Lets Go Racing! Daily Driver/ Ultra4 TJ

Mojones915

Mojones915

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 16, 2018
Location
Saxapahaw
Well I did a thing. Long story short - The mall crawler (https://nc4x4.com/forum/threads/mall-crawling-racer-4410.130389/) came home with me.

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Now for the long version of the story on how this came to be. This goes back about 4 years ago to my first trip to hammers with @Falko. I spent a week sleeping in the back of a JL almost spooning and had a blast (except for the almost spooning part). We also spent several hours in @BRUISER pit and I started picking his brain. The next year @Falko introduced me to @REDLYNER and we spent the week helping him out with the 4410. I have stayed in contact with Jay ever since and made a few trips down to help him work on and prep the 4410, and even got to co-drive a Pro-Rock race with him.

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KOH (and a bucket list of other races) have always been a dream of mine, and an Ultra4 legal rig has been in the plans for a while, and is actually what my K5 builds (https://nc4x4.com/forum/threads/1-ton-k5-now-with-even-more-mischief-and-bad-decisions.198474/) drivetrain was ultimately destined for.

Fast forward to June of this year when I saw the 4550 for sale. I told my wife that Jay was selling his jeep, and the first thing she said was "You should buy it" (yes I know my wife is awesome, and I definitely outkicked my coverage with her). After talking with Jay and many nights of deliberation, we drove down to Charlotte and I drove the TJ back home. @REDLYNER calmly informed me that the ~100 mile trip would be the longest/ farthest it had driven since finishing the EMC a few years previous. I wasn't too worried though, I had a bag of tools, a fire extinguisher, my wife following, and an uncanny talent for having bad ideas and great luck.

The jeep made it home with no issues and the planning really got intense from this point on.

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So now for the short and long term plans. It has been years since I had anything to wheel, and I have never had anything near this capable (or honestly thought I ever would).

First steps are to just learn it inside and out. I drive it to work almost every day, make runs to the store in it, and my wife and I take it on date nights (even my daughter asks to take a ride in the race car everytime we are outside)

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I took it for a shakedown run at Uwharrie a few weeks ago. It was my first time there in probably a decade, and since it is only an hour from home I figured it was the perfect place to have an easy day and get a better feel for it. I loaded up a few extra tool bags and trailered it down (just in case anything happened)

I was able to run pretty much everything there with no issue, some trails twice. The only carnage was a brake line (banjo fitting fatigued and broke off) and a cut sidewall. I let my buddy drive from the backside of Daniel back to the parking lot, we were coming down a ledge into some ruts and there was a rock/ root in the bank and with the axle width it just scrubbed on both sides and had enough weight on it to cut the tire.

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The plan for the rest of the year is to just continue to drive it an wheel it as much as I can. I try and spend some time every weekend crawling over and under the jeep trying to learn all I can about it. So far the list of work over the winter (to get it more race ready) is:

- Replace suspension joints and heims (they are several years old and most are rusty, I will keep all of these as spares though)
- Shock re-build (Again, been over 5 years since they have been built and just want to do some preventative maintenance on them)
- Go through the axles (have a few leaks)
- Interior re-do (Just want to get everything within reach when strapped in) Also want to add in a radio, pumper and GPS. I bought the new rugged M1 on pink radio day so parts collecting has already started
- Re-wire - This is more of a want than a must. Currently it is a mix of factory jeep and GM. Really looking to simplify things and switch from fuses to breakers where I can, or potentially use a programmable PDM. I also have a Holley terminator system with the pro-dash originally destined for the K5's LS swap that might get re-purposed

I am really trying to keep what I do to the jeep to a minimum. I know how projects tend to snowball out of control and end up parked for far too long (see my other build)

I am hoping to get the jeep out to KOH next year and do some pre-running and trails. I do plan to sign up for the full Pro-rock survival series though to start getting more seat time. I might race one of the Ultra4 regional races as well depending on my confidence level. The reason for Pro-Rock next year over Ultra4 is just my comfort level. I don't want to just be a moving speed bump in the way of everyone else.

The "bucket list" of races I would like to do long term:
- KOH - Current plan is 2023
- NORRA Mexican 1000
- V2R or the Mint (or both)
- U4 race at Crandon
 
Mojones915 said:
- Re-wire - This is more of a want than a must. Currently it is a mix of factory jeep and GM. Really looking to simplify things and switch from fuses to breakers where I can, or potentially use a programmable PDM. I also have a Holley terminator system with the pro-dash originally destined for the K5's LS swap that might get re-purposed
Click to expand...
You can't go wrong with a PDM.
ECUMaster PMU would be my choice for your application.
 
Also, specs on the Jeep (from the sale add) are as follows:

Specifications:
Wheelbase: 105”
Top Speed: 100+mph GPS based
Ultra4 Tagged (grandfathered)
4500 class Shocks tuned by Wayne @Fox Shocks
Full Jeep interior

Motor:
LS 5.3 with LS1 Corvette upgrades

Transmission:
4L80 with cooler

Transfer case:
Atlas 2.0.

Suspension:
Front- Fox 2.5” Coilovers
Rear- Fox 2.5” Triple bypass with 2.0 coilovers
CMM Aluminum LCAs
Clayton UCAs
Currie Anti-rock front and rear

Steering:
PSC competition hydro assist
CMM Aluminum tie rod

Axles:
Front- Spyder9 with Ford HD outers. HD brakes. Chromoly shafts. ARB locker. 4.88 gears. 65” wide built by ECGS.
Rear- Currie F9. HD shafts. ARB locker. 4.88 gears. 63.5” wide built by ECGS.

Wheels and Tires:
Raceline 17” Monster Beadlocks (like new)
Hankook 37x12.5 Dynapro MTs (like new)

Fuel:
Brand new RCI 20 gallon, new dual pumps.

Gauges:
Auto Meter Elite- fuel, oil, rpm, speedo, trans, water. Customizable. Programmable. Multicolored LEDs

Accessories:
Rugged Radios intercom
Momo steering wheel
Quadratec comp winch
Heat extractors in the hood
Custom front high line tube fenders
Mastercraft race seats. Adjustable with lumbar support (passenger)
Master craft harnesses
Bluetooth
New 4x6 Speakers
Tower speaker pods
Savvy front bumper
Sniper Fab sliders
Sniper Fab aluminum rear comp corners
Battery relocated behind passenger seat
Brand new Soft top.
Full steel doors
Half custom doors
Full steel tail gate
Race tire carrier

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Oh awesome!!! I remember following the build of this jeep on other forums! Following along.
 
Mojones915 said:
. I do plan to sign up for the full Pro-rock survival series though to start getting more seat time.
Click to expand...
Please post lots of info on this. This is the series I'm building for. Stock class. I assume the Modified Class?
 
ghost said:
Please post lots of info on this. This is the series I'm building for. Stock class. I assume the Modified Class?
Click to expand...
@ghost the modified class is the plan for Pro-rock, and 4500 in U4.
 
Figured it was time for a small update. Been putting miles on the Jeep and parts collecting. Started to pull apart the interior and remove anything unnecessary. Real progress will begin when I get back from KOH, the current target is to be race ready for U4 at Dirty Turtle March 25th.

Scored a new rugged M1 kit on pink radio day
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Also grabbed a pre-wired helmet and had to add some stickers
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And a new firesuit
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And here is the current state of the jeep.

In process of pulling apart the dash for some cage updates and prep for new seats/ harnesses
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Trying to keep everything labeled as it comes apart. Still trying to figure out what PDM I want to run, currently leaning towards a SwitchPros.
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Hope I didn't need any of this....
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Mojones915 said:
Trying to keep everything labeled as it comes apart. Still trying to figure out what PDM I want to run, currently leaning towards a SwitchPros.
Click to expand...
Good thinking on switching to a PDM.
Depending on what you want to do with the rig, the SP may or may not be the right choice for you.

I am not a fan of SP in a racing application. ECUMaster would have my preference, by far. The CAN capabilities, multiple input channels, much superior programming logic and way better software make it a more desirable unit for a race rig. Cost is "reasonnable" compared to a Motec.

AIM makes a badass unit, that comes with a dash and logger, but it seems like you have that part already covered.

Trail rig, a SP is plenty fine.
 
Bebop said:
Good thinking on switching to a PDM.
Depending on what you want to do with the rig, the SP may or may not be the right choice for you.

I am not a fan of SP in a racing application. ECUMaster would have my preference, by far. The CAN capabilities, multiple input channels, much superior programming logic and way better software make it a more desirable unit for a race rig. Cost is "reasonnable" compared to a Motec.

AIM makes a badass unit, that comes with a dash and logger, but it seems like you have that part already covered.

Trail rig, a SP is plenty fine.
Click to expand...
My thoughts on the switch pro is that I would be able to drop it in place of what I currently have - ARB compressor, front and rear locker and amber light, plus add my pumper fairly easily and with little downtime. I am not quite ready to jump into a full re-wire with the other items I need to get the car re-teched already ahead of that. Then I could always move the sitchpro to the K5 when I do tackle a re-wire of the whole car.

Unless there are any electrical gurus that want to help out an aspiring race car driver.
 
Mojones915 said:
My thoughts on the switch pro is that I would be able to drop it in place of what I currently have - ARB compressor, front and rear locker and amber light, plus add my pumper fairly easily and with little downtime.
Click to expand...

If that's all you're trying to do, agreed 100%.

Mojones915 said:
Unless there are any electrical gurus that want to help out an aspiring race car driver.
Click to expand...
I'm not a guru, and pretty busy but I'm sure we could talk.
 
Alright time to resurrect this thread and start posting some progress. I am super excited to announce that I am one of the KOH Rookies for next year! I was part of the original group of about 25 people that applied before they opened it up to everyone.

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Since then I have started to try and be more active on social (they have actually given us all quite a few pointers on this side of it) and even started a YouTube channel, if nothing else so that I can look back on it one day and wonder WTF I was thinking. So far I have been able to keep the weekly pace, and plan to continue that all the way through Hammers in February.

Please go give it a look and subscribe. The first few are a little rough, still learning all this shooting, talking, editing stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg9Kx-vAKQZNxq6EWAAM3hw/videos

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So since I made the decision to kind of go all in and race KOH next year, I decided to take one more trip down to Uwharrie with some friends for a nice easy ride before I tore into the jeep. About 30 minutes into the trail, I somehow lost reverse in the trans. So I guess I will be moving up my plans to start tearing the jeep down for upgrades and prep.

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