offroadnut36

Looks great!

athenscj5

The wheels are aluminum alloy flat black. I really like the flat black.

And I am in the Army..Engineer.. here at Fort Riley, KS

SGT ABN XJ

GO ARMY.......HOOAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

athenscj5

Along with the wheels and tires I got the 3/4" front coil spacers and 2.5* shims. Got those put on yesterday and it did help with both the driveline vibs and helped level the XJ out a bit.

Here is a before the spacer...


Next week I have my bored TB (63mm) coming in from Jeff at strokedjeep.com and I have a set of Bushwacker fender flares I need to put on. Other than than...the TC drop kit bracket lowering piece, RE GENII quick discos mounting bar, and putting the rear bumper back on.

Definiteley will be upgrading to Gen III or JKS quicker discos if I get to taking this thing offroad on a regular basis. The RE GEN II's are a PITA to take on and off.

However, after the wheels and tires were put on, my XJ drives so much better. It really is amazing, it just floats on the road. Of course the comparison is with the stock sagging suspension and that was pretty bad. Still need to change the speedo gear to a 32 tooth gear I think. Just gotta find one. Then I am upgrading the steering with a ZJ setup and new TREs.

athenscj5

athenscj5

Oh yeah, I also really need to get this thing offroad soon. It still hasn't seen any dirt yet and I have a pretty big park just up the road. So pics to come soon from that....hopefully!!!

CodeXJ

33s would look sexy under there... hmm... got me thinking. I was just going to go 3.5" on mine with 31s, since 4.5" with 33s won't fit in the garage. I think 3.5" with 33s would, though. Wonder how bad they'd have to be bumpstopped with those flares?

Nice looking Jeep, very clean! Get it dirty!

athenscj5

This weekend ( and the last few also) I finished up some of the little things that were left to do on my build "Stage 1". Installed the DynoMax 17340 kit (muffler and exhaust pipe) installed for $40 by the local muffler guy. Got the sway bar link relocation bars installed. Put the 4" poly bumpstops in (even if it was only using one bolt). Got the Class III hitch that I bought on CL for $40 installed. I put Boom Mat in the rear hatch and sprayed the inside fenders. While the carpet and rear seat was out, took the seat covers off and pressure washed them and the carpet. Once I got all that back in I could tell a noise difference. Can't wait to get the front and all the doors and roof done. Still need to spray the wheel wells with the truck bed liner. But any way, here are some pictures.

The Hitch....


Bumpstops and DynoMax



And some final (for now) shots.....

n_csmith

totally understand the need for 33's once you throw bush wackers on just finished doing it myself, but i am running stock wheels still so i look goofy as hell. Jeep looks great man.

athenscj5

Yeah, 33's are definitely in the future. This thing sees more road than anything else right now so there is no need to go out and get 33's just yet. Plus I have alot of other things on my list. This is a living list, so it will change. But for now this is how I see it and in about this order.

-Front Bumper (JCR Stage 2 or 4x4hard parts, I need really need the recovery points)
-SYE and rear drive shaft(not sure which one yet because I am not sure if I am going to do it)
-Rock Sliders ( again I like JCR but I am not sure about this one yet)
-Roof Rack
-Rear Bumper with swing out tire carrier (JCR stage 3 or 4 or Olympic wilderness rack)
-Steering upgrade ( for now will probably do a ZJ upgrade but in the future will beef up all the steering rods)
-4.56 gears (for the future tire upgrade)
-lockers will I am regearing (this is so fat in the future I haven't done much research yet)
-by this point I will either be happy with my XJ or will be looking to go up with 5.5 long arms. So at that point I will be either done with this XJ or be starting all over.

Until I get the money to start this list, there will be the constant maintaining and upgrading the little things that I can. Like the HID headlights, adding fog lights, and getting rid of the mechanical fan for an electric fan. Seat covers, radio/cd player, and so on and so forth.


STAY TUNED............

athenscj5

Wow, so it has been a year since my last update. I am not even sure if I can remember all of the things I have done to the XJ since then.

I know I have removed all of the rear carpet and sprayed on boom mat spray and put the insulating boom mat down. I still haven't gone all the way up to the front with that yet.

I upgraded the radio to a Pioneer CD player with IPod plug.

I replaced the fuel injectors with Neon 703's and replace the fuel sending module. No more hard starts now.

I striped and painted the bottom quarters of the passenger side with spray on truck bed liner / rubberized undercoating.

Finally, I got my JCR Pre-Runner bumper on and the factory front skid plate installed. I am really happy with the JCR bumper. It bolted right up and I had no real issues with it. The skid plate was a pain to put in and now I understand why so many people take it off for maintenance and never put it back on.

I also have a factory gas skid, GC-ZJ steering set-up, and a Rugged ridge SYE kit I need to install. Trying to find the time is not easy. Here are a couple pictures. If you have any questions, let me know.

MCObray

Looks good! Nice clean build.

mcguyver_xj

you should not need an sye at 3.5" did you degree shim your rear axle and put in a t-case drop?

athenscj5

Yeah. I have a 1" TC drop and I put 4* shims in and it still makes a pretty lound noise. It actually sits higher than 3.5", it is closer to 4.5" and was even higher when it was first put on. I already have the SYE kit, I just need to find a front drive shaft to put in until I can get a custom rear made.

athenscj5

So I got some early Christmas presents for my self to be install over the upcoming holidays...

JCR Offroad Stage 3 sliders...




And JCR Transfer case skid....


Also ordered a JCR Offroad Crusader Deluxe rear tire carrier today too. All of these things were because of the Back to Black sale they had going on. I can't wait to get all of this painted and installed..

I also have some maintenance issues that I need to deal with in the the exhaust. Probably going to be hitting up Mudrog's Performance curve sight soon for some of that. So lets see the list I had up........

CHECK (Pre-runner)-Front Bumper (JCR Stage 2 or 4x4hard parts, I need
really need the recovery points)
Needs to be installed and new drive shaft ordered-SYE and rear drive shaft(not sure which one yet because I am not sure if I am going to do it)
CHECK-Rock Sliders ( again I like JCR but I am not sure about this one yet)
Still down the road-Roof Rack
ORDERED-Rear Bumper with swing out tire carrier (JCR stage 3 or 4 or Olympic wilderness rack)
CHECK--ZJ-Steering upgrade ( for now will probably do a ZJ upgrade but in the future will beef up all the steering rods)
Still down the road-4.56 gears (for the future tire upgrade)
Still down the road-lockers will I am regearing (this is so fat in the future I haven't done much research yet)