Desertfox1023

Well I figured since I got such big plans for the jeep I might as well start a build thread for it. The jeep is a DD so the idea behind it is to keep it street legal while still making it able to hang out with the big boys. The idea is to keep it as low cost as possible with out cutting corners or going with the it will work for now and I'll upgrade it later concept.

As the jeep sits now:

4" lift ~ actually 3.5 cause of the front winch

3" Rusty coils
1.75" spacer with the stock isolator removed
3" blocks in the rear on -1" stock springs leaf
1.5" Rusty's lift shackles
Rusty's control arms for 4.5" lift
ZJ Sway bar links with home made disconects
Rusty's Shocks for 3" lift
Rusty's 1" transfercase drop
Engine, T-case, and gas tank skids
31X10.5X15 BFG A/t on 15X8 3.73bs rims
8000lb Champion winch mounted to custom frame mount behind the stock bumper
Removable front doors
Custom 2.5" exhuast with Flowmaster 44
Drop in K&N Filter
YJ brake lines
Wilderness roof rack

Currently working on 4.5" lift:

-I'm going to remove the 1.75 spacer and put a 2.25 spacer in it's place.
-Build some s-10 bastard packs that will incorporate the 1.5" lift shackle
-Make BPE's out of rear sway bar links and add a 1" extension to them so I can reuse the 3" shocks.
-Extend the current front swaybar links to compensate for the lift

This should net me around 4.5" of lift and with some fender trimming I'll be adding some 33X12.50 M/T's.

The plans as it stand are:

TJ flares that I'll paint and put on
Interior had been lined
Homemade front and rear bumpers along with some rock rails
Electric fan conversion with a Turras fan.

Axles:

HP D30 w/ 297x ujoints, 4.56's, lockright
D44 w/ discs, 4.56's, lockright

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94 - XJ, 4.5", 33's with a few odds and ends attached

JakeWI

awesome. cant wait for updates.

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1993 Cherokee (R.I.P)
4.5 Rough Country
5speed
31x 10.5 x15 Dick Cepek Radial FC-II

1996 Cherokee/ 4.5 Rough Country/ 31" General Grabber AT2/ RockCrusher diff covers/ Tomken Gas Tank Skid/CB/ Steering box brace/ GTX hood vents/ Wisconsin Plates/soon to finish-homebrew rockrails and bumpers.

Project Northwoods
http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f46/project-northwoods-3541/

Steve96xj

Sounds interesting, check out ironrockoffroad.com. they have very good prices on misc. lift parts. They also have a radius arm style 3 link that I am running that is a really nice setup for the money, cant wait for updates.

Desertfox1023

Ya, the guys at iron rock are a pretty cool group and will cut some deals to. But I didn't know they made a three link. Where is it on there site?

edit* never mind I found it, It doesn't seem to bad but I plan on getting it while I'm sitting at 4.5" lift then adjusting it out when I go 7". That and I'm already pretty much sold on the Rock Krawler kit.

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94 - XJ, 4.5", 33's with a few odds and ends attached

Steve96xj

Rockrawler looks like they have nice setups, i was thinking about there rear coil conversion.
I originally purchased the non-adjustable 3-link, but it backordered for 3 weeks because ironrock was out of the shop for the moab easter safari. So they upgraded it to the adjustable for free, there real cool to deal with.

Desertfox1023

Ya they are a great bunch. They were going to cut me a sweet deal on my fixed lowers till my buddy gave me his when he went to a long arm. Making mental note though to order things when there not working

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94 - XJ, 4.5", 33's with a few odds and ends attached

Steve96xj

yah I hear yah on that

Desertfox1023

So I got a little work done on the jeep and it's back to running right again with a new fuel pump and filter and a new crank shaft position sensor.

I ended up postponing the idea of running 33's for now when I picked up a sweet deal on some 31's.



A little flat black spray paint took care of the ugly spoke rims.



The tires aren't going to be worth anything off road but they got around 30,000 plus miles left on them.



You might be a redneck if you got a set of tires in your dorm room.

I saved a ton of money picking these tires up, so a new SYE and the RK long arm should be on before summer.

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94 - XJ, 4.5", 33's with a few odds and ends attached

Desertfox1023

Well, sorry to say the jeep won't be seeing a big lift and 35's for a while.

The new build plan for it will be

4.5" lift
33x12.50 M/T's
D30/D44
Locked F&R
4.56 gears

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94 - XJ, 4.5", 33's with a few odds and ends attached

Desertfox1023

Picked up a roof rack for the jeep today and mounted it up, I'll try to get some pictures up of everything.

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94 - XJ, 4.5", 33's with a few odds and ends attached

Desertfox1023

Well I ripped all the interior out of the jeep and fixed some rust spots. Then put down some bedliner. Also drilled some drain holes in the floor so I can just wash it out with a hose when it gets dirty. Turned out pretty good, pics to come.

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94 - XJ, 4.5", 33's with a few odds and ends attached

Desertfox1023

Built some custom light tabs out of some scrap steel I had and mounted 4 new front lights to rack along with 2 rear.

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94 - XJ, 4.5", 33's with a few odds and ends attached

Venumb

I'd love to see pics of how you custom mounted your winch behind a stock bumper. I'm considering doing the same to hold me over until I can afford a ARB bumper.

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My fleet:

89 XJ Laredo, 6.5" RC susp. on 33's SOLD!


02 Jaguar S Type Sport 4.0
98 Volvo S70 GLT (5 cylinders of turboed frenzy!)
70 Dodge Dart GT (The GT that wasn't supposed to exist)
01 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R

Desertfox1023

Sorry for the late reply to this, I just noticed it today. Basic I removed the stock brakes for starters. I ran a piece of 3/16" steel down the frame rail and bolted to it in 3 places along it. I took some angle Iron 2x2x3/16" and set it flush against the bumpers and bolted my universal winch plate to it through the bumper with 4 grade 8 bolts. I welded that to the steel running along the frame rail. I also took another piece and bolted it to the front and then welded a piece to run from it to the bumper attachment.

Hopefully you get an idea of it. It's pretty darn stout and I've not had any problems out of the use it's seen. I'll be removing the stock bumper and building a new one now that I've got some more money. I'll be sure to snap some pictures this time as well as some of the old setup.

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94 - XJ, 4.5", 33's with a few odds and ends attached

Desertfox1023

Here's a couple of pics of the new Plasticote roll on bedlined interior. I have done Hercuiler on my friends TJ and I will say it is easier to work with but if done right they so far have the same good quality. I just went with what Santa brought me so I'm not complaining. I love the new look and the moldy old carpet is finally gone, as well as some rust posts that were worse than I thought. Some new sheet metal was screwed in place then I applied bondo over it just for added strength to the area.

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94 - XJ, 4.5", 33's with a few odds and ends attached