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Well I've had this Jeep for about 2 years now and I've already changed the set up quite a few times, so I figured I would make a build thread. This is the 6th XJ i have owned, so they're nothing new to me. So here it is when i brought it home, I had to run it through my woods of course.
She had a beat up 3" lift on it with bad death wobble, so right away I tore in and fixed it all up. It ended up having a broken leaf pack. I picked up a brand new zone lift with leafs from a guy for cheap, new Rustys steering, which i regretted after I got it installed, all new ball joints and other goodies.
I ran it like that for a while because it was my wife's vehicle, so I pretty much left it be. Though i did take it to Silver Lake Sand Dunes, and Bundy Hill a few times to get my fix.
So as it sat, it had 4.5" zone lift
Rustys Track bar
Rustys HD steering
30.5" Walmart Wrangler tires (free came on my truck when I got it)
Rough Country control arm drop brackets
Last edited by boomerc1992; 10-28-2017 at 01:02 AM.
I ended up driving it more and got bit again by that Jeep bug so I bought a spartan locker, got tired of Rusty's HD steering, and got JCR's 1 ton over the knuckle steering.
Top to Bottom JCR 1 ton, Rustys HD, Stock steering
Trimmed up my bumpers a little bit for some more clearance as well.
On a Side note, I scrapped a parts jeep I had, towed it in behind my jeep, handed the lady the title for the Jeep upside down on my trailer, and she asked me which Jeep I was scrapping... really? I didn't think mine looked that rough.
Decided i wanted to try 33s, so i picked up a set for $100 and ran them for a little bit.
Made the jump to long arms from my Rough Country drop brackets, so I got some from Frank at Serious off-Road, which was way beefy and Frank was excellent to deal with. I never received the bolts that were supposed to come with the kit. That night I shot him an E-mail that night and he called me the next morning and shipped out my bolts right away and I got them quickly, so i could get my long arms on.
I ended up putting a block in the rear to just get the raked look I like, my truck sits the same way, I can't stand that California lean. As a result of the extra 2' lift I purchased a SYE kit for the rear and 6* Shims for the rear and had no vibes what so ever.
On a Side note, I scrapped a parts jeep I had, towed it in behind my jeep, handed the lady the title for the Jeep upside down on my trailer, and she asked me which Jeep I was scrapping... really? I didn't think mine looked that rough.
I laughed way harder than I should have at this, that pretty much sums of the life of owning an XJ. Looks good so far, I'm looking forward to seeing some more progress on this one.
Took the money pit wheeling some more, as Rouch world, a new off road park opened up just 10 min from my house, and I kept wanting more out of it every time I wheeled it.
Well the next thing on my list was working on my bosses JK. Needed new steering and a front driveshaft. He was running 35s, so to my surprise the wheels were universal 5 lug, which meant they would fit my Jeep. Of course I had to try them out, but this is our little secret.
After loving the 35s, I went out and got me some el cheapos to run for a bit. not the best tire but did alright for what I wanted, at least for a little bit.
My first Cherokee I removed the doors, so I wanted to do the same to this one, because lets face it, its really nice to take the doors off on a hot summer day.
Another wheeling trip to Bundy Hill, its exactly an hour from my house, and I found out that 35s break axle shafts pretty quick and easy, but I had fun trying out places that no one has been through in a while and just messing around. Though it was a costly trip still was a blast as always. (sorry for the sideways pictures, don't know why)
...and the carnage from one trip. lots of axle shafts. Broke one, went to auto parts store and got another one, rise, lather, repeat. It was a long day. I eventually just gave up and called it a day.
Last edited by boomerc1992; 10-28-2017 at 09:29 PM.
Of course like any sensible person would do, I was breaking things at 35s, so I made the jump to 37s. Why you ask? Well that JK I worked on, my payment was some 17" wheels for a JK and some cash. Got some 37" KM2s from a buddy for some parts, and ordered some adapters. Voila, 37s
Loved the look, but again I was still on stock axles and gears with only a front locker....for now.
I picked up a set of 1 ton axles. Dana 60 (Ball Joint) and a 14 bolt rear.
Also I needed a good welder to get me through all of this. I picked up a Millermatic 211 with auto set, works beautiful. Don't mind the bad welds on the plate next to the welder. My brother never welded before and wanted to try it out.
The axles all stripped down and tubes welded on the 14 bolt.
Ordered a whole bunch of parts from Artec, and Ruff Stuff to get the swap going. the Artec 60 swap truss kit, made this whole thing very easy, Ruff stuff rear diff cover, rear pinion guard, anti wrap leaf spring perches and 14 bolt disc brake swap kit. Along with all the little stuff to get everything good to go.
Well the Jeep has been done actually for some time now, just really slacking on getting updates. lol
Anyways, back to it. Got every thing I needed to get it finished, made my steering and did the brake swap on the 14 bolt. Got most of it painted too!
After a very long night from working about 5 pm after work till about 2:30 am when I have to be up for work at 3:30 am, I finally got it on its own feet!
Picked up some Wheels and tires for $150 to get me by for a while. 35" Duratracs, awesome tire, I run them on all my stuff. I like the Chevy HD wheels on the Jeep, makes people look twice when they realize what they are and why they're on a Jeep. lol
Shortly after the Jeep was put together I had to give it its first run to check everything out. Now I haven't even geared or locked it yet with the new axles. Rear was 4.10 and front was 3.73, so it made things interesting to say the least. I took it through the same spot I posted above if you have been reading. It didn't do near as good. I didn't pick the right line, or had lockers so I couldn't quite make it, but it was still quite the ride as you will see if you watch the video. Over all I was impressed with its maiden Voyage off road. My home brew shortened front drive shaft did fine at low speeds and vibrated bad when I got moving. That would soon be taken care of however.
Since then I Have gotten 4.88 Gears, Detroit Rear locker, Tom Woods multiple double cardan driveshaft sway bars, but still no rear shocks. Fully Compressed I can't get my shocks to mount where I want them. I will have to cut into the wheel well a little bit to get them where I want and get them to be most effective. More on that later though.
Right now I have a little Issue with it Wandering, I'm Still trying to get it Dialed in, I'm either to cheap to pay for an alignment when I have a tape measure and angle finder, or I don't want people at the shop to make fun of my set up lol. Either way I do daily drive it about 70 miles a day to and from work. No bump steer, none of those scary wobbles every one talks about, no vibrations, just a little bouncy in the rear. (My Pregnant wife hates riding in it right now let alone climbing in it)
Well kind of a present day update finally, I've put probably close to 5,000 miles on the one tons so far, haven't had anything go wrong or break other than it wandering a little bit.
I got a set of bumpers from my brother when we parted out an XJ he had, the rear had a spare tire carrier, but wasn't designed the way I wanted it. Cut it off, stripped it down and sprayed it with some rocker guard paint. Love that stuff by the way. It's filthy right now, Michigan winters and no fender flares makes for a dirty Jeep.
Upon getting that bumper on I found out I have much larger issues that what I thought I did.
The giant hole in the frame I knew about. My exhaust hanger ripped that off when I backed over a rock at Bundy Hill last summer.
So next on my list is either going to be some IRO rear stiffeners or make my own. Link to those Here
Things I like about that IRO rear stiffener. they go all the way back to the nut strip and that's what I need as well as the obvious cracks.
Things I don't like. They are only 10 guage. That would honestly probably be enough, but on the same side, If I ever plan to 4 link the rear and chop it all up, I want it to be strong. We will see.
Now onto to my plans for this rust bucket. Me and my wife and our soon to be 2 kids (one on the way) will be travelling down to Yuma Arizona for vacation this next Christmas while I am off of work. We are going to drive for sure, I really want to take the Jeep to take it and go camping in the Desert and hit some awesome trails. So I have a lot of work to do. I could pull it with my truck and get about the same Mileage, but don't want to have to worry about 2 Vehicles and a trailer there and back.
My eventual goal is to make this a good trail rig, daily driver, and expedition vehicle. Clearly not your typical expedition rig but will be tough enough to wheel hard and drive all over. Kind of like something you'd see on Ultimate Adventure, just not quite as hardcore as some rigs.
Here's my plans in no particular order.
Frame stiffeners all the way through
Roof rack with possible Roof top Tent for camping
On board air using A/C compressor
2x6 Steel rockers that double as air tanks
possible boat sides
rear shocks mounted through the wheel well
37" tires
limiting staps
better bump stops
remake trans cross member and long arms
Front bumper with winch mounted
Spare tire carrier with provisions for gas cans
Shackle relocators
Some other minor stuff as well, but that's the Jist of it
Now yes that's a lot of added weight for the 4.0 trying to push the Jeep as a Expedition rig I know. I have a solution for that....I picked up a 6.0 LS engine that needed to be rebuilt for very cheap. With some minor upgrades with that, I will have more than adequate power to push my heavy XJ around.
It will be a long build, but hey we all know too well that Jeeps are never fully done.
We all love Pictures, so here's a few behind the inspiration of a few things I want to do.
That rack is pretty sweet!!! I wonder how much that would cost to build assuming you can ge tthe tubing for pretty cheap. That one that was mounted on the silver/grey jeep just don't look right how it is mounted. Not sure where you got that photo from but man I would be scared to know how that was mounted through the existing OEM roof rack rails.
10-22-2017, 09:50 PM
2000 XJ Build "The Green Machine"
