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View Full Version : New Toy: Ruby Jeep



Hurricane 4x4
12-21-2006, 02:28 PM
2 Days ago I picked up a 2001 WJ to replace my aging 1996 ZJ. While very clean and still running very well, the ZJ has 186,000 miles and I was ready for a change. I actually happened to buy the first WJ I looked at, owned by an old professor and his wife. It was driven mostly by the wife, and has 80,000 miles. They also had the jeep serviced at the same dealer for every recommended service, and had the paperwork for every service. The jeep is a 4.7 limited with QD and the factory tow package(3.73 gears, trans cooler, power steering cooler), plus all the other bells and whistles. I bought it for $12000. (Dealer sticker price was $38000). I'm very happy with the jeep and I will not miss the 4.0.

Now I am troubled that I am driving a jeep that was literally driven by grandma. So today I ordered 3" lift springs from iron rock offroad (to be combined with a BB), a SS from iron rock, a set of rancho 9000's, and a new trackbar and a-arm spacer. The tires are near-bald michelin 235's, so they will be replaced with 265/70/17's as soon as the lift parts get here.

I know this thread is useless without pics, but i'm at work and bored. Plus I am excited to start playing with this jeep. Also in the works are skidplates/towhooks and a flowmaster 50 muffler. I hope to have all that stuff on by the time uwharrie opens back up in the spring. Toodles

P.S anyone want to buy my ZJ? Laredo 4.0 w/242, leather, clean interior, Hella 500's, Rusty's K&N intake, flowmaster 50, new cat, 3.25" lift with 31" BFG's (about 70 percent tread left) $3500 firm

jfowlzj95
12-21-2006, 02:49 PM
:worthles:

Lol I just had to do it. Sounds like you've got a good plan for the WJ, good luck with it.

Hurricane 4x4
12-21-2006, 02:55 PM
haha yeah i knew that was coming

pics will come soon

ELLLLLIOTTTTT
12-22-2006, 01:32 AM
congrats Ren, I'm sure you'll have no problem selling your ZJ. When are you gonna let me borrow the dub? :D

The Dude
12-22-2006, 02:32 AM
If only I had that kind of money....:smt022


Ok, and I'm over it.


anyways, congratulations on the new dub

Hurricane 4x4
12-22-2006, 10:51 AM
congrats Ren, I'm sure you'll have no problem selling your ZJ. When are you gonna let me borrow the dub? :D


only when you let me borrow that white elephant of yours!

Hurricane 4x4
12-29-2006, 12:32 PM
ok, so all my lift parts have arrived and I have an appt. with just tires at 4 this afternoon to get a set of 265's put on

EXCEPT... my trackbar was supposed to arrive yesterday. but it didn't... i tracked it on UPS and its scheduled to be delivered today... its on a truck which left the local UPS depot at 6 AM this morning and is listed as "out for delivery". So I am now just bumming around the house, waiting for my trackbar so i can begin.

spykosshow
12-29-2006, 11:04 PM
So how much progress have you made? Sorry, I spent all day working on my brother's coworkers waggy, or else I would've given you a hand.

Hurricane 4x4
12-30-2006, 07:38 PM
waggy's are fun

it was a miserable failure and a waste of an afternoon... i never opened the rear shocks i was sent until i was 1/2way through the install... when i did i found they were actually shorter than my stock shocks, which sat fully extended, so i had to put all the stock shit back on until the new shocks arrive

ogdak
12-31-2006, 05:36 AM
That sucks.

Hurricane 4x4
01-02-2007, 04:44 PM
definitely so... new shocks are being shipped.. if they arrive in time I will try again this saturday

Hurricane 4x4
01-07-2007, 12:30 PM
well it's finally done

I spent all day yesterday cursing chrysler engineers, and rocky-road outfitters.

I installed: 3" lift springs from iron rock offroad
front trackbar from rocky-road outfitters
rancho 9000 shocks
265/70/17 general grabber at2 tires ($115 ea. so far, i'm happy with them)

The springs are of good quality and i'd recommend them. at $300 for all 4 they were a pretty good deal. They are a little more than 4" taller than the stock springs, but they compress quite a bit under the weight of the vehicle and give a nice, flexy ride. Also the fronts are slightly taller than the rears so the jeep sits closer to level and not quite as "raked" as the factory.

The trackbar from rocky-road is a peice of crap and i won't buy any of their shit again. Its not quite as beefy as a JKS bar or the stock t-bar, and it did not fit. The bushings on both ends were too wide and I could not fit it into the brackets, even with grease and a BFH. I wound up trimming the bushings down with an angle grinder and then sanding them smooth so they would fit. (I know, not the best idea). And the sleeve is just a bit too large and I had to tighten the shit out of the trackbar bolts to keep it from wiggling around when i turned the wheel.

The shocks fit ok.. the fronts didn't come with bar pin bolts so i bought some that were slightly smaller in size than the stock bolts, but they are grade 8 so I should be ok. Rancho does not make a rear shock for a lifted WJ, so I had to get creative with sleeves to get them to fit (I ordered zj shocks in the correct length). The shocks ride real nice

Tires are general grabber at2's which i was hesitant about buying because they are so cheap. However they seem to have a decently thick sidewall, and a nice deep tread pattern (look like bfg ko's) and aren't too loud on the street.

The jeep rides nice and smooth on the street, but it has a bit of a tendency to DW at around 40-50 mph, just like my zj. I have a tenneco heavy duty steering stabilizer i'm going to put on here in a few minutes (already got it aligned) so we'll see how that goes... I'm pretty sure the SS will take care of the DW, because the stock steering stabilizer is tiny and weak.

I'll have pics for you all later this afternoon.

Hurricane 4x4
01-07-2007, 12:33 PM
Also, what did you wj guys do about the speedo for 265's? I heard from someone that the sensor is in the rear axle, and not the t-case like most jeeps.

spykosshow
01-07-2007, 07:59 PM
So lets see some pictures.

ras2001wj
02-14-2007, 08:02 AM
no pics= no wj, no wj=no lift, no lift=no 265's jk

let me know how you like the at2s, im looking at a set for street tires

JeepinHank
02-14-2007, 10:12 AM
Sounds nice Ren.

So when are we going to scratch up that pretty paint job at Uwharrie? :D