The Grey Mouser...04 Jeep Unlimited

[Haggis]

Haggis’ ’04 Jeep Unlimited….the Grey Mouser

Current Set-Up​

Drivetrain: Stock 4.0 I6, Auto tranny, Rear LSD, swapped in set of 4:10 gears

Suspension: Full Traction 3” lift & Front Disconnects, JKS Adjustable Trackbar

Rolling Stock: 285/75/16 Dean Mud Terrain SXTs Mounted on ProComp 16x8 Rims with 4.5” backspacing

Exterior Mods: Smittybuilt SRC front bumper, GenRight rear bumper, RockyRidge cargo rack

Recovery: Warn 8000 winch

Interior Mods: Bed lined hardtop, Folding sleep platform

Communications: Old used CB and colorful Ridgerunner Proclamations

Explorations to Date:

*Backwoods of Pennsylvania
…….*Allegheny Nation Forest, Elk State Forest, Oil Creek State Park, Bald Eagle State Forest, Tioga State Forest, Houtzdale Reclaimed Strip Mine Area,
......*Clear Creek State Park
*Mountains of West Virginia
…….*Thomas Area, Canaan Loop, Blackwater Falls
*Blackwater Marsh , Eastern Shore Maryland

 

[Haggis]

We get a new Jeep...

…Herein is told the tale of an everyday Jeep, just a simple story of a ’04 Jeep Unlimited that lives its life much like a pair of well-loved hiking boots. Like those boots it wanders the hills and valleys of the east in a quest to find the solitary places deep in the forests and shaded glens where it roams. No, you’ll not find radical modifications or state of the art tech, but instead a Jeep that humbly lives its life running the woods, chasing down critters and lugging it’s payload to far flung jobsites. So here is the story of how the Grey Mouser got to be the Grey Mouser and the fun and adventure we’ve had along the way…

Our tale begins in the late fall of 2006, where we find nestled in a creek side valley home…Us. We have always owned a Jeep of some kind including a Comanche (much missed), two ZJs and at this time a ‘98 TJ. We liked our little TJ. It was bought cheap with only 32,000 miles on the odometer the year before and had served us well as a weekend rambler.

But with the four of us it was tight quarters when it came to even a weekend camping trip. Something had to change, but we liked the platform and flexibility of the Wrangler. And as fate would have it a buddy of mine mentioned he was selling his ’04 Unlimited to go buy another Defender 90. The year before he had rolled and totaled his 90 on icy roads and gave up looking for a new one after a lot of searching about. So he had picked up this LJ as it was about the about the same size and had the classic Jeep lines, and as a classic car dealer he’s always drawn to those cars that cling to their heritage like a badge of honor. Anyway, a year later, here he found another Defender and was hot to get it. The LJ had to go and go quick. So with some horse trading, a very good deal (for us) and a handshake the LJ had a new home, namely ours. And so on that day an ’04 Jeep Unlimited soft top with just 13,500 miles became part of Clan Haggis. Man what a difference those extra inches made. That LJ felt like a luxury car on the highway compared to the ride of the TJ (though definitely still a Jeep, luxury ride is relative when dealing with Jeeps) and the available rear space was like having another Jeep along when it came to storage. Now, we always name our vehicles but the names have to be earned. So for a long time the Jeep was just that, “the Jeep”.

So we got it home and it wasn’t long when changes started being made. I had pulled off all the aftermarket stuff from the TJ before selling it and now it was time to swap that stuff over onto the LJ. The Smittybilt SCR front bumper and the DC 1 rims were swapped over. The bumper’s main function was to protect the Jeep from the mujihadeer that throw themselves into vehicles in acts of critter jihad at regular intervals in this area. So far that bumper has squirted two deer out the sides of the Jeep, crunched on big boulder and had a meeting with a guardrail whilst traversing icy roads and it’s got nothing to show for it other than a six inch scratch. Soon after the bumper was swapped Warn had their old reliable M8000 winch on sale so on went the winch. To mount it up I bought a Collins Brother winch plate and am happy to report that after 4 years of salt, antiskid, mud and gravel it is hold up very well. No powder coat problems at all. Same goes with the SRC bumper, though this was one of the last ones built by Smittybilt when they were still owned by Smittybilt. I wish all Jeep aftermarket parts held up so well.

 

[Haggis]

The Mouser Gets a Lift...

When I had the TJ it was intended to be a cheap, fun machine so I had bought a Full Traction 3” lift kit for it. It was economical and had everything included (disconnects, adjustable track bar and the like) other than new control arms. It was still sitting in the garage because the TJ went away before the install and the kit’s box was collecting dust as it sat on the storage shelf. Well it was time to put a lift on the Umlimited cause’ it needed a bit more clearance and also because LJ’s don’t look right at stock height. So one day I tore open the box and installed the lift. It turned out well. The lift rode better than stock and flexed nicely though it is maybe a little too flexy for my taste. We don’t have many rocks to crawl and I think this lift was set up more for that type of wheeling. For the time being I kept the 31s on the stock rims as they had a bit of tread left and rolled through winter.

After my 31s had finally wore out it was time for new meats. What I wanted was a set of tires I could run all year: snow and ice in the winter, mud all year long and still live with them as we use the LJ for a daily driver. I'd been going back and forth as to what size tire to get but finally settled on 285/75/16s. I was going to get either the Cooper STs or a set of the Dick Cepek FCIIs like I ran on my Ram. I'd been really impressed with my FCIIs and the first set I got over 55,000 hard miles out of them, and the STs that my brother-in-law (jim65wagon) runs have also been impressive. Meanwhile a few buds of mine have been raving about how these other tires have been preforming on their snow plowing and oil lease trucks and that they had switched over from the STs because of the same performance at a lower price. My tire guy set me up with a set and they found themselves rolling under my jeep.

They were a set of Dean Mud Terrain Radial STXs in 285/75/16. Mounted on Pro Comp 7189 16x8 rims with 4.5" BS the tires measured 32.75 " tall at 30 lbs. psi, have a 9.25" tread width, and are 11.25" inches and the widest section width and rated at Load range D.

 

[Haggis]

The Mouser gets sum of dat there Communications

After thinking and rethinking about how I wanted to mount a CB in the LJ, I finally got it done. I didn't want to mount the CB on the side of the console because I want full use of the slide function of the front seats, and I didn't want to mount it on the dash above the console. While looking through one of the Jeep magazines I saw an ad for the Miller products CB mount that puts a mini CB above the Dash in the drivers left corner. Seemed like it would work and at $24 bucks what the heck, I'd give it a try.

Here's the "kit" I used; Millers CB mount, 3' tunable Firestick, and a Cobra 19 Ultra mini CB. Here's a shot of the CB on the Millers mount.

Here's the mount installed on the dash. It mounts using the two panel screws on the side of the dash and takes about 1 minute to install. The cable was run to a three foot Firestick mounted to the front bumper.

I've been pretty happy with the mount. It's easy to reach, easy to see, and doesn't affect visibility at all. OK, I can't see my inspection sticker now, but I can live with that.

About this time my wife joked about “the Jeep” stealing all my money. She said sarcastically that a least the Jeep had charm. That reminded me of one of my favorite literary characters, the Grey Mouser, a short wiry thief and swordsman who beguiled and charmed his targets as he robbed them blind. And so “the Jeep” became the “Grey Mouser”.

 

[Haggis]

Some Interior Decorating...

One thing that became a nuisance was that darn soft top. Sure it was nice to pop open the Sunrider top when the Pennsylvania weather would allow it, but the truth was that with the large amount of dirt roads we cover here on a daily basis and all the winter crud it made opening the rear flap a royal pain. I was always scrubbing up the zippers and maintaining them to keep them debris free. Add to that the fact that Michelle used it as her winter ride and hated not being able to scrape the plastic windows off, I knew we needed a hardtop.

So the search began for an LJ hardtop, not the easiest thing to find locally and not cheap either. Unlimited hardtops seemed to be running in the $1500 to $2000 range at that time. Now I’m not cheap but I am frugal so I waited patiently scouring the various Jeep forums for just the right top. Then behold…a used hardtop just across the state line in Ohio no more than 50 miles away popped up on the JeepForum. A phone call revealed it to be a unit sitting at a Jeep dealership collecting dust. The previous owner traded it in on warranty as the passenger side window leaked, but the manager wanted it gone and it was priced to sell…at $500 bucks. The next day it was sitting on sawhorses at my house awaiting my buddy to come and reinstall the window for me. As that’s what he does for a living, half an hour and 45 bucks later for a new gasket I had a leak proof hardtop. Well it wasn’t long when my wife echoed what I was already thinking…the interior white gel coat had to go. So doing some research on the old internet this is what I did…

Here's the hardtop interior in its factory state.

I started by masking off anything I didn't want liner one and removed the front latches, covering the mounting holes with tape so as to not gum them up. Using my variable speed angle grinder on its lowest rpm setting and a 4 1/2 " Sashco Buffy Pad I scuffed up the interior. The Buffy Pad is basically a Norton buff pad (it's made by Norton for Sashco) but with a finer grit to use on removing stains and grime from logs. I finished up by hand sanding using 250 grit sandpaper to get all the spots the grinder couldn't reach. Then the hardtop got cleaned off by some air and then wiped down with denatured alcohol. I used the Dupli-color bed liner in the rattle cans and did three light coats in all leaving about 20 minutes in between coats. The can suggested 5 minutes, but I wanted to make sure it was setting up good. This built up the coating to about the thickness of 2 sheets of tablet paper. The resulting coating looks awesome and has a nice feel to it. I thought it was like neoprene in texture my wife thought it felt like snake skin. Either way, Michelle was real happy with it and so was I.

Here’s a shot of it finished and a detail picture too.

I liked the new look, makes the top seem custom without a cheap plastic look. I let it sit a couple of days to makes sure it sat up real nice and the stink was blown out. If you do this do it outside, the fumes are strong. I used my respirator and wore long sleeves, goggles and an old hat.

It's been 3 years now since I shot the inside of my '04 Unlimited and it looks like new. We're real happy with how it turned out and it seems to help with roads noise some. I've got nothing but compliments on how it looks and the Jeep guys that have ridden it all say they like it better than the white gel coat in their Jeeps hardtops. Here are a couple of photos for those who are interested.

From the side...

From the rear...

I do have some small scratches here and there and we'll give it a touch up the next time we pull the top off.

 

[Haggis]

Notice the new rear bumper? That was added to carry the 33" spare and save the tailgate hinges. It's a Genright TJ tube bumper and only weighs in at 65 lbs. sans tire. I bought it on sale at their site as I was looking for a lower weight solution to a tire carrier. While it is functional and light weight, the hinge sytem is problematic (it's always loosening no matter how much you tighten it) and the western powder coating failed during the first winter's salt attack. I blastied it clean, gave it a good coat of Por15 and shot some Duplicover rattle can bedliner it.

 

[Haggis]

Mobile Motel Room...

Then the snow built up around the cabin and the dreaded winter blahs began to set in. I tossed out the idea of a winter ExPo run and with the PA boys being as cabin bound as me the first PA Ridgerunner event came to be. I knew it was going to be cold and I do not like sleeping in a tent when the snow is flying around. So I began pondering a way to sleep comfortably in the back of the Mouser. I was checking out the back of the LJ to see how comfy it would be to sleep in there but between the seat tracks and the seat belts I figured it would be a pain, literally. So I threw this together out of scrap in the shop. It turned out pretty good for design on the run engineering. A view from the back…

Front view with sleeping extensions folded back.

Front View with sleeping extensions extended.

This gives me the width and length of a twin mattress. I'm able to slide the smaller action packers underneath the sleeping platform. There is a bulk head in the center to help support the weight. It's darn sturdy and for a total of 25 bucks (I had to buy a cheap carpet from Wally World, $20).

Here it is in use…

It’s super comfy and there is plenty of room for two folks and all their gear for a week at a time.

What a fun but cold trip. We didn't end up camping as lows were gonna be well below 0* that night, but we had a blast that day

 

[Haggis]

The Mouser gets a rack...

I'd been wanting a rack. Just something I could throw a stepladder on for work or to throw a canoe on top for a day’s paddle. I didn't need one for an RTT or to haul tons of gear. For two people the Mouser has plenty of room inside and when it's the whole gang we press Fafhrd the Tundra into service. So I had been looking around at various racks for a while trying to pick the right one. But I had a couple of requirements to meet before I chose one and those concerns were that it had to be very resistant to rust, be as light weight as possible, be adaptable to changing needs, be as quiet as possible running down the road, and be removable and easy to store if I didn’t want it mounted on the Jeep all the time.

Well, I looked at all the options and really couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. Then one day we had an ExPo East meet where we were heading out on a river float. A new guy showed up with a JK Unlimited with a sweet roof rack. It was a RockyRidge rack made of aluminum and stainless steel, with cool aluminum slotted rails. It seemed like it would fit the criteria I was looking for. Well that feller (now my good buddy David) was the maker of the rack but only had them set up for the JKs. But I wanted one for an LJ. So after a couple of discussions, a few more ExPo trips, and a couple of prototyping meetings I got a new rack and it's met all my requirements with flying colors.

 

[Haggis]

Last Spring the Mouser started developing a slight wobble, it was a rare occurrence but troubling anyways. I started looking for the source of the trouble; ball joints, tire balance, and what not but couldn’t pin down the trouble. Everything seemed tight and fine yet the problem showed up from time to time. Finally I had my boy Cam work the steering wheel while I eye balled the underpinnings and found the track bar joint at the frame mount was compressing under steering input. Popping the track bar lose I found the joint was wasted on the adjustable track bar that came with the Full Traction lift kit. So began the search for a new track bar and keeping in consideration that I might be upgrading the Mouser suspension in the near future I settled on the JKS Adjustable Trackbar as it was a hefty unit with rebuild-able ends. I received the JKS bar and realized that when I installed the Full traction kit I had to drill out the axle mount for the track bar out to ½” and that the JKS was set up for the stock hole size of 3/8”. I quick call to JKS and they promptly set out the right sized sleeve and bushing for my use. Sweet! I got it mounted up and rolled the Mouser out the door and realized how much the new trackbar had improved the antics of the front end of the Jeep. Funny how new parts make a rig feel, well, new again. Here’s a comparison shot of the Full Traction bar and the JKS one.

And with that we have reached the current timeframe with the Mouser. We’re hoping the frantic days of 2012 have passed us by and that we can get out and enjoy the backwoods a little more. So until then the story stalls but doesn’t end because tales are never completely told…

 

[Yuman Desert Rat]

Great thread! I really need to get with it and do a legit one, too. Cant believe you picked up the top for 5 bills!!!

 

[Haggis]

Great thread! I really need to get with it and do a legit one, too. Cant believe you picked up the top for 5 bills!!!

Thanks! I've sort of let this thread sit, I should show the Mouser some love and plump this story up a little. Yeah I was very happy to stumble across that hardtop, I really prefer it to the softtop.

 

[Yuman Desert Rat]

Thanks! I've sort of let this thread sit, I should show the Mouser some love and plump this story up a little. Yeah I was very happy to stumble across that hardtop, I really prefer it to the softtop.

Welllllll? I'd love to see more. Silver L.J.'s aren't a dime-a-dozen on here.

 

[Haggis]

So it's come to this...I'm going to put the Mouser up for sale once the weather breaks here.

I love this Jeep but it hardly ever gets used anymore and last year I only put a measly 986 miles on it. Over the last year or so a mixture of work, lack of local trails and high gas prices lead to the Jeep just sitting in the garage and not being used as it should. Than there's the simple truth that while it is fun, capable rig to trail run with its not that practical for travelling the distances it needs to reach the area where it's attributes shine. The closest technical stuff is almost three hours away and everywhere else we go Fafhrd, our Tundra, can handle the terrain quite handily while besting the Jeep in comfort, utility and gas mileage. Another factor adding to this decision is that by selling the Mouser I will be able to fully fund my daughter's college expenses with a fair chunk of change left over to bank roll my son's future education needs. Clan Haggis does not like loans and we are doing everything we can to avoid incurring debt...if I have to be Jeep-less for a few years so be it if it's best for the family as a whole.

Someday there will be another Jeep in the garage and most likely a classic one. My wife loves Commandos and I have a yearning for a flatfender so I don't have any doubts we'll be a Jeep family once again.

 

[Haggis]

So it's come to this...I'm going to put the Mouser up for sale once the weather breaks here.

And so it comes to pass....

 

[Haggis]

And so its gone...time to build the FJ.

 

[dflesher65]

Nice set up. I can't believe I'm debating about selling my LJ!!!

 

[heehawhardy]

This has always been a favorite build of mine. The simplicity and functional aspect is always a deal sealer

 

[klt02kj]

Haggis, nice build looks good! I like the interior sleeping arrangements and the overall Multi function.


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