First Jeep Build: Project Nooberkee

Jeep Guy · 10-27-2009, 07:42 PM

I guess it's time to start a build thread since I have been doing so much to my XJ. I don't have a ton of pictures of it and none of it completely stock but I do have a few and I will make it a priority to post them with every new mod. My name is Aaron and I bought my XJ in 2003 with 70k+ miles and now it has 185k+. I bought it while we lived in Ohio and since then it has made it back home to Michigan then to Texas and back home to Michigan again. Recently I have been learning how to wrench on my own. I have replaced the entire cooling system, a/c system, replaced the front axle shaft u joints, wheel hub assemblies, fixed oil leak at valve cover and oil filter adapter and rear main seal, fuel pump, o2 sensors, cat, muffler and hitch. here is a picture of it semi stock.

Then I painted bedliner on the roof and on the sides all the way up to the door handles. I also bought some soft 8's and trimmed the fenders to prepare for 31's and a 3" RC lift.

Last weekend I installed the 3" RC Lift along with Rusty's steering. check it out.

Today I received my new bumper along with a new header panel. I wasted no time at all and installed the new parts. Now I just need to get the header panel painted to match the rest of the Jeep.

That's it for now. There is more to come as finances allow. I have a TC drop on the way and hope to install adjustable UCA and LCA soon. I will hopefully build a new rear bumper and add recovery points to the Jeep as well. I will be adding armor and some lights just not sure when. Let me know what you think and give me some ideas of what else I can do. thanks

Jeep Guy · 10-28-2009, 05:06 PM

today I bought some off road lights and installed them on the front bumper. everything is wired up and ready to go.

Zembonez · 10-28-2009, 05:08 PM

Looking good so far!

Jeep Guy · 10-29-2009, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zembonez

Looking good so far!

thanks.

Projects to come:
1. TC Drop
2. Tranny Rebuild
3. New Header
4. Replace u-joints in driveshafts
5. Ironman 4x4 UCA and LCA
6. Rear Bumper build or JCR
7. Front Bumper Mods with D-Rings and Winch
8. Paint Hood and Header Panel
9. Armor underneath (Gas Tank, TC, Tranny)
10. New Windshield
11. Not sure what else....please feel free to suggest something.

Jeep Guy · 11-07-2009, 01:21 PM

Well today I was able to finish my TC drop as I had a few problems with broken bolts on the crossmember. I broke all four bolts when trying to remove them to lower the crossmember and instead of drilling them out I opted for a different way. I welded a nut and washer to each broken bolt that was sticking out of the unibody so it created an L shape. Then I used a pair of vice grips and a torch to heat the bolt up. Then I proceeded to loosen the bolt a few turns. Then I heated it up again and loosed a few turns more. I repeated these steps until the bolts were free. The threading stayed in tact and the install thereafter was a piece a cake. I rhinolined the tc drop and some of the unibody in the surrounding area. Check it out below.

Jeep Guy · 12-01-2009, 06:30 PM

well it's been a few weeks since i've done anything to the Jeep but over the last two days I fabbed up a set of sway bar links. I thought about going with some quick disco's but the more I read about them on here I just didn't see myself using them enough to justify the extra money and from the sounds of it those that bought the cheaper ones from rusty's and rc they weren't really that quick and were noisy. so I decided to fab up a set of links that are about 9 1/2 inches to compensate for the lift and bought a bushing kit for them painted them up and hope to install tomr. I will also be removing the sway bar tomr, sanding it down and painting that to match the links. here's a couple of pics of the links.

jonnyb78 · 12-01-2009, 06:42 PM

do urself a favor and get rid of that t-case drop... u will thank me

Jeep Guy · 12-01-2009, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonnyb78

do urself a favor and get rid of that t-case drop... u will thank me

ouch! what happened there?

It is definitely just a temporary fix. I will be doing an SYE soon.

Jeep Guy · 12-02-2009, 01:41 PM

I installed the sway bar links along with the sway bar after painting it to match the links. Definitely like the look better.

10-27-2009, 07:42 PM	#1
Jeep Guy Seasoned Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Higgins Lake, MI Posts: 286 My Photos 1997 Cherokee Year: 1997 Model: Cherokee Engine: 4.0 liter H.O. I-6 Transmission: AW4 Transfer Case: NP231 Front Axle: Dana 30 Rear Axle: Chrysler 8.25 Tires: 31/10.5/15 Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac Lift Specifications: 3" Rough Country Lift Misc Accessories: FM CAT, K&N Cold Air, 1 Ton Steering, Trimmed Fenders, Bedliner up to door handles and roof	Jeep Beta I guess it's time to start a build thread since I have been doing so much to my XJ. I don't have a ton of pictures of it and none of it completely stock but I do have a few and I will make it a priority to post them with every new mod. My name is Aaron and I bought my XJ in 2003 with 70k+ miles and now it has 185k+. I bought it while we lived in Ohio and since then it has made it back home to Michigan then to Texas and back home to Michigan again. Recently I have been learning how to wrench on my own. I have replaced the entire cooling system, a/c system, replaced the front axle shaft u joints, wheel hub assemblies, fixed oil leak at valve cover and oil filter adapter and rear main seal, fuel pump, o2 sensors, cat, muffler and hitch. here is a picture of it semi stock. Then I painted bedliner on the roof and on the sides all the way up to the door handles. I also bought some soft 8's and trimmed the fenders to prepare for 31's and a 3" RC lift. Last weekend I installed the 3" RC Lift along with Rusty's steering. check it out. Today I received my new bumper along with a new header panel. I wasted no time at all and installed the new parts. Now I just need to get the header panel painted to match the rest of the Jeep. That's it for now. There is more to come as finances allow. I have a TC drop on the way and hope to install adjustable UCA and LCA soon. I will hopefully build a new rear bumper and add recovery points to the Jeep as well. I will be adding armor and some lights just not sure when. Let me know what you think and give me some ideas of what else I can do. thanks __________________ 97' Heep XJ, 4.0L I6, 3" RC with Rusty's Steering and sittin on Duratrac 31's. Last edited by Jeep Guy; 12-01-2009 at 06:53 PM..

10-28-2009, 05:06 PM	#2
Jeep Guy Seasoned Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Higgins Lake, MI Posts: 286 My Photos 1997 Cherokee Year: 1997 Model: Cherokee Engine: 4.0 liter H.O. I-6 Transmission: AW4 Transfer Case: NP231 Front Axle: Dana 30 Rear Axle: Chrysler 8.25 Tires: 31/10.5/15 Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac Lift Specifications: 3" Rough Country Lift Misc Accessories: FM CAT, K&N Cold Air, 1 Ton Steering, Trimmed Fenders, Bedliner up to door handles and roof	today I bought some off road lights and installed them on the front bumper. everything is wired up and ready to go. __________________ 97' Heep XJ, 4.0L I6, 3" RC with Rusty's Steering and sittin on Duratrac 31's.

11-07-2009, 01:21 PM	#5
Jeep Guy Seasoned Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Higgins Lake, MI Posts: 286 My Photos 1997 Cherokee Year: 1997 Model: Cherokee Engine: 4.0 liter H.O. I-6 Transmission: AW4 Transfer Case: NP231 Front Axle: Dana 30 Rear Axle: Chrysler 8.25 Tires: 31/10.5/15 Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac Lift Specifications: 3" Rough Country Lift Misc Accessories: FM CAT, K&N Cold Air, 1 Ton Steering, Trimmed Fenders, Bedliner up to door handles and roof	Well today I was able to finish my TC drop as I had a few problems with broken bolts on the crossmember. I broke all four bolts when trying to remove them to lower the crossmember and instead of drilling them out I opted for a different way. I welded a nut and washer to each broken bolt that was sticking out of the unibody so it created an L shape. Then I used a pair of vice grips and a torch to heat the bolt up. Then I proceeded to loosen the bolt a few turns. Then I heated it up again and loosed a few turns more. I repeated these steps until the bolts were free. The threading stayed in tact and the install thereafter was a piece a cake. I rhinolined the tc drop and some of the unibody in the surrounding area. Check it out below. __________________ 97' Heep XJ, 4.0L I6, 3" RC with Rusty's Steering and sittin on Duratrac 31's.

12-01-2009, 06:30 PM	#6
Jeep Guy Seasoned Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Higgins Lake, MI Posts: 286 My Photos 1997 Cherokee Year: 1997 Model: Cherokee Engine: 4.0 liter H.O. I-6 Transmission: AW4 Transfer Case: NP231 Front Axle: Dana 30 Rear Axle: Chrysler 8.25 Tires: 31/10.5/15 Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac Lift Specifications: 3" Rough Country Lift Misc Accessories: FM CAT, K&N Cold Air, 1 Ton Steering, Trimmed Fenders, Bedliner up to door handles and roof	well it's been a few weeks since i've done anything to the Jeep but over the last two days I fabbed up a set of sway bar links. I thought about going with some quick disco's but the more I read about them on here I just didn't see myself using them enough to justify the extra money and from the sounds of it those that bought the cheaper ones from rusty's and rc they weren't really that quick and were noisy. so I decided to fab up a set of links that are about 9 1/2 inches to compensate for the lift and bought a bushing kit for them painted them up and hope to install tomr. I will also be removing the sway bar tomr, sanding it down and painting that to match the links. here's a couple of pics of the links. __________________ 97' Heep XJ, 4.0L I6, 3" RC with Rusty's Steering and sittin on Duratrac 31's.

12-01-2009, 06:42 PM	#7
jonnyb78 cowboy casanova Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: providence RI Posts: 4,476 My Photos 2000 Cherokee Year: 2000 Model: Cherokee Engine: 4.0 Transfer Case: np 231 Front Axle: d 30 Rear Axle: chrysler 8.25 Tires: 33"x 12.5 15 bfg mt Lift Specifications: RE 4.5" superflex kit Misc Accessories: cb, yakima rack, jcr bumpers, jcr sliders	do urself a favor and get rid of that t-case drop... u will thank me __________________ CBW member #3 live well, love much, off road often www.oceanstatejeepsters.com my build thread http://www.cherokeeforum.com/showthr...923#post213923

12-02-2009, 01:41 PM	#9
Jeep Guy Seasoned Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Higgins Lake, MI Posts: 286 My Photos 1997 Cherokee Year: 1997 Model: Cherokee Engine: 4.0 liter H.O. I-6 Transmission: AW4 Transfer Case: NP231 Front Axle: Dana 30 Rear Axle: Chrysler 8.25 Tires: 31/10.5/15 Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac Lift Specifications: 3" Rough Country Lift Misc Accessories: FM CAT, K&N Cold Air, 1 Ton Steering, Trimmed Fenders, Bedliner up to door handles and roof	I installed the sway bar links along with the sway bar after painting it to match the links. Definitely like the look better. __________________ 97' Heep XJ, 4.0L I6, 3" RC with Rusty's Steering and sittin on Duratrac 31's.

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