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Red '91 YJ Buildup
by Todd Adams

Todd's Red YJ in the "Golden Crack" on the Golden Spike Trail in Moab, Utah

It all started with a trip up Pritchett Canyon in my Amigo. At this time I had already driven my Amigo on many of the Moab trails including Moab Rim. I had even been down Pritchett Canyon the year before and knew what to expect. The Amigo does very well but is lacking in a few areas such as front traction, clearance and needing lower gears. The stock gearing comes out at a 42.1 to 1 crawl ratio which isn’t too bad and between the body lift and suspension lift, it has about 3" of extra ground clearance. With the addition of the rear ARB it does quite well but met its match going up Pritchett. So after taking a strap four or five times, I forget which, I came to the conclusion that I needed to keep the Amigo off of the most difficult trails.

Amigo and Wrangler

A decision had to be made if I was to continue to do tougher trails. I had just about come to the end of the line with after market parts for the Amigo. I did not want to have to swap in other manufacturers drive train components and ruin the driveability of my daily driver.

I decided on a new project. What other vehicle has as many choices of after market components as Jeep? To build an extreme trail ride I chose the Wrangler. Budget being what it is, I looked for the best buy I could find in no older than 1991. This was the first year of fuel injection, which is a primary concern on extreme trails due to the angles imposed on the vehicle. I found a 1991 soft top with low mileage for what I thought was a good deal. This Wrangler had a 2.5 liter 4 cylinder which most people would scoff at. But some of the advantages over the 4.0 liter is factory lower gears (4.11to 1 axle ratio and 3.93 1st gear as opposed to 3.83) and the lower strain the motor puts on the drive train. I also consider that the overall weight distribution to be better with a lighter engine in the front. I do know that for on highway driving the 4.0 is a better choice but for rock crawling the 2.5 will hold its own with any engine as long as it has the right gearing.

I had helped my friend David Killey build up a 1987 Wrangler so I had a pretty good idea as to what I was going to do with mine. Also having been on the Moab trails with lots of other vehicles gives one the knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. The initial build up started the first week of August 1996, and wanting to take the Jeep on the Labor Day Campout I had to hurry.

Todd guiding his wife, Linda, on Double Whammy - Golden Spike Trail, Moab

The first step was to install a lift. After asking a lot of questions of a lot of people about which lift they liked and why, I ended up with the Pro Comp 4" lift. I helped my friend install a Super Lift 3 1/2" lift and liked it but Mepco Jeep had the Pro Comp in stock for a very good price. With local support if any problems were encountered I didn’t think I could go wrong. With my son J.R.’s help, we were able to install the lift in under 4 hrs.

The next day I drove it to Discount Tires and had them install 4 33X12.50 BFG MT’s on 15"X8" American Racing Aluminum wheels. To keep the appearance of being legal I put on a set of Xenon extended fender flares. Now it looked the part but needed lots of goodies underneath to get it trail ready. There were also these unsightly spacers between the frame and skid plate that had to be dealt with as well.

The best price I found on the ARB’s was from DTS in Warren Michigan. Since I had bought the ARB for the Amigo from them and found them to be very helpful , I had them send me both ARB’s and the compressor kit.

Going down "High Dive" on the Behind The Rocks Trail, Moab

While I waited for the lockers I pulled the transfercase and took it to Mepco Jeep for their 4 to 1 treatment. I had them install a Currie Enterprises yoke output kit since they were into the case anyway. After I re-installed the transfercase and left out the spacers, I drove the Jeep, in front wheel drive, down to Six States in Salt Lake City so they could measure for the new CV drive shaft which was ready in a couple of days. The small drive shaft vibration was taken care of with the installation of two more 3 1/2 degree shims between the axle housing and spring pack.

Up to this point took 3 weeks working on my days off, and I was almost out of time. With only one week to go until Labor Day weekend I was only able to install the rear air locker before we left. We got to Moab on Friday afternoon, made camp and headed up the Rim. Even without the front locker the Jeep walked up Moab Rim like it was a 3+ rated trail instead of a 4+. The 4to1 was amazing especially coming down. I never had to brake even coming down the Z turn and the Devils Crack! The final drive comes out to be 64.6 to 1 down from 43.9 to 1.

Devils Crack on The Moab Rim Trail, Moab

Once we got back from the Labor Day Campout I installed the front air locker, built a rear bumper and addressed the braking problem lifted Wranglers have, by installing Comanche 1 ton rear brakes. And after the first winter with only the soft top, we bought a Steel Horse hard top that goes on in October and comes off in May. When we were in southern California last year I stopped in to Currie Enterprises and picked up a set of tow greasable front shackles and a pair of boomerang rear greasable shackles. It also received a Ramsey REP 8,000lb winch for the front. This vehicle ended up being my wife’s daily driver and to my surprise she has grown to love it. Oh and for the reason I built it in the first place? I have yet to take it up Pritchett Canyon.

Future modifications are not to clear at this point because I will be starting a build up of a 1995 Wrangler. But I am planning a 4.56 gear ratio swap and a trail rack. The Jeep works better than I expected so I have a good idea what is going into the ‘95. Other additions that were made to the "RED YJ" include a Steel Horse Ultimate Center Console, Best Tops 3 piece modular storage system and a Cobra Radio Weather Band C.B..

"RED YJ" spec sheet

1. 1991 Jeep Wrangler
2. Stock 2.5 liter 4 cylinder engine ( recently re built )
3. Stock Dana 30 4.11 to 1 Front and Stock Dana 35 4.11 to 1 rear drive axles
4. ARB air lockers in both axles
5. 4 to 1 gear set in NP 231 Transfercase
6. Currie Enterprises Yoke output in transfercase
7. Currie Enterprises tow greasable front shackles
8. Currie Enterprises "Boomerang" greasable rear shackles
9. Pro Comp 4" lift kit
10. Pro Comp RS3000 shocks
11. 33X12.50X15" BFG MT’s
12. 15X8" American Racing aluminum wheels
13. Ramsey REP 8000 winch
14. Custom built rear bumper with receiver hitch ( you need someplace to hook a strap)
15. Steel Horse hard top
16. Steel Horse center console
17. Xenon extended fender flares
18. One ton rear brakes
19. Cobra Radio weather band C.B. radio
20. Best Top modular storage boxes

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