We love finding unique builds that took time and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. One of the reasons why we were drawn to BuiltDifferentGarage is because he turned a TJ into a TJ Brute. Which he named his Jeep Krute, Kraft (last name) plus Brute equals Krute. American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) built a TJ truck called the Brute. You can find them for sale now and then, but they are rare and usually extremely expensive.
After owning his rig since he was a freshman in high school, BuiltDifferentGarage wanted to build his own Brute. As with most of us, he had slowly modified his build as money and time would allow. It was also a building experience as he built the TJ with his Dad.
After driving it for years, he decided to jump into the world of YouTube and start documenting everything he did. And we are glad he did. Being able to watch all the work that he did making his TJ into a TJ Brute, is impressive. Using four different TJ tubs, they cut up some sheet metal to form the new bed while stretching the frame 24 inches can really change the look of a vehicle.
There TJ started life with the old Dana 30/35 combo that almost nobody wants. So after realizing those would not cut it, he put some JK Dana 44s under the TJ. But when it came to building the Brute, he wanted to build it the exact way he wanted and not compromise on anything. Thankfully he found a project Jeep that had East Coast Gear Supply Dana 60s. So he decided to buy the project and steal the axles off of it.
BuiltDifferentGarage is one of the most beautiful home builds I have seen in a while, and I can’t wait to see it out on the trail. BuiltDifferentGarage was recently at KOH, and I can’t wait to see more videos of the TJ Brute out wheeling some hammer trails. So make sure you go check out his YouTube channel and follow along.