cj 5 build

Ok so today I took an old steering column from a cj 7 and combined it with mine and got it put in the jeep with a new lock out cylinder so I can start the jeep now with a key.

Tomorrow the jeep is getting trailered to over the top off road and they are going to fab me a transmission cross member and skid plate. When I get it back from that it can get dropped off to have my custom shafts made so finally it can move under its own power.
 
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Put a cheap exhaust on the jeep yesterday and dropped it off at over the top offroad for the cross member. I might have then put a blue torch fab stretch kit on it and run xj leafs for 6 in stretch. If I do that I'll have to mount a fuel cell in the back. But 6 inches would be nice for drive shaft length
 
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Over the top offroad fab building me my transmission cross member.
 
Built a winch plate for the trailer. I have a warn 5k I'm putting on it.

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Built a winch plate for the trailer. I have a warn 5k I'm putting on it.


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Well I made a decision to ditch the np205 case and go back to the original Dana 20 and refresh it and do a twin stick. I have to order the adapter kit from advanced adapters because right now it's a lot cheaper than stretching it. I wanted to drive it so I welded up a front drive shaft and put it in. My hubs were locked but not catching so I pulled them out and cleaned them and put them back in fired it up and it worked. I took it for a ride in front wheel drive. Have a video but tapa talk is smarter than me so I don't know how to upload it.
 
Well I got transferred to Virginia again so I am now back to living in my house with the wife. Put some antique plates on the jeep. I've driven it to work a few times and came up with a few things that need to be replaced. Steering column bearing, headlight switch, directional switch, and new hood latches so I put in an order at Morris 4x4

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Well cj build is about to come to a screeching halt.

Meet Haleigh 7lbs 11 oz 20.5 in
Born 04/14/14 at 1:17 am.

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nice build. children are great i have 6 of my own. when they growup they will help you witrh the build. hope you get started back soon congrats on the new baby very cute
 
Thanks man. That's a good looking rig you've got. I can't wait until she's old enough to help me around the garage.
 
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Just picked up this 4" pro comp lift for the jeep with es9000 shocks hopefully have it in sometime this week.
 
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Swapped the original 3 speed back into threw some drive shafts in it. Than I installed the 4" pro comp lift and now she's loaded up for a shake down run
 
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Here's a few pictures from yesterday wheeling in luisburg. I have to work out a few kinks but overall it did well
 
Well took it out last night and looks like the tranny is coming back out. It's stuck in 2nd gear I believe.
 
Ok so I rebuilt the transmission and its working great. I picked up some 34x9.50x15 super swamper ltb's and they seem to be a pretty good fit.

I'm planning on swapping in a dana 44 up front and ff 14 bolt in the rear. Plans are to swap in coil springs and 4 link the rear and keep leaf springs up front and add a cage. Also thinking about doing a hydro assist up front. Stay tuned.

I'd post up a pic of the new tires but can't seem to get it to upload.
 
thanks man. It is defiantly a slow progress. I've changed my mind probably about a 100 times since day one but its slowly evolving. I'm very surprised/pleased with how it does for being open differentials and stiff suspension.
 
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So I got the tires home. I threw the jeep up on jack stands and took the wheels and tires to work with me and swapped the tires on to my stock CJ wheels. I threw them on when I got home. They look like a pretty good fit for how it sits as of now. I haven't had a chance to take it out yet. I did notice that 3 of the 4 aren't holding air (dry rot) so I bought some tubes from production offroad in VA Beach, VA to solve that problem. I also got a marine radio for Christmas to toss in the jeep but haven't gotten that far yet.

future plans are probably going to be swapping waggy 44's in and doing a 6-8" rear stretch, shackle reversal using yj springs up front, xj springs in the rear and doing SOA. fuel cell to replace the rear seat, and a hi-steer set up, and a full cage. I've been talking to Chris from Marsfab about helping me out with all of this so it'll be top notch work. The way I see it working out is wheel the jeep as is for this summer and gather parts, save up $ etc... and drop it off to Chris in the fall and do everything.


If you guys have any input, advice, comments or concerns please feel free to let me know I'm a newb when it comes to building rigs. I'm just a guy who likes to play offroad and knows how to replace broken parts. HAHA
 
Got the tubes put in the tires this weekend but I stripped out a wheel stud on the left front. Making a list of the little things I need, so I can at least get out in the garage and tinker on the jeep while I straighten out my finances.
 
Took the jeep out yesterday at a small offroad park here in town that I never knew about until recently and got as far as getting it unloaded off the trailer and started having a ton of electrical issues to the point where it wouldn't even stay running (voltage issues) I think I have a real bad ground issue. So right now I'm trying to decide if I should pull the wiring harness out and rebuild it / modernize it, or just suck it up and drop the $500 for a painless wiring harness and be done with it. Anybody have any experience doing either?
 
So I figured out the wiring issue. I also have done a few little things to the jeep but progress has been slow. I'm in a work up phase for a deployment coming up in February so I've been super busy at work.


So the 4" lift that's on the jeep is a procomp and rides like hell. The front shackles were inverted and every time I try to crawl up on something they would flip back and hit the frame. So I took the jeep to a buddy who does fab work on the side and had him hook me up. He moved the shackles forward a few inches and stretched my driveshaft. Here are the pictures.
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Cut the old shackle mounts off.


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Cutting out some new mounts.


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Welding them up.

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welding them on the frame.


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After Alex got it all together and I got it home. I took my 1 year old daughter Haleigh and my Wife out for a cruise. It was my daughters first time riding in a jeep and she loved it.
 
ok so its been awhile since I've updated this thread.

Jeep has been running great and I've done a little wheeling here and there but my wife didn't like going because she didn't feel safe. So I bought some harnesses and called up my buddy to help me fab up a bar to mount them to.

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bar for the shoulder straps.

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brackets we made for the lap belts.


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finished product.



Now the wife feels safer to ride. This is only a temporary fix until I can get time to build a full cage with suspension seats.
 
Than I figured with this being an older jeep its probably a good idea to have a fire extinguisher handy, so I bought one and tossed it on the roll bar where it's easy to access.

Don't mind the harness bar it rained before I had a chance to throw some paint on it.


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