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Quick Build Thread... WK

13K views 35 replies 12 participants last post by  HiddenTalent 
#1 · (Edited)
Quick Build Thread... WK Updated 8-1-11... New Wheels

First off, I'm a huge automotive nut. I've daily driven a bolt-on Buick Regal GS (mid to low 13's) for four years now and have loved every minute of it. I decided last year with the winter being so rough and I was still in college that I needed something more capable for our property in northern Michigan and for winters since I drive close to 400 miles a week all over the state in all conditions.

I'm the type of nut that can never leave anything stock whether it be a car, computer, camera, phone, bicycle, or anything else. I'm also all about functional, tasteful, reliable modding, and true to the mindset of "built not bought". I do as much of my own work as I can with the help of many friends from my multi-faceted hobby list.

For me I needed a capable, trail-ready, and reliable 4x4. I'm a huge outdoorsman and require a vehicle that I can put a dog in the back end, eventually a baby seat in the back, tow our 26' boat, and have room to fit a deer in the back when I get one. I didn't want to struggle with finding room for guns or camping gear in the back of a Wrangler.

I also wanted something that is professional looking as I am an Engineer and may visit important customers from time to time and don't want to show up in some monstrosity.

I began to research, and Jeep was my goto brand. I first investigated and planned a decent build for a WJ, however, when I started test driving them I was disappointed with the ride quality and many of the stupid little bugs they have. I then broadened my horizons and my budget and started looking higher at the WK.

As we all know the WK has very little aftermarket support. I decided to bite the bullet and started test driving them and fell in love. I decided that if I was going to build something that I was going to do it right. None of this spacer budget boost nonsense and no cutting corners for quality.

After three hard months of searching I found a black 2006 Limited with 63k for $16500. After some bitching and moaning at the dealership I got them down to $15800.

When I made the purchase I had already set goals for the build. I wanted the ability to run 32" tires with no problems, and like I said do it without any spacer lift nonsense. The first mod came only one short week later. Ordered an Addco rear swaybar with greasable bushings from Kolak, thanks Nick!




While the tails were being tinted I also received my Sanguaro front shackles and my Smittybuilt receiver shackle mount. I installed the shackles in the driveway to the body shop with the help of the shop owner. This revealed that the Carfax was in fact not clean. The front bumper is a replacement and was painted with the grille installed! WTF! Not is it a replacement but it too was broken and is bondo'd. How depressing! This install was quite easy and I strongly recommend these to other owners. Thanks Sanguaro!




I knew what I had to do to get my 32" tires under the WK, so another week later I ordered 1.5" Spidertrax wheel spacers from Kolak, again thanks Nick!




I could not stand the idea of having the stock radio antenna out on the trail with limbs knocking it all over the place and it getting all bent up. I stopped in at the local Advance Auto Parts and snagged a $7 shorty antenna and slapped her on. I use satellite radio all the time anyway. :)

Not too long after I saw a post on this forum by Carlos (AcidCold) that he wanted to trade out his Addco front swaybar for a stock bar, so I took the bait and drove to Chicago one afternoon knowing that I had to be at work at 4:30AM the next morning and had 45 minutes from home to get there and Chicago is 2 hours from home. Needless to say that I was tired at work. Good deal nonetheless, thanks Carlos!

Like I said I drive a lot in the winter and outdoors a lot where my boots and shoes will get salty and muddy. I ordered a set of Cabela's WeatherTech floor mats. Very worth the money!



I always think vehicles look better with tinted tails, however from past experiences I have learned not to cheap out on this mod. I preach as much as I can to people about this, please tint your tails the right way. I enlisted my fiancée's neighbor who owns a body shop. I paid him $100 to prep the tails with adhesion promoter and spray them with a mixture of automotive black and clear-coat. They turned out amazing.




After a couple months of stalling, I finally completed payments to Kolak for my OME lift. During my time saving Nick had been acquiring parts so the arrival time of my lift was shortest when I had fully paid him off. It took about 6 days for all the boxes to arrive after payment. Thanks once again Nick!

I finally got to install the lift last week. Let me tell you, after having done much work on cars this was my first time working on an SUV or truck and by far the most challenging task yet.






We had air tools, an electric impact, and an amazing tool chest to our disposal. The first night it took us 6 hours to do one corner of the Jeep. This was mainly because we attacked it blind, started off too fast, and were not thinking... may have been the beer too though... oh and maybe the fireworks... Anyway! The second night it only took us 4 hours to complete the remaining three corners...

A few helpful tips...

1. Use PB Blaster. We did from the get go.
2. Air tools or an electric impact are a must.
3. Take your time removing bolts and remember where you put the nuts, we could have saved a few hours if we hadn't misplaced nuts.
4. A BFH is a must have tool.
5. Just go rent good spring compressors and ditch the harbor freight $10 specials, we could have saved a good two hours here.
6. We required two jack stands and two jacks in our methods... I'd recommend the same to others.
7. The most important tip of all is to just stay calm and take your time because your experience will be much more appreciated in the end if you can.
8. Test driving your newly lifted WK through the ditch out front is a must when completed!

Next, I plan on purchasing a set of 265/70/17 Hankook Dynapro RF10's on the stock five spoke wheels. I plan on driving this a lot during the winter and don't plan on going balls to the wall at the offroad park, so MT's just don't make sense for my purpose.

In the future I'm planning on 4x front and belly skids, Superchips, some brand of intake, rock lights, 120v onboard outlets, 4300k HID fogs, 50% tint on the front windows, and more! Stay tuned!

My apologies if some of the modding is out of order. ;)

Due to the limited number of pictures allotted per post... More pictures here!

Gotta make sure you get some good shots all the time!







 
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#2 ·
Everyone says that you should wheel your Heep stock before you mod it because it might be good enough... I agree completely!






 
#3 ·
I've been doing a lot with the Jeep since I put the tires on... How about a little picture update?














 
#5 ·
There is sure to be more pictures!

She dressed out at 115lbs. Very average for northern Michigan. We eat venison in place of beef as much as possible... usually put 3-5 deer away each year. :)
 
#6 ·
yes....I love the hams and tenderloins marinated in pineapple juice and worchestershire(sp?) then steamed with potatoes, carrots, peppers, mushrooms and onions...YUMMMM!
 
#9 ·
What size shackles did you get? 3/4 or 5/8?
 
#10 ·
Pretty sure I got the 1/2" because I got them early on in production. I think the 5/8" came out after. Otherwise I would have gone what route. I sometimes feel these are a little small but I'll never get enough out of them to justify swapping.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Says the guy with the dead dog under his Jeep! ;-)

No, I spared everyone the headshot angle! Oh, and the gut pile shots. Consider yourselves lucky! :p


Thanks for the compliments by the way!

More to come, I keep talking myself out of ordering a front and belly 4x skid, and S4xC Tcase skid. I guess a wedding and a house are more important right now. Both of which are HIGHLY OVER RATED!! ;)
 
#13 ·
Hey man where u from in northern michigan im from traverse city but som on those backgrounds look familiar
 
#14 ·
I live in South Haven, went to school for 4 years in Big Rapids, fiancee is still there and we have a house in Houghton Lake. :)
 
#15 ·
houghton lake guessing thats where those bost pics are from up. When i was in high school we used to swim again south haven all the time nice town but are there alot of good trails there i know there are alot up by houghton and traverse. how often do u go up there btw.
 
#16 ·
Usually two weekends a month or more. We belong to a private hunting club. We own 18000 acres (28 square miles) of land. I'll be up this coming weekend if I don't have to work. It's tip-up town festival. I only missed this weekend because we had VIP cage fight tickets for last night.
 
#18 ·
Thanks Marlin!

Your posts/threads are usually good reads as well ;).
 
#21 · (Edited)
Don't go breakin' my heart!

Nice Jeep!
Nice pics!
Nice mods!
Nice deer!
15 posts and you're off to a better start than most of our long-time members!
What did you use to take down the deer?
Venison over beef anyday. Healthier and more humane. I'm thinking of taking a hunting trip in Mongolia before I come back to the states.
Thanks! I'm more of a lurker. I have more posts on JU and JF... Strange I have even less posts on our local boards because the national boards interest me more.

I used a 30-06. WOC during rifle season. :)

I see you're in Korea and I'm assuming you're in the service. I have multiple friends serving there currently. I wish I knew where they were!
 
#20 ·
Nice Jeep!
Nice pics!
Nice mods!
Nice deer!
15 posts and you're off to a better start than most of our long-time members!
What did you use to take down the deer?
Venison over beef anyday. Healthier and more humane. I'm thinking of taking a hunting trip in Mongolia before I come back to the states.
 
#23 ·
hey bro u should sne da soldier some venisen jerky lol. So your going up there to fish town huh well shit becareful my girl says they are getting a metric **** ton of snow and ice latly.
 
#25 ·
No jerky here! We're all about our steaks! Plus, we have our own processor on the property and unfortunately he does not do jerky. Otherwise I'd have one deer a year dedicated to jerky alone... badddddd!!! LOL.

Yup, was up there last weekend. There isn't as much snow as previous years at this time but I'm not sure what happened since last weekend. I know that this morning it was -18 up there. I'm sure glad I bought a new shanty this year and a nice heater to match!
 
#28 ·
Just a little update! I installed a Laredo grille, ordered a S4xC t-case skid and 4xG belly guard. I also installed a 4xG diff guard and had the front windows tinted. This thing is basically done as far as I'm concerned... front guard eventually but I scrapped the idea of a muffler and intake for now.






We thought we would try something new and tape off the rings with pinstriping as masking leaving a chrome ring but when we peeled it off the chrome came off too. Even with painters tape the chrome was coming off. Cheap ****s!







Will post more pictures when skids come in. I also plan on undercoating this thing somehow. Whether I have to put it on a lift, scuff it myself, and rattle can bed liner it or pay to have it done professionally. Either way I want this thing to stay as rust free as possible!

Enjoy!
 
#31 ·
The past few months have been interesting. I haven't had real internet since the beginning of April anticipating us moving closer to work. Other than the 4xG Belly Guard, there really haven't been any new additions to the Heep aside from the S4xC T-Case skid that is just sitting in my garage waiting for an adapter plate.

Had a nice photoshoot this spring. My buddy has the Cobalt SS/SC. I posted these in another thread but it didn't get much attention so I'm reposting them here.












Forgot to mention the Cobalt runs 13.5's all day on street tires, at high 12 second trap times.

http://youtu.be/yrgtYxW7o20

There was a 13.5 run after this but its not on youtube.

http://youtu.be/JL9do5SxF2U

Also took it out to get muddy, Really just came out with about 100lbs of grass and some sand stuck to the paint. Either way it was a good time. Probably shouldn't have hit the water as aggressively as I did... I washed it as soon as we got home though!






Then it was clean!



Also, who parks in the driveway?





Of course the Buick runs mid 13's as well. :thup2:
 
#33 ·
3800 Supercharged (L67), headers, full 3" exhaust, intake, tune, 1.9 rockers, 90# valve springs, 3.4" pulley, race trans, gr2 struts, gmpp handling kit, 12" brakes (stock 10.5"), and the 200,000 mile mod on the stock engine.

Bolt-ons is all.
 
#36 ·
Buddy came across some nice wheels while browsing craigslist for $220! I jumped on them, and they turned out to be great. Supposedly 5.75" backspacing but when I had them installed the mechanic left my 1.5" Spidertrax spacers on but when he test fit one of the fronts without the spacer he felt the clearances were too tight.

I'm on the fence, I know that I can likely take off the spacers and be fine, but I'm really liking the look right now and I can still tuck the tire into the rear well without rubbing!

They are Ultra Goliath 223/224's in 17x8 and matte black. 5.75 Backside Setting (assume that means backspacing), and/or +30 offset.

Mock-up:



Mounted:




Still tucks!




Sun washes out the black in matte...



 
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