Help-Where to start with mods. TJ

[Brad270]

Hey everyone,

I've just picked up a th wrangler that's as stock as a rock, 04 model 5 speed manual with 134,000ks,
Firstly I have to say is why the hell didn't I buy a wrangler years ago,

I've only had the car a few days but the suspension is on its way out (used it to lower the buy price aswell&#128077, I'm after some advice from everyone on what to modify and what might fail or cause problems in the near future after doing some mods

First things I'm doing is a 2" suspension lift kit, springs and shocks, steering Stabilizer with new arms as the ones on it are a little loose,

new steelies with 31" tyres, was going to go to 33but have read stories saying I need to change diff ratio(unsure how true it is), my mate runs 33's on stock ratio but it's an auto in the same year

Is there anything else I should do while doing the lift kit?

Will the 31" tyres rub if I put them on before a suspension upgrade?

What would cause problems if I wanted to do a 1-1.5" body lift?

I've searched but everyone is saying 31" are fine on stock suspension and others are saying it's going to pull guards off, so im wanting honest opinions from people who have done the mods and been through all the crap,


Thanks everyone

[The Grim Jeeper]

Congrats on the TJ, they're a fun thing and pretty capable stock so you can take it out and use it now to get an idea of how it performs without mods and what you you'll need for the tracks you do.

I have a 2004 manual as well and I've fitted a 2" OME lift with heavy duty springs and nitrocharger shocks, similar to what you're considering.

Increasing the length of the front and rear sway bar links to match the lift helped a lot with predictable cornering. JKS Sway bar disconnects on the font will mean you can set the length to match the lift and disconnect them when it's play time.

I also binned the stock control arms after the bushings began to disintegrate and put on some metalcloak adjustables. These go well, nice and firm but flexy and you can adjust pinion angle when its time for a slip yoke eliminator and double cardin shaft.

I haven't regeared for 31s yet, and its tolerable on the road, but the problem is crawling technical tracks, low range isn't low enough. If you're planning to go off road thinking about regearing to 4.56 with 33s could be an idea.

Avoid a body lift if you can.

Wear sunscreen.





Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

[Nanook]

I have a 2000 TJ with American Racing Wheels and 31s on stock suspension and it's fine. It's been all through the Watagans and on a lot of beaches.

The only thing I had to do was to put wider flares on as the tyres stuck out past the guards. The only reason I did that was because I was pulled over for a random breath test and one of the coppers was being a dick about it it. Thankfully his mate was decent and didn't defect me after I told him I had wider flares on their way.

My only issue with 31s is that with stock gearing they sap a lot of power. 5th gear is pretty much usless under 90 - 100kph.

[Jazdiver]

I've got 31's on ARW's on stock suspension and do not hit the guards in any way. Increased highway speed with lower revs but as an auto the 31's have it geared too high.

[Redemptioner]

Mate I would look after a few typical issue then get into the mods.

Firstly do the cooling system, upgrade radiator, electric fan and new hoses all round, then I would look at the steering and replace the ball joints or just upgrade to HD steering system (I would recommend the Iron rock OTT, not much more than what you will be charged for a HD system here but 100 times better and gets rid of the stupid inverted "Y" system). Windscreen seal and cowl seal will have probably gone as well, they are cheap so chuck them in you OS order. Hubs are also cheap so I would replace while doing the steering, this will ensure the only thing left to create the wondering is the steering box and hopefully yours does not have much slop. Injector upgrade to 4 hole is also worth doing as the seals on your injects are probably near ready to start failing, yes you can by the new seals for less than new injects but seeing as you are there why not upgrade.

As for upgrades sounds like you got the basics, adjustable arms and bushing first (get a LR kit, makes the ride so much more comfortable especially if you decide to lift more than 2"), then springs and shocks, I suggest replacing all the bar pin shock mounts to standard eyelet while you are doing the shocks.

If you are going to go bigger tyres then I would budget for diff gears front and rear unless you don't intend on driving the jeep on the road or going very fast (lol, jeep and fast in the same sentence), do this at the same time as putting in lockers , just don't use crappy ARB lockers, In fact the lockers will probably the biggest impact/upgrade to your off-road experience.

Some other upgrades worth doing include
- Rear disc brakes
- Front diff HP30 change over
- Sleeve for front diff
- Lower & upper arm mount bracing
- Front sway bar disconnects
- Rear sway bar upgrade with disconnect
- SYE (you can get kits with the shafts which save you tons)
- Tomwoods drive shafts
- Long range fuel tank
- U-bolt yoke upgrade
- UHF
- Light bar

If you plan on taking off-road then you might want to think about some basic trail armour like rock sliders, front bull bar and winch and a rear bar with tyre carrier (your rear door will not like you mounting larger tyres to it), the list can go on forever it is a jeep after all

[Wooders]

I would suggest CHECKING the items listed by Redemptioner, nut with only 134k with stock config most of them should still have a lot of life left.Since you've only just got the TJ I personally wouldn't sink too much into mods until you know how much you want to modify it.

31" tyres on stock rims, adjust the bumpstops and maybe a set of 2" coil spacers & shocks then swaybar discos. Cost SFA and a great way to get into the TJ.

HD SYE would be on my shortlist. But for any mores more than that it really depends how nuts you want to go, what you want to do with it and how much coin you want to sink into it.\

No disrespect to Redemptioner, but I have an opposing opinion on the IronRock OTT steering.

[Redemptioner]

Originally Posted by Wooders

No disrespect to Redemptioner, but I have an opposing opinion on the IronRock OTT steering.

None taken champ, everyone is entitled to an opinion that's the fun of a forum , but after using stock inverted "Y", HD inverted "Y" and 2 types of inverted "T" they all suck, anything that does not directly connect the pitman arm to the knuckle is a complete waste of time and just poor design. I am happy to accept that single sheer is not ideal but that is what all ball joints are so I never understood peoples problem with it. Suffice to say there is absolutely no play in my steering after finally putting the IRO in, I had tons of clearance and plenty of room to mount a decent dampener (Fox ATS of course) parallel to the action it is there there to "dampen".

As for checking on things, again I guess it comes down to one's opinion also (and their budget), I always ask myself for these kinds of things, do I want to be out in the middle of nowhere and have these things that are more than likely ready to fail go where you can't easily do something about it or would you rather spend a few hungie'$ now and negate the problem....

You can sink an awful lot of cash into a TJ really quickly, especially if you are paying Australian retail prices and it won't take long to surpass the purchase price