Been busy fixing tons of problems on this xj. I got the tcase rebuilt with a new slip yoke which considerably fixed the vibration problems I've been having. I'd say about 90% of the vibes went away. We think it was a bent yoke or output shaft somehow that was causing the problems.




Finally got my Dirtbound Offroad steel fenders installed too.





I think they turned out nice







Also have the new front axle coming together. It is still a D30, but for what I do this is fine with the truss and chromoly axle shafts.



Grand Cherokee knuckles, over the knuckle, new rotors and pads from EBC yellow stuff, and custom built 1 ton steering. Just need to get the rest put together and installed! Oh, and get the track bar figured out as well.



Eaton e-locker placed in



JCR provided the axle truss, C gussets, and control arm skids.



Yukon chromoly axle shafts up front :-D

 

goodness gracious

 

Love this build thread! I'm working on an overland build and I'm getting a lot of good ideas here. A couple questions for you. Where did you find that gas can for the smitty bilt carrier? How do you like that exterior paint, is it holding up pretty well? Why did you decide on the e locker over air or cable? Do you have a locker in the rear?

 

Glad I can help with some ideas! Let me know if you have anything I haven't thought of as well :-)

1) The jerry can is the Midwest #99551 https://www.harborfreight.com/5-gall...can-99551.html

2) The exterior paint is not bad. It's no where near as strong as linex as it does scratch similar to regular paint and clearcoat. I did it because my paint was already pretty beat with pinstripes and for the $200ish cost and DIY it worked for me. Plus you can repaint when necessary!

3) Went with the elocker because I found someone selling it for $450 after they realized they purchased the wrong spline count. E-lockers are supposedly only good up to a 32" tire I believe but I'm sure 33s are just fine. I would probably go with an arb airlocker if I could afford it lol.

4) I have a lunchbox locker in the rear and I hate it. It ratchets around corners and for something that is driven a lot on streets and snowy conditions 3-4 months a year it really sucks. I will eventually sell the lunchbox and go with something new in the rear. I need to finish my other higher priority things before I tackle a new rear locker.

 

One of the things I haven't documented yet is the severe rust problem my jeep has developed in the most unusual place. I don't have any good pictures of it at the moment, but it is the entire door jam area up around the roof. And it's bad. It goes from the A pillar all the way back to just before the C pillar. I got super lucky and found someone an hour from me that had just cut a roof off for a jeep that was supposed to installed on a rolled jeep. Luckily the rolled jeep was covered under insurance and the roof was sitting needing a good home. This is going to be a super crazy install that hopefully will get done over this winter.

Same guy also had a 2000 transmission with only 32k miles that I picked up! Woot!! So just need to throw that bad boy in there as I am not quite sure why my tranny was slipping on my last offroad trip.



New roof cut all the way down the support pillars



No rust found anywhere on this bad boy, not even the window frame



Who needs a trailer? Needless to say I got some odd looks on the highway haha

 

I'm working on a roof rack for my overlander and was wondering if you have noticed a big difference in power/fuel mileage after adding the lights? Not sure if loosing that euro is a big deal or not... Thanks

 

Thanks for the info! I was looking up those arb air lockers and the dual tank less compressor set up, it would be really sweet but $$$ lol. I was considering an auto locker in the rear, some people seem to love them, but was definitely concerned about potential noises and unwanted locking in turns. I'm in the "make this thing a dd and trick it out later" stage so I'm trying gather as much info as I can yo plan for next summer. My paint is in pretty good condition so I'll probably just hit it with a touch up pen at some point and call it good for now.

 

Hey sorry for the delay...been working on too many projects. I'm sure the lights decrease the mpg by some amount, but I can't really say its any significant amount. I say that because my roof rack in general is a monster and everything on there probably contributes its fair share of mpg decline. My lights only stick up an 1 or 2 above the face of the roof rack anyways so if I take the lights off, the wind would still be directly hitting the rack.

FWIW, when I put my RTT on this jeep I don't even notice it. I think the wind is actually deflected from the lights and helps the drag from the tent. When I put the RTT on my tacoma that has a super low profile roof rack, the tent makes a huge difference in wind drag.

 

I have a lunchbox locker in the rear and I hate it. It has done fine on the trails, but for DD'ing it the noise is such a PITA! People always ask me when I put up to a parking spot, "Hey what's the noise??". Rather than do things a second time, just save up, wait, and buy the part you really want. You gotta think long-term vision on your build or else you'll spend double on it (like I have :-( ).

 

What did you use for bedliner like material on your paint? I was wonering how it was holding up to the UV.

 

I used Monstaliner roll on truck bed liner. It's held up fine to UV but my jeep is also garaged kept about 80% of the time.

 

Thanks I like it and looks good! I'm sure there are many ways of doing to protect agains the UV just wanted to know how you did yours. If I remember correctly I think there is a POR15 then Top Coat that protects but more expensive I believe. I just want to do my roof like that so I was debating on what to go with.

 

Jeep looks good. How do you like the Viair system? I've been looking at their 2 on 2 setup and a Painless Dual battery system for mine. Ultimately, I wanna run all accessories of a second battery. Also, thanks for adding the info about the Durango alternator. How much of a pain was that upgrade? Anything special to swap like belts or pulleys?

 

Your build is bad *** and close to what I am doing with mine, but wondering why have you not done a 1-ton steering upgrade yet, or have you? I saw that you did upgraded the steering box and that, I think that would help a lot with the play that your having up front. Also would like some info on that trailer that you got. I am looking for something small for extra things like that for behind my jeep. Have a like for a site or name that I can look up to get more info. Here is also a pic of my jeep, just got the lit on still waiting on my 1-ton steering and other things to come in.
Just got the new Lift installed, not road legal though.

 

Look in the middle of this page