Louis-

Hello Everyone!

I'm new here, but I figured I can document my build here and share it with everyone else. To start, I'm 16 years old and from NJ. This isn't going to go very fast because money is an issue. I am paying mostly for all of this by myself (a little help from parents on some things). Also, I'm not very knowledgable with cars in general (this is my first vehicle), so bare with me on some of this. My dad knows a fair amount about things, and he has a good friend who owns a garage in my town. So... here we go:

Back in August of this year, I found a stock 2001 XJ on craigslist. The deal looked almost too good to be true, so my dad and I took an hour drive to check it out. I instantly fell in love.

Picked her up with 157k miles, and minimal rust for $2300. It looked pretty clean, but had a fair amount of body-wear for 157k miles. The only con about it was a slightly cracked windshield. Took it for a test drive, and bought it that day. Here are some pictures from the day I brought her home:











Had to do some general maintenance right away (Oil change, new belts, etc.) and got the windshield replaced.

I knew right away that I wanted to lift it and put some bigger tires on her. After about a month of searching, I decided I wanted to only lift 3" with 31x10.5's. But that was going to be a little bit down the road, because I didn't have the money right away.

One of the first things I was going to do was remove the side door moldings. One afternoon i started to peel the drivers side off and noticed the paint coming off with it. So then I decided to just deal with em, but I wanted to paint them black (they were faded to gray). I picked up some Krylon Fusion paint and got to work. Here it was finished, the picture doesn't really do it any justice, but it looks a lot better in person. I wish I would've taken before and after pictures but I wasn't planning on making a build thread at this point.



Next, I wanted to get rid of the chrome headlight bezels. Went and picked up some more paint and got to work. I ended up doing both, as well was my grille. Here it is finished (compare to pictures above when I first got it).





One day, I went to start her up and nothing happened. We came to the conclusion that the battery was shot and replaced it. Fired right up.



After a few weeks, I decided on my lift and tires. I originally wanted an RE 3.5" but my budget was limiting me, so I ended up going with the Rough Country Series II 3" Lift. I got new leafs with it.

For tires and rims, I went with 31x10.5 BFG All Terrains, and 15x8 Procomp Series 97 wheels (3.75 Backspacing). Also, in the picture below you can see that I replaced the side markers with clear lenses. Picked it up as a kit on ebay. Looks a lot better in my opinion!

Louis-

The lift was ordered and came in shortly after. I was determined to try it myself but my parents talked me into bringing it to my dad's friends garage to help me out with it. Good thing I did! Bolts were breaking one after another, and it was a pain. But it got done, and looks great in my opinion!

Here are some pictures after the lift:









(You may have noticed my passenger side front fender flare is black, while all of the others are blue. Turns out the previous owner hit something on that spot, because the fender was replaced and painted to match the body)

I then realized I needed an adjustable trackbar, as I did not want to re-drill. I ended up going with the JKS Adjustable. Also picked up a rough country steering stabilizer. After installation & alignment:





This leads us to where we are now.

Future plans:
- JCR Front + Rear Bumpers
- Either KC's mounted to bumper or 20" Olympus Offroad LED Bar
- Sway Bar Quick Disconnects
- Flowmaster 40
- CB Radio
- Sound system
- Ability to go doorless (for next summer)
- Knock off ebay ARB Snorkel? (Not sure about this yet)
- Headliner Replacement (Sagging in some spots but not too bad)

I am still learning a lot about maintenance and working on cars, as I find it is an awesome skill to pick up.

I will keep everyone posted! Thanks for checking out my thread!

98xjred

Looks sweet. I hated breaking bolts when I lifted mine. But good job. Keep it up

Flowpro

Very nice progress. Keep up the good work.

Rhd-xj

xj looks clean, love the blue, keep up the good work

Louis-

Thanks a lot everyone! I will update this as frequently as possible

Louis-

Just a small stupid little update: Since the day i picked her up I have been having really annoying issues with the hood latches not catching and closing correctly. The other day, i couldn't get it to close on either side. Took off both of the little latches and the inner spring popped off. Re-connected them and it is working perfectly now.

Also, I put in this little floor light kit for $30. Got it from this company LEDGlow Lighting. A lot of people frown upon these and think they're stupid, but I don't really care. It adds a cool look to the blue jeep already. It has 7 colors to switch from using the little mounted control box. Wired it up with my dash lights fuse so it comes on when my dash/headlights come on. Its cool to have, and i don't usually use it often lol. Pics are added from my phone using the iPhone app, so I'm not sure how they are going to come out.

99OHXJ

Really clean cherokee, and i actually like the lights inside

jeepMI

Dude awesome stuff!
Im 16 and just got mine a month or so ago.

Louis-

Thanks man.

Nice. I think i checked out your build thread and it looked pretty cool

Louis-

Ok, so I am looking at front bumper options from JCR. I will be getting the unibody tie in brackets with either I chose, as well as the d-rings. But I am stuck between two options:


The first, is the basic design which is here.




The second, is the deluxe version which is here. The difference between this and the basic is the wrap around of the bumper under the side markers.



Just wondering if anyone on here is running either of them and I was curious of what you guys thought about either of them. Thanks!

jeepn4fun

JCR makes some really great stuff. I like the deluxe version, but you might want to consider their winch bumpers. You never no, you might want a winch down the road.

Louis-

Yeah, that is something to take into consideration. Im not sure about a winch yet because I'm limited on money right now. I just want something that will provide me with strong recovery points and a somewhat better look

Louis-

Well, today is my birthday and I passed my road test! (Got my license)

Took her for a spin on the beach, and all is good.

Within the next couple if weeks I should be going up to Wharton with a buddy to wheel up there.

jeepn4fun

Happy birthday and congrats on the license.