unidentifiedbomb

I've been thinking about starting a build for a while so here it goes.
1988 Laredo with all interior accessories, factory skids, non-disconnect hp30 and non c clip dana 35 with 3.55s. Dad bought it for $800 for our grandfather that was visiting for two months rather than renting a car, so naturally it was a hand-me-down when I was a Junior in high school (Senior in College now). Started with it stock, on 235/75s on TJ canyons, rust and nothing special about it.

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First thing I did was to replace all the blown speakers from the PO and install a sub of course. Using 5.25" Sony Xplods up front, and 6.5" Kenwood speakers I got off a friend in the rear hatch and sound bar. The sub is a Boss Diable 10" sub running off a Lazar 800 watt amp, the box is from Subthump.

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Soon after, my exhaust rusted out so I got a flowmaster 44 and 2.5" tailpipe from mudfrog, great prices and still happy with my purchase some 5 years later. Buddy gave me a pair of 6.5" PIAA for free, hooked them up and replaced the rusty factory fogs. After that and starting college, I made a deal with my dad that I can start really working on it such as lifting it if I got good grades, well that did happen. I picked up a Rusty's 3.5" full leaf lift with RE superflex upper and lower arms with their drop brackets for just $280! The arms were rated for 4.5" so the lowers worked but the uppers were too long so I sold the uppers and brackets for $180 total, saving even more! My buddy has a garage with a lift at his house so I drove down the road one weekend after two weeks of spraying the bolts twice a day with pb blaster to put the lift in.

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After two days or work we got the lift installed. Only bolts snapped were the U bolts and one sway bar link. I soon ordered RC quick disconnects to help with that. If you notice, I did try to use the drop brackets at first but I ended up taking them off shortly after and selling them.

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After days searching, I finally found a good deal on some tires. 5 31/10.50/15 BF T/As for just $200 with 80% tread. I bought 1.25" spacers at the time as well so no rubbing would occur. At the time, I had relocated my track bar just as a band-aid.

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So I picked up a Clayton trackbar for $80 to center the axle, worked fine for a while. Ended up being too big for my lift causing the bar to point downward, no death wobble but setup issues. Just recently took it off and replaced it with a new one.

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Lift was great here at school my sophmore year, put the lift on during the summer before sophmore year and after owning the Jeep for 3 years.

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Fast forward a little, didn't do much but thought it would be cool to add a light bar to the top. Used a Chevy Lumina van's solid cross rail (much beefier than the thin stock rails), and 4 HF fog lights. This is the end of sophmore year.

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At this point, I traded my RC quick disconnects for some pro comp links that I made quick disconnects, they fit better. Over the summer I picked up a complete set of Turbines, all Jeeps look better with turbines!.

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Well after some time and many road miles (8 trips to school yearly, 300 miles one way), my tires started to wear oddly due to never having it aligned after the lift. Shops didn't want to touch it due to the lift for some reason and I never experienced death wobble from the lift (did when it was stock suspension though). So over Thanksgiving break I did my own alignment in the driveway, trimmed the fenders, and for my bday & Christmas I asked for some new tires....31/10.50/15 Duratracs!

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Snow here at school, IUP, was pretty bad.....for Mustang drivers! Fun times here this winter.

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So during the winter drive home, my light bar actually came loose and came off. I figured that it's not worth it since I did use them. Took it off, and actually liked it more without it on. So during my break, searching through craigslist due to boredom. I found a oem swing out carrier in the middle of PA in Shippensburg, on my way to school. So I snatched up that opportunity and it stayed at my friend's place until spring when I put it on. Came with everything but the brace behind the quarter panel, for that I made a 1/4" brace, and use gr.8 washers between the swing and the bolts for extra support for the 31".

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So winter goes away and spring follows. I wanted to do something with the grey trim to match the carrier's black bumper. I plasti-dipped the trim over spring break, still looking good and only one or two places I've had to touch up.

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After months of waiting and excitement, I finally got the bumper on. It wasn't as bad as it could have been if my buddy's dad wasn't a skilled welder. Love the way it looks and gives me a full size spare, no more jokes about the donut i still had. We immediately took an hour drive out to his lake cabin for a weekend of relaxing for the work.

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Soon after, I found a good deal on a dana 35 SOLID cover for only $50. I picked it up and put it on, shining the turdy5.