dustin541

I I picked up this very clean very stock 205k mile cherokee sport always wanted a 2 door and it was time to get an xj that was more of a solid build platform and this beauty showed up on craigslist was owned by a BMW mechanic and well taken care of and I only paid $3300 for it

dustin541

I already had a 96 with a 4.5in lift and 33s so it was lifted and had bigger tires from a donor installed within about a week

The 96 already had a Rough country 4.5 cheap lift but I got the full leafs in the rear but it drives like a brick if you ask me tires are 33x12.50 BFG all terrains in the front and mud terrains in the rear an aem cai and 24lb injectors from my foxbody mustang

dustin541

Since I am currently deployed and can't do any of the work my brother has been kind enough to switch over all of my suspension and stereo upgrades from my 96. These are the only pictures he took of the swap but I would have been to focused for pictures myself so no harm done to me lol and then the end result was horrible front axle location i already have an adjustable trac bar to fix the problem but it's been raining back in Oregon so he hasn't got around to installing it yet

dustin541

Currently it is completely stock with the 4.5in lift and cheap RC shocks cold air intake and tires gonna have new injectors put into it but they changed the plugs in between 96-99 to ev6 so the 24s which I will say made a huge difference in my 96 when I put them in needs some lockers in a bad way for financial purposes I am thinking about welding the spiders in the front and a lock right in rear it's not a daily driver so I don't really care how it steers

dustin541

First time it's been in the mud probably in its life today my brother took it to friends place with 45acres to use for fun open differentials once again holding it back in a bad way
And then the exhaust came loose and fell off luckily it didn't get bent so it just needs to be reinstalled

dustin541

Haven't done anything to it since the last post due to horrible cold weather but this weekend it should get the new trac bar and 1" coil spacers installed hopefully it will drive a little bit smoother

dustin541

Finally got some matching tires picked this set of 5 33x12.50r15s for $650 mounted and balanced came with a set of useless Toyota wheels

dustin541

Well I ordered a set of 10" fiberglass fenders from hannemann but when I finally got them they were not even for an xj so i was very disappointed to say the least and being as impatient as I am at my age (23) I decided to just cut and fold the fenders which actually worked a lot better than just cutting them like I did on my first 2 XJs since it eliminated the sharp edge didn't want to turn on the air compressor cause it is huge and takes to long to fill up so I used a hack saw lol

dustin541

So after cutting and folding the fenders I took her to a buddy's house to test the flex and wether or not the tires would clear and his porch has been a great testing facility in the past so I used that again and it passed with flyin colors other than the bumper end caps rubbing which were cut off soon after the test

dustin541

Took her out to Florence Oregon to see how well she handled the dunes and I was rather impressed since I didn't air down at all the whole time since I don't have any way to air back up but it went almost everywhere until I went down a fairly hidden switchback but thankfully my aunt was in a nearby campground with a lifted and locked wrangler with a winch to gety bumper out of the sand lol

dustin541

Got a set of 15x10 rock crushers off the craigslist don't know when I will get them on the jeep but they look good on the shop floor

dustin541

Well it's been awhile since I have posted on here for my build been having lots of motor issues but I finally got them straightened out and took her out for a test a couple weeks ago here are some pics

dustin541

Ended up overheating and blowing a head gasket on my trip but that was an easy fix thank god I had another head since it was cracked!!!

dustin541

And I finally finished doing my cut and fold thanks to bleepin jeep and his great instructional videos I think I did pretty good for my first time out

And there was a group of XJs at my work last week

dustin541

Been awhile since i updated this but been a lot of changes since the last time i see bought a beater parts jeep and stole all the goods from it to include an 8.8 3.73 disc brake rear end with welded spiders, steering box brace, a sweet metal gas tank skidplate that i have used multiple times highly encouraged!!!!! Had a slip yoke eliminator as well and i think that was all i stole from it before i junked it.

Since then it has made a few trips to elbe offroad park since it was right down the road from me while i was stationed in fort lewis and boy does that place highlight weak spots i need a front locker but scared to put one in a bone stock dana 30 with 35in boggers. I no longer have overheating problems now that i have a V8 ZJ clutched fan thing sounds crazy now can hear the difference a lot!!! Might be missing some things but i can't think of anything else

Lots of maintenance has been done recently tho the axle seals in the 8.8 were leaking for a long time and i finaly changed them a couple weeks ago, front ball joints and wheel bearings were in bad shape so i had to replace those as well. The chain in the tcase was so worn out that it was skipping over teeth on the front shaft gear so i had to take that apart and put a less worn one in it but its been holding up pretty nicely. I found out that my rear axle breather tube was clogged for who knows how long maybe a cause for my leaking axle seals who knows but use an old hose from my air compressor to run it way higher than i ever intend to submerge the jeep so hopefully that's over with. Going to be redoing the hard lines for the rear brakes and getting an extended soft line since they arent secured and just vibrating amd hanging free in the wind