Beacon builds his Jeep (finally)

B34C0N

B34C0N

TJ Euthanist
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May 9, 2019
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Where the redwoods are
My original build thread is lost to time. But the winds have shifted anyway.

Originally this jeep was my daily driver and so it had to be well mannered(for a short wheel base solid axle vehicle)

So now that I have a JT(I can only buy vehicles with a j and a t in the chassis code) for getting to work and towing the TJ I can build it out a little bit more

Starting point:
1997 sport with 240,000 on the odometer
4 inch trail master springs
Black max shocks
Dana 35 super + ox locker
Swayloc
Dana 30 + trutrak
33" procomp at sport on 15" wheels
Black magic big brake kit
Exogate for spare holding
Generic nerf bars
Generic corner armor

Jeep photo tax
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Curling parts waiting around to install:

Christmas gifts:
BMB aluminum rear lights(isn't my wife great?)
Dana 30 c-gusset

Black Friday purchases:
Barnes long arm kits
Genright stretch tank
Barnes shock outboarding
Dana 30 sleeve tubes

Other stuff laying around:
Rear disc brakes (either buy BMB e brake reverse or make my own)
Iron rock off-road LCA for front and rear
 
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The first welds I did on the jeep since getting a welder were to install a trans crossmember. The main point of this was to make the install of the long arms easier because I won't have to drop and support the trans while doing all the work.

Well, my simple one day project turned into also exhaust work. Not a huge deal since the shop I paid to do it kinda screwed up and it's rattled since they did it. Also I learned that they screwed up so bad that the down pipe wasn't able to fully seat into the manifold. I threw in a euro style flex section to help keep the manifold from cracking(and make up for any mismeasuring)

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HMU if you're interested in the items that will be going up for sale as they get removed:

Genright extended range tank
Savvy aluminum DA arms
Barnes skid plate
Maybe the hardtop
 
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What a day. It started with a run to ace because I needed to chase the threads on my engine mount(and drill not holes in my crossmember to fix the askew angle the engine was in the engine bay)

This is all because after raising the trans up an inch or two the fan started hitting the shroud. Mostly because the shroud was put in place when there was a transfer case drop. MML and all is well. It's a bit tight without a body lift but nothing is pinched

You can see where the fan was hitting below. Gave me a heart attack leaving the store when I guess everything shifted. I thought I had a rod knocking!

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Anyway. The day was mostly swapping one genright tank for another. I had the extended range tank in but the goals for this jeep have changed. Instead of being my daily and road trip vehicle it's now the fun vehicle and will be aiming for more rock crawling than long camp trips.

So I swapped from the GST-2003 to the GST-2002. Still a 19gal tank. So not tiny. But now I can stretch the rear a bit. The webpage says 5 inches but it looks like more to me. The original will be going up on the for sale page.

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What a PITA to put on. The back isn't fully zipped yet still. It's 50 degrees, not hot enough to help install it. But back to a soft top!

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lBasket said:
Nice that one looks really solid. I didn't really know Bestop also made frameless tops
Click to expand...

Yea! It's the trektop nx. The big kicker being that when the sides are off kids/friends can climb in from the side.

But it's also a sunrider top. You can flip just the area over the driver and passenger back without fully removing it
 
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B34C0N said:
Yea! It's the trektop nx. The big kicker being that when the sides are off kids/friends can climb in from the side.

But it's also a sunrider top. You can flip just the area over the driver and passenger back without fully removing it
Click to expand...

Sunroofed soft top seems cool. Looks way heavier than my rampage top (in a good way)
 
Not super structural. But I welded a bottom support from frame to bumper. This is less for the bumper and more for the flat towing to Moab coming up.

Glassless flux core

Also added a readybrake

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