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TJ Build Thread - 05+ SD Tons on 43" SX Stickies

While I was at it... decided to do some body work. Went with Raptor Liner in White. For anyone considering doing this... dont. Thats all I can say. It looked good.... for about a month.

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Then I went to Trail Hero 2019. Had a great time wheeling. Had some issues with the fan. Fought heating once again. But I managed to keep it working... up until I blew my motor after a flop on the Soup Bowl on The Maze. It was time to swap in another 4.0.

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After the motor swap... the cooling issues continued on my next trip to Wolf Caves. I decided it was time to do it right. But this time I went a little too far and started cutting. I ended up cutting the front of the frame off to raise it for more ground clearance while I was doing the cooling system. Decided to swap the front over to a 4 link instead of 3 link and also built some boat sides.

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Once the frame work and "fenders" were done, I moved on to the suspension work. I decided to just keep the lower links as it. They were outboarded 10° and in positions I wanted them to be and allowed me to save a lot of work remounting them. Uppers I designed myself. Allowed me the best geometry I could get with as long as I wanted the links to be. Also swapped to dual Mishimoto fans. I dont think the single fan I had was pulling enough air. These fans have more CFM individually and will be running two. One on the temp controller and the other on a switch.

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With the suspension finished I got started on the boatsides. Since my lower links were below the frame rails front and rear, I decided to add a 2x2 to tie them in together and allow for a flat skid across the bottom. These would also be tied into the boat sides.

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It looks like you are running the PSC double cooler setup. I have one on my stockish TJ. Did you put extra holes in it for airflow and did it make any noticeable difference? Just wondering because it seems like an awfully big air block in stock form.

Great work by the way!
 
Awesome TJ build! Looks super stable.
How much up-travel do you run, and what is the wheelbase?
Did you feel that the tracbar set-up was limiting you? I am currently looking to make my tracbar longer to reduce lateral movement.
 
It looks like you are running the PSC double cooler setup. I have one on my stockish TJ. Did you put extra holes in it for airflow and did it make any noticeable difference? Just wondering because it seems like an awfully big air block in stock form.

Great work by the way!

I was running one yes. It seemed restrictive to me as well. I drilled a lot of holes in it, don't know if it made any difference or not but I'm also not running it any longer.
 
Awesome TJ build! Looks super stable.
How much up-travel do you run, and what is the wheelbase?
Did you feel that the tracbar set-up was limiting you? I am currently looking to make my tracbar longer to reduce lateral movement.

With the front part of the frame redone I have about 7" of uptravel now. Before I had about 4". It works much better now. My wheel base is 117", which is a hair too long. I wish I was around 115" instead.

The panhard wasn't ever limiting me and wasn't planning on changing it to a 4 link when I originally did the frame... but I didn't like the angle it would be at without a long bracket hanging down below the frame, which limited my uptravel and defeated the point of redoing my frame. So I elected to go with a 4 link at that time.
 
Continuing on with the build. The tubing work was done on the boatsides and decided to take a break from it. Finished up the cooling system, mounted the orbital, and started on the skid/atlas crossmember.

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Cooling system was done... time to mount the ORI's. Wanted them angled in a little more than they were before.... also my mounts were level from side to side before so had to cut those off the axle and re-make the lower mounts as well. I was happy with how they turned out. Pics of those to come.

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Pics of the lower shock mounts. Started working on the front bumper/winch plate. Not sure why it always jumbles up the order of my pictures but you get the idea.

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Finished up the front bumper and started on the boatside skins. They were steel backed and will be lined with UHMW and countersunk allen head bolts.

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Finished the Jeep just in time for the 2020 MUTJAC event at Rugged Mountain Ranch. The Jeep did great other than a flop... I maintain it was just to show people the new boatsides and skid plates. The main skid is 3/8", engine skid is 1/4". Front and rear plates on the boadsides are 1/4" and main side plates are 1/8" but will be lined with the UHMW eventually.

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One thing I had been wanting to change for a while was the wiring. The previous owner of the Jeep thought they knew what they were doing but obviously didint. I had done some trail repairs on wiring that I allowed to become more permanent than expected. So it was time to strip out a lot of that and clean it up.

Once that was done I made it wheeling for New Years Eve at Hot Springs ORV park.

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Thanks guys. Next project is to finish a few small things, then I'm stripping the rest of the bedliner off and wrapping the Jeep. I've been working on the buggy now since the Jeep is now "most of the way I want it."
 
So I noticed a lot of undercut in your winch plate welds, is that some sort witchcraft designed to keep wasps away or is it morefor helping manage the effects of Colorado twisty boys?
 
Pics of the lower shock mounts. Started working on the front bumper/winch plate. Not sure why it always jumbles up the order of my pictures but you get the idea.

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Looks badass, what is the thickness of the steel you used in the bumper?
 
Those 45's have an interesting skinny tread pattern. I have been looking for a set for 2 years now, but now I'm questioning that.

I'm currently on 43's, but I'm looking for something a little taller.

Also, funny that I have a Nardo Grey Raptor Liner kit waiting to spray out my Hood and Grill. A lot of similarities lol.
 
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