Nick’s 1994 YJ

  • 4.0L engine, 5 speed transmission
  • D30 front axle with 4.56’s, Warn Alloy Inner and Outer Shafts
  • Ford 9″ rear axle with Yukon nodular iron case, 4.56’s, Moser 31 spline Shafts, ARB Locker
  • NP231, AA SYE, Tom Woods Driveshaft
  • Modded 3″ Springs, SOA, 100″ Wheelbase, shackle reversal
  • Custom 3/4 ton High-Steer
  • SkyJacker Anti-Wrap Bar
  • Poison Spyder Rocker Knockers and Corners w/ Flushmount LED’s
  • BlueTorch Fab Front Bumper/Stinger
  • Ramsey Patriot 9500
  • Custom Rear Bumper/Swing-out/rack
  • Extended Flares (YJ front, TJ rear)
  • 37×12.50 MTRs on Eaton 32Bolt Beadlocks
  • Kilby OBA Setup

In doing the research for the future big build of my YJ, I’ve come across a lot of Jeeps with similar setups to what I plan to do.  Most recently, I don’t know exactly what I was searching for, but Nick’s build thread over on JeepForum (link) was the first result.  It was pretty much exactly what I plan on building – Spring Over with 2 or 3 inch springs, extended wheelbase, and 37″ tires.  I forgot to bookmark it when I first found it a few weeks ago, but today it was very easy to find with a simple Google search of “yj soa wb”, as it was the number one result (impressive).  Going through the (currently) 8 pages of conversation on that thread, I learned that it was built pretty nicely about a year ago and since then, he has tweaked various things to change the Jeep up and make it look better and better (see pics below).  It was around when he first started that thread when he was named JeepForum’s March 2009 YJ of the Month, and then later that year, he was the JeepFest 2009 Runner-up Best of Show YJ.

Over the course of the past year, he has built his custom rear bumper/tire carrier/rack as well as his front diff guard.  He has also changed colors of various parts of the Jeep including the entire body color.  He’s had some trouble with both of his axles running the heavy 37s and has made various changes with them along the way as well.  And based on some of his more recent posts, it looks like he might have a full cage and some tube fenders in the works.  Those should be nice additions to his already nice YJ.

In terms of usability, that YJ on 37s is still a daily driver and, according to him, it can somehow hold 70MPH on the highway and even sometimes manage 20 mpg.  At the beginning of his thread, he was running 4.88 gears, but has since dropped down to 4.56s – definitely makes me a little curious how my 5.13s will be.  I guess only time will tell; he’s also got a tried and true 4.0L where I’ve got a bit of a frankenstein motor that I pieced together.  But either way, following some of his past, current, and future threads, I’m sure to get a good bit of information from his experiences and that’s why I’ve decided to put him as April’s JOTM.  Nice Jeep Nick!  Now on to some more pics…

When he first posted about it almost a year ago:

Black flares, painted rock rings a month later:

Crusher corners, black rockers, new flares, de-painted rock rings, and a custom rear rack 3 months later:

New paintjob all around 3 months later:

MTRs and beadlocks a few weeks later: