05 LJ Rubicon Rebuild - From Crunched Heap to Custom Jeep

[ljrunner05]

Since my Father started a build thread on his 2006 LJ Rubicon, I guess I'll do the same.
His LJ Rubi Build

A little over a year ago a beautiful 2005 LJ Rubicon was going through the auction. From the pictures it seems that the previous owner got into a fight with a pine tree, and lost. By father put a bid on it, and after some back and forth we won it.




We had it shipped to the shop and immediately get to work stripping it down.

 

[ljrunner05]

As some of the eagle eyed viewers can tell, It had a little frame damage. Aside from the frame being pushed slightly to the right, we had to replace the left fender, hood, radiator, front axle, front drive shaft, suspension, steering box, steering linkages and rebuild the transfer case. It was a lot of work and took time to get it all put back together correctly. Once we had all the parts, we started the process of painting the Beast.





Once the paint was done, we reassembled everything and put some wheels and tires I had originally bought for my Cherokee but never installed. The 31's were better than stock, but just barely. Bellow is one of the first pictures of it emerging from the shop.

 

[CLMorgan]

Didn't show on other thread the extent of damage, nicely done!

 

[ljrunner05]

It didn't take long for me to get it out and stretch it's legs. One of the first trips we took with it was from Birmingham AL to Gatlinburg TN. We used it to pull my dad's TJ most of the way there.



Once there we had an absolute blast cruising around with the sunrider back and doors off.



We met up with some other jeeps while cruising around Cades Cove and invited them to follow us out some of the "trails" they were easy but enjoyable little drives.



Soon after my dad and I took a father son camping trip with our jeeps to Cheaha Mountain. We explored every dirt road we could and spent almost 150 miles without touching pavement.




Since then I've had to upgrade trackbar and steer stabilizer because I developed a death wobble. It's not perfect yet, but it's getting better. It's in the shop right now to get the front driveshaft rebuilt and add beads to the tires. It seems my Wildpeak A/T tires are out of round, so they vibrate a lot!

Here is a pic of the 31s compared to my 35s.



Oh, and as you can see I've switched from the ARB front bumper to the XRC, and added my 12,000 pound winch.
More to come...

 

[ljrunner05]

I've had a few people ask why I went with 17" wheels. I know that tires are more expensive for 17s, but I won the tires wheels for free. I'm a member of the Bham-JK jeep club in Birmingham AL. We had a raffle, and I won. So that's why. Alright, back to more pictures, that's why y'all look at build threads right?





Oh ya, and I'm sure y'all heard about the "Snowpocalypse" Down here in the south. This thing did great! I never had a problem. I got to help pull people out of ditches and drive people all over town in 4WD. The people that tried to wave me off of driving up hills were giving me thumbs up on the way back down. :victory:




Don't worry, she got nice and dirty while trying to find a new sledding hill. :wings:


Oh! And the rubicon stickers are out of place, I know. I've got new ones to put in the right place, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[ljrunner05]

Didn't show on other thread the extent of damage, nicely done!

Thank you Sir, It's a work in progress, but it's getting there.

 

[swift7777]

Yes - really great to see it put back on the road with such care, instead of rusting away. Very cool.

 

[ljrunner05]

Thanks Swift! I just couldn't let a perfectly good LJ Rubi go to waste. :ylsmoke:

 

[jscusmcvet]

Nice work on that rebuild and continued improvement. What made you decide to go away from the ARB bumper?

 

[ljrunner05]

The biggest thing for me was the approach angle. I buried it in the mud a few times doing small river crossings. I prefer the approach angle of the XRC.

 

[ljrunner05]

Well, the time has come to let Yeti go. She's always been a reliable beast, but she's spending more time sitting than driving, and I think someone else could get a lot more use out of her. Since I was on here last I've added new Currie Progressive Rate springs (4") and OME shocks. The ride is incredible! Night and day difference. My dad had nitrogen shocks on his LJ, and it was like riding in a log wagon. Mine handles better on the road and trails. I've taken it up to Gatlinburg a few times and try and outrun the bikes down Tail of the Dragon. It's awesome. Also rebuilt the front drive shaft and used beads to balance the tires.

Here's a link to the craigslist ad. If one of your fine ladies and gentleman have any questions please let me know!
Craigslist

And here is the link to the sale on ExpPortal
Expo Link