I didn’t plan on selling the red LJR. Honestly, I was just wrestling with the idea of redoing half my build and posted on Facebook looking for some guidance. I wasn’t prepared for the flood of people wanting to buy it. I had a number in mind, the “if someone offers this, it makes sense to start over” number and someone hit it. So… the red LJ went to a new home.
A big part of this is that I’ve never fully recovered from selling my old black LJ. The one sitting on ProRock 60s and ORIs. RIP...
The red LJ was my attempt to replace it but it never quite scratched the same itch. So when someone made a strong offer, it felt like the right moment to hit reset instead of continuing to chase the ghost of that build.
I had big winter plans for the red Jeep: Motobilt back-half stretch, new armor, highline the front, ged rid of the remaining Full Traction links, etc. Once I added up the cost of armor, links, paint, fuel cell, etc., it wasn’t going to be cheap, and I’d still be on JK axles.
Starting fresh ended up making more sense.
Here’s what I picked up:
There's lots of cosmetic cleanup ahead. Some kind of rubberized bedliner/plastidip is peeling off the aluminum armor and grill. The steel armor potentially could use blasting and powder coat. The interior needs work. The full doors don’t line up because they weren’t aligned to this Jeep. And he pulled his light bar, winch, and windshield mounts for his TJ. All easy fixes.
Mechanically, the setup brings me right back to my red LJ: coilovers on stock-width axles. Total déjà vu. The difference is I know a little bit more than last time. First priority is cycling the suspension once it lands.
Financially, this made sense. I got into a decently built LJ for less than a third of what I sold my red one for. Even after flights, travel, and shipping, I still banked 26K. I was planning on spending thousands. The temptation is to blow it all on building this one to the moon… but let’s be honest, I’ll probably never stop tweaking things no matter what I have. Therapy might be cheaper.
PROS:
Overall goal:
A streetable LJ I can drive around town with the boys, run to the San Juans, and still hang with friends on the harder Moab trails.
Excited to dig into this week and I’ll start cycling, inspecting, cleaning, and making a plan. Updates incoming.
Did you know you can ship a jeep across the country for less than the price of fuel? I flew on credit card miles and shipped it for $700 bucks. Would have taken a minimum of 4 days driving with my truck and trailer, and way more in fuel, food, and hotels... Never shipped a vehicle like this before, so was surprised how easy it was.
A big part of this is that I’ve never fully recovered from selling my old black LJ. The one sitting on ProRock 60s and ORIs. RIP...
The red LJ was my attempt to replace it but it never quite scratched the same itch. So when someone made a strong offer, it felt like the right moment to hit reset instead of continuing to chase the ghost of that build.
I had big winter plans for the red Jeep: Motobilt back-half stretch, new armor, highline the front, ged rid of the remaining Full Traction links, etc. Once I added up the cost of armor, links, paint, fuel cell, etc., it wasn’t going to be cheap, and I’d still be on JK axles.
Starting fresh ended up making more sense.
Here’s what I picked up:
- 2005 Rubicon
- 4.0
- Freshly rebuilt 42RLE
- Advance Adapters RubiCrawler
- Rubicon D44s, 5.13s, 35-spline shafts, ARBs, trussed & gusseted
- Rock Krawler 3.5” X-Factor long arm with 4” rear stretch
- Radflo 14” x 2” coilovers (front & rear)
- 5 Hutchinson Rock Monsters with 37x13.5x17 Cooper STT Pros
- Poison Spyder aluminum highline fenders
- PS Daddy Long Legs rear stretch armor + aluminum tailgate
- 108” wheelbase
- Full and half doors
- Corbeau seats
There's lots of cosmetic cleanup ahead. Some kind of rubberized bedliner/plastidip is peeling off the aluminum armor and grill. The steel armor potentially could use blasting and powder coat. The interior needs work. The full doors don’t line up because they weren’t aligned to this Jeep. And he pulled his light bar, winch, and windshield mounts for his TJ. All easy fixes.
Mechanically, the setup brings me right back to my red LJ: coilovers on stock-width axles. Total déjà vu. The difference is I know a little bit more than last time. First priority is cycling the suspension once it lands.
Financially, this made sense. I got into a decently built LJ for less than a third of what I sold my red one for. Even after flights, travel, and shipping, I still banked 26K. I was planning on spending thousands. The temptation is to blow it all on building this one to the moon… but let’s be honest, I’ll probably never stop tweaking things no matter what I have. Therapy might be cheaper.
PROS:
- It’s an auto. Love the manual for around town and most Colorado trails, but there were several Moab spots where I really wanted an automatic. Pairing it with the RubiCrawler will be awesome - at least that's what I read.
- Tons of parts I can sell to help fund upgrades.
- Huge margin after selling the red LJ and buying this one.
- Built, but stock width 44s. Didn’t get to cycle before it shipped, but I’m expecting similar issues to my last setup.
- Lots of surface rust from Texas, nothing structural, but way more than I’m used to. Anything that isn't stainless steel needs attention.
- I'll be pulling the coilovers to refresh and clean up. Not sure I wan't to deal with cleaning the springs, or just getting new ones. We'll see.
- The grill has a small dent. Contemplating replacing... Not sure.
- Cooling system may need attention. Radiator was low. No overheating on an hour long test drive, but definitely something to investigate.
- Still on stock TJ brakes. On 37s. Enough said.
Overall goal:
A streetable LJ I can drive around town with the boys, run to the San Juans, and still hang with friends on the harder Moab trails.
Excited to dig into this week and I’ll start cycling, inspecting, cleaning, and making a plan. Updates incoming.
Did you know you can ship a jeep across the country for less than the price of fuel? I flew on credit card miles and shipped it for $700 bucks. Would have taken a minimum of 4 days driving with my truck and trailer, and way more in fuel, food, and hotels... Never shipped a vehicle like this before, so was surprised how easy it was.
