Hey guys. Thought I would share my build up with you guys. (Long story)
Little history of myself. I’ve been an avid off-roader more of the rock crawling type. I have built a few rigs to concur the infamous Rubicon trail, Barrett Lake trail and a few other rock crawl trails. I’ve been a FCA dealership tech for nearly 20 years and love Jeeps but I’ve owned plenty make and model vehicles. Toyota was my favorite to build for the trails along with a samurai and Jeeps
Now I have been bitten by the “overland” bug. Budget minded is my goal, so sticking finding a vehicle that I have many avenues to benefit from between knowledge and contacts I chose to find a affordable Jeep Wrangler (affordable as in what I could afford by doing side jobs and saving money the wife won’t get PO’ed about lol)
After weeks of looking I found this 2002 TJ, seller was in a tight spot, needed tires desperately. The 33’s were shot. The soft top had seen better days, and a few other odds and ends. It had 194k in the clock (nothing for a well kept 4.0ltr) 5 sp trans and already had the slip yoke eliminator done. Has a 4” pro-crap lift. Biggest downfall is no A/C. And anyone who knows how the summers get in Sacramento valley, having no air conditioner SUCKS! And it also has a Garvin rack and a wore out smittybilt 8k winch
I wound up driving it home for $4500 and for a semi clean TJ, that’s a heck of a deal. Score!
It sat in the garage for a few weeks while I collected more cash together and pondering what and how I want to build it. Keeping it a LCG is my main goal and fitting the largest tire I can without cutting anything up. The Jeep came with the crappy Dana 35 rear diff and I knew I had to get that replaced with a Dana 44. But choosing a tire was first priority. 4 wheel parts had a hell of a deal going on tires and I picked up 5 35” BFG KM2’s. Sweet! Now I have to re-gear the diffs for the bigger tires, but now gotta find diffs.......(it’s supposed to be fun right?$$$)
Luckily for me, I know a lot of people who are into building/upgrading rigs and my buddy calls and says I have a Dana 44 rear with disc brakes you can have if you help put my lift and new rubicon axles in. HELL YEAH!
My front Dana 30 I was going to live with, they aren’t bad as long as you’re nice to it with the skinny pedal. But if I could find an affordable 44, that would be choice. Just very hard to come by that are affordable with my budget
In the mean time, I found a hard top on Facebook marketplace for $250 in near perfect condition. Just needed paint.
I am personal friends with the owners of Metalcloak. Matson is the marketing director and a super great guy. He calls up and says “hey man, just put in a order for your TJ. Front and rear bumpers and a tire swing out” [emoji15] You’re kidding right???? So awesome and project “shoestring” stays on course!!! Then my long time friend, the owner of Cloakworks says “ you can’t put that ugly wore out smittybilt winch on the new bumper. Says I got you a killer price in a new Warn winch with synthetic rope. I am speechless. I love my friends, and not because they hooked me up. It’s just what we do for each other.
The dealership I work for had a JK outfitted with a lift kit, wheels tires and a smittybilt RTT on the showroom floor. Someone bought it and didn’t want the RTT. The RTT sat in the parts dept for months and I kept asking about it. Finally the manager says “you want that thing? We’re tired of tripping over it”. Hell ya! $400 and it’s yours. “I’ll be right back!”
My most recent find is a front Dana 44 housing off Facebook marketplace. Guy was wanting $250 for the empty housing. After messaging back and forth, we settled on $150. Now I have to find axle shafts, carrier and buy gears and re-build kit and finally stuff both front and rear 44’s under the Jeep.
After 11 months of having this Jeep, this is where it’s at. I’ve only been able to do one camp trip with my daughter a couple weekends ago. Was more of a shakedown run to figure out what and what isn’t needed to bring along. Storage is a struggle and my OCD was off the scale. Fortunately I’m in no hurry and it’s just a toy that I have less than 7k wrapped up into for now. I’ve been good at keeping it a low budget project. Once I get the re-geared diffs put in and storage figured out. It’ll be ready to hit a lot more back country. And get air conditioning!!!!!
Now I will say, if any of you have a Jeep Wrangler of any kind and are looking for absolute quality upgrades. Call Metalcloak. They are a top notch company. Yes I’m friends with them, but I’m not just boasting about the company because of that. Because their products and customer service is like none others out there. You most definitely will not be disappointed.
Thanks for reading my story. I do plan on adding more chapters and I hope to meet you guys on the trails and swap stories, I usually don’t talk this much in person lol
How it came home looking
New tires!!!
Test fitting the RTT
New Metalcloak bumper, warn winch and headlights
Metalcloak rear bumper swingout and accessory mount. Trashoroo, Rotopax and highlift jack
Our first camp trip with the Jeep to middlefork consumnes river up hwy 88
Many more to come!
Little history of myself. I’ve been an avid off-roader more of the rock crawling type. I have built a few rigs to concur the infamous Rubicon trail, Barrett Lake trail and a few other rock crawl trails. I’ve been a FCA dealership tech for nearly 20 years and love Jeeps but I’ve owned plenty make and model vehicles. Toyota was my favorite to build for the trails along with a samurai and Jeeps
Now I have been bitten by the “overland” bug. Budget minded is my goal, so sticking finding a vehicle that I have many avenues to benefit from between knowledge and contacts I chose to find a affordable Jeep Wrangler (affordable as in what I could afford by doing side jobs and saving money the wife won’t get PO’ed about lol)
After weeks of looking I found this 2002 TJ, seller was in a tight spot, needed tires desperately. The 33’s were shot. The soft top had seen better days, and a few other odds and ends. It had 194k in the clock (nothing for a well kept 4.0ltr) 5 sp trans and already had the slip yoke eliminator done. Has a 4” pro-crap lift. Biggest downfall is no A/C. And anyone who knows how the summers get in Sacramento valley, having no air conditioner SUCKS! And it also has a Garvin rack and a wore out smittybilt 8k winch
I wound up driving it home for $4500 and for a semi clean TJ, that’s a heck of a deal. Score!
It sat in the garage for a few weeks while I collected more cash together and pondering what and how I want to build it. Keeping it a LCG is my main goal and fitting the largest tire I can without cutting anything up. The Jeep came with the crappy Dana 35 rear diff and I knew I had to get that replaced with a Dana 44. But choosing a tire was first priority. 4 wheel parts had a hell of a deal going on tires and I picked up 5 35” BFG KM2’s. Sweet! Now I have to re-gear the diffs for the bigger tires, but now gotta find diffs.......(it’s supposed to be fun right?$$$)
Luckily for me, I know a lot of people who are into building/upgrading rigs and my buddy calls and says I have a Dana 44 rear with disc brakes you can have if you help put my lift and new rubicon axles in. HELL YEAH!
My front Dana 30 I was going to live with, they aren’t bad as long as you’re nice to it with the skinny pedal. But if I could find an affordable 44, that would be choice. Just very hard to come by that are affordable with my budget
In the mean time, I found a hard top on Facebook marketplace for $250 in near perfect condition. Just needed paint.
I am personal friends with the owners of Metalcloak. Matson is the marketing director and a super great guy. He calls up and says “hey man, just put in a order for your TJ. Front and rear bumpers and a tire swing out” [emoji15] You’re kidding right???? So awesome and project “shoestring” stays on course!!! Then my long time friend, the owner of Cloakworks says “ you can’t put that ugly wore out smittybilt winch on the new bumper. Says I got you a killer price in a new Warn winch with synthetic rope. I am speechless. I love my friends, and not because they hooked me up. It’s just what we do for each other.
The dealership I work for had a JK outfitted with a lift kit, wheels tires and a smittybilt RTT on the showroom floor. Someone bought it and didn’t want the RTT. The RTT sat in the parts dept for months and I kept asking about it. Finally the manager says “you want that thing? We’re tired of tripping over it”. Hell ya! $400 and it’s yours. “I’ll be right back!”
My most recent find is a front Dana 44 housing off Facebook marketplace. Guy was wanting $250 for the empty housing. After messaging back and forth, we settled on $150. Now I have to find axle shafts, carrier and buy gears and re-build kit and finally stuff both front and rear 44’s under the Jeep.
After 11 months of having this Jeep, this is where it’s at. I’ve only been able to do one camp trip with my daughter a couple weekends ago. Was more of a shakedown run to figure out what and what isn’t needed to bring along. Storage is a struggle and my OCD was off the scale. Fortunately I’m in no hurry and it’s just a toy that I have less than 7k wrapped up into for now. I’ve been good at keeping it a low budget project. Once I get the re-geared diffs put in and storage figured out. It’ll be ready to hit a lot more back country. And get air conditioning!!!!!
Now I will say, if any of you have a Jeep Wrangler of any kind and are looking for absolute quality upgrades. Call Metalcloak. They are a top notch company. Yes I’m friends with them, but I’m not just boasting about the company because of that. Because their products and customer service is like none others out there. You most definitely will not be disappointed.
Thanks for reading my story. I do plan on adding more chapters and I hope to meet you guys on the trails and swap stories, I usually don’t talk this much in person lol
How it came home looking
New tires!!!
Test fitting the RTT
New Metalcloak bumper, warn winch and headlights
Metalcloak rear bumper swingout and accessory mount. Trashoroo, Rotopax and highlift jack
Our first camp trip with the Jeep to middlefork consumnes river up hwy 88
Many more to come!
