Before you JK owners get your panties in a wad, we’ll explain the title. When the TJ Wrangler hit showrooms in 1996, it was the last new Jeep we’d ever see. Since 1941 Jeeps had a one-piece tub that was plunked down on the frame in the factory. Bolted to that tub was a pair of fenders, a hood, a grille, and a fold-down windshield with hinges. The JK’s body is largely built on the assembly line like a car and no longer features easily removable front fenders. Instead, the front fenders are part of the body structure.
Some armor will be needed...
Some armor will be needed if you really use your Jeep. We are a big fan of steel belly pans but otherwise, if the Jeep is a budget build or going to be ground into the rocks daily, go with steel. If the budget isn’t a big deal or weight is a concern, go aluminum. The aluminum will almost always be about 50 percent more expensive and is usually about one third to one half the weight of the steel. With the appropriate primer, getting paint to stick to it isn’t a problem, so it just comes down to how hard you are beating your Jeep and how deep your wallet is.
So, you’ve got the last real Jeep. A ’97-’06 TJ or LJ. Congratulations. If anything, the problem is that there is too much aftermarket support. The available build options are literally staggering. Every aftermarket company has lift kits and armor for this Jeep and figuring out which is right for you might be a huge pain in the butt. An easy way to figure it out is to look at what size tires your buddies are using, and take a good look in your wallet. It is pretty easy to fit up to a 40-inch , but don’t go running right out to buy that long-arm lift kit just yet. Build your Jeep on the cheap at the beginning, then wheel it. As you find things you wish it would do better, improve them.
We’ve learned quite a lot after more than 15 years of playing with TJs. There are many ways to learn, and in our case we’ve learned both first-hand by building our own Jeeps and second-hand by watching others on the trail. As with any learning curve, we’ve got some regrets and there are some things we would do again and again, over and over.
The Boatside Bomber rockers...
The Boatside Bomber rockers from Off Road Evolution allow more clearance under the rocker guard, and the instructions show you how to move the front fenders and cut the hood for more clearance. Out back, you can trim almost 2 inches out of the wheelwell for more clearance. And, for the space it gives you, they are cheap. The Bombers are $519.99 with no slider or $599.99 with a slider (both raw steel). With some adjustable control arms and bumpstop extensions you could probably squeak 40s under there.
If low ride height has one...
If low ride height has one drawback it’s uptravel. Smacking bumpstops off-road gets old fast. If you’re lifting the suspension instead of cutting sheetmetal, the stock control arms will work up to 2-3 inches of lift. We’ve run short arms at 4 inches of lift and it makes climbing and descending off-road a puckering experience. You can run 37s with 3 inches of lift, but you will need to trim fenders and might need adjustable control arms. The 37s will hit the rear of the front fenders, which requires moving the front axle forward. Shown are Currie Enterprises adjustable control arms.
Once you get beyond 3 inches...
Once you get beyond 3 inches of lift, we’d strongly suggest a long-arm suspension. Triangulated four-link, double-triangulated four-link, three-link, and so on, there are a lot of them out there. We aren’t going to tell you which is right for you, but in general, we prefer double-triangulated setups. They do a good job of locating the axle side-to-side without the hassle of a track bar. It is really hard to get a dual-triangulated four-link to fit up front though, so either it will be your new full-time job, or you just learn to like the front track bar.
Let’s go back to the factory...
Let’s go back to the factory short-arm suspension for a minute. When the axle articulates, one upper control arm will always be fighting the other one—which means that the only time the arms aren’t bound up is at ride height. If you toss one of the upper control arms (we like ditching the passenger-side), you can get more articulation out of the front end with less bind. And, the lifespan of the remaining upper control arm bushings will likely be unaffected because they aren’t binding up all the time.
A lot of people will tell...
A lot of people will tell you that you need coilovers, tube fenders, or this widget or that. We won’t. Our ’01 Wrangler, Red, is still running the factory coil and shock configuration with 4 inches of lift, 35s, bone-stock factory fenders, and it goes just about anywhere we point it. We’ve stretched the wheelbase out to about 99 inches, and it is a pleasure to drive either on-road or off.
We’ve said it once, we’ll...
We’ve said it once, we’ll say it again, but that doesn’t mean we hate them. We are talking about automatic lockers in the rear of a street-driven, short-wheelbase Jeep. If you can, don’t do it. How the locking and unlocking affects you will depend on the weight of the Jeep, the wheelbase, whether you have an auto or manual transmission, the size of your tires, and so on. In some cases, such as in weather or with more aggressive lockers, the locker engagement can cause lane changes or even spinouts.