Lol. RCX measurements suck. I'm running 8.5" and my LCA are at like 17.75. Just wanted the coils straight up and down.

 

PeaceFrog, thanks a lot for thr real world measurements. Just so I am understanding you right, for 8.5" lift and RC drop brackets, your LCA are set at 17.75 (17 3/4"). What do you have youe UCAs set at?

 

Also, I learned when I first put the RC drop brackets and my first set of RC X-Flex control arms on my old Jeep, the control arm measurements and having your front axle situated just right is very important in preventing Death Wobble. If you adjust your control arms to tilt your pinion up, if you tilt it up too much, it throws your Toe adjustment for your alignment WAAAAAY off and stand by for the Death Wobble!!

 

Today's lesson was on title transfer, registration and vehicle tax in the state of Washington. So, I go to the DMV to get this all done on my new little white Jeep. When the lady read that it was a 96 Jeep Cherokee Country and that I had given just $500.00 for it she said that the state of Wa. says "Fare Market Value for a 96 Jeep Cherokee Country is $3700.00 and that I would have to pay $333.00 in tax on that price. I told her the reason I got it for 500 was that it wasn't in running driving condition. To that she says if the vehicle wasn't in running condition I still have to pay tax on a purchase price of 1700 which is fare market value for a complete but non running 96 Jeep Cherokee Country, unless.............I can provide her with receipts for repairs I had to pay for to cover the difference between the 500 purchase price and the 1700 fare market value price. Needless to say I was furious. How in the hell is some idiot going to decide what my indidvidual Jeep is worth, who has never even laid eyes on it. They don't know what condition this particular Jeep is in. So, after I calmed down, I went to a random shop here in town and got a written estimate for a complete engine change for a 96 Jeep Cherokee Country with a 4.0 HO inline 6 cylinder motor. I know this town and what vehicle maintenance labor charges are. The estimate was for, get this, over $4900.00. Because they included the price of a complete rebuilt 4.0, plus all labor fluids, piece parts and everything needed to swap this motor in this Jeep, plus it was from a shop on Whidbey Island. So, since my written quote more than covered the supposed "Fare Market Value" of the Jeep I only paid tax on the 500 purchase price. Title transfer from Oklahoma to Washington state, vehicle tax, New License plates and tabs all came to only $165.73. I was pretty jazzed that my little bit of extra leg work saved me about $300.00. Can you say Washington state vehicle registration is a bunch of

 

Yep, i learned my lesson quite a few years back, there is a form u can get from the dmv that you can have the po fill out stating why the vehicle was sold so cheap. problem solved.

 

i also learned this lesson the hard way, but didnt feel like doing the leg work, so i changed the purchase price to the price they told me it had to be, put the original owners initials by it, and took it to Coopville, problem solved!

 

I'm still waiting for my coils springs to be delivered by the brown truck so the lift and axle swap is kinda on hold. Yesterday, I got the new rear plate put on and government base stickers. So, I'm all legal beagle to drive it to work, now. The front plate will be a bit more of a chore as apparently the state of Oklahoma doesn't require a front license plate. This jeep appears to have never had a front plate on it....no holes drilled in the bumper, no front license plate mount, not even scrapes or scratches that would indicate something was ever there. I won't be a big deal. I will drill a couple of holes in the front bumper and rob a couple of bolts from the old Jeep and done. This will just be a temporary setup for until I get my winch bumper put on the new Jeep, anyway. Then I will do the old Maglight clamp trick to the front plate and clip it to my winch roller farelead for road use and pull it off and toss it in the backseat for offroad use. I also removed my stereo from the old Jeep last night and some instrument panel lights. Little White has some instrument panel lights burned out. Little stuff like that is very annoying to me. So, the new lights will go in so I can actually see my heater controls at night and I will put the stereo in so I have tunes. The factory digital clock doesn't work either. I'm hoping that will just be a fuse or simple wiring issue. If not, the one in my old Jeep works great...and it will bolt right in! Then, it's on to fixing the OEM driving lights. I have never had an XJ with the OEM driving lights on it before this one. That is actually pretty cool. I just need to get a replacement lense for the driver's side light and then figure out all the problems with them. I'm thinking new bulbs, I know I need to wire them at the bumper. I just hope the wires weren't clipped there because of a shorting problem somewhere else. We shall see. Hopefully the OEM stereo speakers are better in this Jeep than the ones were in my 91. If not, I have perfectly good Sony X-plodes in my old Jeep. I will most likely put them in the new Jeep anyway. I'm quite sure the factory junk won't sound as good as my Sony X-plodes. I should get my winch, winch bumper, rock sliders and all of the trail armor put on Little White this weekend. It would be pretty comical to drive it around like that with stock suspension and tires.

 

Hey do any of you Laredo or Country guys know if the door switch area is lighted in the XJs with these options?? None of my XJs doors have lights in the power window and lock switch area. I was wondering if there just isn't lights there or if there are more lights I need to replace. Kinda sucks at night as a guy cant see these switches at all without back lighting.

 

the switches aren't illuminated on my 96 sport.. but it took about 13 seconds to learn them by feel, so not a big deal.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, that power mirror switch over on the center console isn't lighted, either. I just have to add this rig into my already limited memory bank along with my truck and the wife's car door switches...lol.

 

Tonight I gt the stereo from my old Jeep installed. It was great. All of the colors of the wires for everything matched up between the 91 wiring and the 96 wiring. I also swapped out the burned out dash lights. I can see my heater controls at night, now. I also swapped the panel to the left of the steering wheel from the 96 that just had the driving light switch for the panel out of my 91 that had the switch for the driving lights and the rear window defog. when I pulled the 96 panel, the plug and wiring for the rear defog was there sitting behond the panle. If I can find the capped off wiring for the rear defog back by the hatch disconnects then installing the rear window defog will be as easy as putting in the window and the switch out of my old Jeep and plugging the wiring in at both ends. Unfortunately the driving light situation gets worse than what I told you before. When I removed the connector from the switch it literally came apart in my hand. Luckily I had the good connector from my 91. I dyked it out and I will splice it into the 96 Jeep at a later date. I also got my front license plate put on. Now, I am all legal beagle to drive it to work tomorrow.

 

I think I am going to have to get ahold of a factory wiring schematic for a 96 Cherokee driving light circuit to include colors of wires. Then I think I can actually get these lights working without having to completely rewire the whole thing. I really wish I could find somebody who has just one XJ OEM driving light clear lens, laying around.

 

I may know a guy , I'll give him a call.

 

Awesome! I appreciate it.

 

So, no brown truck with no big Rough Country box for me today.....