A lot of people have asked Mr. Tox about the current status of my jeep. This thread is an answer to kind inquiries like those.
Also, this thread is about dotting some i’s and crossing some t’s.
This jeep was nicely built to begin with and will be staying true to that build but a few refinements have been made and Mr. Tox is going to be working on it this month while he is waiting on parts for his engine swap to come in.
As you guys can probably already tell, this is going to be a fairly unorganized thread where just about anything goes. As Mrs Tox already mentioned, I've received quite a few questions about this Jeep. Ask us anything. And we'll be posting up some pics and updates on what's going on. The only rule is to be nice to @Mrs Tox. (Chris and her already bonded over ice cream so I think I know who's side he'll be taking )
Just a little background:
As many of you guys already know, about a year and a half ago I bought the Khaki TJ from @Chris.
While working on my Red LJ build I had grown tired of riding along in other Jeeps and my wife had been wanting something more fun than her 2005 Passat which had been dying a slow death. Jeeps are about having fun so I started keeping an eye open for a clean TJ that wouldn't be it's own project just to be a daily driver. After a couple of months a friend called me up asking if I saw Chris was selling his Jeep, I hung up and immediately dialed Chris with an offer. Less than a week later Mrs Tox and I were flying out to pick it up and road trip home.
Thank you! This thread is going to be small fry in comparison to Mr. Tox's build threads but my jeep has been an absolute joy to behold. And yes, my poor wee passat didn't appreciate me treating it like a John Deere tractor.
Just took some quick pics for you guys today. Excuse the dirt, that's just life.
Some of the paint rusted within the first couple of days of driving from Oregon down to SoCal. I think it must have been a light coat of paint or something. Anyway, it's just light on the surface and while I'm working on it this month I'll hit it with a wire brush and spray strong epoxy paint on it which I've found holds up pretty good.
I'm sure Mrs Tox will be going over the changes she's done on her Jeep so I'll try not to steal too much thunder.
Mr. Tox encouraged me to get used to how my jeep handled on ice and let’s just say that KM2 tires are not meant for icy conditions.
I now have duratracs.
And having driven across the country with front driveshaft vibes keeping us company the whole time, Mr. Tox installed a hub kit for me as well. @mrblaine machined the brake bits to make everything fit with his big brake kit.
The hub kits are well worth it. Even driving at slower speeds there's an improvement to having them unlocked. We've been keeping the hubs unlocked in the summer and locked in the winter so it's always easy to remember which state the hubs are in.
The worst part of it all was that the axle shafts, brakes, and rims all needed to be modified at the same time to work together.