88 XJ "lil TANK"
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
From: Washington
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6
New to the forum and i wanted to introduce jeep builders to my bella XJ haha
Big plans in the future for as many of us have and one day hope 2 accomplish
Got my 88 for 500 bucks in pretty good shape considering. ive already started messing with its only been 2 weeks since i got it.....not playing games with this tank of mine. i didnt really take before pics or process pics my mistake just excited to get throught i forgot 2 doc but heres what it looks like as of now....cut fenders, cut front bumber, rattle canned front trim....more 2 come 4 sure....il keep the thread followers if any posted every step from now on.....
heres some pics from Sunday out on the hills
Big plans in the future for as many of us have and one day hope 2 accomplish
Got my 88 for 500 bucks in pretty good shape considering. ive already started messing with its only been 2 weeks since i got it.....not playing games with this tank of mine. i didnt really take before pics or process pics my mistake just excited to get throught i forgot 2 doc but heres what it looks like as of now....cut fenders, cut front bumber, rattle canned front trim....more 2 come 4 sure....il keep the thread followers if any posted every step from now on.....
heres some pics from Sunday out on the hills
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
From: Washington
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6
Originally Posted by That Jeep Guy XJMJ
Those are some clean cut fenders!
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
From: Washington
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6
Originally Posted by LeRoy90laredo
really like the way the bumper caps were fitted to the shortened bumper.
great paint too.
welcome to the forum!
great paint too.
welcome to the forum!
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Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 692
Likes: 1
From: Tempe, AZ
Year: 1990
Model: Cherokee
Engine: l6 242
Originally Posted by rey7
They fit well with a little adjustment always wanted to do the shortened bumper it gives it a mean look i think.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
From: Washington
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6
Its been a while since ive showed any progress on my xj. NOW im off my a@# and trying to do as much as i can, when i have the time away from school and work. Also when i got the cash haha im a broke college student now. my tank looks a little different from my last post photos. not exactly like a tank just yet but its getting there with a little elbow grease. i encourage the feedback! let me know what you think!
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
From: Washington
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6
Sorry guys had to upload from my phone, the photos are to big on the pc right now. It got different paint, but I still have a tan coat to throw on the top half. And some rhino too! Threw on a 3" spacer lift which should hold me over till I get the skyjacker/roughcountry lift I want. If only I had more cash. Im hooked on my build there's always more and more I wanna do.


Last edited by rey7; Apr 25, 2012 at 07:41 PM.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
From: Washington
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
From: Washington
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6
EDIT: The process photos didnt load..uploaded them after this post.
So had to start over on my swaybar link brackets, and this is what I started with.
A toyota block spacer.
Used a angle grinder to cut out the pieces I needed from the block spacer.(using grinder because its sunday and the plasma cutter ran out of O²)
This is the first chunk I grinded out.
Now, the block spacer has 2 diff. Sized squares on each side. I used the small squares so the link would fit inside it as tight as possible.
Like so...
I flipped the block to cut out the small square on the other side.
Heres the two bracket cut outs.
Then I drilled the holes for the link bolt that hooks up with the swaybar. And the holes for the clevis pins to hold the actual link.
Drilled a pilot hole first with a small titanium bit forgot what size, after I bored out the hole with a 1/2 titanium drill bit.
The result.....
The final product on the left side...

And on the right side.

They look pretty beefy right!?
I don't have a lot of money so I save where I can. All I spent was $20 on the two links.(grand cherokee rear swaybar links) awesome length if you wanna lift your rig and have swaybar connected for safe onroad driving. Im at 3-4" lift and when I get a proper 6.5 lift I can still use these same links. I did spend $15 on hardware. So total just $35 for a beefy quick disco setup. Cheapest quick discos I found online were $70 so saved my self a little more than half tank of gas! Lol
What do you guys think?
So had to start over on my swaybar link brackets, and this is what I started with.
A toyota block spacer.
Used a angle grinder to cut out the pieces I needed from the block spacer.(using grinder because its sunday and the plasma cutter ran out of O²)
This is the first chunk I grinded out.
Now, the block spacer has 2 diff. Sized squares on each side. I used the small squares so the link would fit inside it as tight as possible.
Like so...
I flipped the block to cut out the small square on the other side.
Heres the two bracket cut outs.
Then I drilled the holes for the link bolt that hooks up with the swaybar. And the holes for the clevis pins to hold the actual link.
Drilled a pilot hole first with a small titanium bit forgot what size, after I bored out the hole with a 1/2 titanium drill bit.
The result.....
The final product on the left side...

And on the right side.

They look pretty beefy right!?
I don't have a lot of money so I save where I can. All I spent was $20 on the two links.(grand cherokee rear swaybar links) awesome length if you wanna lift your rig and have swaybar connected for safe onroad driving. Im at 3-4" lift and when I get a proper 6.5 lift I can still use these same links. I did spend $15 on hardware. So total just $35 for a beefy quick disco setup. Cheapest quick discos I found online were $70 so saved my self a little more than half tank of gas! Lol
What do you guys think?
Last edited by rey7; Apr 29, 2012 at 03:15 PM.















