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So, after 7 years of ownership and the bulk of the modifications only assisting in making it a better (read: faster) on-road machine, she's finally more trail-ready.
Click on any of the pictures below to be taken to the full Webshots albums which have many more pics from the build.
The background:
I bought my ZJ in August of 2001 as my 1993 Saturn SL1 was losing its clutch. It was bone-stock, had around 60k miles, black ext. with beige cloth int., most options (even a sunroof!), and skid plates but no tow package.
As I really only cared about power at the time -- and I was 18 -- the first thing I did was exhaust, a 40-series Flowmaster muffler and Carsound hi-flow cat since my stock cat was dying quickly. Shortly thereafter, I threw on the K&N FIPK and a Hypertech piggy-back module, which I later scrapped for the Mopar ECU.
I had my first wheeling experience at Lake Arrowhead with the ZJ bone stock and on steel-belted radials. No joke, that's what they were called -- no brand identification or anything.
I found what trails I could around San Diego and gave them my best shot on that setup, and eventually threw on some 235/75/15 BFG AT/KOs and Bilstein HD shocks... which is how I drove it for a few years.
I was young and stupid and ended up rolling it during some night-wheeling... on private land. I replaced the driver's door and fender, along with the windshield and both side mirrors, but after that, I kind of lost my nerve for a while (think Cougar from Top Gun).
Eventually I realized that I should get a car for a DD because the Jeep would never be what I wanted my daily driver to be. For the past 3 years, it's sat mostly, getting driven once a month unless the Audi was in the shop or suffering from another ailment -- which was often. The S4 is finally near completion, and has had most of the important stuff replaced/upgraded, so the Jeep is no longer a necessary backup DD and ready for some proper off-road goodies.
Last edited by MuddyV8ZJ; 11-17-2008 at 08:59 PM.
The Build
The parts:
I picked up a used RE 4.5" lift with RE shocks (although it was missing some pieces like the bump stops, rear TB bracket, tc drop, and some parts of the sway discos), 5x 32x11.5x15 BFG AT/KOs, and an ORO U-turn steering upgrade for the grand total of $900 locally on Craigslist.
So, I ordered some 15x7 Cragar steelies from JEGS for $209 shipped and had them mounted.
Now we will all sit back and watch the "happy sickness" slowly drain your funds just as it has and will continue to do to ours! Have fun and learn!
The Build (con't)
The front end:
The day after an interesting Halloween, I got everything together and began to dig into the front end.
I wasn't ready for what was awaiting me -- lots and lots of dried mud and rust.
What should have been a day to do the front end turned into a weekend... plus a day or two. The bolts on the control arms were on there good and tight, and I had to get creative with how I removed them... let's just say there were tie straps, jacks, breaker bars, and pipes involved -- and I still failed.
Even the track bar was rusted onto the bracket.
I ended up having to remove the bracket with the bar... after some aggressive use of a 3lb hammer, it finally came out... and cracked the bracket.
I'm glad I had these and LOTS of PB Blaster, or the front end may still be stock.
It required the purchase of a Rigid R6300 electric (corded) impact wrench to get all the control arm and track bar bracket nuts and bolts off.
The drag link was rusted to the pitman arm, too. I rented a ball joint separator from Autozone and picked up a 3lb hammer to finally separate the two, but destroyed the boot in the meantime.
The Build (con't)
The rear:
You'll notice these pictures are taken at night, as I was working many nights after work trying to get this beast together.
After finally getting most of the front back together, it was time to do the rear, which I thought would be easier.
It was, especially with the impact wrench... until the jack supporting the rear axle slipped, the axle dropped, and the drive shaft removed itself from the tcase.
Everything had gone very well until that point... all the arms came off pretty easily, the springs dropped right out, the shocks came off without a fuss, and the unibody-side track bar bolt came right off.
I gave up that night after the axle and driveshaft dropped.
The next night, I got it back together, finished with the arms, springs, shocks... but the rear track bar would not come out from the axle. I had to buy a T55 and ended up partially stripping the bolt when trying to use the impact wrench, but eventually got it out when I made a makeshift ratcheting breaker bar. I took the pole/lever from my jack and slid it into the end of my ratchet... worked really well, actually!
I ended up picking up an adjustable rear bar from Iron Rock Offroad, as well as their rear sway links and front track bar bracket.
Matt @ Moonworks Offroad helped me piece the rest of the RE kit together as I realized I was missing bits and pieces.
Finally armed with all the right tools and parts, I finally finished up the rear this Saturday.
The Build
The aftermath:
So, after 2+ weeks of occupying the garage and keeping our Audis out on the street, the Jeep finally was ready to be driven outside.
I will now pause for a moment and take this time to thank my girlfriend for being more than understanding and supportive through this process, even though it meant she had to park her A4 outside too!
Back to the rig...
I still need to adjust the steering, clearly, as this is with the wheels STRAIGHT...
So, I fought the bad steering out onto the street and snapped a few more shots...
With this wheel gap, it looks like I really could have run 33s, but I got such a good deal on the 32s, I'll give them a shot for a while and see how they do when fully stuffed!
I also could adjust the rear arms to move the axle back a bit, as the tire is awfully close to the body.
I didn't re-measure them as I assumed they were the correct length from the previous owner. I did make sure they were equal in length to each other, though!
I do still need to put the armor back on (tcase and gas tank skid plates)
Also, the ORO steering still needs to go on and I just picked up some extended brake lines this weekend (got some Russell lines from a friend who works at Edelbrock).
But, for now, she's at least out of the garage! I need to get her ready for a trail run on 12/6, so hopefully I can have the rest sorted out by then.
Last edited by MuddyV8ZJ; 11-17-2008 at 08:56 PM.
So far I'm only out about $1500 for this whole build, including the wheels, tires, mounting, and all the odds and ends I had to pick up to complete the lift kit.
That's what I spent on my used front brakes (StopTech 355mm) on the S4, not including pads, so this still seems cheap in comparison. I made the mistake the other night of adding up everything I've put into the S4... but I'll leave that for another thread.
Next up for the ZJ will be a 242 tcase (my 249's VCs are dying, plus it's a nice excuse to get a 2WD option), and hopefully locked HP30 front and D44 rear w/ 4.56 gears (as I plan on doing 33s eventually). Also necessary is set of sliders! Hopefully the modding will end there, but I'm sure I'll find other things on the Jeep on which to waste money!
Last edited by MuddyV8ZJ; 11-17-2008 at 09:10 PM.
you can trim and run 33s on an inch less lift as what you have... looks good though.
Looken SICK bud. Glad to see you started a build thread. Now when are you gonna bring that hunk o junk up here Wheel it..
Looking forward to the ORO and future builds. If it becomes anything like the S4, I see big things in your future....
Its looking good Tim. Keep it going and get some offroad pics!
is that an s4 w/ superleggeras
http://inlinethumb38.webshots.com/41...600x600Q85.jpg
btw nice build
Heh, yes sir, it is.
Specs:
2001.5 Audi S4 6spd w/ sport, premium, and cold weather pkgs
AWE Stage 3 (K04 turbos + fueling/GIAC tune)
AWE downpipes w/ hiflo cats
AWE Twin2 cat-back
Evolution Racewerks intercoolers
Vogtland coilovers
H-Sport sways F&R
StopTech 355mm front brakes (ST-40 calipers)
STaSIS 298mm rear brakes (stock calipers)
Ferodo DS2500 pads F&R
Clutchmasters stage 4 clutch + lightweight flywheel
18x8" OZ Superleggeras
225/40/18 Michelin Pilot Sports
ToyGuy short shifter w/ RS4 air leather knob
...and probably some other junk I'm forgetting.
Check out more photo albums here if you're interested: Webshots
pretty much what I want to do to mine. how much power are you putting down at the wheels?
And to keep this on topic, how do you like the u-turn steering.
I haven't dyno'd it yet, but this file (tuned for my buddy's car who works at GIAC) put down 370-something awhp on 91 octane in the summer heat. Our hardware is the same except for the exhaust; mine is dual 2.25" and his is single 3.5". Turbos, fueling, intercoolers are all the same.
He put down 462awhp with Sunoco 104 octane.
It's not installed yet, so I'll post up about it when it's finally on the rig
Last edited by MuddyV8ZJ; 11-18-2008 at 06:32 PM.
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