Bolt on ZJ

[Snotbubbles]

Few more:

[pcole0418]

Awesome looking jeep bud. what gears are you running with the 36s and how does it do?

[Snotbubbles]

Thanks! 5:38's. Does fine. I'm not racing on the highway though. I keep it around 60-65. My wife still falls asleep in the rig all the time. I like the gearing on the rocks, requires minimal throttle. I do plan on running 38" tires when time permits and other projects are finished.

[Snotbubbles]

More Snow wheeling pics.

Bigger rigs on this one meant for more fun!

Rockwells and 52's


Buggy gettin it!


Lost a bead,

[Snotbubbles]

Finally got a winch. Next project is rock lights (already have) and an LED light bar.

[1ABrian]

bumper looks goon man. Winch fits nice on there.

[zjeepin]

nice job on the bumper....

[Snotbubbles]

Had a steering box that was leaking and had to make changes to my drag link length mostly because of a stupid mistake but hey! first build. Figured it would be a good time to get going on an inexpensive upgrade. Ordered this up from West Texas Offroad. Pulled the box for a rebuild and tap. That was a little intimidating! I was careful not to loose any bearings. When I went to put it back together I noticed I was missing one bearing. It was easier to pull a spare xj box I had laying around to rob the bearings than spend all night looking for one of those buggers! and without any issues got the box back together. I also pulled the high pressure line, stretched the piston spring and bored out the fitting as recommended. Hope to get it in this weekend for a shakedown.

[Snotbubbles]

Got everything put back together. Trimmed the drop track bar mount about 1.5", shorten the drag link, added bump stops, installed steering gear box, added a cooler, and mounted the ram. All the clearance gained allowed me to move my axle forward an inch. Everything clears. The ram is tight but ok.
Here's a picture of the bump stop setup. The stud screws into a nut I welded onto the spring pad that the poly coil spring retainer sits on. I fabbed up a spring retainer like so...






Took it for a shakedown run up a canyon in my back yard. The clamp on the tie rod kept moving. Other than that it was a great trip. I'm amazed at how nice hydro assist is. The changes that I made to the track bar location were equally impressive. The high speed stuff could get addicting. I need stiffer shocks now.
Now I'm gonna wheel the piss out of it this summer! no more projects that keep the jeep down until fall

[Jeep Whore]

its looking good! for a stiffer shock look into Doetsch Tech 8000 series shocks they ride a little stiff on the road but on the rocks they are very nice. Dyn0mitemat (Mat) is running them he had bilsteins before and switched the to the DT 8000 and loves them.

[Snotbubbles]

Went to Fordyce. Didn't make it too far before my ring gear split the back of the 9" housing...the culprit The inner pinion bearing housing also cracked on the 3rd member casting so it's useless. I thought of making the switch to a 14b but the cost of new wheels, gears, locker, bracket kit, etc.. that goes a long with it was too expensive. Picked up a strange 3rd member. Has bigger bearings than stock and a stronger case all together. The pinion support was also cracked so I picked up the strange pinion support as well. Also bigger bearings and is much stronger. and housing patched and painted.

[Cue-Ball]

OUCH that sucks, but glad you got it all worked out.

Hydro assist is so on my list.

[CRJEeP_wj]

nice zj. Thats by far the worst carnage i have seen on a 9".

[Snotbubbles]

OUCH that sucks, but glad you got it all worked out.

Hydro assist is so on my list.

Hydro assist is amazing. My set up was pretty inexpensive and works like a dream. Took me two weeks to get it done but I was only working on it during the evenings. I would imagine anyone could get it done if you have the right tools in a weekend. Youtube was key and all I used to figure it out!

[Snotbubbles]

nice zj. Thats by far the worst carnage i have seen on a 9".

It definitely puts towing my rig to the trail in perspective. It would have been nice to have my tow rig and trailer with me. I wasn't doing anything crazy or throttling hard at all. I just figured who ever set the gears probably improperly torqued the bearing caps and pow. Build it stronger and move on. I tried to sell the ARB to upgrade to 35 spline but no luck in the soft off road market and I wanted to get it back on the trail ASAP.

[Cue-Ball]

Yea I hear you, I just have too many other more pressing issues to deal with right now. Hydro will just have to wait.

[Snotbubbles]

I found a leaky wheel cylinder leaving brake fluid under the jeep. Figured it was time ditch the drums and got to work on a disc conversion. In the process I found excessive run out on the axle flange and had to replace the rear axle shafts.
Ordered up Ruff stuff brackets.

New shafts from Summit (in stock) I'm so grateful we have a Summit warehouse in Reno.


For a shake down run took it out in the snow to play.

[Snotbubbles]

I really enjoyed this jeep. Unfortunately, its been rolled, parted out and now gone!

Heres a couple pics of the last trip on Deer Valley Trail and Slickrock. Jeep worked flawlessly!





Then the next weekend took it out in the rain and lost some grip in the mud going a little faster than I should have and rolled it.... I had a fucking tube bender in the garage! It was the next project I was about to get started on. Pissed



Justin or Renojeepster on this board was quick to respond and helped me get it back on the its feet. I drove it home and pondered for several weeks with what to do with it. I will say I made out like a bandit. Insurance gave me more than I could have sold it for and I got to keep the jeep. After much thought I decided to part it out. Tough one cause both my kids came home from the hospital in the jeep when they were born and the jeep was bone stock. I parted it out piece by piece and then sold the body with the motor and trans still in it. I was sitting on a nice chunk of cash and my wife being the coolest woman ever said it was for a jeep replacement fund. What to build/buy next??? I decided that I didn't really want to build from scratch all over again. Too much time away from the family.

I've always wanted a buggy! I started searching all over the US for a buggy. Almost pulled the trigger on quite a few ranging from TN, KS, and CO. I eventually found the best deal right in my hometown of Reno. Its a twisted customs buggy with a 6.0L lq9, built Th350, Front 60 narrowed to 65", rear D70 both with ARB's, 40" stickies, cutting brakes, atlas 4.3 and a bunch of other goodies....I just picked it up a couple days ago. Projects I'm looking forward to are changing the airshocks to coilovers, adding some lighting, installing the HAM radio, and wheeling the piss out of it. The PO didn't wheel it that much. He finished it about 2-3 years ago and owned a total of 4 buggies. This one he always wanted to keep nice. All the tube is perfect. No dings that I have found yet. Here's some pics for ya! I'll be wheeling this weekend.

[Kraqa]

You'll have fun with the buggy but eventually miss the full body rig when the weather goes south.