'04 Jeep WJ

[Turbo Tara & Jalopy Jake]

Lots of cool stuff if you saw my build on the roof rack.. tents up awning, road shower and folding table for rear swing out


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[Turbo Tara & Jalopy Jake]

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[timberwolf_120]

that's some bad ass work right there!! love it

 

[Kelly]

Jake and Tara Hurlin here, with our (sort of) shared 2004 Jeep WJ ... (Really the wife's ride, she picked it).

We can never have a daily driver that remains stock, all our cars tend to be multi-purpose, and with getting a Jeep it was obvious that we needed to build it into an expedition rig.

Most important thing was to have the V-8 as opposed to the V-6, but then the dark grey color won Tara over. It was completely stock when purchased and was surprisingly well cared for.

Current mods include:
Rough Country 4" short arm lift kit
Quick disconnect front sway bars
32" Duratrack tires
Superchips programmer
3" exhaust
Airrade intake tube
Bushwacker fender flares
50" LED light bar and luggage rack


In progress in the garage:
*Welding together front and rear offroad bumpers, front has a winch mount and will have a small push bar, and rear has tire carrier mount.
*Roof rack extension is on the way.


Gadgets gathered for weekend expeditions:
First aide kit
Tool kit
Emergency Kit
Kitchen kit
Machete, knife, pocket knife, axe
Offroad traction boards (4)
High lift jack


Further wants:
Screened in Awning w/ hammocks for camping.
Front and rear air lockers
Rear/backup lights
Air compressor
Tire deflators
Solar power generator
Rock sliders (there's a bit of rust starting on rocker panels anyway)
Upgrade to long arm kit.

How much height did you gain at the top of the wheel well, when you installed the fender flairs?

 

[Turbo Tara & Jalopy Jake]

How much height did you gain at the top of the wheel well, when you installed the fender flairs?

They are 2" cut flares so about 2-3 inches all the way around


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[Kelly]

They are 2" cut flares so about 2-3 inches all the way around


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Thanks! The reason I asked,... I saw an installation video where the "Cut line" took nothing off the top, and that's where I need the clearance.

 

[Turbo Tara & Jalopy Jake]

Thanks! The reason I asked,... I saw an installation video where the "Cut line" took nothing off the top, and that's where I need the clearance.

View attachment 20586

i thought I remembered nipping the top of the fender... but it was 2.5 years ago..

 

[Turbo Tara & Jalopy Jake]

Some magic was delivered from Santa in a brown van... nitto ridge grapplers 285/70/17 ridge grapplers on method 307's

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[timberwolf_120]

that woman is a keeper!!!
nice treads!
always loved the methods but they always seem to be out of my budget lol

 

[Turbo Tara & Jalopy Jake]

that woman is a keeper!!!
nice treads!
always loved the methods but they always seem to be out of my budget lol

They weren't cheap!!! But . This be the set up the wife wanted...

And now for some glamour shots ;) headed up to jeeps on the Mac bridge and Drummond island for 4 days of adventure...

And bump stoped out on the rear... just perfect about 1/4 inch from the rear bumper..

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[04land]

I'm loving your rig! I've got an '04 as well and have the rough country long arm kit and in the process of getting a rear bumper w/ tire carrier...

View attachment 4120

Where did you get that grill guard? I have been looking for one that isnt a full "over the light guard"

 

[Turbo Tara & Jalopy Jake]

Sorry we have been MIA for a while we took the jeep to silver lake sand dunes here in MI for a jeep event back in June... well I took the jeep submarining... and well hurt the motor... we got about another 1,200 mile out of the motor and than a connecting rod tried to liberate its self... jeep has been down since July.. :( so not much fun has been had.

Other projects (our classic cars and life ) had kept us from the jeep. We picked up a used low mile 4.7 V8 that ended up being even lower miles due to finding it was a remanufactured motor.. and appears to be atleast less than 30,000 miles due to how clean inside and out it is...

I swapped out the old motor for the new the past 2 weeks... need to finalize the install and we should be ready for some late fall / winter exploring !!!! Man I miss the jeep

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[Turbo Tara & Jalopy Jake]

Where did you get that grill guard? I have been looking for one that isnt a full "over the light guard"

We got our front bumper from C&G fab. They cut all the plate steel and you weld the bumper yourself...


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[Turbo Tara & Jalopy Jake]

well finally after 2 more days on working on the jeep in the driveway in-between the rain we have been having in MI the jeep lives. I need to bleed powersteering system check fluids again and should be back on the road!! finally

 

[tsteb112]

well finally after 2 more days on working on the jeep in the driveway in-between the rain we have been having in MI the jeep lives. I need to bleed powersteering system check fluids again and should be back on the road!! finally

Do you have any trips that you’ve done this winter? Sucks about the engine!


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[Turbo Tara & Jalopy Jake]

hey gang,

man I have been MIA....

jeep kicked ass all winter. upgraded to a Dana 44A rear axle with limited slip, re painted the underside of the jeep. also built a custom Snorkel as well.
took it back to silver lake jeep invasion this year... no water holes, did a lot better climbing the dunes with new rear axle.

did a few local camping trips and used the jeep and RTT as our home base at a few motorsports events down state.

had the trans cooler fail and contaminate the cooling system. lucky I caught it right away. flushed system and new radiator , did a trans service while I flushed it. also transfer case as well. and new fluids in diffs.

but things have changed and we are selling the jeep, ill post a for sale add here shortly.

we moved on to a 2018 Tacoma TRD Off-road my wife has a few connections with Toyota now and we got a smoking deal.. now we can do what we have dreamed about cross country expedition trips.. once jeep sells we will also be buying a expo trailer .

learned a few lessons on jeep build ... doing light weight on the new Taco.

 

[adventure_is_necessary]

hey gang,

man I have been MIA....

jeep kicked ass all winter. upgraded to a Dana 44A rear axle with limited slip, re painted the underside of the jeep. also built a custom Snorkel as well.
took it back to silver lake jeep invasion this year... no water holes, did a lot better climbing the dunes with new rear axle.

did a few local camping trips and used the jeep and RTT as our home base at a few motorsports events down state.

had the trans cooler fail and contaminate the cooling system. lucky I caught it right away. flushed system and new radiator , did a trans service while I flushed it. also transfer case as well. and new fluids in diffs.

but things have changed and we are selling the jeep, ill post a for sale add here shortly.

we moved on to a 2018 Tacoma TRD Off-road my wife has a few connections with Toyota now and we got a smoking deal.. now we can do what we have dreamed about cross country expedition trips.. once jeep sells we will also be buying a expo trailer .

learned a few lessons on jeep build ... doing light weight on the new Taco.

How did the factory roof rails hold up to the use of the RTT with your custom basket-esque setup?

 

[Turbo Tara & Jalopy Jake]

How did the factory roof rails hold up to the use of the RTT with your custom basket-esque setup?

holds up fine.. we do have a light RTT on there. but I've loaded this down and the old basket set up we had and no issues.

 

[adventure_is_necessary]

holds up fine.. we do have a light RTT on there. but I've loaded this down and the old basket set up we had and no issues.

What RTT did you go with?

 

[Turbo Tara & Jalopy Jake]

What RTT did you go with?

Tepui Ayer Sky. Fits 2 adults comfortably and our two lap dogs


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