[JeepJake OIIIIIIIO]

Jeep Information

Year: 2005

Model: TJ

Engine: 4.0L 6cyl

Transmission: NSG370

Transfer Case: Atlas II 4.3

Front Axle: HP Dana 60 Kingpin With an ARB
Rear Axle: Dana 60 with an ARB

Axle Gear Ratio: 5.38

Suspension: Rock Krawler 5.5" Long-Arm Kit, Custom Extended front
shock towers and out-boarded rear shocks, 15" Rancho RS9000XL shocks

Tires: 37"x12.5"R17" Maxxis Trepador

Wheels: DIY Beadlocks

Armor: SmittyBilt Corners, Sliders, and Fenders

Recovery Gear: ARB straps, Hi-Lift Jack and a 8,000lb Warn Winch

Other Accessories: Rock Krawler X-factor steering, ORF Sport cage, Safari Snorkel, Safari Rack, Smittybilt Seats, Corabeau 4pt harnesses, Tantrum X rock Lights, KC lights, Edge Trail Jammer programmer, Throttle body spacer, K&N filter, Infinity speakers and sub, Alpine Head unit, Kenwood amps.

Future Modifications: 4BT cummins, NV4500 transmission, 8" Rear stretch, 4" Front Stretch, Highline tube fenders, Comp cut rears, Genright fuel cell, 40" tires, Coilovers

Just wanted you guys to see how it has progressed since day one.
Feel free to leave any questions or comments.

 

[JeepJake OIIIIIIIO]

I got it 6 years ago with pretty much stock everything on it and only 8,000 miles. It has the 4.0L inline 6 with a 6-speed manual transmission.

First thing i did was a 4" rough country short arm lift with 33" BFG A/T's and simulated beadlocks

Then came some bushwacker body armor along with bushwacker pocket fenders
Also warn bumpers and an 8000 lb warn winch

Next I added a safari Rack and A safari snorkel

I then added an Edge Trail jammer module and Flowmasters

I Next broke my Dana 35 and upgraded to a dana 44 in the rear with 4.56 gears all around.

Next I added a 2" BB and upgraded to 35" BFG KM's and Procomp steelies

I then added a dana 44 front with an Ox Locker and a 6" Rock Krawler Long-Arm Lift w/ Bilstien 5150 Shocks.

 

[JeepJake OIIIIIIIO]

I drove it for a day then found out the used axle I bought had a bent housing

Bent It back and we were back in Business!!

Then I decided to get rid of the Plastic Fail Armor and the Bushwacker flares and get some real stuff.

 

[JeepJake OIIIIIIIO]

And one of the Mods that I am most proud of and Impressed with Is the front shock tower extension

Measurement from axle to the top of the shock before...

Where i cut the original shock tower.

Measurement from axle to the top of the shock after.

These are Rancho RS9000XL shocks with 15" of travel vs. my bilstein 5150 12" of travel. The extended length of the bilstein shocks is 29.5" and the collapsed length is 17.5" The ranch shocks have an extended length of 36" and a collapsed length of 21.13"

This is what it lets me do now!

 

[JeepJake OIIIIIIIO]

Some pictures of the outboarded shocks. Sorry I dont have any pics of the process itself. I also moved the spring buckets back on the frame so that the spring wouldn't bow anymore.

 

[JeepJake OIIIIIIIO]

This video was taken in Moab Utah

Top of the world run MOAB UTAH. Ledge - YouTube

Here is a Video of the Gymnast scoring a 1505 on a 20 degree RTI ramp

gulf coast jeepers jake hits 1505 on the rti ramp!! - YouTube

And a Video of Me and My Jeep on Truck U

Jake's Jeep on Truck-U - YouTube

 

[connor0770]

Nice Jeep! She has some nice flex! Any future plans for 60's? or coilovers?

 

[JeepJake OIIIIIIIO]

Nice Jeep! She has some nice flex! Any future plans for 60's? or coilovers?

Future Modifications: Dana 60's, 4BT cummins, NV4500 transmission, STAK 3 speed T-case, Tom Woods 1350 Driveline, Synthetic winch rope, Steering Box Skid Plate, On-board Air, Rock Krawler 7" Rear stretch, Custom 3" Front Stretch, Highline tube fenders, Comp cut rears, Genright fuel cell, and 17" Beadlocks wrapped in 40" tires.

I love coilovers but I cant bring myself to spend the money when I can get this much travel out of my setup. I'm definitely going to invest in some 60s to get the Jeep prepared for a diesel

 

[connor0770]

yea.. I just feel like im gonna build new axles, I would do it all at once. At least do the front with coilovers, and keep the rear setup as you have it now?

 

[JeepJake OIIIIIIIO]

yea.. I just feel like im gonna build new axles, I would do it all at once. At least do the front with coilovers, and keep the rear setup as you have it now?

Im thinking If I do coilovers that I'm going to wait until i stretch it front and rear.

 

[JeepJake OIIIIIIIO]

So the one-ton build begins. I picked up a set of high pinion Dana 60's out of a Ford F-250 super duty from Derek at Pro form fabrication.. My plans are to tear the axles down and build them exactly how I want them by mid to late April. As I have been planning to build these axles i have come to see that they are going to cost lots of money. Here are the plans so far.

All of the prices are approximate to include shipping costs and give a number that will be worse case scenario.

To get the axles ready
4.56 or 4.88 gears ($600)
Ox Electric actuated lockers ($2200)
Warn Lockout hubs ($250)
Master Install kits ($600)
Reid highsteer Knuckles ($600)
Rear disc brakes ($350)
Full Hydraulic steering ($1500)
All of the necessary brackets and tabs ($800)

Other things that may be necessary
New front and rear driveshafts with correct size yokes ($1000)
Beadlocks and 37's ($3000)

Grand total: $10,900

Any thing that I may have missed??

I will keep everyone updated as the parts come in and the work begins.

 

[Jakesteramalamajama]

Any thing that I may have missed??

Probably... :flipoff2:

Nice Jeep.


Looking forward to seeing your build,
Jake

 

[gearhead1985]

what is your opinion on the shocks for on road use between the 5150's and the rancho's

 

[Phat95YJ]

What did it take to bend that axle back?

 

[JeepJake OIIIIIIIO]

what is your opinion on the shocks for on road use between the 5150's and the rancho's

The 5150s are nice for the money if you get the more firm valving. I think its 255/75 or something like that. The ranchos are in a whole other class because they have adjustable valving. I usually just run them at their firmest setting though.

What did it take to bend that axle back?

I took it to a fabricator. He had to pull the shafts out and heat the axle tubes. Then he used some kind of a shop press. I think it was like a frame straightening machine.

 

[JeepJake OIIIIIIIO]

So instead of building the axles that I bought I found an entire Jeep with built Kingpin Dana 60's under it already. This is now going to be my donor Jeep for my axles and the On-board air setup.
The Axles:
5.38 Gears
ARB air lockers
One ton steering
Kingpin
Disc brakes.
The Donor Rig

 

[rustybottoms88]

Economics......

Isn't it a crazy world.....you can buy a whole dang jeep cheaper than building a set of axles. :shaking: I had a YJ i was gonna build, nothing special just a leaf sprung rig with updated axles (D44 and 9inch) and hell i bought a whole jeep setup nicer than the one i was gonna build for half the price. BTW nice jeep i like what your doing with it.

 

[JeepJake OIIIIIIIO]

I know. Its unfortunate. Doesnt seem to make much sense. I really like the satisfaction of building my own rig but it is so tempting to buy one that has already been built.

 

[JeepJake OIIIIIIIO]

Update 3/19

Update on the One Ton Swap. It is moving a long slowly but surely. I Hopefully I will have this thing on the street before the first week in April. Here is what has happened so far:

1. I had to test out the donor Jeep to make sure the axles worked properly. . After testing it out I must say i did impress me and I had a hard time justifying pulling this Jeep apart to build mine. I would just wheel this Jeep all of the time but it just wouldn't be the same as the gymnast. (I guess its a Jeep thing). That being said there were a few things that I truly disliked about the donor Jeep. The first being that terrible radius arm SkyJakcer suspension setup. That suspension had the travel of a Prius. The second thing that I didn't like is that even though it had 5.38 gears, it had the stock t-case and the ax-15 trans which was not low enough gearing to be crawling without slipping the clutch. Last, even though everything but the winch was functional, i felt that everything on the jeep was so rigged up that it could fail at any second and I didn't do any of the work so I had no clue of the original builder's true redneck engineering capabilities.

2. I finally sacked up and pulled the rear axles out of the Jeeps to begin the swap process.

The Gymnast

The Donor Jeep

Donor dana 60

Dana 44

3. So of course after I pulled out the axles I knew that the upper control arm mounts on the axle were different on the two different trusses. The mounts on the dana 60 truss were vertical and the ones that were on my dana 44 truss were horizontal. I was going to try to take the cheap and easy way out by just turning my hiem joints vertical (even though it is better for the joints to be run horizontal) and running the truss that was already on the axle. However, when putting the axle under the Jeep I realized that there was no way that the truss would clear my gas tank and it sat up about 2" higher than my truss on my dana 44. Additionally I thought that i was going to be able to run the same lower control arm mounts that were already welded to the axle but realized that they were mounted too far apart because the lower control arm mounts on the donor Jeep were on the bottom of the frame and the lower control arm mounts on the gymnast are on the inside of the frame.

Long story short, I had to switch the trusses and the lower control arm mounts on both axles. Good thing I have a friend that has a torch and a good welder :grinpimp:

Dana 60 With the RockKrawler truss on it.

Dana 44 with the new/old (redneck custom) truss.

 

[JeepJake OIIIIIIIO]

tacking up all the brackets and truss

final welding on the axle