What's the best cheap thing you did to your 1st gen.

You know the more I drive one of these trucks the more I just appreciate it for what it is... A reliable rugged vehicle that can basically put up with most any treatment as long as you change the fluids. I don't need it to be a lifted, big tired, highlift jack sportin'...

 

gotcha, so it's not selectable... I guess that might present an issue, only when you're trying to steer.

 

I did a lot of fun trips in my open diff, stock suspension and tire size, regular cab prerunner. My parents always took our family on remote camping trips in Northern Maine in an unmodified xj 4.0 5 speed 4x4 and later a 4x4 suburban. I am going to build this truck a little more for bombing BLM trails and some desert exploration stuff, but there's a ton of ability with good driving skills in a stock 4x4 truck.

 

steering doesn't happen lol also if you're scrambling up something and the locker kicks in all of a sudden and bam goes the cv axle.

 

I had big plans for dersertaco, make it into a beast. then realized I need this thing and bought a cheep wrangler. sorta lost interest though after having to face every damn tard'gineered bastard problem imaginable.

 

It's kind of like looking at mountains on the other side of a valley and being like "yeah I'm going to climb those" but forgetting about the desert plane you have to cross first lol. The number one thing for this truck is reliability and after that is accomplished whatever money I have left over can be pooled and used on fun and go fast mods.

 

I just have one road in mind for the wrangler. And all it will require is putting the damn thing back together. I took out the dash to replace a simple hvac motor and it's been sitting for 2 years. When I was in there I decided to modify the glovebox, put in better speakers, gauges, custom faceplates and on and on. Then got distracted. I really don't see the taco's as being builder rigs within my budget. But if you are going to build a rig my advice is keep on it otherwise it's just a buncha junk sitting in the drive.

 

words of wisdom there - the good thing is that I will be dd'ing this truck once it's set and can sell my 08 regular cab. $100 or so less a month in insurance and the truck sales money can be used for fun mods for the first gen

 

maybe you can even find an airbox without a big hole cut out of it! I really gotta swap the one from my old truck into the replacement to do a test/comparison. There seems to be about a 50/50 approval rating but I always swore it picked up the ponies. Could have just been the sound though, hell I don't need an exhaust - listen to it BREATHE dammit!

 

There was someone selling one for $70 lately, but that kind of mod I usually do myself for cheap. I'll put it as a maybe, but the truck has a list of mods about a mile long that would come before it. Still looking towards the horizon on this one until I trip on a branch in front of me. One thing about first gens though, parts are way easier to find and I'm loving it.

On the decklid mod I read that it could add 10 hp which I can't deny or confirm, but a mighty car mods episode showed that that's about what it took to feel a difference when in a car based on dyno and driving results.

 

ya, don't do the boat plate thing... I did all kinds of funky cheap stuff to my salvage rig cause it wasn't worth doing much else but I'm starting to think these rigs are fairly precise with their air sensing, fuel dispensing Aisin hibachi dynamic.

 

Hey by the way man, not to tell you how to build it but don't lift it any more than to clear the tire size you plan to run. Not my advice but Peterson's offroad magazine. And it makes good sense especially with an IFS rig that will put more stress on the CV's. Not to mention steering and drive-line components. This is good news for the pocketbook as most "mall-crawler" lifts are expensive. If you really need to run 33's consider the gearing first as no matter what lift, the powerband is going to take a hit. I would consider going to 15 inch rims first as you can get a tire with better inflation dynamics and run 32's. If you put some 5100's up front you could run it 1.5 over stock and not hammer the CV's. If you need 33's consider getting out the nibbler and sacrificing fender metal. That is depending on present gears. If you want 35's spend 10k on a SAS or just buy a 90's jeep for $2000

 

Alright, here's the deal:

It's got 3" lift shackles and 3" all pro springs. The front has adjustable coilovers. The plan for the rear suspension is to go with a simple spring under setup with 12" Total Chaos shackles mounted above the frame and relocating the shocks outboard with some TC relocation brackets - it'll have 10"-12" shocks. The overall lift will be less than it has now.

The front will be adjusted to match the rear and will eventually be going with a long travel setup that will most likely result in a 3" lift. Once I get another daily driver / when it's time to get new tires, 35's will be going on. Shouldn't be any time soon - just bought new tires and I'll need to save for a few years at least.

Good advice though - low and wide baby

The money I spent on this truck was going to be my second round of mod money on my 08. I'm basically doing the same thing I would have done to it, but with a 4x4 since experiencing a little hill that would have been impossible with a locker and no 4x4.

Unfortunately none of these mods will be able to be included in this thread as per the "cheap" part

 

my best advice is don't build it twice. Get a solid idea of the end result and work toward that. I agree that long travel may be the way to go if you want to run 35's, have good articulation esp. at speed, preserve IFS dynamics etc... but we're talkin' some money. I'd do the front A-arms first, some adjustable billys, maybe some OME packs on the back and run some 32-33's. If you gotta go bigger you can sell all that stuff easy as it's the most popular upgrades.

 

It's got TC uniball a-arms and some toytec adjustable coilovers. The front just needs some better co's (kings), but those'll be gotten used on the cheap when they come up in time and I want to focus on the rear setup since that makes it or breaks it. I have it budgeted out to finish the maintenance mods with my existing finances. Then I'll sell my 08 and put the money into the rear setup and hopefully I'll be teaching by then. An extra 1/3 of my monthly income won't hurt in saving up for parts either

 

Just jack the ass end up like 14 inches so it looks like a mexican dung beetle. then run some 15x9.50's on the front with gold rims. Put some purple fringe headliner and you're done man, sickest ride in East LA

 

lol you unknowingly described how my truck looks right now with 2/3 of those details:



I'll be straight up that I like the cholo look on 5 luggers too. Not slammed or stupid low, but lowered on good coilovers with tasteful (imo) mods would be a good daily driver for me since I could still haul parts around for the black bean up there ^^^ lol

 

HEY MAN someone stole your bumpers esse!

 

They got cannibalized by the truck for other mods. I'll put cheap, but quality options on there when the truck is running and driving the way I want.

 

That actually looks kinda badass man, what are those 33's?