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I
got into wheeling because of two of my friends, Ray Stone and Karl
Triest. Ray Stone had a 97 TJ with a 2 inch lift and 31's and Karl
had a 93 XJ on 28" Swampers. I thought both these truck were
hardcore, and was amazed at what terrain they could drive up. Soon
after I got a '99 TJ, 5 speed with the 30 inch tire package and the
Dana 44 rear end. Another one of my buddies Dave Cleary also had a
'98 TJ, and it became a friendly race to see who could build up
their truck faster. The first stage was an Rubicon Express 3 inch
lift, 33 Swampers, Ramsey winch, rocker panels, and a few other
goodies. Dave's TJ was pretty much setup the same way. Well Dave
needed new tires so he ordered a set of 35x12.5" Mud Terrains.
Well of course now I had to get bigger tires, so a set of 35x12.5
SSRs were ordered along with 2 inch coil spacers. During this time
Dave and I also joined Eastern Four Wheelers. We met a lot of
friendly people who were a great help in building up our Jeep's.
Once we joined the club the Jeep buildup hit high gear. Well of
course we needed lockers, so an ARB locker and 4.56 gears were
ordered. I decided not to put money into the D30, so I ordered a D44
front all setup so I could bolt it in myself. My buddy Chris Smith
at TrailSmith4x4 allowed me use of his shop to do a lot of the work
on my Jeep, and installed the gears and slip yoke which at the time
I wasn't comfortable doing myself.
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By: Adam
Wycislo
http://www.pollakstj.com
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So
now my '99 TJ had D44 axles front and rear, ARB lockers, 4.56 gears,
35x14.5 Boggers for wheeling and my old SSRs as street tires.
However, I wasn't happy with the ride of the Rubicon Express lift
and it really didn't flex that well. At the same time the new
Rockkrawler suspension kit was released. The guys are from New York,
so I decided to drive up and go for a test drive in their TJ. I was
very impressed with the ride and it flexed awesome, so I decided to
get the entire system. I started with the 5.5 inch short arm kit,
(long arm wasn't available yet) and soon after upgraded to the long
arm. Just recently I installed an Atlas II 4.3 and am pretty happy
with the way my TJ is setup.
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My
''99 TJ has seen a variety of different terrains. Last summer, a few
buddies and myself decided to drive down to Tellico, about a 2000
mile trip there and back. We were very lucky and had great weather
the entire week, which allowed me to get up the Guardrail and
Helicopter Pad the first day. The next day we tackled Slickrock
however we didn't manage to drive up that nasty rock. Overall, I
really wasn't too impressed with Tellico and much prefer the
wheeling at Paragon Park. Paragon is located in Hazelton, PA and
offers a great variety of trails. At Paragon I have run Undertaker,
M-trail, Rattler, Pick Your Poison, and Pipe Bender. I would say
Paragon has the nastiest trails on the East Coast. Besides that I
run with the club to local trails, in CT, MA, and VT. I would love
to get out West and try some of those trail, however being a college
student I don't have the time or money to make that trip just yet.
I'm pleased with my Jeep at this point, but future upgrades will
include 37x13.0 Boggers or 38.5x14.5 Swamper SX's and D60 rear axle.
Then it's time to wheel and just enjoy hanging out with friends and
fellow wheelers.
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Stage 1
3 inch Rubicon Express lift ( no upper control arms)
33x10.5 Super Swampers on stock rims
Ramsey Pro Plus 9000 winch
Tomken Rocker panels and gas tank skid plate
Warrior Products roof rack and too many Hella lights
CB Radio and a few recovery tools
Stage 2
2 inch coil spacers ontop of 3 inch coils
35x12.5 Super Swamper SSR's on 15x8 Chrome Rockcrawler rims
4.56 gears with ARB rear
Currie Slip yoke and driveshaft
Tomken steering box and oil pan and tranny skid plates
Currie rear bumper
Hurculined interior
Tom Woods driveshafts F&R
Stage 3
1 inch body lift
35x14.5 Super Swamper Boggers on 15x10 Black Rockcrawler rims
Tri County Gear Dana 44
with 4.56's ARB with 11 inch brakes and heavy duty outers(5 on 5 1/2 bolt pattern)
Warn 5 on 5 1/2 Full Float kit rear with 11 inch drums
Warn 9500HSi winch
Essential Offroad through the dash full roll cage
Customized rear bumper to a tire carrier
Rear quarter panels
Stage 4
Rockkrawler 5.5 inch Tri-Link Suspension
CenterForce Stage 2 clutch
Tom Wood driveshaft
Stage 5
Rockkrawler 7 inch Sever Duty Long arm
Hanson Rocker panels
Kilby Gas tank skid plate
Warn Full Flang Kit
Custom relocated rear shock mounts
Custom flat skid
Stage 6
Atlas II 4.3
2 More Tom Woods driveshafts for change in yoke and length
37x12.5 SSRs on Mickey Thompson Classic 2's
Future
Get 38.5x14.5 SX's on beadlocked rims
D60 rear with ARB and 35 spline shafts
Trailor
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