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Sam’s TJ Buildup Part II
by Sam Houston

When I saw my part I article on 4X4NOW, I realized that I needed to change my writing style a little for web based documents. So, taking a cue from Wayne’s build up pages, I’m going to break this up a bit and try to cut the words down to a minimum.

Update to Part I

This behind me, I attended a ride with the Renegade 4WD Club of Atlanta with the Jeep still in the form it was in after Part I.

Lining up for the January 1, 1998 Renegade 4WD Club ride outside of Ellijay, Georgia (my TJ is the second vehicle).

Waiting for the Georgia Bounty Runners to clear a section of the trail later in the day. That's Harold Etheridge standing by his nicely set up flatfender.

TeraFlex Lift, ARB Lockers, and Regearing

Now for the pictures.

Here's a shot for disbelievers. Those are 33x10.50-15 Swamper Radials on AR73 15x8 wheels (4 inch back spacing) on a stock TJ. No, I wouldn't want to wheel with this setup, but it can be driven on the street this way.

Here's a shot of the TJ as it looked when it left Jim's Off Road, a week after I dropped it off. It's a little taller than when I left it. I didn't take measurements before and after the lift, but my guess is that I got closer to 4.5 - 5 inches of lift initially. It has settled down a bit, but I’d still say I’ve got 3.5 – 3.75 inches out of a 3-inch kit. And, I have NO drive line vibrations. I do occasionally get a rattle from the transfer case shift linkage, but this is due to the linkage alignment not being perfectly back to stock and my not quite having the shift linkage perfectly adjusted.

This is a shot taken over Jim’s Off Road owner Jim Tunnell's shoulder showing Joey Yoakum (the service tech) finishing the installation of the Dana 30 front ARB.

Joey working on the wiring for the ARBs.

Here's something you don't see everyday .... a counter guy (Greg Griffith) elbow deep in installing an ARB compressor.

The ARB compressor fits nicely (if a little tightly) on the shelf under the master cylinder. Dominating this shot is the quick disconnect for the tire fill kit, but if you look closely, you can see the blue air lines snaking out of the 1/4 inch fuel line I shrouded them in. If you shroud your lines, a helpful tip is to put a little liquid dishwashing detergent in the end of the fuel line, then the air line feeds right through.

Another view of the compressor installation showing how tight this fit really is. That's the relay for the compressor mounted to the cruise control throttle cable actuator.

Here's a shot of the interior that I've had lots of requests for. It shows several things reasonably well. The master switch for the ARB compressor is the amber toggle switch. Just above that is the new location for the CD changer controller (moved after someone tried to steal the CD changer … all they managed to do was break a window and severely dent my Tuffy box). The CB location is clearly evident and the ARB switches are to the right of the CB.

One modification I performed was the bypass of the interlock that forces you to lock the rear ARB before the front one. If you trace the yellow wire for the front switch back into the harness, you’ll come to a splice. Cut the yellow wire leading to the switch at the splice. Insulate the splice so you don’t get a short (I used lots ‘o electrical tape) and splice the loose yellow wire into the red wire going to the rear switch. Now you can independently lock the differentials. This could be handy if you toast the rear air line and need a locker to get to someplace that you can fix the line.

The completed front suspension showing the lower Flexarm, the brake hose relocation bracket, the Daystar spring spacer, one of the Rancho 5010 shocks and the pin adapter at the top end of the shock.

The competed front suspension showing the front coil, coil spacer, bump stops (the TeraFlex spacers were not used) and the swaybar disconnects.

The completed rear suspension shows the extended bump stops (again, no bump stop spacers used) coil spring, lower flexarm (it’s there in the bracket ... bottom left), Rancho 5010 shock, and the track bar relocation bracket.

Thanks to the following folks at Jim’s Off Road for taking pictures that allowed me to promote them… hey!!! …. They should have paid ME to let THEM work on my TJ!!!

Jim’s Off Road Center
901 Oak Ridge Turnpike
Oak Ridge, TN 27830
(423) 482-6912
(423) 482-6724 (fax)
Email: JOR4X4@aol.com
Web Site: http://www.jimsoffroad.com/

Off Your Rocker Panels

The next pressing need was for some serious rocker panel protection. Like the Flatlander, I chose "Off Your Rockers" diamond plate steel panels for my project. I’ve actually had them since mid-October, but fretted over installing them due to the hole drilling involved and the amount of salt Ohio uses on the roads in the winter. I figured this would be an invitation for serious rust. After some serious thought, I decided to utilize my sailing background and use the same techniques used in bedding deck hardware.

With this in mind, I set about installing the panels on a nice February day in Ohio (is that an oxymoron?). The supplies I used are 2 large tubes of black silicone caulking, a caulk gun, masking tape, a couple of C clamps, a cordless drill, a corded drill, Dremel tool, hacksaw, black touchup paint, Allen keys, two ¼ inch drill bits, one ½ inch drill bit, 4 number 12 sheet metal screws (and appropriate drill bit), and miscellaneous hand tools.

The first step in the installation process is to remove the front flare extensions (behind the flares) and loosen the fender flares enough that you can get the panels behind the flares. Then clamp the panels in place and figure out where you can get access behind the body panels to place a nut. Mark your hole locations and mark the locations for the rivenuts for the front and rear flare mounting points. I used 12 of the OYR provided ¼ inch Allen head stainless bolts and 2 #12 sheet metal screws per panel. Also, at this time, mask the body at the OYR panel / body panel juncture.

The next step is to remove the panels and pre drill the mounting holes in the OYR panels, cut a notch for the front flare nutsert, and drill a ½ inch diameter hole for the rear nutsert. Apply touchup paint to the raw edges of the OYR panel where you cut and/or drilled them. Then clamp the OYR panels to the body and drill the mounting holes in the body. When you finish this part, your Jeep’s rocker panel will look like the picture.

Now for the fun stuff. lay a HEAVY bead of silicone on the back of the panel (I used a little more than 1/2 of a 10.5 ounce tube on each panel). Use a cheap putty knife to get a thick, even coat covering the entire back of the panel. (Note the large hole at the back end of the panel and the notched end at the front).

Now, install those suckers. Put the panels in place and get at least two bolts started to hold them in place. As you tighten the bolts, silicone will start to ooze everywhere (including inside the body through the holes you drilled). Install the two sheet metal screws (in the picture below they’re painted black but are located in the gap under "Jeep" between the two visible stainless bolts). Let the silicone ooze for a minute or two. Smooth the bead that has oozed out with your finger (have lots of paper towels handy). Remove the masking tape so you’ll have a smooth seam. Reattach the fender flares using the factory hardware (thus the allowances for the nutserts). Silicone the resulting gap between the flares and the body (see http://4x4now.com/butjd.htm). Now you have 3/16 steel protecting your rocker panels!!!

The finished product.

Tomken Undercarriage Skid Plate

One concern I carried from my rental TJ experience is the vulnerability of the oil pan in the TJ design. The one I rented in Moab had a pretty good dent in the oil pan when I picked it up. I was just about to order the MOPAR skid plate and work on modifying the mounting point to clear the front driveshaft (driveshaft clearance is an issue with the MOPAR plate when used with a lift) when I saw Tomken’s new ads featuring their undercarriage skid plate … so I ordered one of theirs. I was quite skeptical when I was told that the plate covered the area from the radiator to the transfer case skid plate, but it really does.

Here's the skid plate ready to install. It’s actually two pieces: a cross bar that mounts to the frame under the radiator, and the plate itself. As you can see, the edges are reinforced with welded angle pieces. The plate itself is between ¼ and 3/16 inches thick.

Detail of the cross piece mounting. A 3/8 inch bolt with a tab welded to the head is inserted into a slot in the frame on each rail right at the radiator. Then the cross piece is bolted on.

Here's a shot of the installed skid plate. After the picture was taken, I noticed a slight interference with the exhaust tubing so I spaced the plate down from the cross bar by 3/16 of an inch on the passenger side only. I really need to get off my butt and grind away a little of the angle on the edge of the plate and reset it as shown. Also note: the cross bar and the tie rod are actually straight, the wide angle camera lens imparted an optical bend in them.

Another shot of the installed plate. As you can see, it covers the oil pan quite well. This is supposedly one of Tomken's early plates and the hole for the oil pan drain plug does not line up perfectly, but it is useable. I made an oil drain baffle out of a SOLO cup to keep oil from pouring on top of the plate.

For more information, contact:

Basically a Complete Project

Well, much of the initial work is done at least. Since these pictures were taken, I’ve added a Tomken fuel tank skid plate. See http://4x4now.com/butjd.htm for a description of this piece and it’s installation. I can tell you that it is well worth the money as I’ve already bashed mine good a few times.

It may not look very tall in the picture, but remember that those tires are 32.9 inches tall and the nerf bars are 3 inch diameter.

Yes, I do have a new license plate (TRAIL TJ) that I had to show off! That and in this shot you can see how much the tire stick out past the stock flares.

It's a Jeep thing .... you wouldn't understand ... well of course you would if you're reading this.

If you got questions, send me mail … I will answer it.

shouston@mindspring.com

Sam’s TJ Buildup Part I

Part II Sources

Manufacturers

Tera Manufacturing: Suspension system

Daystar: Coil spring spacers and bump stops

Dana: Ring and pinion kits

Timken: Differential bearings

Smittybilt: Nerf bars

Off Your Rockers: Rocker panel reinforcement

Tomken Machine: Undercarriage and fuel tank skid plates

JKS: Pin style shock adapters

Bestop: seat covers

Interco Tire and Rubber: Super Swamper Radials (33x10.50R15)

American Racing Equipment: AR73 chrome modular wheels, center caps

Retailers:

Jim’s Off Road Center, 901 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN 27830, (423) 482-6962,
(423) 482-6724 (fax), JOR4X4@aol.com. TeraFlex suspension system, front ARB, ARB compressor, ARB tire inflation kit, Daystar coil spacers and bump stops, ring and pinion gears, differential bearings, shocks, shock adapters, and installation.

Off Your Rockers, 744 Toulouse Court, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019, (650) 726-3008 (phone and fax). Rocker panel protection.

Tomken Machine, 36580 U. S. Highway 24 North, Buena Vista, CO 81211, (719) 395-2526,
(719) 395-4037 (fax). Undercarriage and fuel tank skid plates.

Leon Rosser Think Jeep, Post Office Box 1185, Bessemer, AL 35021, (800) 633-4724. Rear ARB Air Locker, Smittybilt nerf bars.

Four Wheel Drive Hardware, Post Office Box 57, Columbiana, OH 44408-0057, (800) 333-5535. Bug shield, seat covers.

Savanna Jones, 1600 N.W. 23^rd Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33311, (800) 831-3716,
(954) 676-5305 (fax). Tuffy rear storage box (replacement for the one installed in Part I).

National Tire and Wheel, Post Office Box 391, Wheeling, WV 26003, (800) 847-3287. Interco Radial Super Swampers (33x10.5R15).

Pep Boys, everywhere. American racing AR73 wheels and tire mounting and balancing.

Sam’s TJ Buildup Part I | Sam’s TJ Buildup Part II | Sam's Hi-Lift Mount | Sam's Soft-Top Installation | Sam’s TJ Buildup Part III

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