is a new world to me. i mean so many parts available unlike toyota world. so this is neat.









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Clean. Mine only has 44k miles on it but it looks like it's got a million! Still haven't started the rubiconification on it yet.
 
35” tires geared to 4.56 or 4.88. 5.13 is too low for highway and you won’t like it.
3-1/2” lift
Personally I would go ARB’s or zip lockers front and rear. Both of the below had selectables and I was very happy with them. Drive them with common sense and they hold up fine.

TJ with 3”, 33’s & 4.56

IMG_6846.jpeg


Jk with 3.5”, 35’s & 4.88

IMG_9309.jpeg
 
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white-rhino said:
35” tires geared to 4.56 or 4.88. 5.13 is too low for highway and you won’t like it.
3-1/2” lift
Click to expand...

I don't know about that, my father's old LJ had 4.56 with 35" tires, and I think it could have used lower axle gears to help highway drivability. Of course, we live in a mountain state and would take it up to Utah and Colorado, so a lot more grades and altitude than Chappy is dealing with. The overdrive in a 42RLE is .69:1 which is fairly high. Even with 5.13s on 35s it will still only be turning under 2600 RPM at 75 MPH which would actually be pretty ideal for the 4.0L.

I personally wouldn't go any higher than 4.88 with 35s. The biggest issues my father's LJ had were lack of gearing, ****ty lifted short arm geometry, and being top heavy. The Rubicrawler is expensive, but it is a great gearing option for a non-Rubicon with the 42RLE.

My father's old LJ for reference:
IMG_0089.jpeg
 
i damn near hit the buy now for the rubi crawler. holly cow. but that also means two more drive shafts. but damn 7 to 1 low range auto. thats some control....
 
I didn’t post it right but note my description with pics. My JK on 35’s was 4.88. The TJ on 33’s was 4.56. So yeah, I can agree your dad’s LJ on 35’s with 4.56 was a tad under powered.

I’m not familiar with the rubi crawler. Off to google…
 
I used to have a 4 banger TJ with 4:88s and 33s, 8.8 rear with lunch box lockers on both ends. I could drive it to the trails, wheel hard and drive home. Always had spare shafts assembled with unit bearings, no time at all to change when needed.

My wife reminds me all too often how the worst thing I did was swap in half ton axles and make that thing a trailer queen. I had the most fun when it was a simple, functional rig on 33s that could drive anywhere and wheel most things within its reasonable capabilities.

I would say gear it 4:88, skip the chromos and buy a selectable front locker and extra shafts. If you upgrade the shafts, the next weak link is the R&P. Much easier to swap a broken shaft! Just run full circle clips in the axle U joints, ditch the half moon clips.
 
TaltonOffRoad said:
I used to have a 4 banger TJ with 4:88s and 33s, 8.8 rear with lunch box lockers on both ends. I could drive it to the trails, wheel hard and drive home. Always had spare shafts assembled with unit bearings, no time at all to change when needed.

My wife reminds me all too often how the worst thing I did was swap in half ton axles and make that thing a trailer queen. I had the most fun when it was a simple, functional rig on 33s that could drive anywhere and wheel most things within its reasonable capabilities.

I would say gear it 4:88, skip the chromos and buy a selectable front locker and extra shafts. If you upgrade the shafts, the next weak link is the R&P. Much easier to swap a broken shaft! Just run full circle clips in the axle U joints, ditch the half moon clips.
Click to expand...
i like where this is going. totaly agree. we want to keep this drivable for sure
 
my 05 lj has 4.56 on 33s with the nsg370. 70mph is 3k rpms, auto rigs wont be that high at hwy speeds....if you even plan on going hwy speeds.
 
chaplinfj60 said:
i damn near hit the buy now for the rubi crawler. holly cow. but that also means two more drive shafts. but damn 7 to 1 low range auto. thats some control....
Click to expand...
The rubicrawer does not require new drive shafts. It replaces a dummy housing at the tail end of the 42RLE. Easy Very easy install.
 
4.88s with the 4.0 and 35's is a perfect daily gear ratio. 5.13 winds it out on the interstate.
Stab a 8.8 in the back (unless it has the D44) and HP30 in the front and call it a day. Don't mess around with long arms.
 
I have an 06 TJ with the 42RLE auto and 4.88 /35s. Seems like a good combo, I can drive 80 or 90 mph if I need to but it crawls nice. I have heard 5.13 works ok too.

The 42RLE is basically a minivan transmission redesigned to work with the 4.0 and a transfer case. The tailhousing is just an empty box to get it close to the same length as the manual.
 
chaplinfj60 said:
how is lunch box locker on the street. does it load up and **** like i remember and bang once in a awhile
Click to expand...

They do load up and bang like a homie from the west side, usually in parking lots when lots of people are around.
However the cost for a lunchbox vs a selectable always made me deal with it.
I had great luck with Spartan Lockers.
 
bad zuki said:
4.88s with the 4.0 and 35's is a perfect daily gear ratio. 5.13 winds it out on the interstate.
Stab a 8.8 in the back (unless it has the D44) and HP30 in the front and call it a day. Don't mess around with long arms.
Click to expand...
so me being noob. high pinion dana 30 comes in what?
 
bad zuki said:
Yep. Get those and some adjustable lowers and call it a day. Best bang for the buck in a stockish rig. The weak link becomes the shafts, not the pinion. They hold up to aggressive comp rigs with 35's.


I've only built TJ's for people, never any of this fancy LWB stuff. :flipoff2:
Click to expand...
they are fancy, lol
 
All my xj’s have been 4:88’s with 35’s or 36’s with the aw4 and always worked good. Current tj doesnt get wheeled much anymore so it just has a set 4:10’s 35’s with the 6 speed, great on the road and decent for the little wheeling i do now.

I will echo what has been said about the Hp30 good little upgrade, put a good truss on in and it will live
 
I'm running 5.38's with 35's and a 42rle. I've spent a lot of time on the interstate with it. If you need to be doing 80 in the left lane its a little deep but if you drive it like a jeep it feels fine. I've driven it up I5 for a couple hours at a wack at 70 and it is fine. Feels great on the forest roads and the trans doesn't hunt anywhere near as much as it used to. I don't think you can over gear a 42rle, less load keeps them alive longer. I've got a buddy with an LJ w 4.88's and he drove mine for a week or so while his jeep was torn apart and his car was in the shop. He ordered 5.38's for his a week later.

As was said already no need to modify driveshafts for a rubicrawler, it replaces an existing part of the trans tail housing.

My rig is highlined with 2" OME springs and 35's it's a great "jeep trail" wheeler. ARB's front and rear and dana 44's, it often surprises me with how capable it is being a guy that had only wheeled buggies for a lot of years before I built it.

Shameless plug:
crazybluerider

Build Thread 'TJ Camping Rig / Mild Trail Wheeler'

It's probably time I got a thread going on this thing. The build has started now that my buggy is operational. It's a 2005 TJ that I purchased a little over a year ago to use as a tow behind when we go camping, I've also been doing some exploration type wheeling and camping in it. It's a 4.0l auto jeep and had around 75k miles at time of purchase, despite being a salvage ***le rig it's in really good shape. I was able to confirm that the total was because the front axle was bent and the front link mounts on the frame were damaged in a minor front end collision. No damage to the actual...
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crazybluerider said:
I'm running 5.38's with 35's and a 42rle. I've spent a lot of time on the interstate with it. If you need to be doing 80 in the left lane its a little deep but if you drive it like a jeep it feels fine. I've driven it up I5 for a couple hours at a wack at 70 and it is fine. Feels great on the forest roads and the trans doesn't hunt anywhere near as much as it used to. I don't think you can over gear a 42rle, less load keeps them alive longer. I've got a buddy with an LJ w 4.88's and he drove mine for a week or so while his jeep was torn apart and his car was in the shop. He ordered 5.38's for his a week later.

As was said already no need to modify driveshafts for a rubicrawler, it replaces an existing part of the trans tail housing.

My rig is highlined with 2" OME springs and 35's it's a great "jeep trail" wheeler. ARB's front and rear and dana 44's, it often surprises me with how capable it is being a guy that had only wheeled buggies for a lot of years before I built it.

Shameless plug:
crazybluerider

Build Thread 'TJ Camping Rig / Mild Trail Wheeler'

It's probably time I got a thread going on this thing. The build has started now that my buggy is operational. It's a 2005 TJ that I purchased a little over a year ago to use as a tow behind when we go camping, I've also been doing some exploration type wheeling and camping in it. It's a 4.0l auto jeep and had around 75k miles at time of purchase, despite being a salvage ***le rig it's in really good shape. I was able to confirm that the total was because the front axle was bent and the front link mounts on the frame were damaged in a minor front end collision. No damage to the actual...
  • Like
Click to expand...
I like the idea of 35s and 5.38s. Damn they want a lot for A dana 44.
 
Speaking from experience with daily driving an LJ for years...

If its a 6 speed, 4.88 with 35s, if it's auto go with 5.13 with 35s. Not a big difference at all but the overdrive is so steep in the auto that it needs all the help it can get on the highway.

I ran mine (6 speed, 4.56) with a hp30 with an aussie locker and an OX locker in the rear 44, 36" swampers for the trails. Worked great, kinda pissed I didnt leave it like that.
 
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