JakeWI

nice looking xj. Like the name of the build

ADK_XJ

Thanks man, I've actually been following your build too. No bull.

You like those new ZJ seats?

The91XJ

Looking good man. Don't waste your time hunting down shorts in the front speaker wiring. Just run new wires, it will make your life a lot easier. sanchezcruz 20 did a good write up in his build thread on the process.

ADK_XJ

Well, most of my free time this evening was eaten up detailing the GF's new Civic and tearing out the rusted bolts on the plates (damn snow salt)...BUT I picked up a bunch of pieces for the audio setup (how is Radio shack still in business? The reps at my store blow), speaker wiring for the front and then I made a great road side pickup of a perfectly clean Voyager roof carrier. How's that for a run on sentence?

Anyway, I'll have some pics on that and the stereo install shortly. Might spray paint the carrier black to match but also have a line on a used Yakima rack for $125. Any opinions on those? I figure the carrier for road trips and Yakima for wheeling/camping.

ADK_XJ

Oh, almost forgot, do any veterans out there have a take on keeping/replacing the stock fog light position and housings? Mine don't work at all and that useless switch on the dash is eating at me.

JakeWI

Thanks. Its a work in progress. Replacing parts with hopeful better ones and so on.

The ZJ are super nice compared to my old 1996 xj ones.

ADK_XJ

Phone is phuk'd up right now, so no photos, but did a full install of stereo components on Friday night and Saturday morning. What a difference! I also noticed that there is a factory wiring harness up the side of the front doors that looks like it might be for tweeters - anyone know if that's standard?

Rest of the weekend was eaten up driving the width of NY state for a wedding but it was a nice long trip to christen the new XJ and was pleased to average 20 mpg the whole time. Plans for this week include adding bug'flectors and cleaning up that car carrier for an upcoming road trip south.

Stay tuned...

ADK_XJ

Finally got my phone (and the camera in it) fixed so that I could shoot some pics. I had the BFGs mounted and balanced last week and we're ready for another Upstate New York winter:

ADK_XJ

Also spent a long afternoon and one looong evening redoing pretty much every element of the stereo system...word to the wise, definitely invest in speaker baffles and dynmatting up front. I'm about to disable the door panels again to dampen some of the distortion I'm getting because of poorly insulated panels. Either way, here's the final result that you cna actually see:



The Sony Xplod bluetooth models are an amazing deal if you have an iPhone or iPod touch...built in, CD-quality audio streaming via automatic bluetooth connection. The microphone for talking isn't awesome (why would you put it on the passenger side, BEHIND the cover plate?) but it works.

Now pondering the addition of a subwoofer and spec-ing out lifts. Currently leaning toward a full spring-packed Rusty's 3".

ADK_XJ

Soo, I've been totally out of the loop for a while and any grand plans for the Jeep kind of ground to a halt for the last few months. Decided to pull up our stakes and move South with the start of the new year; because mountains were still a must-have we settled here in Asheville, North Carolina in the thick of the Appalachians and Great Smokies.

However, now that we're settled in, I'm back on the pursuit of an all-around awesome mountain crawler and there's a ton of trails around here to aim for. After lots of talking with the awesome customer reps at Rusty's I ended up purchasing the first step in this 3" AAL package...the full spring pack set seemed like overkill seeing as I still have factory clearance at 17" from hub to fender:



So, where am I going from here? I'm open to input but I'll end up doing this in stages since we're now in a house rather than an apartment and, like most of the country, budgeting is fairly important. BUUTTTTT, here's the steps I got planned over the next couple months:

• Upgrade tires, currently on 30s...thinking maybe 32x10.5s still BFGs
• Get the Warn Trans4rmer grill guard since it bolts directly over existing bumper and I like having the foglights in their current position...any liability there?
• Need to identify a roof rack and possibly some top rack lights
• Probably my last step will be buying a Warn winch to bolt into the Trans4rmer

Happy Easter, y'all...I detailed the road weary Jeep today to give it some new life in light of the holiday:

ADK_XJ

Oh, found one more photo from taking the Jeep up into the mountains yesterday...what you can't tell at 150 feet away is that I had the hood latch release and fly open at 50 mph and put a nice dent right in the middle of it. I should have known since it had been sticky the last couple times I changed fluids, lesson learned as I would be dead if the gf hadn't been riding shotgun to guide me off the road.

So, I can close the hood but can't open it all the way, so I'm in need of a new hood and pick-n-pull is probably my next stop, but anyone have thoughts about cowled hood replacements or adding vents? What are the concerns over water/dust/other debris falling in...does it make any difference at normal speeds?

Anyway, here's the pic:

ADK_XJ

So, my Rusty's lift came in the end of last week and got the Jeep over to a friend's shop to get her setup last night. We broke into this afternoon and discovered that...I'm an idiot.

I somehow mis-diagnosed the axle as a Dana 35c rather than the Chrysler 8.25 it actually is...anyone else ever do this? I was up under the car in the dark and rain the night I placed my order to Rusty's so I know exactly how it happened, but now I need wider u-bolts ASAP. The good news, of course, is that my axle is a hell of a lot tougher than I thought it was.

Lifting continues tomorrow morning when the parts get in...

MCObray

Here is what helped me identify my rear axle. Main difference is that there is a lip on the bottom half of the C8.25.

Like you said though, the good news is that you have a much tougher axle in the C8.25, rather than the D-TurdyFive.
On another note, how is the coolant looking in your Jeep?

ADK_XJ

Very helpful - Rusty's had a version of this but I don't think the axles represented were to size because I would have sworn to you I was looking at a D35. Oh well...

Not sure about the coolant, I'll go check it at the shop this AM, but why do you ask?

ADK_XJ

All right, starting the morning off right - while it's up and before my buddy gets here I'm finally switching out the foglights on this bad boy. LOVE these stock fog light positions:



And the yellowed out, not-working POS that it's replacing: