beefmobile

Hey guys, i'm new to the forum but not to Jeeps. I have a '90 YJ that is my trail rig; it has 35" baja claws, SOA conversion, SYE, geared 4.56, etc etc.

I just picked up a '95 Sport XJ 4x4 with the 4.0 high output, AW4 tranny, and the towing package with the Chrysler 8.25

I'm very happy with it. It has lots of power, gets WAAAY better gas mileage than my YJ, it's smooth, and roomy. I mainly got it because i was driving my YJ into the ground by driving it every day to work, but also because i need something to pick up my kids in (my YJ's back seats have been out for a loooong time). It serves that purpose very well, and i've also learned that this thing will sling mud like no other. I've got regular stock wheels and street tires on it now (picking up some 30" A/Ts today) and that SOB went through mud, ruts, and ditches like a boss.

When i got it i was under the impression that everything worked, i made sure 4wd engaged, there were no leaks, knocks or ticks, but i knew there was a little rust. Well i dipped into a ditch across from where i work, 2wd lost traction so i put it in 4Hi.......horrible CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK......i made it out of the ditch, got it on a lift and it sounded like the transfer case was about to explode and front wheels did not move in 4wd. I pulled the transfer case and put in another i got from a salvage yard. Pulled apart the old one and the chain had slipped off the gear. It was worth it to me just to swap in the 'new' one as trannies and transfer cases are not my area of expertise. That took about 6 hours and a 12 pack on a saturday afternoon. Now 4wd works like a dream and this thing has a LOT of power!

So far i fixed the infamous broken center console clip, too.

Like i said, i knew there was a little rust, particularly on the rocker panels. It's a little worse than i thought. The XJ isn't really my trail rig, more like my daily driver, and will see a few trails and light mud, so i don't want to put some crazy rock crawling tubes on in place of my stock rocker panels, i would just like to replace them. I tried to research it, but all i could find was tubes and body armor. I looked up stock replacement panels and they are surprisingly cheap....like $25-50 each. Is that right? It seems a little cheap to me, i expected them to be at least $100+ each. I'm all about saving money, but i learned not to 'cheap out' on Jeeps a long time ago. Here are a couple of places i found replacement panels:




http://www.jeep4x4center.com/key-par...y-482101l.html

Is just replacing the panels an easy task? is there any grinding or welding involved?

It's nice to join the forum, i'll be sticking around.

Thanks!

Michael

Bustedback

Welcome to the site, you'll be ditching that YJ once the XJ sickness really takes a hold of you.

beefmobile

haha....i don't think so. Btw, here are my two rigs:

dukie564

The rockers are welded in place, so yes lots of cutting and welding. They're cheap because it's thin sheet metal, but it makes welding in replacements a tedious task.

IMO it would be much easier grab some 2x3 or 2x4 tube, cut out the old rockers, and weld in the tube. That would both be stronger, less work, and would give you some nice thick metal to weld the unibody metal to

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billav...rs/rockers.htm
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/t...ml#post5107992
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthrea...#post245386501
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/rockers-75178/