hey guys so to start i am a noob
But i figured i would need to post this here cuz you guys in the hardcore department are the always running one tons..
Soo my question is what would be the cheapest way to get my 06 TJ 2.4L SE Daily Driver on one tons. I like the idea of leaf springs and a ladder bar on the back and coilovers up front but like i said im a noob soo i dont kno much of what im talking about. I just want a truck thats gonna through the woods time after time with out breaking things...Soo can i just have some refrences on what set ups would be the cheapest and some price estimate on what you paid for you set ups.

Im looking at keeping the truck LCOG I would like to run like 2.5" of life with the Genright Highline Fender Kit and since i have the 2.4L 4 cyl im gonna run 37s on 5:38 gears...

too add i like the idea of stability with full widths and a 6" flare with H2 rims....
Thanks Again

Kyle

This thread has a lot of good information.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=578353

To sale it and buy one that somebody has already built.

Park it on the back of a 4 wheel drive roll back...:flipoff2:

Seriously, unless you have a bunch of money into it already, buy a jeep thats already built.

Please search and read A LOT. This board already has tons of info. about what you're asking.

And if you're considering the highline fenders and hood, you aren't thinking cheaply in that area. It can be done much cheaper than what vendors offer. Nothing against them, but you can do it yourself for less money. Will it look as clean? That's up to you.

That said, yes the cheapest is to buy one already built.

Cheap and TJ on One Tons (done properly) shouldn't be in the same sentence.

dana 60 front $600 - 1200
14 bolt rear $100-300
or 60 rear $200-500
These are stock mostly unmodified axle price ranges, add in about 500 to 1000+ for gears and rebuild parts. Not to mention if you feel like narrowing the axles to keep a more "almost" legal setup for a dd. i second the sale and buy a built one, fabricating cost will triple your cost if you cant do it yourself.

cheap and tj on one tons (done properly) shouldn't be in the same sentence.

x 10000000000000000

The cheapest way I think, would be purchase a K30 Chevy Truck, unbolt the body, and bolt your TJ body to it.

Cut off anything that hangs out. LOL

To sale it and buy one that somebody has already built.


x2 People can't give away built rigs anymore.

I have 3k in my front 60 and it doesn't even have brackets, links, or steering yet. The rear should be a little cheaper. Good luck but not cheap. Buy a TJ for about 12-16k already done. Or you could search for a 4.10 60 front and 14 bolt welded, booty fab for leaves. O wait, just get a YJ. I've seen ton YJ's for 5k.

You will have $1000 into rebuilding a Ford HP dana 60 with stock components, brakes, bearings, seals... all that jazz. If you want to upgrade components you'll have $2000-3000 in it. Just the front axle.

Count on having about $4000 to spend of stuff
to upgrade your Jeep to 1 tons... if not more $$.

Cheapest way is to sell yours and buy one already built.

Cheap, Fast, Good.... Pick two

I think it all about where ou want to invest your money.....Buy Cheap junkyard axles that might have bent tube, and make custom control arms.....or buy some decent built axles, but skimp on suspension.....either way....tj's on tons get expensive......quick...

To sale it and buy one that somebody has already built.

X4. Built rigs are going for less than half what they are worth. Search the classifieds and you will find some kick ass deals,

4 cyl and 37's, cheapest way would be not to do it. If you're looking to go cheap then you're not doing it right the first time. Since we're already messing it up, just go with a HP44/60 combo. Probably find a pair around $400 not to far from you. With that motor and 37 inch max tires you should be able to wheel it and if a shaft/ujoint breaks then upgrade it along the way.

As for suspension, leaf springs will work. Get couple pairs of stock Waggy springs or XJ springs for almost nothing, buy some brackets and shackles then go for it. It's not just the suspension componets that cost the money, the brackets are almost as bad if you stay linked. The idea of "cheap" doesn't always go well with coilovers or highline fender kits as mentioned.

What's your budget look like for the project? Is this thing even paid off yet? I've probably got about $1500 in my leaf sprung suspension on Dana 44's (geared/locked/new brake pads/turned rotors). Gears, lockers and setup kits are almost half. I would imagine you could do a 44/60 about $2000 with all the misc. crap and steering; but I know it's not the one tons you want either.

Cheap and TJ on One Tons (done properly) shouldn't be in the same sentence.

i was gonna say that x2 ... seriously, if you are thinking a TJ on 1 tons is gonna be "cheap" youre gonna be disappointed. "cheap" might a relative term to you if you have lots of money... but like is said above you are looking at big $ to do it proper.

Off road rigs are an addiction that only poverty will cure....

X4. Built rigs are going for less than half what they are worth. Search the classifieds and you will find some kick ass deals,

or ebay, you'll be amazed at the rigs for sale .... some sellers will even trailer the rig to where you live...

..Soo my question is what would be the cheapest way to get my 06 TJ 2.4L SE Daily Driver on one tons...

It sounds like you want 1 ton axles because that is what all the cool kids are doing. With the 4 cylinder engine, smaller axles might be a better idea because as everyone has mentioned, 1 ton axles are not cheap.

Cheapest way is to sell yours and buy one already built.


That's what I did!

My CJ puked it's motor and while i was pondering rebuild or yank and junkyard motor a sweet TJ on 1 tons came along for less then 1/2 the cost of building it.

I turn the key and go, sweet.:p

I have been in jeep clubs for 15 years and see time and time again people looking for the $500 jeep to build up, they buy piece by piece and $10K later it's still a piece of crap. But they love to pay big money for those pieces.

Here's an example, my cj only needs a motor and exhaust, has great frame, locked 44's on 36" TSL and no one will buy it for the $3k i'm asking. I can get the same $$ by parting it but i hate to do that.

If you are new to building, just watch you don't buy someone's messed up build though.

I got 9k in mine, and I am nowhere even close to getting it done. Its a 97 that will be on tons, and I got GREAT deals on my stuff. You will pay ALOT more to build than buy. If your like me and want to build it just to build it and dont really care what its going to cost, then do it. If you dont like spending money, then you are way better off to buy a built one.. But just to give you an idea of cost, and again this is what I paid..if you dont have any connections, then you will pay more...

97 TJ and 1 ton axles....$600.00
Atlas...$2000
42" Iroks...$2100
04 6.0 w/4l80E out of a chevy 2500....$1050.00
radiator...585.00
gears, lockers, install kits, motor mounts, and body lift...$2100.00
H1 wheels...$125.00

Now, I still have all the tube for a cage, seats, puter flashing, harness workup, heims, steering, gas tank, sliders, fenders, and corner protection..

I am sure you think that you wont go this extreme, but it will happen. You also have to take in account how valuable your time is. Also, how valuable weekends are with the family.

You should sell your TJ. Seriously. A 4cyl is only good for commuting a stock Jeep and being a good example for wheelers to get the 4.0.

Sell it, buy an already built rig or a stock Rubicon. At least with the Rubi you'll have a good head start and could wheel up to 35" tires stock. Change the gearing, get a decent long arm or mid arm lift and you're done. If I have to do it all over again that's what I'm doing. Of course, I still love my 44/9 combo on 37s :D

I run a 4cyl & 37's, I don't have any trouble keeping up w the rigs I wheel with. Most end up trying to following me !

I'm in the process of putting a HP D60 in the front as well cause I eject U-joints every other run. I don't want to put CTM's in it then start breaking R&P's so this was a better fix for how hard I like to wheel it. I've been running this Jeep Hard for Years now w no engine troubles at all, I say go for it if the its a healthy engine. (I do have every bolt on they make for the little guy tho, to get every bit out of it)

I found a 79 Ford HP D60 already cut down w 5on 5.5 bolt pattern already drilled into the rotors and a high steer set up complete (except needs brackets, which I will just make) & 2 full sets of shafts w joints(the inners will be for sale soon, both pairs. Not cut down), 2 diff covers for $1300. I sold the Rubicon D44 for $1200 so not a bad deal! So it wont be long before this is rolling and w little in it.

....but it wasn't all that cheap (but cheaper than one-ton's).

The setup in front is a full width high pinion Dana 44 stuffed with a Detroit, Warn Chromoly, and CTMs. The rear is a Full width Ford 9" that I pulled out of the first F150 I walked past in the JY. It has Alloy USA shafts and a full spool.

For the suspension, the front uses extended stock Ford radius arms and a Ballistic Fabrication Track Bar mount. We built the track bar out of a Super-Duty track bar combined with an RE adjustable end. Currently I have RE 5.5 coils in front with RS5000's, but that is going away in favor of a set of Rancho 15" RSX9000 Remote-resi coil-overs.

The rear is sprung-over leafs using RE 1.5" Spring-over lift springs. In back I'm running 15" travel Rancho RSX 9000 Remote-Resi shocks. Axle wrap is handled by a Sam's Offroad HD Traction Bar.

Gears are 5.38, and I have a 4:1 Tera-Low box. This is with the 4.0.

What did it cost? Well...here's how you do it cheap.

First, some kid desparate for an NP231 traded me the front axle for an old beat up '231 out of an old wheeler. I TOLD him it was a bad deal for him, but he was insistent, so I had a nice axle sitting in the garage. I didn't really know what to do with it since my Jeep wasn't really broken, but I figured one day my '30 would let me down, and one day it did...

We settled on radius arms out of simplicity. The axle already had the wedges on it, and I didn't want to pay for the bracket kit, or an RE long arm setup.So I found a set of extended Ford arms on ebay and we grafted those in.

In the first iteration of this, I had an oddball full-width Dana 44 in the rear, so I was able to re-use the Detroit and gears from my TJ 44.

So, what did it all cost?

Version 1:

Front axle: $0
Radius Arms: $200 on Ebay
Warn Chromoly Shafts: $700
D44 Lock-Right: $150 on Ebay
D44 3.97 - Up carrier: $0 (I had one laying around)
CTM: $0 (I already had them in the D30)
4.88 Gears: $120
Labor: $0 (we did everything in my garage, including gears)
Rear Axle: $100
Gears: $0 (re-used from the TJ '44)
Detroit Locker: $0 (re-used from TJ '44)
Front Springs: $0 (a friend gave me some very, very used Dick Cepek front springs)
Rear Springs: $200
Misc. brackets and steel: $100

Version 1 total: $1570

But then, as I KNEW it would, the rear oddball Dana 44 blew up and I could not find any replacement parts for it. So it sat for a while as I pondered my options. During this time, I managed to get a good job at 4 Wheel Parts, so I got good access to parts for cheap (I don't work there anymore, so that train has passed),

I finally decided to put a 9" in the rear, and at the same time move up to 38.5's and 5.38's, so...

Junkyard 9": $135
Used Precision Gear 5.38's: $100
Front HP 5.38's: $60
Alloy USA rear alloy shafts: $120 with bearings.
ProComp 38.5x14.50x20 xTreme AT's on 20x9 ProComp alloy wheels: $635 (deal of a lifetime, and one I will never get again)
Ford 9" Full Spool: $0 (my boss was so offended that I worked for 4WP and STILL welded the carrier that he dropped one on my desk and insisted that I install it...who am I to argue?)

So add $1050 to all of that and you get a total build of $2620 plus probably another $200 in incidentals.

Now, I ALSO have probably 200+ hours of my own work into this, and if you had to have a shop do this, it would NOT be cheap.

But, that is how I got decently strong full-width on the cheap. Part luck, part good timing, and a lot of patience.

I agree

Cheap, Fast, Good.... Pick two

lol ive always heard..

Cheap | Fast | Reliable ... pick too and start there


same concept.. funny phrase but so true..


also like ..

Build | Break | Fix .. repeat