1. In the beginning: stock	2. Add-a-leaf 2.5" suspension lift, 31" AT tires, rear Lockright
3. Switched to 2.5" McCoy spring lift and 31" mud tires. Added an 8274 winch, custom tire rack/bumper, KC lights and a 1" body lift.	4. Removed the 2.5" McCoys and installed a Rubicon Express spring-over-axle conversion using stock springs.
5. Big changes: installed front and rear Dana 44 axles from a Scout II, a Dana 300 xfer case from a CJ7, and converted the axles to a spring-over-axle configuration using stock YJ spring packs with an extra main leaf in each pack. Upgraded to 33" General Grabber MTs.

Log

• Feb '08 - Installed Banks Torque Tube exhaust header to replace the cracked factory unit.
• Summer '07 - Removed rear Revolvers and replaced with home-made boomerang-style shackles. This fixed the axle hop problem that occurred when climbing very steep hills. Around the same time, I also got rid of the stock + extra main leaf spring packs and switched to BDS 2" lift springs. To prevent them from going into negative arch, I welded some bump stop extensions onto the spring plates.
  Replaced 8274 motor with the new, higher speed motor used in current models. Also replaced the cable with 100' of synthetic rope. Feels like a brand new winch and the rope is so much easier to work with.
• July '06 - Installed 36" Interco IROKs. Awesome improvement in traction.
• June '06 - Added front bars to create a full cage.
• Feb '06 - Installed Ford F150 shock towers and M.O.R.E. rear shock mounts. Installed RS9000 shocks.
• May 1, '02 - Kilby Gas Tank Skid Plate was installed.
• May 1, '02 - Hi-steer conversion completed.
• Aug, '02 - Upgraded the transmisison with a Kilby high volume automatic transmission pan.
• May 1, '02 - Bestop TrailMax Aqua Sport seats were installed.
• May 1, '02 - Teraflex Revolver Shackles.
• Jun 17, '01 - TJ flares were installed.
• Mar 15, '01 - Re-built transmission and installed cooler and torque converter from AutoTrans Inc. Installed TransGo shift kit. Installed Go 2 Twister re-indexing adapter to rotate Dana 300 front output height.
• Jan 26, '00 - Upgraded from Powertrax Lockright lockers to Detroit Softlockers and 4.10 ring and pinion gears.
• Jan 22, '00 - Installed the Tera Mfg. Dana 300 4:1 transfer case gear kit.
• Jul 27, '99 - Rhino lined the tub.
• Jul 1, '99 - Installed a Tuffy security console.
• Dec 1 '98 - Bought and installed the steering brace from Jim Mijali's YJ. He was trading it in for a new XJ so I snagged the brace.
• Aug 1 '98 - Installed another Dana 300. Why? Because the first one's low range rear output started popping in and out of gear. The newer case is a couple of inches longer which means I have to modify the rear driveshaft. I am not amused.
  I also installed a stock transfer case skidplate / crossmember which I modified to accomodate the extra drop of the Dana 300. This crossmember provided me with another inch or two of ground clearance over the custom-made one I originally used with the D300.
• May 11 '98 - Swapped a pair of Scout Dana 44 axles and a CJ Dana 300 transfer case into my YJ. Want details?
• April '97 - April Fool's Trip '97: on my first visit to Pigpen's Revenge on Vancouver Island, I snapped my transfer case output shaft. The shaft was a cut-down, re-splined unit which was part of the MIT slip yoke eliminator kit which I had installed a while ago. I called MIT and they told me a replacement shaft would cost US$250! I ended up buying a complete Currie Kit for US$400. From that, I got US$100 back when I sent them a stock output shaft which I happened to have laying around. I got what I believe is a stronger output shaft than the MIT shaft. Why? Because Currie doesn't cut new splines into their shafts. This is a good thing because you generally have to remove the metal's hardening when cutting splines, thus reducing the strength. Besides, even though I could have paid less by buying a replacement shaft from MIT, I decided to try something new.
   
  The transfer case was showing some signs of wear: one shift fork and some of the fork insert pads were changed, as was the chain which, in retrospect, probably did not need to be changed after all.
   
  Shortly after this, I welded a small rack to the back of the tire carrier which allowed me to store two small ammo boxes. I also bolted a taller ammo box beside the spare tire. Now I was able to store my electric compressor outside the vehicle, along with a lot of bungees, spare fluids and my handy dandy entrenching tool (don't get me started).
   
  In the fall of 1997, I replaced the hitch pin latching setup on the rack with a pin which had a built-in pivoting pin.
• March '97 - One evening I decided to use a filter I had sitting on the shelf when I did my oil change. It was slightly different from the ones I normally use but it seemed to fit ok. The next morning, on the way to work, a horrible knocking and squealing from the motor provided a not-too-subtle hint that I screwed up. The oil filter had fallen off and the motor pumped all its oil onto the pavement while it was spinning at highway speed rpms.
   
  I didn't even bother to open up the motor to check the damage. The sound definitely indicated that the bottom end was shot. Through a fortunate turn of events, I was able to obtain a '95 4.0L with a mere 8,000Km on it (it was a warranty replacement motor for another one which had a piston slap problem). Cost was a very reasonable C$725 (approx. US$525).
   
  Since I had never done a job of this magnitude before, I once again called upon my friends for assistance and my Jeep was back on the road 11 days after the tragic end of my original motor (which had 120,000Km on it).
• February '97 - With a LOT of help from my friends, I installed a Rubicon Express spring-over conversion kit. The resulting wheel articulation is fantastic.
• December '96 - I removed the windshield hinge-mounted KC Daylighters and mounted them on the fenders, just in front and outside of the side hood latches. I did this because the KCs light up my white (!!) hood which reflected back to my windshield at night. All the bits of dirt, dust and scratches caught the light and were very distracting. From an aesthetics viewpoint, I don't think the KCs look very good on the fenders but functionally, they work very well. No more glare. Of course, now I'll have to weld some vertical bars to the ends of my front bumper to protect the lights from being hit when driving through dense brush. Other plans for this winter include building a locking console box (using a 100-round, 20mm ammo box), re-gearing the axles to 4.10s and maybe upgrading one or both axles.
• September '96 - After breaking my third fiberglass antenna, I bought a K40 removable antenna. The signal reception is much better than previous antennas.
• August '96 - Installed a hood lock. I'll soon be adding some kind of vehicle theft-proofing so I figured it'd be a good idea to limit access to the engine compartment.
  My girlfriend, Sue, volunteered to remove the "Islander" graphics package stickers from my hood and the little orange "sunshine" decals from the doors (guess she hated them more than I did). She used some kind of adhesive remover but it's still obvious that decals were removed because the underlying paint was very white compared to the scratched and faded paint around it. I'll have to cut-wax the Jeep sometime this winter.
• July '96 - Finally completed my rear bumper/tire carrier. Utilizing rectangular tubing, I constructed a bumper which used a pair of posts on either side of the tail gate to support a swing-out tire carrier. The design was simple enough for me to construct even with my rudimentary welding & metal fabrication skills (although I still spend more time grinding than welding). My 31" tire no longer weighs down the tailgate plus I now have a new mounting location for my CB antenna. It's tucked between the tailgate and the spare tire.
  Around this time I also drilled a couple of holes and welded nuts to the front winch mount. I can now mount a Jackall (Canadian equivalent to the Hi-Lift) jack horizontally just above the cable drum by cinching it down with bolts going through the holes & nuts. I also welded some angle iron over just enough bolts so that my winch cannot be unbolted from the Jeep.
• June '96 - During our Windy Ridge trip, I managed to tweak the driver's side front spring pack, puncture the driver's side rear tire sidewall of my 31x10.5 BFG MT, snap off my factory am/fm radio antenna, and lose the metal trim piece covering the rubber seal around my windshield. I've managed to replace everything so far except the metal trim piece. For some reason, the dealer can only supply me with one which appears to be shorter than the one I originally had. Typical.
• April '96 - During my first offroading trip of the year, I managed to damage both rear quarter panels. I was planning on adding aluminum plate to cover the quarter panels after the tire carrier/bumper was completed. Unfortunately, this little incident forced a change in plans. The installation went fairly smoothly but I would like to suggest that everyone learn from my experience and mount the armour with stainless steel screws instead of rivets. The armour didn't perfectly conform to the body's shape so mounting was difficult, even with the use of various c-clamps. By using nuts & bolts, I was able to compress the armour against the body, a little bit at a time. The aluminum rivets I was thinking of using would not be able to exert the same clamping force afforded by the nuts & bolts.
   
  Also, it's necessary to remove the plastic sheathing inside the fenders so you might as well jack up the Jeep and remove the tires, too. It seems like a lot extra work (if you're lazy like me) but trust me, it's the easiest way to do this installation.
• March '96 - Since the new springs gave me much more lift than before, I had to do something about the front brake lines, which was tight as a guitar string when the axle was at full droop. I popped by Jim Mijali's house and looked at the ones which came with his Rancho lift kit. Basically, they gave him a couple of pieces of thick metal straps, about four inches in length, with holes at both ends. I made the same thing at home and used them to re-locate the brake hoses' frame mounts. The driver's side was the toughest, requiring careful bending of the metal brake lines. I also lowered my emergency brake cable by bending the bracket mounted under the body from a vertical to a horizontal position.
• January '96 - Finally installed the MIT kit which I bought used from Todd O'Connor, who was upgrading to an NP241 transfer case (thanks, Todd!). Thanks to Gord Pritchard for his invaluable assistance. At this time I also decided to remove the front track bar since it always made a banging noise when offroad and was impossible to tighten. I removed the rear a few months prior and noticed no ill effects on the handling. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same when the front track bar came off. Tight corners are now more "interesting" and I have to drive with the swaybar connected while on the pavement. I definitely need to install some beefier front shackles or else re-install that track bar.
• January '96 - The add-a-leafs had sagged, especially at the front (I'm sure the Warn 8274 had something to do with it <g>. I bought a set of McCoy 2.5" springs (made in Canada) and installed them. When the Jeep was back on the ground, it looked like the McCoys provided close to 3.5" instead of 2.5". Maybe it just needs some heavy offroading to settle them. By the way, on the advice of Dave Hansen, I installed rear springs on the front as well as the back. Apparently, the rear springs are rated for heavier loads which suited me just fine since my 8274 and its mount weigh around 150lbs. The McCoys provided a noticeably softer ride than the add-a-leafs, although it's still significantly stiffer than stock.
• August '95 - The front tires still rubbed a little bit so I lowered the front bumpstops by welding sections of 1" square tube steel between the frame and the stops.
• July '95 - Bought a set of 31.10.5 BFG MTs. Nice looking tires. They also improved the YJ's performance on loose and muddy terrain.
• July '95 - (Thanks to Pam & Dave Hansen for this modification) The stock airbox on a 4.0L motor draws its air supply through a horn which opens just below the front driver's side headlight. This isn't a particularly good location so, using some PVC pipe and a couple of 90-deg elbows, I made my own air intake. The ends of the elbows are the exact same diameter as the factory air intake so it's a simple matter to assemble the PVC to form a snorkel which draws air from above or beside the airbox. Then remove the factory air intake and plug the snorkel into the opening in the airbox.
  Note: Apparently, Chrysler also likes this idea because the new TJs use a similar setup.
  This can also serve as the basis for a real, roof-height snorkel setup if you wanted to take the time to seal all the air intake hoses and components.
• July '95 - The Coopers were getting bald and I also noticed they measured around 29" tall when inflated and on the ground. Even so, at extreme articulation, the front tires where getting cut by the fender lips (the lips were getting kinda dented, too). Due to their underwhelming performance in mud, I was planning on buying some BFG MTs. The MTs are a tall 31 so I had to address the problem of fender clearance. A 1" body lift solved that problem for very little cost.
• June '96 - I finally got around to fabricating a mount for my 8274 Warn 8000lb winch. I've had this winch on the first vehicle I ever owned, a '78 Land Cruiser. That winch saw 4 years of abusive service (hey, I was a teen-ager!) before being retired to the swimming pool pump room at my parents' house for over a decade. It still had silt from its last use (when I was stuck on a tailing pile near my old home town) when I started dis-assembling and cleaning it. All it needed was a new control socket and a cleaning of the motor in order to become operational. I also changed the oil, repainted it, and installed a new cable. Because Warn no longer produces a mount for the 8274/Jeep YJ combination, I made my own by using the salvaged main mounting plate from a full-size Chevy. I cut it to a width which would fit my YJ and then used the scrap for triangular gussetting on the side. The finished unit blocks approximately 50% of the radiator. Even so, the engine temperature is manageable; in the worst case situation, the temp gauge gets up to half way when cruising at highway speeds. That winch cost $350CDN new. Today, the cost of a brand new 8274 is around $1300CDN. I'm glad Warn makes products that last.
• August '94 - Although the locker helped, the Jeep still didn't have enough ground clearance. I found some used spring packs with add-a-leafs already installed. In addition, I also bought a set of RS5000 shocks, a slightly used set of Cooper Discoverer 31x10.5 tires and some Slickrock Disconnects for my swaybar. Woo-hoo! Now we're gettin' somewhere! The lifted YJ made it up to Clear Creek (a local rock-crawling trail) with not a single problem. I finally had a worthy trail machine.
• July '94 - Started offroading the Jeep in the spring and immediately noticed weaknesses. My friend, Clay Howey, owned a stock Nissan 4x4 with the factory 31" tires which outperformed my YJ in every terrain. Rob Bryce, was attempting to get a bulk-deal happening with Lockright lockers so I bought one and installed it. It made a world of difference.
• October '93 - Bought the YJ used from the wife of a well-to-do businessman. From the smell, I deduced that she mainly used it for those trips when she needed to take her dog somewhere. They also owned a Jaguar and a couple of Cherokees so I'm sure the YJ wasn't a daily driver. Only had 21,000Km and they took it to the dealer twice each year to have the hard top and soft top swapped.