Go Back   RCCrawler Forums > Miscellaneous > 1:1 Full Size Vehicles
Loading

Notices

Thread: "Jebidiah" 2003 WJ

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-07-2013, 07:55 PM   #1
LR3
Rock Crawler
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Forsyth County, Georgia
Posts: 617
Default "Jebidiah" 2003 WJ

So my friends pinned the name Jebidiah to my Jeep because its a mountain man name, and since mine is always in the mountains, it seemed fitting so I stuck with it. This is a log of the build progress from April of 2011 to current. It started in April of 2011 when I got a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Great potential for a trail rig despite some flack that I got for not getting a Cherokee or Wrangler.

For several months I enjoyed the abilities of a stock Jeep, which actually surprised me


In october of 2011 I "upgraded" to a slightly larger set of Falken Rocky Mountain all terrains



So a few months went by and I finally got my first real modification to seriously improve the offroad ability of the rig. I ordered up an Iron Rock Offroad 3 inch lift kit. Not huge, but at the time it was all I thought that I needed.

About two months later I found out what happens when you mix larger tires with a Dana 35. Any experienced wheeler will know that it isnt great, so we went to a pull apart and found a Dana 44a out of a 2004 WJ with the towing package

Also decided to improve the sound to make it match the more aggressive look it had. Flowmaster 40

LR3 is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Old 08-07-2013, 08:13 PM   #2
LR3
Rock Crawler
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Forsyth County, Georgia
Posts: 617
Default Re: "Jebidiah" 2003 WJ

So about five or six months went by and I started to get more serious about wheeling, and I decided that it was time for a major overhaul. This began with some more height under it so I ordered up a Iron Rock Offoad 6.5 inch longarm lift kit

Also got a set of 35x12.50x17 BFG Mud Terrain KM2s mounted on some MB TKOs

Had to notch the rear fender and cut about two inch out of the front to get them to tuck without any rubbing


Also threw on a custom one off front bumper for some front end protection. Protects the radiator and all which is one of the weak points of the WJ

Got a Rugged Ridge 8500 lbs winch to fit in there for any recovery needs I may find


First trail ride I took it on I blew the carrier out of the front axle. Instead of just throwing the same type back in, I opted for a Yukon Zip Air locker run off of a ARB air compressor


After the locker, I started breaking axle shafts like a mofo. Turns out D30 shafts cant take the strain of 35s and a locker . Thats where these come in. RCVs

After a few runs on those, my D44a decided to blow out on me. So what do we do? Dana 60 with 4340 Chromos and a Tereflex T-Locker


After a while this brings us up to where we are to this day. My rear bumper finaly got ripped off so a custom rear with a tire carrier was in order, but why stop there? Why not tie it into some fender guards and rock sliders that also act as unibody stiffeners?




Thursday and Friday we are working on a fully custom link setup. We are doing a four link in the rear and a radius arm up front all with curry johnny joints

Last edited by LR3; 08-07-2013 at 08:16 PM.
LR3 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2013, 05:40 PM   #3
LR3
Rock Crawler
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Forsyth County, Georgia
Posts: 617
Default Re: "Jebidiah" 2003 WJ

So in the time I haven't posted some changes have been made to the dub. Firstly I've been wheeling it and loving it. The current setup I have works great! I wheeled Prentice Cooper in September


And then later that month did JeepFest in jasper georgia. Well after that, I decided to purchase some Rancho 9000xs series shocks, and we finished up the rear long arms and one ton steering. The arms consist of a radius arm front and 4 link rear.



Then one morning I came outside to find this


All five including the spare were slashed. Thankfully I work at a Discount Tire, so I was able to get a great deal on some 35x12.50x17 Goodyear Wrangler MTR Kevlar.

Also got some of those fancy city-jeep headlights
LR3 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2013, 01:59 PM   #4
I wanna be Dave
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Baltimore
Posts: 4,442
Default Re: "Jebidiah" 2003 WJ

Nice progression with the Jerp. I have a '03 Laredo that is basically stock. I swapped in front and rear axles from an Overland to get the vari-locks front and rear. How did yours drive w/ the 3" lift? I've been eyeing up the 2" version of that kit, just to replace the saggy stock springs and to give a bit more articulation.
BigSki is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2013, 04:31 PM   #5
LR3
Rock Crawler
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Forsyth County, Georgia
Posts: 617
Default Re: "Jebidiah" 2003 WJ

Quote:
Originally Posted by BigSki View Post
Nice progression with the Jerp. I have a '03 Laredo that is basically stock. I swapped in front and rear axles from an Overland to get the vari-locks front and rear. How did yours drive w/ the 3" lift? I've been eyeing up the 2" version of that kit, just to replace the saggy stock springs and to give a bit more articulation.
It drove just like a stock Jeep. Great driving characteristics
LR3 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-12-2013, 09:02 AM   #6
Rock Stacker
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: McAdoo
Posts: 75
Default Re: "Jebidiah" 2003 WJ

So whose girlfriend was staying at your place the night your tires got slashed loljk! Nice jeep man!
RickGrimes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-27-2013, 07:59 PM   #7
Rock Crawler
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Miami
Posts: 652
Default Re: "Jebidiah" 2003 WJ

Nice WJ! Saw it around Instagram too I believe.
AeroSynch is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2015, 05:17 AM   #8
LR3
Rock Crawler
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Forsyth County, Georgia
Posts: 617
Default Re: "Jebidiah" 2003 WJ

So almost two years and no updates. What could I have been doing? Well turns out, not to much surprise, that if you jump a Jeep, things break. In this case it was the front axle. Bent the thing pretty good. So why throw another 30 up front? Why not upgrade? Enter the HP44 which is the current WIP. Trussed, spooled, 5.13s, RCVs, Warn hubs.

Old axle out


New axle in the prep stages


Jeep with the new D44 invisible edition


Axle mostly in place



And one of the people who has the honor/dishonor of working on this contraption is none other than RCC's own Destroyer. So if it explodes I blame you
LR3 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply



"Jebidiah" 2003 WJ - Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
BADDMANS C1 called 50Cal """XR10 up grade""" baddman 1.9 Scale Rigs 21 08-27-2012 11:56 PM
"Victim" or "V2" a "Country Boy Customs" class 3 Mighty1 2.2 Scale Rigs 10 05-06-2011 10:56 PM
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:44 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO ©2011, Crawlability, Inc.
Copyright 2004-2014 RCCrawler.com