2005 Rubicon LJ

[jscusmcvet]

Fellow members here have put up with my vehicle wanderings over the last year plus. A long story but finally found my way into what I have lusted after since before I lost my 2003 Rubicon.

While my wife has always put up with my off road adventures and expenditures, she, or perhaps, we, have recently discovered the fun in "soft roading", that is exploring the dirt roads and "less than extreme" trails in our surrounding area. She is quite an outdoorswoman but does not like the stress ond jarring of the more aggressive trails and rocks of my... ahem... "youth". In a discussion just last weekend, we were talking about what was next for my 2001 Cherokee... and she asked what I really wanted to do. I told her that if all bets were off I would find a clean 2005 LJ Rubicon, 6 spd. soft top and build into my "perfect" vehicle.

Damn if she did not go out and find a 2005 with all the requested preferences, plus. We looked at it last week and picked it up.

Specs:
2005 LJ Rubicon
24,xxx miles
6 spd
soft and hard top (hard top going up for sale)
JKS discos
Big Daddy Offroad rear bumper and tire carrier
and a host of other little doodads.

So with no further blabbering, here she is:
New Jeep 2.jpgNew Jeep.jpg

You can see my handsome young man, already a jeeper at heart...

For the time being the build will be mild - staying on 31's, with a focus on armor and durability. Jeep needs to be my DD, our expo, softroading, offroading, trip taking, pop up pulling, work around the farm beast of a vehicle.

You also see that I have swapped out the rims and tires from my cherokee. I like these rims better and the BFG 31x10.50 KM2's are basically brand new. So far I love these tires. I have ordered seat risers (very much needed at my 5'6" height) and a trailer light harness.

Immediate, as funds allow, mods will be:
Front bumper - need some kind of brush guard as the work around the property entails bushwacking woods diving
Winch
Front, rear diff covers
Steering box skid
Radiator skid (again, the bushwacking)
Mounting the skids I have left over from my 2003 Rubi: Rock Crawler xfer case skid (1" improvement in clearance, no BL required), Skid Row Engine skid (these two bolt together to make a nice covered underside), Skid Row lower control arm skids (considering the necessity of these, but I have them, so?)
Even as I stay on 31's I am looking at lifts, zeroing in on OME, AEV due to their reputation at being able to go up just a bit with improved ride and a bit more clearance. Thinking 2 - 2.5" with better load carrying and towing stability... and well, just looks better. That would put my drivetrain at 3.5", which should not need a new driveshaft or other modifications. It should also allow some 33x10.50's later, as the "need" arises.

Always interested in your thoughts and input. Barring catastrophe, this will be the last purchase in a long while. Wish me luck.

John

[irish1371]

nice find. I ran the OME HD sprg kit on my last one and loved it. Wife said it rode better than my buick. A lot of people go med or soft thinking hd will be harsh, but it is perfect

[jscusmcvet]

nice find. I ran the OME HD sprg kit on my last one and loved it. Wife said it rode better than my buick. A lot of people go med or soft thinking hd will be harsh, but it is perfect

Agree with your thoughts on that. With intended use of vehicle I can definitely see the need for the HD springs. I am thinking loaded down with camping gear and pulling the camper, it could only help. Thanks. Do you have a build thread anywhere that you could send a link to me?

John

[nwoods]

I ran with an AEV 4.5" progressive spring set up on my 2005 RUBY LJ and did not need to change anything in the driveline. I did have a 1" bodly lift and tummy tuck though. If you are staying with little tires, you absolutely want the tummy tuck, and the 1" BL makes that much easier to do.

[jscusmcvet]

Thanks Nwoods. The mild tummy tuck (1" gain in clearance) is a for sure since I already have the part from another build. While it does not give as much clearance as some on the market, it is 1/4" steel and combined with the Skid Row engine skid, gives me a strong, relatively smooth underbelly. Not sure if I will get to it this weekend or not, but I will post up pictures for sure.

John

[nwoods]

Wow what a keeper! The wife I mean :-)

[jscusmcvet]

Wow what a keeper! The wife I mean :-)

Yup... she puts up with a lot and for some reason she has not kicked me out yet... she has KICKED me a lot, just not out ;-)

[Rambo1]

congats on the LJ, btw i can trade you an ARB winch bullbar front bumper for the hardtop?

let me know.

alberto98@gmail.com

[irish1371]

sorry no build thread on the last one, my current LJ is a 2006 and there is currently some pics in the intro section on it. GL with yours I was unlucky in mine only had the soft top.

For doing any trips in the cold I would love to have a hard top for sure

[squint]

Great looking LJ and I love the rim swap idea- looks great. My wife has the OME on her TJ and I love the way it feels.