Family Truckster LJ build

I picked this thing up about this time last year. Because when your single seat buggy has been sitting broken for going on 5 years and you have no time to work on it, the only logical thing to do is go buy another project to not have time to work on. I've missed having a streetable rig for years, and I'm a family man now so I needed something with room for car seats. I've always loved LJs, and have wanted one for a long time. The market on these thigs has really gone crazy lately, but I found this one at a decent enough deal that I felt like it was worth it.





Currently it's your basic mildly built Jeep. 4.5" lift with 1.25" BL on 35s. 30/44 with 4.56 gears and a Spartan locker in the front and LSD in the rear. Most upgrades so far have been cosmetic stuff. But I already have a large pile of parts in the corner of the shop for a 3/4 link long arm, ton swap, and 40s. The goal is a rig capable enough to handle most trails, that I can still load the family up in for a day trip or jump in and drive it to work or around town any time I want.

The first thing on the list to do was to get rid of the red fenders. I didn't care for that look all. I wanted something different than the black that most do though. So I ended up going with satin charcoal gray Rustoleum spray paint on all the armor.




After that was an Antirock front sway bar.

Next up was getting rid of the crappy Chinese winch bumper and putting on a Barnes4WD stubby bumper and steering box skid plate.

I also pulled off the rear flares and short corner armor and added Motobilt full length corners and rocker guards.

I wasn't really a fan of the look of the rear bumper an tire carrier either. It was a match for the old front bumper, it actually seemed pretty sturdy and decent quality, I just prefer the clean back look and once I get this thing on 40s I won't be hauling around a spare anyway. I ran it all this past summer, but took advantage of the Black Friday sales and picked up some Motobilt tailgate armor and tag bracket and the Barnes4WD tail plate bumper. I also swapped out the tailgate hinges for the older '97-'02 style for the cleaner look.

Just this past week I installed these PRP Enduro Elite seats on Genright seat brackets. Definitely not cheap, but a huge upgrade over the factory seats. My driver's seat was about shot anyway. I've got a bolt in harness bar and PRP harnesses here to put in, but I'm still debating on whether to put them in yet or not.

That pretty much catches up to where I am now. Like I said I've got a single seat buggy sitting here that's been broken for almost 5 years. In that time I got married and had two kids, so shop time is a bit limited these days. I'm ever so slowly working on try to get the buggy sorted out too, but my main focus has been this LJ so the family can enjoy it too. I have most of the major stuff here for the axle swap minus the tires, but I don't want to tear it apart until I have everything ready to knock it out as quick as possible.

A little preview of what's coming:




This will be the base of the suspension. It's a 3/4 link subframe kit designed by the guy who went by GTXRacer on Pirate back in the day. He designed and sold a few of these, but they never really took off. I was planning to get the Motobilt kit, but ran across one of these on Facebook for stupid cheap so I couldn't pass it up. I guess the popcorn welds on it may have something to do with the price, but it's all stuff that can be ground out and re-welded.



The plan for now is the axle swap with a small stretch staying on coil springs, with a swap to coilovers and more stretch down the road. And who knows if a LS might not find it's way under the hood one day.

Here's the parts list so far:
-05+ 60/10.5 w/5.38 gears Detroit front and factory Ford e-locker rear
-4.3 Atlas (this is an old case that still has the small front output, but I've talked to AA and the upgrade is still available)
-3.5" Rock Krawler triple rate springs
-Rock Krawler 1.25" rebuildable flex joints
-PSC big bore hydro assist kit
-Dirty Life Mesa beadlocks

That is looking good.
Now you just need to work on the buggy........

Bjeep said:

That is looking good.
Now you just need to work on the buggy........

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I am slooooooooooooowly. Lol

Cool to see an LJ build. As popular as the LJ models are, I wonder if Jeep ever regrets only offering them for a couple of years.

Shop wise, I think we need some additional info on yours over in this thread:

ridered3 said:

Cool to see an LJ build. As popular as the LJ models are, I wonder if Jeep ever regrets only offering them for a couple of years.

Shop wise, I think we need some additional info on yours over in this thread:

Pics of your shops/garages/specs

My concrete guy said 8” is fine for a pad for a lift. Mine is 24”x36” and 8”deep Same here

www.hardlinecrawlers.com

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To me they're the perfect Jeep. Sure a JKU would be nice with the 4 doors, but I've never been a fan of them. And I'm definitely not a fan of all the electronics that come with the newer Jeeps.

I'll try to make a post in that thread sometime soon. My old shop/house is in there somewhere. We just moved to this house in October '21 so this shop is still an unorganized mess. I downsized shops from a 30x55 to a 30x42 but gained a lift and a better door layout so I was ok with it.

hokie_yj said:

To me they're the perfect Jeep. Sure a JKU would be nice with the 4 doors, but I've never been a fan of them. And I'm definitely not a fan of all the electronics that come with the newer Jeeps.

I'll try to make a post in that thread sometime soon. My old shop/house is in there somewhere. We just moved to this house in October '21 so this shop is still an unorganized mess. I downsized shops from a 30x55 to a 30x42 but gained a lift and a better door layout so I was ok with it.

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Similar thinking in terms of LJ vs JK.

Sounds good on the shop thread and sounds like the downsize was an upgrade.

Super nice setup. I like it. I've been considering doing something very similar with a 4 door Jk. I like my cherobuggy. But, I'd love to have a semi built daily driver/3rd vehicle.

Thanks! A JK would definitely make more sense, especially for a family rig. But like I said above, just not a fan. Unless it's a JK with a Grumper. Lol.

Love all the choices so far. Ironically my Silver LJ has the same scuff on the passenger rear corner.
I have a narrowed 05 D60 and Sterling with elocker and 4.88s. I'm considering selliing them and building 9's due to using a 37-38" tire.

Thanks! That sounds like a good plan. I'm a big fan of the 9" stuff. They definitely would be plenty for that.

I finished up a major upgrade this morning before work. I swapped out the factory stereo for a Sony XAV-AX1000 double din unit with Apple CarPlay. Lol.

hokie_yj said:

I finished up a major upgrade this morning before work. I swapped out the factory stereo for a Sony XAV-AX1000 double din unit with Apple CarPlay. Lol.

View attachment 208906View attachment 208905

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Was that plug in play kit?

shug said:

Was that plug in play kit?

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Basically. Bought the dash kit, wiring harness adapter, and antenna adapter. The wiring harness adapter has to be spliced to the aftermarket stereo's harness, but it's basically just matching up the colors.

hokie_yj said:

Basically. Bought the dash kit, wiring harness adapter, and antenna adapter. The wiring harness adapter has to be spliced to the aftermarket stereo's harness, but it's basically just matching up the colors.

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Looks much better.

Random story from the plug and play/matching wires. Years ago I had a buddy call having issues wiring his aftermarket radio. Was a plug and play kit.

Me: Match the same color wires together and you are done. Green to green. Red to red. Etc.

Him: I don't have those color wires.

Me: what colors do you have?

Him: Grey. Lighter grey. Black. Darker black….

Me: Are you color blind?

Him: yes. Now that you mention it, I probably shouldn't be doing any wiring…

Me: correct.