project: tone it down.....

jeepin1995

jeepin1995

undecided......
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Location
Cary (raleigh) nc
some may remember my 95 YJ I was building..... well I feel it was 100% on its way to being way overbuilt for anything around....

well my 98 TJ will be a lot tamer....

Here's the plan:
RC 3.25" lift (installed)
JB conversions SS SYE
Tummy tuck
chromoed HP 30 front with some sort of selectable locker (havent decided yet)
Super 88 rear with locker
35" tires
full cage and armor
I will add more as I decide on what I want


I bought it bone stock back in november:
ai36.photobucket.com_albums_e50_jeepin1995_back1.jpg


traded the soft-top for a hardtop (travel I-40 from wilm-raleigh twice a week..... soft-top was noisy!)
ai36.photobucket.com_albums_e50_jeepin1995_top.jpg


ALSO that picture was post-lift and 32's.....

here's how it sits as of right now:
3.25" lift
32" BFG AT's on stock jeep wheels
RC 1.25" wheel spacers
working a deal on front/rear bumpers

ai36.photobucket.com_albums_e50_jeepin1995_jeep1_2.jpg


hopefully be buying axles within the next few months. gonna be slow getting going working at the nuke plant and starting an outage next week. will update as I get things done!
Pete
 
Man that is looking good! Good luck with the debuild, you're farther along than I am (see my avatar, haha).
 
the YJ was WAY too far along/changed to "unbuild" it a little...... plus i wanted a more dependable platform (the 4.0) that i know can get the job done and pass inspection..... so i shopped for a 4.0 TJ. it has 130,000 miles, is in great shape in and out.... and has AC!! lol:cool: and i had a nice un-modified platform to start with.
 
lookin good I like hard tops better then soft tops thay don't dryrot and and you can just get some friends to help you take the hard top off when you want it off to
 
i liked the hardtop..... until it was warm enough in the afternoons to take the top off and didnt have anywhere to put it (have an apartment in raleigh during the weeks)

progress is going to be slow for a month or better. have an outage starting and will be working 6 & 7 twelve hour days.....
 
work is winding down a little so i get some time for tinkering. did some trading the other day and ended up with 33" MTZ's
ai36.photobucket.com_albums_e50_jeepin1995_jp2.jpg

ai36.photobucket.com_albums_e50_jeepin1995_jp1.jpg


this (in my opinion) is damn near the perfect stance for a jeep around here. streetable, wheelable, and can do anything i want it to in the area. gonna run 33's for a while, may stick with them as opposed to 35's..... we'll see

hopefully axle shopping within the next month or so to get that ball rolling.
 
with the 33's comes crappy braking. don't wanna put too much into this LP30 right now so i just ordered a set of black magic brake pads and their rotors ( blackmagicbrakes.com ). we'll see how this changes things!
 
update..... traded the 3.25" lift for a 4" lift, trashed the 35 rear, but swapped in another for the time being until i get an 8.8....OR?? (see below). in the process of swapping the axle, I noticed the rear frame around the rear upper mounts is slowly rotting away.... so a new (to me) frame is in the works. and i'm kinda at a crossroads..... axle/tire wise. options are (opinions please!!):

1: HP30 front locked, super 88 (8.8) rear locked, geared etc..... 35" tires. i think this would be the best option for wheeling around NC.

2: 3/4 tons.... full width HP44 front, 60 rear, locked, etc and 37's. little much for around here, but will still be fun!

3: Tons..... 60/14b all the goodies, 40" maybe+ tires. overkill for anything close enough for a weekend trip, but who doesn't love a full width jeep on big tires???

so which way should i go???
 
I personally like option 1. I'm now running a LP D30 front and Ford 9" rear. It has worked really well in the driveway so far, but based on past experiences of actual wheeling, should be a very good combo. I am sticking with the LP30 on mine because 1. Its already in there, geared, and locked, and 2. Its stronger in reverse, which is when the most load will be on the front if trying to back up a hill or back out of something. Driveshaft clearance of the HP is nice, but otherwise I think the strength gained in forwards is negated by the fact that the majority of the weight/traction is on the rearend.
 
my man reason for wanting a HP front, at URE last year within the first 2 hours i was all over my driveshaft...... one less thing to worry about.

that and a tummy tuck is on the short list so i figured the extra pinion height would help.
 
I would go with either option 1 or 3. The factors deciding between the two being how much you plan to drive the Jeep on the street, and where you plan on taking the Jeep wheeling.
 
thats where option 2 comes in, the size and stability of bigger axles, but lighter (tires and such) to still be streetable..... i plan to buy some sort of DD, but for now, it's the jeep. i'm kinda leaning towards the 30/8.8 and 35's...... but who knows.....
 
all 3 options are good. depends on the main use. # 1 is good to me for most of the local public wheeling.been abusing this setup for yrs. i have been thinking option 2 for my dd/toy. except 9" rear. to me option 3 takes it out of the dd category. but also back to your old jeep. lol
 
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^curious as well. If your wanting to tone it down why not run a 33-34 with a hp30 and 44(or 8.8) rear. Then add skid plates from front to rear and enjoy.
 
WELL..... long time no update..... just a few small things. finally got around to doing the frame swap. It took me a whopping 2 1/2 days to do this past weekend (mainly by myself except for the body lift and lower and moving the frame). Not bad!! While it was apart, I threw in a JKS body lift and a MML in preps for the flat belly. I will throw up some pics later today of the swap.
 
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