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05 Grand Cherokee SRT Clone Build

23K views 31 replies 9 participants last post by  viking757 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi guys...now that the summer is ended and the shop has slowed down a bit I finally can commit to building my own truck. I've owned this truck for over a year now and up til now I haven't done a thing to it.

Over the next month I'll be completely taking my Jeep apart to give it a complete makeover.
...just in time for winter. LOL. Unfortunatey this time of year is the only time I have for myself

Here is what I plan to do.

BC Coil Overs
Jeepin by Al UCA's
22" Staggered Black Vipers
Drilled & sloted rotors and ceramic pads.
All new custom painted rebuilt calipers and hoses.
SRT Bumpers and Side Skrits
Mild rear wide body modification
Custom hood and rear spoiler
Custom Pearl White Paint w Gloss Black Accents
Custom Headlamps
SRT Seats with custom leather upholstery.
Custom wrapped suede headliner and pillars
Custom steering wheel
Mild Audio Enhancements
SRT exhaust manifolds with SRT Y pipe and Borla S exhaust

The truck currently has 145K on the stock 5.7 motor and runs great. I did have to replace the MDS lifters shortly after I bought it but other then that its been very reliable.

I started out the project with the Vipers and coil overs. Here are a few pics of that.

Before:


After


Right now I'm at 30.5" in the front. My upper control arms are hitting so until I either cut up the structure to provide more room for them to move or I install the modified UCA's I'll have to raise it a bit. The wife is really yelling at me. The plan is next Monday the truck is coming off the road and getting torn apart for the build. I will post some photos here as I go along, the rest will be on our shops Facebook page here
 
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#2 ·
sweet...can't wait to see the build completed...will be getting my BC Coilovers i two weeks, but it will be hella dropped...member JAYBEE (Jose) has a shop in L.A. that did his and managed to do a serious drop with the BC's so that shop is gong to install mine...can't wait.
 
#3 ·
i have to say, those are the first pics where i actually like the viper wheels! they look so sick.

and i honestly cant wait to see the finished product,.. keep us updated with the pics through the build!
 
#4 ·
402 motoring...NICE!!!! Looks Good Im be here seeing how this beast turns out so far i like your TO DO LIST...Im intrested in the Custom WING and Mid Rear Wide Body Modofication can you alaborate on those???.... are the AL UCA bars going to give you more of a drop or you putting the to prevent hitting the upper tower??? also onm ines i took the Cup and rings completely off just the Spring and the Socks and i sits lower just a FYI in case you wanna go lower on the rear...I wanna go lower all arounf belive it or not and my things slammed lol

Jacob...Let me know bro when you coming down
 
#5 ·
Jaybee3....I think the BC's might be a mid point thing for me. My ultimate goal would be to bag the truck. When I installed the BC's I ran them at 30" which looked cool but the UCA would hit the tower. We weren't able to 100% get the alignment into specs either. So I'm going to put in the new UCA's to give me a little more room in order to drop the front back to where I was. As far as the rear is concerned, your never going to be able to go too far unless you get the sheet metal out of the way, so thats my plan. As it is, with the BC's I'm as far as I can go without cutting and fabrication, which doesn't bother me to do. Right now my mission is to get the body & paint done while I have shop time. I've been planing this for over a year and only now finding some time to actually work on the truck. Photos of the first spoiler I'm building are on my FB page. Its not actually 100% done yet as I had to put stop working on it and put the truck back on the road because I lent my other cars out to my MIL and my son. Here in the northeast guys with Jeeps seem to be only interested in making them go fast, so my Jeep will definitely stand out amongst them all, even if its a poser. LOL.
 
#7 ·
Yeah thats a possiblilty too. I have a customer with a Charger SRT that we're putting on a Magna charger so I'll be keeping his old 6.1 intake and putting it on my truck. At that point I'll have to rebuild the top end of the motor since it has so many miles on it.
 
#8 ·
Here is a few photos of the brake rebuild on the truck. I thought about doing a Brembo conversion but I would have been able to use the Vipers, and honestly I have alot more money to spend elsewhere. For now I decided to just replace all the rotors, calipers and hoses. The calipers are painted in HOK Candy Apple Red. I going to have get some custom made caliper covers done to just give the brake a more finished look.

 
#10 ·
Here is a photo of the custom rear gate spoiler I'm building for the truck. I still have to tweak it here and there but I had to put the truck back on the road since I had to loan out my other two cars until next week.

I should say that I plan to eliminate the use of the back window opening so I'll eliminate the hinges and permanently glue the window to the gate.

 
#11 ·
thats so sick! i want it...
 
#13 ·
402motoring......I see what you mean on the rear on the suspension im not worried either to start cutting things to slamm it....when you go with the airbags are you going to cut the sheet metal on the rear??...can you take pics of that process? I wanna slam my jeep... I seen the wing on fb looks real good defenatly good choice i like it....yeah my jeep a v6 but respect is givin due to the fact i have custom parts n looks clean plus im not about speed lol im stuck in.traffic out here in.LA all the time lol
 
#14 ·
Jaybee....the only way your going to slam the truck more then you already are is to cut the upper rear spring perch and move it up at least a couple of inches. Then your going to have to do at least a 1.5" widening of the quarters to clear the rims & tires. My short term plan is since I'm going to be repainting the truck, I'm just going to make the body modifications now. This way if I do go ahead and bag it next year I won't have repaint anything. My ultimate goal is to run a 22x12 with 335's in the rear. In addition, to modifying the rear, your going to also have to rework the front towers as well in order to allow enough upper control arm clearance. Lots and lots of work, and money of course.
 
#15 ·
22x12 now that is going to be wide and amazing....im thinking of buying 22x10.5 later on im running a 285/35/22 on the rear....i understand the modofications needed on the rear im looking to get another 1" 1.5" on the rear and if that works i will try it...your body modifications are going to look good with that 12" rear wheels....i just need a good fabricator who will be willing to do the job money pit my jeep is already lol im getting influence to go wider on wheels n lower on suspension ...as for paint im also going to repaint it next year so i figure i have a whole new look for 2013.... Wat color u painting ur jeep??
 
#16 ·
I'll be painting my Jeep a white pearl, with a gloss black roof and accents. The white pearl will look like the Escalade pearl that is used. On the interior I'll be installing SRT seats with custom seat covers in the factory beige leather with black gator centers and a suede headliner and pillars. Basically I'm trying to build a truck that I think Jeep should have offered.
 
#19 ·
I'm keeping my fingers crossed but my shop is located 5 blocks from the beach on the Jersey Shore and we're about be be hit directly with Hurricane Sandy. They are currently forecasting 75 mph + winds and a storm surge of 6-12 ft. While we are 5 blocks from the beach I am very worried that those type of winds for the amount of time they are forecasted to stick around will cause significant damage to my 100 year old building. I hope I have a useable building to go back to after the storm...
 
#21 ·
I just want to let everyone that is following my build that we did survive the storm even though just blocks from us is complete devastation. If you have seen news footage since the storm hit then you know what I mean. The shop is in an area that is currently without power and it could be several more days to a week before that is restored. I'm sure that once we get power back I will be slammed with work from the storm, so I will continue this thread as I am able to find the time to work on my own project. Thanks for following my build and I hope to be back soon.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Well I have to say, while they are well constructed, and I'm sure they will help with the alignment....they do nothing, at least for me, as far as helping the problem of hitting the inner structure. The only solution for me, or anyone else that wants to push the limits of how low you can go, would be to cut and raise a section of the tower to allow more travel of the upper arm. I also have to say overall I am disappointed with the ride with the BC coli overs. I guess I am pushing the limits of where these trucks can be lowered to without doing some serious cutting and restructuring. At this point I am getting nothing but grief from my wife regarding the ride. I don't know what I am going to do about it. I have alot of money invested in this setup. I guess my advice for the guys looking to buy the BC setup, if your looking to go lower then just buying springs and going with the status quo, then you'll probably be disappointed in the overall ride like I am. I haven't given up yet but I think to get the look that I'm after, I'm going to have to bag it or come up with a different set up for the rear springs. The BC springs are just to short to provide an oem ride. I may have to explore moving the springs inboard a bit so I can put the upper spring mount higher and use a taller spring.
 
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