So here we go. Convinced the wife it is more worth my time and money to build Artemis up ('01 4.0SOHC 4x4 w/ 4.10s) rather than to get a new-er truck. Man did she fall for that! We both recently got into "overlanding," and by overlanding I mean pitching a tent in the back of the pickup bed. She loved it...

Future Plans:
-Jeep bumpers front and rear with new accessory goodies (winch, lights, tire rack)
-Superlift kit is en route with skyjacker springs- received these today.
-Interested in ME00Stepside's product with the coil-over conversion. The plan is to fab my own brackets/gussets from some blueprints I found. Need to do more research for all the hardware pieces and spacers. If I get this right I might make a few kits for those interested.
-If my headgasket is blown...., I'll tear the heads off and port and polish them myself, replacing the gaskets and check the heads for warp. I'll put in some shorty headers too- why not? She'll need more power with all the crap I'm throwing on her.

What happened today:
*Ran into a problem. TORSION BARS ARE STUCK, and boy do I mean stuck. Heat, hammer, broke Mr Sledgehammer, broke my "no swear challenge." I think the coil-over conversion might happen sooner than I anticipated. I'm gunna have to put it all back together.
*Had to weld in new winch mounts for the jeep bumper so it wasn't sticking out a mile long. Will weld in the bull bar and have everything installed tonight.

Will post pictures later~

 

Superlift Update: Not happening


Torsion Bars still not coming out, I'll give it a few days (maybe weeks?), spray it, torque it, untorque it, beat it. I dont' want to give into new LCAs (Didn't break the C-Clamp)
Jeep Bumpers Update:


Rear almost complete. Need to install spindle and hardware for the tire carrier and install a trailer light for the license plate. Don't mind the wires, they chillin.


Front bumper mid-stride. Welded two brackets in the middle so the winch could sit farther away from the grill. The bumper didn't look quite right sitting so far away from the vehicle, so i brought it in. Still need to weld another bracket to the frame for more bumper support.


Bull bar welded in, winch mounted and installed. Need me some LED fog lights and a light bar? I'm not sure if I'm going to put in a light bar or just use some sheet hex metal to fill the weird gap- opinions? I could always weld brackets to the top of the bull bar for more lights.


Sorry superlift... Not today.

 

Alright, so I got the parts I needed from superlift, all should be well, right? No. I realized Lower Control Arm Bumpstops ARE NOT easy to come by. Ford wanted like $116 USD for one of them. If you ever need new bumpstops, try Dorman 31064. If you're installing a superlift kit you'll have to press the bolt out with a vice, and punch a 1/4" hole through the rubber piece, trimming some of the bottom rubber off so it is factory length. At this point you can install the larger bolt provided in the superlift kit to drive it home.

THEN I busted off a front diff mounting bracket bolt:


The front diff is already installed back into the truck, I think I'm going to weld the bolt to the new SL bracket when everything is tightened down... At this point I might not do the coilover kit, this is costing me more than I thought. The truck is old and doing this by myself is gruesome. Still need to buy some nice tires... Maybe I'll put some coilover money to the side and debate once she's lifted. More to come...

 

 

Installing a Superlift won't change the geometry of the front suspension. If your axle shaft isn't engaging fully then either the CV is shot or you've cranked the torsion bars way to much and the truck is riding too high, which could put the axle shafts in a bit of a bind.

Although it does look like your lower control arms are laying pretty flat.. Which would indicate you haven't cranked it up too high..

You might be having some sort of front driveshaft issue.

 

Looking forward to Me00Stepside’s coil conversion bracket! Looking at Fox 2.0s hopefully for a smoother ride although it’s not horrible right now.

I like the 33s but think I might move up to 34s or 35s in the future for better clearance. Gas mileage has taken a hit 1-2 mpg.

Anyone have suggestions for power mods? I’m thinking maybe about e-fan, larger radiator but if I do all that might as well put a 5.0 in? Dunno, more power is more better, but at what cost?

 

Fox 2.0’s are installed. The left side is sitting a few inches lower, I might need to dial it in. Although the skyjacker leaf springs that I ordered, even though they’re the same part number, were different sizes upon inspecting them. I didn’t realize this at the time because I received and installed them on different days. Thanks to all the forum posts, project is nearing completion. I went with 750lb Eibach springs- it is a little soft in the front but not too bad.

Overall, the ride is a little softer. I’m heading up to Yosemite to try it out on some trails...

 

awesome build! I'm building my 2003 XLT and am looking for bumpers.. i love this Jeep bumper idea! Do you know what year work for our generation rangers? What and how much fab work? Thanks for sharing your build!

 

Any updates on this build? Looking forward to see where it's at. I'll be trading in my '14 Mazda 6 soon for a new Maverick FX4 and building an Overlander out of this and also building up my '05 Mazda B2300. Great build by the way.