04 Wrangler

BB98xj

BB98xj

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2010
Location
King
Typical 04 Wrangler

I recently got this wrangler on a partial trade for my grand cherokee. I had no intentions of getting one but i have always wanted one and the offer was to good to pass up. So i decided to build it up a little. My previous jeeps have been strictly DD's so i never got to play. Right now it has a 4" rough country lift, 33s, and a front bumper with a winch.

Plan is to build a weekend warrior.

1. Take all the chrome plates off (I hate chrome :poop:)
2. Tube fenders
3. Get rid of the Alcoa wheels and 33s and get black wheels and 35s
4. Get some armor
Any suggestions on some other things? Have some good parts to sell ?
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If you want to rock crawl I would focus on function-ability more so than cosmetic.
First I would look at the axles. If it's stock I would say it has the Dana 30 front, and 35 rear, but you may be lucky and already have a rear 44. If so, you are good to go there. The front, will give you issues, you can upgrade to chrome moly's or even better, but, you'd still have a Dana 30. A Dana 44 front would serve you much better, but for serious crawling, you'd still need to upgrade a stock 44. Re-gear since you say you want to go with 35's. I would recommend going to 4.45:1 gearing.Lockers front and rear, many choices there. Don't forget the dif guards, with 35's, they will take a beating!
Next a slip yoke eliminator kit for the t-case. Long arm kit, would probably fix your wobble. From pics and what you have written sounds like the geometry has been tweaked with the lift kit, and the body lift.
IF you want to seriously crawl, a 4:1 kit in the t case will greatly improve the performance on the trail, and rocks.
so now we have the axles, t case, taken care of.
Now the body.
Get rid of the flares, and get some body armor. I like the poison spider stuff. body plating, and rocker guards.
The cage is something else that will be a good investment. You can order a aftermarket weld on kit, or you can support the local 4X4 shop and get a custom cage that will server you well. I have seen great looking and functional cages come out of most of all the local shops
OK, so now, just set back and figure how much you want to get into this, how much you have to spend, and go from there.

Good luck, look forward to a build thread!
 
we need to know more about what kind of playing you are wanting to do. Not everyone is into the same type of wheeling. Right now the way the rig is set up, you have a wheelable rig that will work for 75 percent of the situations you will run into at Mountain City (100 miles or less from you? ) and 100 percent on a dry day at UNF(100 miles).I would say,get the death wobble sorted out,drop the chrome(not a fan either) and get you a cheap set of worn mudgrips on steelies. I wheel a 2001 wrangler on 31s from time to time and do real well at both Mountain City and UNF.This isn't my usual rig tho.
Get set up and wheel what you have first like it is and then see which direction you want to go in.You can drive from home and back on it and if you drive with some sence and pick your lines,you will have a goodtime.
Have you figured a budget yet? A build can get expensive real quick esp. if it is gonna be a dedicated rock crawling only rig. Another thing is a truck and trailer to haul the rig on.They have to be large enough to handle the job also.Have you got the time,money,will to travel farther and farther out? You will find yourself limited down to trails that justify the rig.Build it big and UNF becomes boring and not worth the time.Mountain City and Harlan will give you hours of fun but even then you will find yourself down to what trails you do.I know several who built big and then either went back or wished they did.
 
On a starters list, if your not going full on tons and very large meats and plan to retain the factory t-case put in a slip yoke eliminator kit, and in my opinion not a Hack and Tap version.
 
I'd biggest thing I would do performance wise is get rid of that transfer case drop. As mentioned above a SYE and adjustable rear arms would be the way to go to let you get rid of the drop which is killing your ground clearance. Other than that if it was mine I'd lose the chrome and the giant body lift too.
 
Wow, looks like I have a lot of stuff to take into consideration. I think I would like to do more trail riding. I don't want it to be solely to wheel. I would like something street driveable as well. I really don't have a budget set right now as I am just gonna take my time to build it up. The Chrome has been takin off the lights, so now i don't mind being seen driveing it. The body lift will be next to go.

Anyone interested in the wheels or tires?
 
Put the jeep on the lift and whoever put this lift on must have been a first timer. Everything was loose from front to back. :rolleyes: tightened everything down, got an alignment and drives like a dream. Went ahead and ordered a new set shocks. Hmm what to do first?!
 
I really don't have a set budget, its gonna be more the less a build as I go. I know I want to do trail riding and I plan to just build around that. I work at a shop so I plan to do the work myself (at least most of it).
 
funny thing is that LCG is the new hotness.
Hi fender with some minor trimming will do 35s with a body lift, and 37s with a 2.5 inch lift.
I have a 2.5 inch lift with just some trimming and my 33s look small, and I could get away with going up a size easily.
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Hi line fenders would cut the Rubicon section off the hood raising the fenders that much, adding that much more clearance, then trimming the rear openings and bam, 37s.
 

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After looking over the lift, i noticed the bushings in the shock were torn apart and some even severed from the shock. :shaking: Also noticed on the BL that someone forgot to put a puck on the back drivers side!!! i ordered all new skyjacker shocks and stabilizer. Just need to figure out the bodylift removal and what size bolts i will need to put back. Anyone have any tips on removing the body lift? Will i need body mounts to replace the pucks such as this...
http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi-bin/suscon/1-107.html

Not to mention when i got home at 11pm i noticed i had a leak, i figured it was just from the AC. Then i realized i wasnt
running AC since it felt like 40 degress with the top down and doors off. My water pump decided to take a dump on me as well.

Whoever said newer vehicles have less problems this is for you :fuck-you:

Up to around 600$ spent already...And none of it on the fun stuff
 
aww man,you just gotta work the bugs out is all.I've been working on my Willys continuously since 1992.My wrangler is constantly being upkept since I put so many miles on her per year.
 
I was bored... Decided to see what kinda flex it had :driver:
Not the greatest but hey heres some pictures.


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Mudder, that sounds awesome. This weekend 9th and 10th would be a good time, or the following weekend. 336-409-4982 is my number..give me a text or call and we can work something out.

ord.sgt.26NC, I will get some shots with them disconnected when i get back from NYC. I got pretty lucky...my friend does work for an event company and this time they asked him to bring some help. I got the chance to go to NYC and work at an Audi walkthrough competition, so i will be here till friday!:driver:
 
Mudder, i just seen you were in pinnacle...So am i... Right off volunteer road to be exact.
 
BB98xj said:
Mudder, that sounds awesome. This weekend 9th and 10th would be a good time, or the following weekend. 336-409-4982 is my number..give me a text or call and we can work something out.
ord.sgt.26NC, I will get some shots with them disconnected when i get back from NYC. I got pretty lucky...my friend does work for an event company and this time they asked him to bring some help. I got the chance to go to NYC and work at an Audi walkthrough competition, so i will be here till friday!:driver:
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BB98xj said:
Mudder, i just seen you were in pinnacle...So am i... Right off volunteer road to be exact.
Click to expand...

Are you going to the CTB Fun Caravan this weekend? here is a thread on it: http://www.nc4x4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116824
That is where I'm planning on being this weekend. If you have the time it would be a great opportunity to meet folks on the board and get some good wheeling time in.
Btw, I also live off of Volunteer rd, right across from the Olive Grove Baptist Church.
 
I actually didn't see that post. I will do my best to come out for that, depending on the time i get back. Wow, not far at all.
 
I took a look at my axles and have a D35 up front and a d44 in the back. Input? Good? Bad?
 
I think you mean dana 30 up front which is a decent axle and came in all Wranglers other than Rubicons, and a dana 44 rear axle is a great thing. It's the best rear axle that came stock in Wranglers. Nice Jeep by the way!
 
Ah yeah i meant D30. I was caught up in hoping the rear was a D35. Thanks man! I think we met awhile back, i bought some control arms from you.
 
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