MIA: 1996 JEEP TJ WRANGLER

TO appease ARB’S North American market, there was meant to be a fifth Off Road Icon – a Jeep TJ Wrangler – and, in fact, there was…

ARB USA’S Matt Glass oversaw the sourcing and building of the Wrangler, which took eighth place at the SEMA Show’s ‘Best Jeeps of 2015’ section in Las Vegas late last year.

The Wrangler was built with some heavy-duty gear, including an upgraded Dana 44 front axle and a Currie Enterprises steering system, essentially doubling the strength of the OE set-up. Under the shiny red paint is a Daystar 30mm body lift and motor mount lift, an Advanced Adaptors slip yoke eliminator to fix the driveline angle, and a Tom Woods driveshaft. Four new OME coils and Nitrocharger shocks provide two more inches of height.

The stock rims and tyres were replaced with 33x12.5r15 Mickey Thompson MTZ tyres mounted to Mickey T’s Classic III rims.

As you’d expect, the Wrangler was packed with gear from the ARB book: bullbar and Intensity AR21 lights, Warn winch, air locker, snorkel, side rails, rear wheel carrier, Outback Solutions drawers, fridge, Twin Air compressor and tank, and more.

Unfortunately, getting a permit to drive the left-hook TJ in Australia proved too hard and the Wrangler was left in the US for a tour of duty on the 4x4 show circuit.