That's good to hear. I think regular lockers will be fine for my needs as well.

 

Well I have about $6K building mine (see my build in my signature with a budget I posted in the thread) and I have budget bought a lot of used parts and did all my own labor. I hate to tell you, but you will need more than $20K for big axles, superchargers, 4 links, coil overs, etc, and a lot more if you are having someone do all the work. IT ALL ADDS UP QUICKER THAN YOU THINK!!!!!

Big Lift is GREAT.... UNTIL you start rock climbing and get off Camber..... then you might need some Adult Diapers. I had 4" Suspension 3" body on my TJ with 35's and hated getting off camber. But off camber always made me nervous, maybe I will chill a little when I have a roll bar and side armor. I grew up with mud and water and that is what I love the most.

My current build is on 35's and about 6" of lift, I really wish I could cut into my pristine body.... but I am not ready yet. Steel torn between Napier Flares, Rusty Front Armor with flares (just saw in person this last weekend), or NotchCustom Fiberglass flairs, I have 4.5" springs up front and ACO Adustable Coil Spacers, so I can lower it or raise it as I wish and mod the leafs as needed, In any case I will bump stop a lot and go with as little lift as I can get away with.

 

Yeah you're right, if I want to upgrade my axles and do it right. I saw a brand new Ford 9" fabricated rear end for around 7k by itself. I can get one used for a fraction of that but still, made me re-think things a bit. I'm going to stick with my current axles for a while and do those next to last. For my purposes my stock axles will be good for now, until I really start getting into some serious rock climbing. Your input has been very helpful. Thank you!

 

i would ditch the rear d35 and throw in a 29 spline 8.25 and call it a day.

 

I already have a C8.25 29 spline.

 

that's a high estimate.. especially for a thrifty shopper. On a $20k budget buy the axles used (even a pair of rockjocks for $6000-$7000) and have money left over for new coilovers, 4 links, steering, an atlas 2sp, new PRP seats, aluminum beadlocks, and still have $3000 left to spend


unless you're looking at 10" spidertrax pro with 40 spline, yeah that's $20k right there


if you can't build the most badass Cherokee for $10k you need to start trimming some of the fat

 

The OP is having a shop do the work. You could hit $10k quickly at the wrong shop.

 

I personally can and will build a killer jeep for $10-12K too - But the original poster was also talking superchargers and other high buck items, I quote "and by best I mean most durable. Money is not a concern" and he said "I doubt there will be any OEM parts on the vehicle, My goal is to have everything upgraded." and he said "My performance package includes cams and a side-mount m90 supercharger package along with some higher performance internals" plus he said "I'm definitely paying someone to do the work professionally"

I certainly can see when he is done going over $20K when you start adding all the parts to make that durable and reliable on top of his ideas !!!! I am not knocking him if he has the money and this is what he wants to do, and he may be able to do it under $20K, but I am betting it will go over that when done, and way past that when adding labor.

I am personally budget building, heck I only paid $650 for (5) 35" near new Mud tires and using FREE Rims, I spent only $80 on my near new Rusty's front & rear springs (with shocks and control arms I will not be using), paid $100 for my rear axle with 4.56, and installing a used Dana 30 4.56 gear (big mistake buying used gear - pain to setup as a novice gear swapper) and I am still over $6K SO FAR - AND I AM A CHEAP BASTARD SEARCHING OUT DEALS ON EVERYTHING!!!!!

PS: Lets face it, Most of us really have no clue how much we have into Jeeps (just like your wives into their purses and shoes if you are married), heck I thought I was around $3000-3500, but when I added it all up I was at $6400 (and still growing) which blew me away and I bet I am still missing having all costs listed. (cutting wheels, welding supplies, chemicals, silicone, etc. etc.)

 

see there's some fat right there. Trim all that out, don't touch the motor it's fine. If OP needs more power down the road then do a stroker motor

that front axle comes apart with a few sockets and a floor jack. I'm not saying you need to know how to set your own gears, but if you're out on the trail you need to know how to take some things apart. you can prep out the axle and then take it to someone to do your gears (save some $ on labor).

I get that some people don't have time to work on their own rig, but knowledge/research can save you money. If you really want a rig built bring it to me! I'd love to build it for you, don't give your hard earned dollars to some "professional"


your previous post said "$20k... and a lot more if you are having someone do all the work." I was just listing what you could fit into your 20k budget before labor

 

Personally I think all Jeep folks who wheel their jeep should do as much work on it as they can possible do..... They should at least know the basics like how to change a axle joint or driveshaft joint !!!!!

I hate always being that guy in the group that when something breaks they all look at me dumbfounded and expect I be the one to crawl under it in the mud with mud falling in my face and dealing with hot exhaust and fix their CRAP in 95 degree temps.....

 

Yeah I'm not sure if 20k will cover it. I can get my lift, tires, rims, gears and Detroit lockers for around 4800 and I'm not sure how much it will be to install those. IF I do end up getting the performance package I mentioned earlier that will be the last thing to be installed.

I've seen several different axles - used will cost much less but brand new Ive seen everywhere from around 3000 up to the most expensive one I saw that was a little over 7k, for one Ford 9". That could easily get me over the 20k mark just for the axles and suspension. Then include steering, Durango box, armor for the underside, transmission cooler, etc, this could get to be really expensive. When I said money wasn't an issue I didn't mean that I have a ton of money, just meant that I'd prefer to spend more to get better products, which also means I'll be saving much longer and building more slowly. Maybe I should have worded that differently...

I'm starting with the lift, tires, rims, lockers and gears for now and working from there. Eventually, I'm sure I'll upgrade the axles, but that won't be for a while....probably not for a couple years.

Then there's other things like rear coil conversion kit and cool-over kit for the front. Haven't decided yet if eventually I want to do that type of upgrade. I can have a pretty damn awesome machine built for around 10 or 12k total, but even when I do that, there's still going to be so much more that can be done. I think where I stop modifying depends on me being satisfied with its performance, and knowing me ill always want more but I will have to draw the line somewhere because I don't want it to end up being and endless money pit. I've considered many options, and so far it seems that what I want to do would be around 15k, not including labor, and that still doesn't include sturdier axles. I've time I'll be able to do a lot of the work myself, I'm sure this won't be my only project, I'd like to build a rig for my wife too.

I think I'll get the basics for now, and slowly go from there, and at some point in the next year or so buy another stock XJ to build for my wife.

 

Haha. I agree. My dd build was around $6k, that includes labor and all parts.

But being wiser and shopping smart, I am building a full on buggy from an XJ body (king pin 60/14b, coil over, etc etc) that will meet and exceed the Ultra4 racing guidelines; I plan on racing it eventually. My original budget for EVERYTHING including the the XJ itself was originally $5k. I can promise you I won't go much over that. Just shop smart, do a bunch of research, and you can build the most bad *** XJ ever for cheap.

 

I also agree with this. Rebuild the top end, add a better header, exhaust, whatever, but the 4.0 is going to be more than capable of anything you can throw at it to start.

 

It sounds like from this you need to decide if you want a street-able rig that you can wheel occasionally, or a trailered buggy/jeep you don't rely on to get you to work. There's always that fine line between a built dd jeep and a trailered jeep; how far is too far haha. I became satisfied with the build of my dd the second I realized how cheap a buggy can be built.

My dd is built with a 8.8 and a hp30, and will handle everything I throw at it; and I'm not nice with my stuff, considering how nice it is. But at the end of the day I wanted to be able to drive the jeep, can't do that of its all busted from wheeling, thus, buggy time.

 

wait what? Full on buggy as in 4400 class? And your budget was $5k or $50k?