Project Redneck
FollowVehicle Quick Facts
Profile ID: 20192
Year: 1997
Make: Jeep
Model: TJ
Markets: Driven Daily, Off Road, Performance
Vehicle Type: American
Contact: Off Road Xtreme
Vehicle Story
Project Redneck is our 1997 Jeep Wrangler TJ. It came to us needing some upgrades to make it trail-worthy and live up to the Jeep legacy. The Jeep had seen its fair share of dirt on the trails, but needed to get some more love in the areas it was lacking.
It was bought by one of our resident shop techs, Dean, in 2012. It came with a four-inch coil lift on the stock arms. It was very clean, and had no evidence of hard off-road use. Shortly after the Jeep was purchased, the connecting rod decided it did not want to stay in the motor and punched its way right through the side of the block. With the engine down, it was time to put in a freshly rebuilt 2.5-liter I4, which has about 15,000 miles on it now.
The idea for the project is to build a spunky and indestructible rock crawler, while still maintaining it as a daily driver. This will be the kind of trail rig that you never want to put on its lid, but know that if you did, you could always roll it back over and count on it to get you home. A street-legal King of the Hammers (KOH) competitor is the easiest way to explain the route we want to take.
Build Sheet
Manufacturers
- Project Redneck - Drive shafts
- Currie Enterprises - Rock Jock 44 axles
- Dick Cepek - Extreme Country tires
- EATON - Differentials
- Fuel Wheels - Boosted wheels
- Mean Mother 4WD - Edge Series 9,500-pound winch
- Motive Gear - 5.38:1 gears
- Optic Armor - Windshield
- Rugged Ridge / Omix-ADA - Outer JK knuckles and brakes
- TNT Customs - Rock-Tek High Clearance Long Arm Upgrade kit, complete with steel belly pan, coil mounts, rear axle truss
Shops
Services
- Off Road Xtreme - Build coverage
- Power Automedia - Build Coverage