It's a classic story. Guy buys Jeep to take the family off-roadin'. Guy starts to work on Jeep. Jeep suddenly isn't driveable all the time. Then Jeep is driving, but now not street-legal. Now guy needs another 4x4 to tow the first one out to the trail....
And thus the creation of Eric Miramon's '89 Jeep YJ. In just three short months, Eric built this entire Jeep himself, utilizing some of the most bitchin' tricks in the trade, and making a pretty clean little Jeep to boot.
We caught up with Eric on the Fordyce trail, about 25 miles outside Truckee, California. He came out with a crew from WFO Concepts to do a little weekend wheelin' and campin' in the snow. The snow was good, the air was clean, the company was good, but Eric's alternator wasn't. The poor guy had to try to bolt on three different alternators before he found the right one, after his original went bad just minutes into a little morning play on the rocks. We were just impressed these guys carried three different alternators to try!
Vehicle: Jeep YJ Wrangler
Owner: Eric Miramon
Engine: TBI 350
Transmission: TH400
Transfer Case(s): NP203/NP205 doubler kit with triple stick
Front Axle: High-pinion Dana 60, ARB locker, 5.13 gears
Rear Axle: 14-bolt rear, Detroit Locker, 5.13 gears
Tires & Wheels: 39.5-inch Iroks on 17-inch Rockcrawlers
Suspension: S.A.W. 2.0 coilovers with three-link radius arm in front, quarter elliptic rear with four-link, pivoting heims on axle perch
Eric did all the work himself,...
Eric did all the work himself, even the custom dash fitted with Auto Meter gauges and a number of rocker switches. On the floor resides a triple-stick shifting combination for the NP203 and NP205 that have been doubled. This gives Eric the extra-low gear reduction he needs for First gear downhill runs with his TH400 tranny.
We think the back of Eric's...
We think the back of Eric's Jeep is where his talent really shows. The 14-bolt rear, stuffed with a Detroit Locker and 5.13 gears, is held in place via a three-link suspension with an upper triangle featuring 1 1/4-inch spherical bearing rod ends. Taking the brunt of the rear's light weight are Atlas quarter-elliptic springs attached to the axle with rod ends and brackets that allow the axle to better pivot on the springs.
Taking much of the attention...
Taking much of the attention in front is this massive PSC hydraulic steering ram that controls the 39.5-inch Iroks on either end of that reverse-rotation Dana 60 fitted with an ARB locker. Sway-A-Way 2.0 coilovers with a 14-inch stroke hold up the front of the rig, while a three-link (radius arm on one side, single control arm on other) holds the axle in place. Eric spent the extra time to add nice touches like rock lights and the steering guard, but we still have to question his placement of that tranny cooler out front on top of the frame.... He says it has never been in any danger yet.
Eric and many of his friends...
Eric and many of his friends are big fans of junkyard TBI 350s, because the parts are plentiful and inexpensive, and if everyone's runnin' one, then all your friends have extra parts for one. Cooling that reliable small-block is a Griffin radiator aided by some Olympic electric fans run off dual Odyssey 1200 batteries.