Project Utility Vehicle

[Kyle]

Your Jeep LOOKS Great! Thats an awesome out come for a backyard paint job. As far as wet sanding after its done to remove the orange peel, why bother its only going to get scratched again.

Your jeep reminds me of the AEV Xj with the 4.7 Stroker.

[iant333]

Well i've been working on my Jeep alot again, big surprise.

This should be the last big project on it, I bought a TNT Belly Skid and some progressive bumpstops, then I think im gonna buy some Bilstein 5150's for the front and some RE shox for the back, do my center frame stiffeners and call it done.


So yeah, been doing gears, got the back done and the pattern looks nice. Too bad I didn't get a picture of the 6 foot pipe I used as a breaker bar for the damn crush sleeve. I shaved the housing a bit too, the little lip on there hung me up too much.






Here it is all buttoned up.




My Jeep has no rear.




Asked a co-worker who owns Albany Spring to make me some AAL's, they are very nice, full length but not super stiff. I wanted the rear end to be stiffened up a bit cause it bottoms out if you do rough roads at more than like 35 or go around a sharp corner with people in the back. Next step might be me putting my front swaybar back on, still deciding.







So yeah, should have the front done by Wednesday, just took it out.

[Kyle]

I SPY Over Spray! LOL j/k

Looks Good. For the money you will pay for RE shocks you should be able to get rear matching 5105s. The 5150s will be much better ride too.

[BOX]

For the money you will pay for RE shocks you should be able to get rear matching 5105s. The 5150s will be much better ride too.

http://sisoffroad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9676

[Kyle]

http://sisoffroad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9676

Whoops, sorry doug.

[iant333]

http://sisoffroad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9676

I'd go for them but they look like they are 10" travels, 8's are good for me, the leaves limit my flex, not the shock in back.

I'll look into the Bilsteins for the back but I dont want to spend more than like 50 bucks a shock, I have a bad habit of hitting them on stuff and blowing them out. Therefore, not wanting to spend alot on them, I even considered keeping the RC 9000 ones I have in back at only 33 bucks a pop.

[iant333]

Ok gears are done and everything is back together, not even any funny noises.



Gotta hurry up and break these in before the 5 hour drive to Rausch for OER. With breaking them in, you can drive up to what, like a half hour and no going over 50? It doesnt seem to drive too too much different besides it's way better off the line, I haven't gotten it over 35 or gassed the crap out of it yet though.

And what about breaking in the front, in my mental simulation only the coast side would get broken in under normal driving.

[iant333]

So yeah. Jeep drives nice with 4.56's.

Not too noticeable around town except off the line but definitely a HUGE improvement pulling hills and on the highway. No more jumping to like 4k rpm when it see's a hill yet still not have any power.

[iant333]

Got some more stuff.





8" Bilstein 5150's and to compensate for the extra like 1.5" the shock stud adapter gives me I did a simple brakeline lengthening too. Just drilled and tapped a new hole and pulled the hard line down, works great. Luckily I didnt have to screw with the bumpstop, was already perfect.











Got a used T&T belly skid that im gonna mount as soon as I put my frame stiffeners on.









Cut the tube guards off the side too, I thought they were just a pain in the ass, they kept bending up when I slammed them on stuff.











So basically once I weld my stiffeners on, my Jeep should be just about done besides like messing with little stuff here and there. Im really happy with the setup I have now so I dont really see going any further than what I have.

[Ruepart Hoaxley]

Looks good, man- rig did really well at OER.

[Kyle]

Looks good, some times keeping it simple is where its at. I loved my 98 xj on 35s and d30/d44. I think alot of headaches come from over building. To me, if you need to over build it so much then you are just beating your jeep, and i never had fun when anything damaging or beating happened to my jeep. I never minded being careful, i had more fun having pride in my jeep then beating it to hell.

[iant333]

Yeah I still drive it every day and dont want to go too crazy. Basically if I can run like the equivalent of blacks at RC, then drive it home in a reasonable degree of comfort without fucking shit up and having to work on it every weekend then i'm happy.

Gotta start saving some money too, Im starting college this year.

[Burton58]

looks great man. this is the exact reason why i went smaller on this build compared to my old one. 3.5" on 33's is more than enough for the type of wheeling i do and isn't overboard.

oh and paint my jeep

[iant333]

So I jumped my Jeep quite a few times today, got all 4 confirmed 2 feet off the ground. And I did a bunch of other high speed stuff too, I think that's what i'm gonna do with my Jeep, as far as fun it beat's crawling over the head with a stick.

Only blew a front upper bumpstop (the stock one) and considering how hard I was landing I'm surprised that's all that broke. I think i'm gonna replace it and ditch the hockey pucks for prothanes.

I'm happy with my new custom leaf pack in the rear, the suspension didnt bottom out that hard when I landed but it's soft enough to soak up bumps.

Bilsteins make a world of difference, rides so much nicer over rough stuff. I did Old Florida Road today too and it even feels alot smoother going slow through rock gardens and stuff.

[Bigbike]

Old Florida rd in Mass?