My 2004 LJ Unlimited's Journey and time for a refresh

NEwhere

Member
It was October 2004, I had just graduated and landed my first Job. I’d always driven really old hand me down used vehicles and my girlfriend was a new car person. With a little encouragement, and her good credit, we bought a Jeep together. Not just any Jeep, the brand new 2004 LJ Unlimited, the Jeep of my dreams at the time!

We all know how expensive Jeep mods are, and at the time I had no money to spare, so we couldn’t do much. The Jeep looked terrible with the factory tires, so after a 3” BL I got some 33”x10.5” MT’s on with new offset rims.

Jeep side view.jpg

About a year into ownership my wife’s company gave her $1,000 to spend on any “Design” project she wished, so we had the interior and front grill line-x’d.

jeep tub linex.jpg



Jeep linex inside.jpg

ready for linex.jpg

linex grill.jpg

tailgate linex.jpg

light linex.jpg

Summer’s are hot in Hotlanta, and I rode with only a binki top for 6 months out of the year. I used some spare equipment I had from a kegerator to create a mister system in the Jeep. The looks I got in traffic were worth the effort, and the system worked great.
 

NEwhere

Member
The Jeep was my daily driver, and I commuted and unbelievable 42 miles one way to work. In 3 years I put nearly 60 K on the Jeep, and needed a new set of 33’s. At that point in time I was able to purchase a second commuter car and let the Jeep live in the driveway. I just rolled over 100K on the Jeep, but that last 40K took 11 years to accumulate.

Once she was paid off, we started going offroading when we could.

stock flex lol.jpg

shovel 2.jpg

Always wanted to do a belly up, may or may not at some point, i've never been anywhere I was willing to go where it would have made a difference, it might have had me willing to go more places thou.

We took it on our honeymoon, still looking for a good photo of it loaded up.

honeymoon 2.jpg

Yes we had three dogs, still easier than two kids lol.

honeymoon w dogs.jpg

We went to a cabin in the North Ga mountains for a week, we both worked remote a couple hours a day and trout fished in the afternoons. Great time, we went on a "typical" honeymoon for our 10 year anniversary.

I’ve been eyeing a replacement top for many years. I’ve always wanted a hard top, but didn’t want to have to store in ½ the year, and they were expensive. I liked the new style “frameless” soft tops so I got the Best top NK one. It didn’t fit well, and neither did the replacement, so I looked into other options. What I “settled” on is sitting at a storage facility and I will be picking it up tonight, more to come on that.

I’ve become friends with a guy who just happens to live in my neighborhood, and his profession is collision body work. He happens to have a 30x60 attached garage which is a full on auto body shop. He builds custom cars, think frame off full on restoration of classic cars. He has agreed to freshen up the Jeep for me. I’m going to post some pictures of the Jeep as it sits today as soon as I remember to take them, and I’ll list out what he is going to do.
 

NEwhere

Member
Shocks and springs are shot so I'm considering the JKS 2.5 lift, thoughts? Not going larger than 33's and am considering belly up or closer at least. I do have a engine oilpan skid plate that I would need to tie into. Agree on body lift. Thinking just a 1" or 1.5"
 

Zeep

Adventurer
I did a belly up on my '05 LJR, this summer. Sorry no photo's yet. I went with a Savvy aluminum.
Pretty straight forward install. Steel brackets need to be coated or painted.
I previously installed 1.25'' BL, MML, & cable shifter. I highly recommend the cable shifter, even without a TT.
Suspension is still stock, running 33's,(255/85/16 D's),but ready for new shocks as well. It goes everywhere I need it to,
without compromising any reliability.
 
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NOMADIC_LJ

Explorer
Take a look at the Old Man Emu 2" lift as well. They make a very nice product.

Putting a rear locker will give you the best bang for your buck as far as capabilities go.

I'd highly recommend an extended range fuel tank. check out Genrights 24.5 gallon tank & skid combo. Range is a premium when using your Jeep to explore.
 

Bullseye240

Adventurer
"I'd highly recommend an extended range fuel tank. check out Genrights 24.5 gallon tank & skid combo. Range is a premium when using your Jeep to explore."

I love my 31.5 gallon Genrite tank on my LJ. One of the best parts is being able to fuel up and NOT have the pump slosh fuel out the filler neck. The skidplate is overbuilt to the point that you would break something far more critical before you managed to damage the fuel tank. The install is straight forward with a sawsall to remove the extra crossmember. I do now have the problem that when the low fuel light I still have approximately a quarter tank of fuel left. This is due to the increased volume and decreased depth of the tank. You actually get a quarter inch of extra ground clearance with the new tank. I do recommend a new fuel pump assembly when you install it as you are already there and who knows how long the old one will last anyway.
 
Shocks and springs are shot so I'm considering the JKS 2.5 lift, thoughts? Not going larger than 33's and am considering belly up or closer at least. I do have a engine oilpan skid plate that I would need to tie into. Agree on body lift. Thinking just a 1" or 1.5"

Hello fellow ATLien!

2.5 w/33’s is probably plenty. Currently I have a Frankenstein lift of JKS/Bilstein/ProComp parts, but basically 3” suspension and 1.25” body lift.

Whatever you decide, shoot me a message when you’re ready to install. Happy to lend a hand, tools, and driveway space.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

NEwhere

Member
So I finally got some time in my neighbors shop. He touched up the paint around the tub where the hardtop meets it and then buffed out the paint around the top 3" of the tub and tailgate area. I've installed the new top so we can figure out how to design some brackets to support the roof only in the summer when I have the sides and rear door taken out.

He's going to be doing the following work for me

remove surface rust on frame/axle's etc. and spray it all flat black
sand down fender flares, remove Best-top symbol on rear flares and then paint to match jeep (smooth with no texture like the color matched factory option)
paint hood, cowling, windshield frame (after window is removed)
touch up all chips and buff rest of Jeeps paint
paint door handles, bumpers, side view mirrors, 2" hitches front and back all flat black
paint front grill and top of front fenders (currently line-x) not sure if flat (it's flat dull linex now) or with the shiny paint (texture will still be linex)
install new hood closures, door closures, antenna, one door hinge, new hinges for the rear tail gate
fix dents and paint rear tailgate

I've been trying to figure out what i want to do about the seats. The goal is to lessen the chance our kids would get whiplash if we were ever involved in an accident.

Cheapest option is to buy the Best Top rear bench seat with headrests, however I read that it's design is bolt in, so not easily removable. We could alter that design.

My original idea was to get factory front seats, and install them in the rear. There is all kinds of head room now. They are expensive even used. So i'm going to order the Best Top front seats that would match there rear bench with headrests. When they arrive we'll look at what it would take to get them installed in the rear (especially with regard to does the roll bar need to be raised up). An area in both wheel wells will need to be cut out and welded back in to allow for the width needed for two seats. If that looks like it will cost too much in his time then I'll have him add headrests to our factory seat and then recover that to match these two front seats.

I just had it tinted yesterday, the front windows match the sliders, but the back small windows and the rear windows have another layer of 15% on them.
 

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