spyder III begins

[SPYDER]

so I guess I've made enough mods so far to deserve a build thread now.  and maybe having a tread going will keep me motivated to keep working on this piece.  bought it last year with just over 50k on the clock and a good starting point for what I want.

05 TJ sport w/auto
d44 front w/4.88's, arb and chromo's
d44 rear w/4.88's, arb
5.5" RE long arm
some sort of cross-over steering w/heim rod ends
37" irok's on mickey Thompson wheels
psc rocker knockers


Couldn't have been happier with the decision and the purchase.  wished it was a stick but o well.  it came with hard top and soft top.  they also threw in a safari top and duster.  They also gave me a set of uninstalled crusher corners w/3" flares...I removed the flares and bolted them on when I did the front fenders.


first off went the flares and most of the front fenders after a run-in with a tree at the sawmill.



then I needed a stubby front bumper so a call to Gen-right fixed that.  While everything was apart I decided to throw an anti-rock in as well.



For some reason the previous owner swapped in the d44 rear axle from an earlier tj, because I ran my vin and found out it came from the factory with a d44 and disc brakes but I had drums....odd but o well.  I bought the tera-flex disc brake conversion and some superior chromo shafts for it.

I then decided I needed some protection, so I got a psc trail cage, bolt on harness bar and a set of corbuea 5 points.




I never really liked my rear bumper and it was starting to rust, so off it came and a Gen-right frame plate took its place.  
Apparently I don't have pics of it though

After the bumper I decided to convert my tailgate to a CJ style drop down with a swag conversion kit.  good kit, crapy directions



My plan is at some point in the future to stretch the wheel base back a few inches and 1-ton the jeep, so I need to start making room, so the gas tank had to go.

[jerry k]

Good stuff Matt.. keep it coming.
What I like the most is that you try to wheel as much as possible, no better way to test out your mods !
Don't worry , maybe after you one ton it and step up to some 40"+ tires you might be able to hang with the cj's.
 

[SPYDER]

Yea yea....I can't explain it.   Next up is going to be finally fixing all the control arm bushings that are worn and throw in the 3.5" springs and hopefully do some sort of highline mod to the front.  We will see. 


On the ride home from the shop tonight I noticed I had a small leak from the pump.  Gonna have to fix that when I finalize all the plumbing later this week.   

[Casey L]

Good stuff. Does that style of roll bar offer enough protection to the a pillar? I am thinking of something similar but unsure about how the sheet steel holds up compared to a traditional bar to the floor.

[jps4jeep]

should have kept the green XJ, or the first black TJ or the yellow TJ.  just think, all the money invested in this rig invested in those would have been HUGE.

Keep it going!

[SPYDER]

No green xj. That was bobs. But yes I agree I should have kept the first black tj.  Live and learn.  This jeep isn't going anywhere.


O and to help anyone else avoid the headache I've been dealing with....the fuel line running to the pump uses a 5/16 fitting but where it connects to the actual fuel pump is 3/8....why I can't tell you but it does.  Just means one more order of an fittings from summit.   I hate buying an fittings.


A single tube from the floor to the top of the a-pillar will be stronger but you have to drill thru the dash or give up a good amount of foot space.  I know psc had issues with the original design which is why there is no longer a logo in the legs.  I ran there old style in the first jeep with no issue, which is why I went that route again.  But with that said I do plan on adding a lot to it.  I want to add vertical bars from dash to upper cross-bar and some door and seat supports when I get new seats.

[Twisty]

 

https://newenglandjeepz.org/forum/for-sale/2002-tj/msg2097/#msg2097



I like your current Jeep better.

[SPYDER]

Thanks.  I can't believe you found that post.

They are amazingly similar but wheel so much differently.  The auto is taking sometime to get used too but I'm slowly figuring out how to make it work. 

[SPYDER]

so for the past week, ive been driving the jeep with the most getto fuel line possible waiting for polyperformance to send me the correct fuel line adaptor to hook up the fuel pump.  when I placed the order last sat I told them I need 2 day shipping, no big deal.  on Monday when I talked to them again cause there was an issue with my address on file, I told them again 2 day shipping, I was told no problem they are going out today you will have them by the end of the week.  so Friday came and went no delivery, so I was like ok whatever it'll be here Monday.  waited for ups...no package. so I called.....and was told....o yea that's going out for delivery tomorrow but with the holiday you won't see it till sometime next week.  not good....tried getting them to give me free overnight or anything to make it right. they wouldn't d0 anything to help me. so I canceled my order and called summit...correct fitting will be here tomorrow and since I explained my situation to the lady I was talking to, im getting free overnight shipping.


so the moral to the story is screw poly apparently they are adopting ballistic's old policies of screw the customer

[Ian]

For fast shipping on fittings it is tough to beat summit racing.

[SPYDER]

I agree.  The only reason I went with poly over summit originally was that on summits site I couldn't find a -6an to 3/8" efi fitting....only the -8 one.  I didn't want to convert sizes and put more stress on the plastic fuel pump nipple. 


Today I found out summit does carry the correct size -6 one its just not on the website for some reason.

[Twisty]

Summit is the bees knees 

[SPYDER]

930 correct fitting shows up at the shop...love it....if only I had my jeep here and it would stop raining for a day or two so I can actually drive the jeep without getting soaked   

[SPYDER]

After wheeling at fall crawl and hanging with the big dogs, I've decided its time to take the next step.   Since I've still got plenty of meat on my tires and money is tight I'm not stepping up to tons yet but I'm starting to gather parts for the rear stretch.  For those that have done it or those that just know more than me, what's the ideal wheelbase I should shoot for with 37's and knowing I only plan on going to 40's when I ton it.  I was thinking 100ish and then when the tons go in or I go full-hydro push the front out a couple inches.   Or should I just go out further backwards now?  I just kinda wanna do the rear once.

[rich]

Are you going to comp cut it?
My cj is 102"  6" in the rear (hee hee) and 2 in the front on 39's