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Omelet's Build Thread!

313K views 1K replies 77 participants last post by  PainlessJeep26 
#1 · (Edited)
That's right, I am FINALLY making my build thread! I have been modding this Jeep for three years now so I have a lot of catching up to do. Just bare with me, because this is going to take some time to get through. I will start from the beginning and try not to miss anything. :thumbsup:


It all started in 2004 when I saw the beast that AEV and SuperLift made.





Not only did it look awesome, but it boasted some incredible performance. A Jeep Grand Cherokee with QDII coupled to a HEMI! I had to have it! Unfortunately, being a lowly military man also trying to support a family I could not afford a $45K vehicle, let along the $5K+ for the lift tires and other goodies.

Finally after the market took a crap in late 08 the time had come! I started looking around and pricing the different models and option. By then the CRD had also come out which I wanted more than the Hemi, but I could not find one in Cali :glare: I found a few in other states, but they were too far away and more than I could afford. So I ended up scoring a 2005 Limited with every option available that year and 40K miles for $16K! It seemed no one wanted to buy a big Hemi powered vehicle at that time, so local dealers were pricing them very low. Even a year after I bought it I couldn't find a better deal :thumbsup:

This was the day I brought it home!






Yes it is dirty because I insisted on swinging by a trail on the way home to test out 4lo! I wanted to make sure the t-case and ELSDs were working properly. :D In fast the first mod I made was to remove the front air dam before I hit the trail.


 
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#59 ·
That trip did teach me one thing. I needed to do something with my rear! I had enough clearance up front because of taking care of the pinch weld, and now the rear needed some love. I figured I had tow option, 1. extent my bumpstops 2. trim my fender. I chose option 2 because I wanted to keep the little bit of wheel travel we had.




I eventually did a write-up after I was bugged (I mean encouraged :D) enough which can be found HERE!
 
#60 ·
After the new meats came the discos! In my plans to push this OME lift I contacted Rusty's to see if I could acquire a few things from their 4.5" lift kit. I came away with their adjustable rear track bar, another set of their strut spacers, a pair of custom made rear sway bar links, and JKS Quicker Disconnects. The discos were the only thing going on at that time.




Initially I adjusted the links longer thinking I was accommodating for the added lift, but after talking to a buddy he told me that unless I was installing the SL drop brackets I shouldn't lengthen the links. So they went back to the stock length (9").

The full write-up can be found HERE!
 
#61 ·
The next item I almost missed out on. At the time I wasn't on Facebook. I heard from a friend that 4xG was about to release their new diff guard and was giving a weekend deal through a link they provided on Facebook. I quickly jumped on my wife's account, followed the link, and purchased one of the first 12 bolt diff guards :D It shipped that Monday and I got it later that Friday once I got home!





Lucky for me I had a wheeling trip planned the next morning. So I got up early and installed it. Once I got back home I created a Facebook account and posted this pic onto 4xG's page.




It was the first one they had received, so they asked to use it! :jump: Awesome!
 
#62 ·
Now about that wheeling trip. . .


I set out on my first really good trip. The destination was Corral Canyon OHV park! I went with two of my buddies who had Wranglers. I still did not have the Belly guard or sliders yet so I had to be careful. But what I lacked in clearance and armor I made up for with traction. Here are the highlights.


At the staging area waiting for the Wranglers to get ready :D




Once we hit the first trail.





Tread Lightly. . . What's that! :whistle:









Now it gets a little skinny!







^^I just kissed the rocker there which I ended up bending the pinch seem under the rear door. I folded it back when I got home.








 
#65 ·
After running these used 285s for a while they were getting down to about a .25" of tread left, they had been looking more like the Krawlers then the KM2s that they are. So I decided to try and restore the biting power they used to have. From the factory they are only grooved about half way down into the lugs. So once you wear them down they loose their grooves between most of the lugs leaving them looking like the Krawlers. My solution was to get a tire groover and cut the previous grooves back into them.

I picked this up for $80. It came with #4 and #2 heads with 12 blades each.



It worked pretty good. You can pick the thickness and depth you want, plug it in, and cut away. It took me about an hour to do each tire applying moderate force. Here are some before and after shots.

Before:





After:





Then I decided to use the #2 and make additional cuts on the outer lugs.



The end result:



And the pile of packing I now have for presents!



I really just needed to bring these babies back to life for the next couple of months until I bought new tires. I was also planning a trip out to CO for Christmas to be with family. So this did the trick! :thumbsup:
 
#66 ·
The black side mirrors is something that has always bugged me. I was glad to see that later models they decided to color match them. So I grabbed some chrome mirror covers off eBay and painted them Khaki to match.


Before:




After:




Unfortunately I lost one of them during my Colorado trip :( I think the constant rain/snow on the drive out along with high speeds and freezing temperatures had something to do with it. :oops: Eventually I plan to paint the actual mirror and get another set of covers to pop on when I go wheeling. That way I wont loose all the work I did, and they wont get all scratched up either!
 
#67 ·
I am not too sure when I added these so now seems like a good time :D

I needed new plug wires so instead of buying the same old rats nest I went with a blue set of Taylor Shorties. They cleaned up the look of the engine a bit and made it easier to diagnose an issue in the future.




To keep the internals and especially the throttle body cleaner I got a Billet Technologies Catch Can! I bent a spare piece of steel into an "L" bracket, painted it Khaki, and mounted it to one of the passenger side strut bolts.












 
#68 ·
I like that thing for the tire tread, iv seen those before but thought it was kinda a gimmick, that docent effect the integrity of the tire at all?
 
#70 ·
Now for a little suspension modification! I wanted to eek a little more height out of this thing. I thought about doing something similar to AcidCold's Frankenstein (Hybrid) Lift, but after the disastrous outcome he had I decided against it. Instead I decided to only add an extra inch. The problem was no one made a 1" lift, so I had to make my own.

First the rear.

I acquired a set of rear poly spacers from a RRO lift locally to play with. They started out looking like this:



Then I chopped .75" off the bottom and the center 1" off the top:



As you can see the bottom piece that I cut off was beveled so I had to do the same so it would seat properly.



I was planning on reusing the rubber isolator so I had to trim up the top a little too.



After all that they were down to a 1.5" spacer.




I also installed the custom longer sway bar links from Rusty's.

 
#71 ·
Now for the front.

I was already using one set of Rusty's strut spacers. With one set on I could see that the bolts were not long enough for another set. So I had to get longer bolts. Instead of tracking down just the right size stud that would be a proper replacement only longer, I bought grade 8 bolts to use. The problem with using bolts and not studs is now the bolts could freely spin, where as the studs were pressed in place.

The new hardware:



Compared to the old:




To remove the stock studs from the strut plate, I used a 7/8 socket. After letting them soak for a few minutes in PB blaster I placed the socket under the stud, and after a couple good whacks they popped out.




Now I placed the new bolts in and welded the heads to the plate. After hitting them up with a wire brush, primer, and paint they your good to go.



I reassembled the strut assembly and they were ready to go back in!

 
#72 ·
December came and with it my trip out to CO! This was my trip report once I got back:


So I am now back home. The trip was great! I love spending time with family. The trip out there was not so great. I left at 0400 and got there at 2200 PST. It literally rained the entire way out there except for the last 3 hours. So traveling through a storm meant my gas mileage sucked. I averaged 17mpg on the way out which isn't too bad considering the terrain and the weather. On the way back I averaged about 19mpg and even saw 21 for a while! I am very glad I grooved my tires though. With all that rain and snow I know my traction would have been pretty bad. They performed flawlessly the whole trip. And the HEMI!!!... Man I love that thing!!! Even with the 285s and the terrain, I had no problem maintaining unmentionable speeds. :whistle: The landscape out there through Utah and Colorado was just Gorgeous! I really want to move out there, unfortunately I don't think that will happen any time soon. It killed me to go all that way and just drive past Moab without stopping for a quick offroad adventure. If I was not on a time crunch I would have. Anyway, here are some pix I snapped during my drive. Enjoy! :thumbsup:

















 
#73 ·
Time for the 60K mile service! I went to the stealership to grab some goodies.




There was a 2011 Grand Cherokee sitting there so I decided I should park next to it. When a couple of the salesmen saw me snapping pics they came over and asked me if I was ready for an upgrade. They were talking GC I was thinking SL! :D When they started telling me how superior the '11 was offroad I had to laugh and tell them that a vehicle with only one locking diff would never be more capable that a vehicle with 2 locking diffs. They had no idea what I was talking about :screwy: Ha, figured!



 
#74 ·
Moar updates faster!


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#80 ·
Stop teasing! What's in the dam boxes!

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#81 ·
X2


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#83 ·
Well after procrastinating long enough waiting for a company to come out with some aluminum sliders that didn't way 100lbs, i finally bought the 4xGuard Side Guards (3rd Gen). Along with them I purchased the Belly Guard to finish off my collection of armor. The instal was easy, but having a second set of hands would have been nice.


I did the belly first.






I found a second set of hands sitting on the patio! :D









I was thrilled to finally have this skid. I have come to realize that the main piece that covers the tranny is very stout, however the piece that covers the cat needs a little work.


Next came the sides.


With the plastics removed.






The second set of hands wasn't really needed here, but it made me feel better laying underneath it. :D





They don't quite match just yet!











I love the shape of these things! If you didn't know any better you would think these were stock plastic skirts. The fit and finish is superb and the mounting is very solid for bolt on rails. Although it could be better by tying them into the frame, most will never need anything stronger. I like that I got the 3rd Gen because the 4xGuard logo that used to be cut into the sides always seemed to be the first thing to rust on other Jeeps.
 
#84 ·
Verrrry nice! For some reason I thought you already had all this. It's hard trying to keep up with you


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