JeepNazi101’s 1997 TJ

  • 5.3L Vortec V8 engine
  • 4L60e auto transmission
  • Atlas II 5.0 tcase
  • Narrowed Dana 60 axles w/ 35 spline shafts and 4.10 gears
  • Fully custom suspension resulting in probably 0″ of lift
  • 1″ Body Lift
  • 42″ Irok tires on custom H2 beadlocks
  • Sliders, custom cage, and corner protection
  • Full hydro steering
  • Warn 8,000 lb winch (not shown)

So in doing my continued research for my upcoming lift, I found a thread on JeepForum about Low Center of Gravity (LCG) Jeeps.  It was almost 30 pages of people posting info and images of their Jeeps that they claimed to be LCG.  I guess the general consensus was that, in order to be an LCG Jeep, the Jeep had to have at least 35″ tires on at MAX a 4″ lift.

For the new JK models, this isn’t really much of an issue, but with TJs and older YJs/CJs, this can become more work.  Most charts you find online will recommend 33″ tires with a 4″ lift on most Jeeps, though there’s usually a note that fender trimming and modification can sometimes allow 35″ tires.  Obviously this is a rough guideline and every Jeep varies though.

So back to the thread I was reading… since minor fender trimming can allow 35″ tires on 4″ lift, there were a lot of Jeeps in this thread that could be considered LCG, but weren’t anything really to write home about.  There were a few running bigger tires on less lift because of their modifications.  And then I came across JeepNazi101’s…  it seemed to be the most impressive use of space of all the Jeeps I saw.

His suspension is fully custom with air shocks, so it can’t really be “classified” as a specific amount of lift or anything exactly.  But I guess based on various measurements, he approximates it to be roughly no height difference (in terms of suspension) to a stock Jeep TJ.  He did add a 1″ body lift for a slight bit more clearance, but I’d say running 42″ tires on only 1 inch of lift is pretty impressive.

I’m sure there are a few buggies out there with these same measurements, but JeepNazi101 managed to do it while maintaining nearly all the looks and personality of a Jeep Wrangler.  He says it can be daily driven and it doesn’t surprise me with the Vortec V8 and 4.10 gears.  He also says it has no problems on the highway either; again not really a surprise with that setup.

All-in-all, his is a very impressive Jeep but WAY more work than I’d be able to do.  He has even had to “notch the frame in the front because the tie rods and hi steer arms were higher than the bottom of the frame” which is WELL beyond my skill level; plus, my laziness factor doesn’t come close to having me do that type of thing.

Reading through that thread I learned that LCG Jeeps are a whole other world of Jeeping.  It’s a community, basically, of people who will go to great lengths to keep their CG down low.  Is that a bad thing?  Not at all; and in terms of off-roading, it’s a VERY good thing.  They gain their clearance from the tires while keeping the CG nice and low to prevent rolling in certain circumstances.  They beef up the undercarriage of the Jeep because with low CG, comes low belly which means you’ll be bumping more stuff along the way.

I know my Jeep will be nowhere NEAR the limits of an LCG Jeep; I’ll probably have 10″ of lift for my 37″ tires.  It definitely makes me wonder how the final outcome will be and if I’ll be TOO high for those tires.  Only time will tell, but one thing’s for sure… Low CG or high CG or inbetween like I’ll probably be…  seeing all the Jeeps in that thread definitely got me itching to work on my Jeep and get it on those bigger tires!  Good work JeepNazi101!

Here are a couple more shots of his Jeep: