Build Thread 1981 CJ7 Trail Rig Build

[Nikwho]

Hello all,
I wanted to start documenting my '81 AMC CJ7 project. My main plan is to keep the Jeep operational during most of the work. I purchased the Jeep on 10/19/22, so haven't had it long. I've always wanted a CJ, and never owned one, despite owning a YJ, couple of TJ's, a JKUR and a JeepSpeed XJ. So, this is my first CJ, and happens to be the same age as me.

Here it is the day that I dragged it home:


Sure, it's a little ugly, but has some kinda cool armor for the front fenders, a good front bumper, rock sliders, extended roll cage tied into the frame, ARB air lockers, an on board ARB air compressor, 33" BFG mud terrains, and a pretty cool roof rack!
It has a 258"/4.2L engine, 4 speed manual transmission and a Dana 300 transfer case. The engine was recently rebuilt, along with a new alternator and all new ignition bits.

As far as axles are concerned, it's a narrow track width, with Dana 30 front and AMC20 axles, each equipped with ARB air lockers and 4.56 gears. The AMC20 has some aftermarket one-piece axle shafts in it.

 

[Nikwho]

First things first, I cleaned the idle circuit of the carb, since it wouldn't idle. Topped it off with fresh gas and replaced the fuel filter. Then took it out for its first trip into the woods!

As Captain Ron says "if anything's gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there"!

 

[Nikwho]

I managed to bend the steering tie rod, so that will be one of my first fixes. Though, I'm likely going to drill the steering arms out to 5/8", cut, drill and weld some double shear tabs and weld some bugs into some 1.75" DOM tubing, to replace the factory tie rod and tie rod ends.



Oh, the crawl ratio felt very low, considering even the R&P. I put it on some jack stands and started turning things and doing some math. Turns out that a previous owner also put some 4:1 gears in the transfer case! Thanks to whoever you are!

 

[Nikwho]

So, next up I yanked the non-functioning stereo, and replaced with a JVC stereo that I had in my tool box. I also had two 4.5" speakers for the dash and two 6"x9" Kicker speakers mounted in carpeted boxes. I wired up the stereo and it sounds pretty good.

Since it has been about 40° high diring the day, and its awfully cold driving with the half doors, I figured that there was no time like the present to bite the bullet and get this thing looking a little less crappy. So, originally I was going to just lightly Scuff the Jeep and spray with some flat Olive Drab paint, and call it a day. "Lightly scuff" turned into a lot of sanding and going through about three dozen DA pads, from 80 grit to 320 grit. I decided that the amount of beating on the original hood and body filler that it would take to get the hood to look decent was not worth while. I found a gentleman near by parting out a CJ5, and bought a hood from him. Now I have a straight hood!
Also, I fabled up some brackets to mount the PRP suspension seat in just the right spot! Can't have just one of those in a rig, so I ordered two more, and will end up with a 3 seater, with a centered rear seat, which will add to the available storage, and increase rear passenger foot room!




As it sits right now, the Jeep is ready for primer. I also found a cool old Jerry can on the local Craigslist for $25, including the mount. I picked that up, and will sand both down, prime and paint, along with the Jeep! Not sure where I'll mount it just yet. Kinda liking the idea of right in front of the passenger side door, on the flat cowl/fender area. But, May go with the more traditional route of incorporating it into the spare tire mount.

 

[Nikwho]

I also picked up a trailer wiring harness and some new LED stop/tail/turn lights. I'm going to wire the Jeep like a trailer, and find a place to mount a tow bar, so that the Jeep can be flat towed to a trail that I'm less likely to brake stuff on, if I'm not wanting to put it on a car hauler!

 

[Nikwho]

I spent a few hours scraping dried out old window tint off of the hard top! What a horrible process! Glad thatbit is behind me!


Not a huge difference, but I sure hate old purple window tint!

disclaimer: This is, and will remain a "trail rig"! There's a little bit of body damage all around it. The hood was HORRIBLE, so I wanted that a little more straight, as it and the grill are kind of the 'face' of the Jeep. I'm probably going to apply VERY little body filler to the body, to straighten it out. I'm not going to kill myself trying to hammer & dolly the metal straight, either! It's not worth opening that can if worms. I have two other builds going on right now, and this project is getting put in front of them, with the intention of moving very quickly! So, hundreds of hours of body work to make it straight just isn't going to happen. It's going to remain a trail rig, that will get banged up periodically. If I spent tens or hundreds of hours making it super straight, I'd treat it differently when it's finished. I want to treat it like a trail rig.

 

[Nikwho]

Here's some of the other projects Ive got going on, that this 'ol girl is bumping out of the line:

 

[Belizean]

Welcome. You have some nice projects.

 

[Nikwho]

Thanks!

I should have provided a little bit of a plan, or goals for the build.

Ultimately, my goals are to build an interesting trail rig that in 2023 I will take to the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, and run the Rubicon Trail in. I think that the Jeep is capable of doing both of those things in its current form, albeit on 33's.

I'm currently waffling between swapping something between Wagoneer Dana 44's, to 1 tons.

So, I actually already sourced a set of 1 ton axles. My original plan was to stretch the wheel base to around 100", put it on 1 tons, and putting the Jeep on 40's and perhaps an LS swap. But, I really need to settle into the project, to decide what exactly I want to do to this project.

Or, I may just get the stock driveline super dialed in and run 35's on Wagoneer axles. I've always wanted a trail rig on one tons and 40's, with full hydraulic steering, though, I've also heard other guys talk about "the sweet spot" with Jeeps. From what I can tell, the sweet spot would probably be front and rear four linked, on coil-overs, Wagoneer Dana 44's, and 37's. Time will tell!

 

[CJ]

~~~

Ultimately, my goals are to build an interesting trail rig that in 2023 I will take to the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, and run the Rubicon Trail in.

~~~

There are several members who hit Moab here. You might want to PM them. @shooby , @Posi and more. Here are some search results for Moab.

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Results count: 12

1. Moab October 2019 pics and videos
   Trail Reports
   Oct 23, 2019 - 10 Posts - Posi
   I’ll start will a few from 007 Wile E Coyote comes to mind. Still in Colorado Springs, I’ll add more when I get home. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
2. Moab Oct 17-20 2019
   Trail or Trip Planning
   Sep 26, 2019 - 12 Posts - Posi
   Because we can't wait until Moab April 2020 Place: One of the world's best places to wheel, Moab UT. Date: October 17-20 Accommodations: Many hotels, condos, camping in the town of Moab. Minimum recommendation: 33” front and rear lockers or rear locker with winch. There is exceptions to...
3. Planning the 3rd Annual Moab 2020 Jeep-CJ Trail Ride
   Trail or Trip Planning
   Sep 17, 2019 - 17 Posts - Posi
   This will be the 3rd Annual Moab 2020 Jeep-CJ Trail Ride! Place: One of the world's best places to wheel, Moab UT. Date: April 20-24 (April 25th is an optional day, 6 rigs will be staying, open to all) Accommodations: Many hotels, condos, camping in the town of Moab. However, book sooner...
4. Save The Date: Moab April 20-24 2020
   Trail or Trip Planning
   Jun 13, 2019 - 5 Posts - Posi
   Planning the 3rd Annual Moab Jeep-CJ Trail Ride April 20-24 2020 Details to follow!
5. Moab 2019 Trail Report
   Trail Reports
   May 4, 2019 - 63 Posts - BusaDave9
   We had 9 jeeps on the 2nd Annual Jeep-CJ.com Moab trail ride. A million thanks to Posi for planning this and to MrIPlayBass for leading the way on the trails. Ben pulled my Jeep to Moab with his pickup. I shot this picture on the way. Monday we went on SevenMile Rim trail north of town...
6. 2nd Annual Colorado Springs to Moab Excursion
   Trail Reports
   Apr 16, 2019 - 22 Posts - Posi
   This is the place to post your travels to Colorado Springs, events at Bill D's shop, our travels to Moab, trail pics, and the return trip home. The first to hit the road is Bluerocket. He will drive from eastern NY to Colorado Springs this Friday am. I'll be in Colorado Springs next Wednesday.
7. Planning the 2nd Annual Moab Jeep-CJ Trail Ride
   Trail or Trip Planning
   Sep 18, 2018 - 145 Posts - Posi
   This will be the 2nd Annual Moab Jeep-CJ Trail Ride! Place: One of the world's best places to wheel, Moab UT. Date: April 29- May 3-2019 Accommodations: Many hotels, condos, camping in the town of Moab. However, book sooner then later they go fast. Minimum recommendation: 33” front and...
8. CJ spring Trail run....Excursion to Moab!!
   Trail Reports
   Apr 9, 2018 - 98 Posts - Posi
   This thread will cover our day to day journey to Moab. We have folks coming in from Nebraska, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Colorado, and New York. The wheels start turning tomorrow! Stay tuned!
9. Moab and Rubicon. 2017.
   Trail Reports
   Oct 24, 2016 - 13 Posts - Greenwithenvy
   I know this is early, but wondering who is planing to go to EJS in 2017? I have been to Moab before, but never to EJS. Also, wanting to run the Rubicon after EJS. Depending on the snow this coming spring. I have to start planning now to have enough money saved up for the trip. Would be great to...
10. Moab?
    Trail Reports
    Apr 28, 2014 - 3 Posts - Peanut Butter
    Anybody on the forum go to MOAB this year? I really want to go, but it will most likely be a couple of years yet. How was the vender setup? What trails did you take? Any pictures? Any new Jeep proto-types? Rod
11. Presidents' Day in Moab, Utah
    Trail Reports
    Feb 23, 2012 - 7 Posts - GatorBate
    I took the CJ5 out for some real four wheeling. The scenery was great. It snowed a little. That just added to the adventure. Oh, great view of the La Sal mountains. Your kidding me!! It really is that steep Over looking the Green river If she can do it so can I Working my way down One...
12. Moab in March?
    Trail Reports
    Dec 26, 2010 - 10 Posts - KenB
    Hope this is in the right spot. I got an invitation for me and my old CJ to go to Moab with my son and granddaughter during Spring Break. Not sure exactly where they're thinking about, but they have been there before, running a stock Cherokee. He's done some mods to it since then and want's to...

 

[Nikwho]

That's awesome, thanks.

Nik

 

[Belizean]

Either Jeep sounds great. Remember we all love Jeep pictures on new trail rigs.

 

[gert]

Sweet project, mine did really good in Moab on 35s and Dana 44 axles

Also we love pictures


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[aglinks]

Hey that jeep looks familiar! I sold you some parts lol

 

[Nikwho]

Hey that jeep looks familiar! I sold you some parts lol

Hey Alex! I'll try to get more pictures up ASAP, and get this thing together so we can go wheeling!

 

[Nikwho]

Should provide a little bit of an update here. I met "aglinks" above while picking up some parts from him! He made me a great deal on a Tom Woods front driveshaft and a sway bar with quick disconnects. I didn't have a sway bar, and kinda wanted one to minimize body roll when driving around town. Thanks, Alex!

Being that this will be a trail rig, while I wanted to paint the Jeep, and make it all one color, I did NOT want to do a bunch of body work. So, it was hard, but, I sanded it down and sprayed it, without doing ANY body work. I knew I didn't want any body filler to speak of, as I didn't want it to pop out later on, if the tub sees much flexing.

Here's a few pictures of it in primer and paint!

 

[Nikwho]

And, here's a few more:

 

[Nikwho]

I also purchased and mounted the Smittybilt 9,500lb winch seen in the preceding photos.

 

[Nikwho]

I had previously sourced a set of one ton axles. A high pinion Dana 60 and a 14 bolt rear. I also have bought a 6.0 LS engine, and was kinda leaning towards swapping that into this Jeep.

However, I realized that by pulling everything out of the Jeep, and replacing it all would be kinda foolish. Expensive, plus I realized that CJ7's sell for pretty close to the same amount of money, whether close to stock, or highly modified. So, I didn't want to dump $10,000 into this Jeep, only to have a trail Jeep worth $10,000 when I was done.

So the plans changed a little bit!

I've purchased a tube rock buggy chassis. But, basically, I'm going to put the one tons on the tube rock buggy, powered by a turbo charged 6.0 liter LS, likely a 4L80E and a three or four speed Atlas transfer case, and put it on 40-44" tires! The rock buggy is going to have dual rate coil overs and bypass shocks on each corner, along with triangulated 4-links front and rear, and full hydraulic steering. I'm running an orbital valve from a fork lift for steering, and building my own hydraulic steering system. More on that later!

So, I started sourcing a bunch of parts for the buggy! I was going to leave the CJ7 mostly stock, but, in my searching for rock buggy parts, I found some other goodies. So much for leaving the CJ7 stock!

 

[Nikwho]

So, I picked up a set of full size Dodge half ton axles. They are already all set up with 5.38 gears and lockers front and rear! From the same guy, I bought a set of 37" Maxxis Creepy Crawlers, mounted on some wheels, on the Dana 44 front and Sterling 9.25 rear axles.

So, the little CJ7 is still getting full size axles, just not one tons. And, instead of 4 linking the CJ7 and putting it on coil overs, I'm going to retain the leaf springs.
So, the new adjusted CJ7 plan is the Dana 44/9.25 axle combo, 5.38 gearing, and 37's. This will allow me to keep my stock drivetrain and lassenger side drop D300 transfer case, that will be getting 4:1 gears swapped into it.

Here's the new axles, and the 37's on the stock Dana 30/AMC20 axles! LOL. Don't worry, the axles will survive the driveway crawling that it's doing right now!

I may sell the stock axles, since they've been geared and have ARB air lockers, but, I may keep them and build a mini tube chassis crawler for son, once I get my new bender.