I bought a TJ because why????

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

Bolt that I broke off:

I should have know better, it wasn't going in nice. Anyway, I drilled it out and put a longer bolt right through with a nut on it, since it was an outer bolt and you can access the back side easily enough.

The shock hit the exhaust so I "fixed it":

Just random pics of this trash:

The extended brake hose was long enough by itself:

I'm going to try to work out a clamp for that brake hose so it clamps to the upper control arm.

I still didn't get weight on the wheels, so adjustments aren't certain. I need to throw the ebrake cables in there too and see what sort of clamping I might need to do on them. Also, I installed the lower control arms backwards, but that was intentional. I'm not really a fan of how they wanted you to do it. The RC stuff is certainly not a great design, but it's what I paid for.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

I managed to clamp the ZJ ebrake cables and the brake hose decently-ish.

The bandit clamps were a bit big, so I put some rubber in with them, they'll probably work okay or not. I could buy some that are a bit smaller if it doesn't.

I might try to tweak the ebrake cable brackets a bit more to see if I can get them to be less kinky. Or I'll switch to a different style of clamp on them. Or I'll leave it.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

I'm an idiot and this is a 1330 flange.

I ordered the correct one from Amazon, so that will be here eventually. That driveshaft is some junk from A-Premium, but it looks like it will be an acceptable length.

Also those rear shocks are long. They sell a slightly shorter version for short arm lift kits, and I think that will be closer. Or I need more bumpstop.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

I had to do a few things to the front axle before it can go in. Mainly flipping that tie rod insert back over, which sucked to do, but it worked out. I also had to trim the steering stabilizer bracket a bit, and remove the spline bolts for the sway bar links, add bumpstops, etc.

And yes, the rear is sitting on the tires. I think I need to adjust everything a bit more (pinion looks low), and tweak a few things, then tighten everything, but it's getting there.

I also ordered a gas tank skid plate from Barnes 4wd. I really wish they'd had it in stock and I could have ordered it weeks ago, because it's going to be hot garbage to change with the rear axle in place. Yay. It's also meant to be used with a 1" body lift, so I'll have to do a slight bit of adjusting to it. Hopefully it doesn't turn into a shitshow.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

Got the front mostly bolted together:

Those are the RC swaybar disconnects in the disconnected position. They seem okay, especially given they're 1/3rd the cost of the JKS stuff. We will see if they last or not.

I anticipate that I will need to sledgehammer the exhaust here too:

Or maybe it will just self clearance. Ehhh.

On 4 wheels finally:

Amazon dicked me on the companion flange I need for a 1310 joint, so I am waiting on that for the rear driveshaft. Rear pinion angle is also low, and I need to swap the shocks out, so I will pull the back tires back off to mess with that. I did get the front aligned and 95% of things tightened, the only last thing I know of is that the track bar bolt at the axle isn't tight, and I need to make a custom wrench or just weld a tab onto the nut for that. Lots of little stuff to do too, run axle vent lines, bleed brakes, top up the rear diff, etc. Also my new gas tank skid plate showed up, but I think I am not going to screw with that for now.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

Got my companion flange from RockAutio, got the brakes bled and everything adjusted and tightened, and made it the entire 15km drive to work.

Ebrake seems to work good in reverse, but not so good forwards. I think it will break in. Brakes also seem a little soft, I'm going to try bleeding them again tomorrow. Otherwise it drives quite decently.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

That's the A-Premium driveshaft with the Spicer 2-2-1379 companion flange. That flange is for a Ranger or a minivan or something. Only issue with this is that again, I think it will hit the exhaust at full bump. Am I going to do anything about it? No, not right now. I'm not happy with the exhaust at all, so I may look into some other options.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

I found some little hubcaps on Amazon and put them on, since I forgot to paint the hub centers.

I think I'm going to have to take the parking brakes all apart and see if they're just seized up, or if I need new shoes. I was hoping using them a bunch would get them to free up, so far no dice, still only really holds in reverse.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

I tossed a spare swamper on. It does fit, poorly.

I never realized how offset the tire carrier is until I put it on there. And it hits the crap bumper.

I wanted to put my tire cover on it but it doesn't fit.

It almost does, but it's not able to be tightened, so I took it back off. It's too bad, I thought it was funny.


I guess the next question is if I should buy a shitty set of knockoff bushwacker fender flares off amazon, or something else, or leave it?

Also, does anyone sell TJ bumpers for cheap still? I would like to make them, but I might just face the music in that I don't have time.

[Scoobienorth]

The cheap knock of flares just break they don’t flex so I’d not waste time with them. I’d go mce fenders first choice. Bushwackers second up if you need clearance. The stock ones are quite durable though

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

Scamazon grab handles, actually a lot nicer than I expected. Makes it a lot easier to get in and out, given the TJ has such a high sill on the tub. They're aluminum, which surprised me. Hopefully if I get in an accident I don't smash my head on them or have the roll cage separate because they're held on by the bolts that hold it together.

[Snowracer]

looks good out of the shop

other than them bumpers

[Scoobienorth]

looks good out of the shop

other than them bumpers

Those bumpers are super common in Japan. I feel super lucky to have wound up without those

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

looks good out of the shop

other than them bumpers

Those bumpers are super common in Japan. I feel super lucky to have wound up without those

You can still buy them and they're super expensive.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

Does anyone know what the correct speedometer gear is for 33s and 4.10s in a 00 tcase?

The charts seem to vary greatly, everything from 33-36 teeth. I should pull out the one that's in it and see what it is again, it reads a bit high.

And it's the short shaft one because it's electric, noooo?