jeepster90xj

Alright, well first ill start with hello, my name is matt and im 19 years old now, almost 20 actually. I have been on this site for a while and been taking some much needed advice to take my jeep to where it is today. I have finally decided to make a build thread so here it goes...had a little trouble posting pics the first time so lets see if i can get this to work this time.
So the summer of my junior year in high school, my dad and I bought a 1991 jeep cherokee laredo. We picked it up for $1000 and it was bone stock with around 170,000 miles. We used it for a while for daily driving and never mistreated it and we both loved it. By the summer before my senior year the jeep was mine because my dad had a jeep of his own. (a 2007 jeep liberty)



and this was my dads jeep

So not even a month after my dad gave me my jeep a lady pulling out of a parking lot t-boned me. Here is the damage to my jeep.

and here is the damage to her jeep haha

jeepster90xj

So since it was her fault her insurance totaled out my jeep and gave me a check for $2500 and I also got to keep my jeep! So I contemplated it for a while and decided I wanted a jeep in better shape then mine so I found one and went and test drove it and picked it up for $1600. It was a 1990 with the 4.0 liter. it came with a newer 3 inch lift and new rims and tires on it. Had about 155,000 miles on it.

So after driving it 90 miles back to my house the engine had started to develop a knock in it so I used the rest of the money i had from insurance and some extra cash to get a remanufactured engine from the local company in town and my buddy's dad installed it for me. So after that i had no reason for the black jeep anymore. I sold it to my sisters boyfriend and i still get to work on it with him and see it in action so its pretty awesome. I never did get to wheel the black jeep though.
For a while I was content with the new jeep and didnt change a whole lot. wheeled it a little though.


So after a while i got tired of the stock look and decided i wanted some bushwackers so i ordered them up and got them installed because i had no time to do it myself.

so i actually took this picture right before my senior prom haha. i spent hours detailing my jeep because i insisted on driving it to the prom and my date said if i drove it instead of my dads jeep then i had to make sure it was SUPER clean. haha I was just happy i got to drive it
so then i got an awesome deal on a roof rack and I picked it up for super cheap and my brother got it powdercoated for me. He works at a local place that does lots of different metal finishings so I get all powdercoating done through them. Anyways heres a pic of it freshly powdercoated.

jeepster90xj

So after some more of it being how it was i decided the rear end was too saggy. The PO had done the lift with blocks in the rear but had put all new coils up front. So i ordered up some full leaf 4 inch lift spring and put them on.



I did the swap in my sisters garage and after the swap was done the rear end of the jeep was too tall to get out of the garage so I had to air down the tires to get it out. haha it hasnt really settled a whole lot since then so i really need to lift the front up a little more haha. So after this i wheeled alot more, nothing too serious though and i kept getting mud in the passenger side rear end so i finally got tired of it and ripped out the molding and all the carpet in the rear end and this is what i found.

Not bad at all for rust so i sanded that down and bed lined it. Its kind of hard to see but in the fenderwell there was a hole from them installing the bushwackers so i fitted an old lisence plate in it and pop riveted it in place and caulked the crap out of it and installed moldings back in. About that time is also when i built my back bumper. Designed by me and all built by me.


of course i had it powdercoated and im pretty damn happy with it.

jeepster90xj

So also this last summer i decided i really wanted to change the look of the jeep and was tired of trying to glue the stupid side moldings back on so i bedlined it.... well ill just show the pictures haha...




My favorite color is orange so i did that and i dont reggret it for a second . some people love it and others think its weird but original and i love it haha
so then some friends and i went wheeling up in colville. here are some pics.

jeepster90xj

It was an awesome trip and i loved everyminute of it. Absoloutly no trail damage besides my tire... this is what happened...

the crack went all the way down to the rim and i drove back home with it like that haha anyways i ended up getting new tires. 31X10.50's toyo mt's Love them so far.
So the next thing i found was a front skid plate and i picked it up for $35 and my bro powdercoated it for me. heres the best pic of it.

other random things was that i painted the diff covers to match and i have swaybar disconnects. although that last pic was with the swaybars still connected haha so im pretty happy with the flex it has haha.
Other random things is that i got a new exhaust manifold, new IAC, new TPS and im on my 4th alternator so far haha damn mud keeps frying them haha hopefully the front skid will help. I also got a gas tank skid after bashing my finger and splitting it open trying to get it out but i finally got it and my bro is going to powdercoat it orange for me here soon. Newest thing im doing to it is that im building a front bumper. it is made out of 3X6 X1/4 steel tube with some bars on it and a hitch welded in so i can have a winch later on when i have money for it. right now im just waiting on the bars to be made and delivered to the house so i can weld them on and then im going to have it powdercoated before putting it on

this is a bad picture because it is not mounted to the jeep. i promise it is not this wide haha it doesnt stick out that far when its mounted haha heres a pic of my welds

anyways... that my jeep so far im waiting on the bars to arrive in the mail so i can finish the bumper and get it powdercoated. let me know what you guys think of my jeep and what ive done with it. any advice or comments are much appreciated. if you feel like chattin or have any questions feel free to ask me. thanks!
also, im trying to figure out a name for my jeep and have no ideas so if you have idea for a name shout it out and let me know thanks! haha

stock95sport(for now)

Nice lookin XJ man! Sucks bout the black one, but it got you a nicer Cherokee AND you still get to see it and work on it...cant beat that! I actually kind of like the orange too btw.

joecotter47

that door dent was enough for the other driver's insurance company to consider it "totaled?" That's pretty funny, but looks like you got one nice xj outta it, so not a bad deal! Anyway, nice build, subscribed!

jeepster90xj

Alright, so an update finally. I got my bumper done and got it powdercoated and I must say that i couldnt be happier with it. The powdercoat is a textured black and it looks amazing. I also got some 6 in. lights to put on the light tabs I put on the bumper and hooked them up to my factory fog light switch. These things are Super Bright. Anyways, heres some pics and let me know what you guys think!!

alsxj

Nice 90! Great work on that bumper

tripleJ

Nice build you've got going , and for the name orange crush

jeepster90xj

thanks guys! And for the name Orange Crush.... That is such a great name i cant believe i didnt think of that! Thanks for the Great idea. Thats an awesome name for it.

cleenrob

Is that orange bed liner or did you paint over it?

Green & Yellow

Looking good, I have to say that orange is pretty cool on your XJ.

jeepster90xj

cleenrob: that is orange bedliner.
and thanks!

michaelbartels

looking great man, keep up the work!
loving the orange and that front bumper is sweett!!