In our quest for fitting ever-larger tires on ever-shorter Jeeps, we bring you Part II of the YJ on 40s. Most people who put 40s on the front of a Jeep without lifting it to the moon either lose the fenders and cut the hood, or lose the fenders and go to a fiberglass "rock crawler" type of hood with the little built-in fenders that are really for decoration only.

If there has been one underlying theme to our '68 J2000 project it's been moderation. In Part II, we bolted on some simple Hell Creek Suspension 4-inch lift springs and 33-inch Pro Comp AT tires. In Part III, we rebuilt of a pair of Dana 44 axles with 4.56 gears and Eaton Truetrac differentials. Last time, we covered the axle installation. All in all, we've tried to use non-exotic and junkyard parts where applicable. So when it came time to gather parts to replace the tired 232 engine and insufficient T-14 tranny, we shelved thoughts of high-horsepower V-8s and crazy overdrive automatics.

It is an accepted fact that the more built a Jeep is, the worse the gas mileage gets. Often we build our Jeeps up to do so well off-road that we can't justify the cost at the pump of driving them on-road anymore and end up buying a second vehicle to drive day to day while the Jeep sits languishing by the side of the house.

If you tuned in last month to Part I of this M-715 buildup, you'll know that only three weeks prior to departing for the '08 Easter Jeep Safari, the truck was to receive a PSC Motorsports power steering system, a full rollcage, and seating for eight occupants. Well, it almost played out that way.

Yes, I Can Tell Time. And, Yes, I Realize The First Installment Of Jp Magazine's Project Murderous Overkill Appeared In The November

At first we were painfully reluctant to change much on our '07 two-door Wrangler Rubicon. How could we not be? It's been comfortable and reliable enough to make a daily 60-mile round-trip commute. It's also served as this editor's primary wheeling rig for the last six months. And with a quick wash, wax, and vacuum, it's been out on date night. Although the truth is, it hardly ever gets washed and there is rarely anyone sitting in the passenger seat. Overall, our project JK has been a pretty sweet ride. The T-boning incident in Los Angeles traffic set us back a few months, but since those repairs, we've been spinning wrenches and logging miles, and here's what we've learned. (For the first log entries, check out "Ready-to-Run, Part I," June '07.)

Back in the oct. '07 issue, we introduced you to Jp's newest vehicle. With any project, certain modifications and upgrades take priority. and while we're content to torture the stock 232 engine with sustained 3,000-rpm jaunts, even though it only musters a best oil pressure of 15 psi, one thing that couldn't wait was the suspension.

A buddy of ours that works for Jeep used to joke about the vehicles falling apart at 75,000 miles. We've also heard complaints about Jeep quality in the past. Much of it can be dismissed as owners not understanding it's a Jeep, not a car. Jeeps have some inherent audible noises and quirks. Anyway, we decided to keep track of the reliability our '01 Project TJ. And not only did we keep track of what went wrong with the factory parts, we kept an eye on the aftermarket ones as well.

It's been roughly a year on the calendar and 15,000 miles under the tires since we put the wraps on Jp's '97 wrangler, Project Steal-J. Part I of the build series appeared in the Jun. '06 issue and ran nearly straight through to the Aug. '07 issue. True to plan, the Jeep has served mostly as a daily driver with occasional forays to the desert and across unimproved roads. For the most part, we're pleased with the outcome. It's been an easy vehicle to live with on a daily basis, but there have been a few issues that have arisen.

With a name like Project Murderous Overkill, did you think we were gonna puss out on the engine? The Olds 455 is legendary for its huge grunt, oozing character, and its relative ease to find in the junkyard. It makes a great performer either straight out of the four-door luxo barge or totally built-up. We went for the latter.

How long do you figure it would take to build a race truck? Months? Weeks? Would you believe 10 days?

A cheap purchase price allows us to justify owning just about any Jeep. We ended up buying a truck we really didn't need or want, but we came to find out our '87 J-20 was pretty useful, capable, and fun to drive. However, it rode like a brick. Those with back problems would start to twitch in convulsions just going near the thing, and driving over expansion joints on the freeway meant airtime in the rear. The guy we bought the truck from claimed that putting 500 pounds of gravel in the bed made it ride pretty nice. Needless to say, driving around with a truckload of gravel wasn't an option, and neither was a stainless steel spine implant. We wanted softer suspension, a short lift, and 37-inch tires. We didn't want to turn our 3/4-ton Jeep pickup into a rockcrawler but rather to make it a useful, fun trail/work truck that was far cheaper and cooler than any new pickup currently available. We browsed the Skyjacker catalog and found a full 4-inch lift kit for our J-20 that included four new Softride leaf springs and no lift blocks or rough-riding add-a-leafs. Sold! We slapped together the front suspension and came up with some tips for anyone installing a '74-'91 FSJ lift kit. Keep an eye out for the next issue where we'll finish up the rear suspension, fit the 37x12.50R17 BFGoodrich Krawler tires on Wheel Pros Moto Metal wheels, and tune-in the steering.

Wheels and tires can be the soul of your project. In many regards, they define what you expect of your build. In our case, we want a jack-of-all trades that can cruise the highway at 75 mph, tear up a mud hole, or scale crazy rock boulders with nary a slip. Our selections needed to be civilized enough to serve on the street, yet brutal enough to bite back on the trail. We think we done good with our choice.

If you're the type to sneak a peek at your Christmas presents early or flip to the back of the murder mystery while still on the first chapter to see whodunit, then you'll love the fact that we're publishing the dyno numbers for our Mondello Performance Products-built Olds big-block destined for installation into Jp's Project Murderous Overkill before we even show you the engine buildup.

We put the wraps on our 4.6L Golen Engine Service-built stroker back in the December '05 issue (Insane Inline, Part III) with a trip to the chassis dyno to determine the rear-wheel horsepower. Considering our engine belted out 268 hp and 324 lb-ft on Golen's engine dyno, we were expecting bigger numbers than the 172 hp and 224 lb-ft we got. Given a standard parasitic drivetrain loss of about 30 percent with an auto tranny, we were hoping to see at least 188 hp at the tires. Our problem was in the computer-controlled air/fuel ratio. But before we could bring the vehicle in to be tuned, the engine ate a camshaft on the way home from work.

This month we've added some exterior upgrades from Kilby Enterprises and out of Quadratec's catalog to update our '97 TJ's appearance, including a set of genuine Mopar Rubicon fender flares, Mopar '03-'06 rearview mirrors, and a Bestop fuel door hatch. We nabbed four low-mileage Rubicon wheels and tires cheap from a buddy. Quadratec sells genuine Mopar 16x8 Rubicon Moab wheels and the correct 245/75-16 Goodyear MT/R, so we now have a fullsize spare.

It's been a few issues since we've been able to bring you an installment of our '48 Willys truck buildup. Our only excuse is that, unlike most other magazines that drop a vehicle off at a shop and swing by from time to time to snap photos of the progress, we're building this sucker in the driveway and out of a two-car garage in our spare time just like you would.

Last month, we showed you the new GM Performance Parts 290hp 350 engine going into Hazel's '68 M-715, dubbed The Evil Truck. With the engine cinched down and broken in, all that was left to do before Jp Magazine's officially unofficial OD Convoy event was to add some traction to the rear Dana 70, fix a few odds and ends, and install the beautiful new canvas top Beachwood Canvas Works scrambled to build in time for our deadline. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans.

Even with the dust of the TJ-versus-JK debate still settling on most of the Jeep Internet forums, we were itching to get our hands on a new long-term project, a two-door '07 Wrangler Rubicon. So we stole one from the local dealer and went straight into evaluation mode from Mile 1. Was it as much of a pig as people thought? Could we get the options we wanted? Will the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) system keep you from having fun off-road? Is it possible to build it without the computers going nuts? And if this new Wrangler is as ready to run as we say, what really needs to be changed anyway? Read on, and stay tuned for future issues where we'll answer these and many more questions about our new Ready-To-Run Jeep Wrangler.

Evil Truck Engine Swap Extras!

Check out all of the extra photos that we couldn't fit into the magazine!

It's been well over a year and a half since we bought our '97 TJ from a bonehead with no clue about maintenance, cleanliness, and how to put up a Jeep's top when it's raining. We set out to build a comfortable vehicle for long-distance commuting that was equally at home doing 75 mph on the freeway as it was traversing the Rubicon or exploring desert ghost towns. We won't rehash the whole build because the prior nine installments are on our Web site at www.jpmagazine.com, but in the end, we're pleased to say we accomplished what we set out to do.

This is it: For the past three issues we've been following Jason LaFortune and his crew at Temper-Mental Racing as they turn an ex-Forest Service XJ into a JeepSpeed contender in just 10 days. It's been a tough slog, with the team spinning wrenches literally night and day to meet the tight schedule. This month, we'll show you the final build days as well as how the whole effort turned out. For those of you who don't want to skip to the last page, we'll give you a hint: it has a happy ending.

Two issues ago, we began coverage of a unique buildup that posed a question of great interest: Could JeepSpeed racer Jason LaFortune and his crew at Temper-Mental Racing turn a tired, 140,000-mile ex-Forest Service Cherokee into a race-worthy XJ in just 10 days? LaFortune had done a similar short-fuse build previously, but that two-week timeframe seemed almost leisurely by comparison to this exercise.

Last month we showed you some of our thoughts on rear axle upgrades for our '97 TJ project. Like the majority of our readers, this Jeep serves much of its time pulling commuting duties, with only the occasional foray off-road. That's why most ofour optionsare geared more toward affordability and reasonability and not just throwing darts at the strongest stuff out there.

Our story so far: JeepSpeed racer Jason LaFortune and his crew at Temper-Mental Racing (TMR) hit us with an intriguing question-could they build a fully operational desert race truck out of a tired, 140,000-mile Forest Service XJ in just 10 days? The pitch was a strong one-LaFortune accomplished a similar feat in 2004, but in 14 days, not 10-and we were curious to find out if he could truly work the same magic in about two-thirds of the time.