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to scrub all over (hoses, back of engine well, valve cover)
4) Spray down with a light stream of water
5) Wipe excess water off with a cloth
I find the most important part is to have a constant stream of light water to wash the dirty water away, else it leaves smudges everywhere. I also try and avoid spraying too much water around the throttle body, TPS and IAC. Typically, I leave the engine running when I do this, but I have done it with the engine off and the process worked just as well too. Once dried you can give a light coating of engine bay dressing too. I find the
So in an earlier post you mentioned that you installed a RE1670 Track Bar Bracket Brace and found that your unibody wasn't very square. I think I have the same issue. First its off by about 1 to 1.5". Next my RE Track bar bracket does NOT have holes predrilled in it. Did you have to drill holes yourself or did you buy one from RE with them? How did you pull the unibody into square?
I have been DD'ing the XJ the past few weeks and noticed that my rear Dana 35 is losing diff oil at a pretty substantial rate. It seems like it is coming out of the breather hose and being splattered on the rear driver side wheel well and unibody. I have a Chrysler 8.25 with a factory LSD that I am busy rebuilding and will be swapping in ASAP. I also replaced my front window since my previous one was cracked and pitted quite badly.
In the meantime, I have been on the hunt for another XJ. I was not in a rush to buy anything, so I was searching local classifieds high and low to find a good deal. This one finally popped up and I decided to go for it. It is a 2001 Cherokee Sport, 2WD with 190 000 miles. I picked it up for $1500, which I think was a really good deal. The most important part for me was having a decent exterior with no rust and a good interior. The interior on this particular one is absolutely flawless, with all seats being perfectly in tact and no tears. The 2WD does not bother me too much, as I would've swapped out the LP Dana 30 out anyways, and finding a transfer case with a transmission is not too difficult. I will be starting a build thread for this one too... !
Man that thing looks great. I stole your headlight idea and am pleased so far with them, haven't driven the new XJ quite yet but they look great in the shop.
New steering setup is ready to go in. PSC pump, BlueTop steering gear, Gates replacement hoses and a Derale steering pump cooler.
Also got around to mounting my ViAir compressor in the back. Compressor is hard wired to a Carling switch in the center console and goes through a 12v style relay in the engine bay. Max draw for the compressor is 20A and circuitry can handle 40A, so everything is in order!
I'm liking that steering set-up. Is that for Durangos or Cherokees? I'm close to replacing mine in the near future so I'm trying to do some research on different options.
So in an earlier post you mentioned that you installed a RE1670 Track Bar Bracket Brace and found that your unibody wasn't very square. I think I have the same issue. First its off by about 1 to 1.5". Next my RE Track bar bracket does NOT have holes predrilled in it. Did you have to drill holes yourself or did you buy one from RE with them? How did you pull the unibody into square?
My unibody was not drastically off, but it did take some wrestling to get the bolts torqued down. The bolts were binding on the driver side and were in at an angle, but with some help of a hammer it lined up fine in the end. My bracket came all pre drilled as a bolt on installation. I will attach some pictures and feel free to ask questions.
Originally Posted by b16gsr
Man that thing looks great. I stole your headlight idea and am pleased so far with them, haven't driven the new XJ quite yet but they look great in the shop.
Awesome 2 XJs I approve.
Thanks! Glad you are happy with the headlights, for the price I am very pleased with them. Your builds are looking good!
Originally Posted by rgallardo
I'm liking that steering set-up. Is that for Durangos or Cherokees? I'm close to replacing mine in the near future so I'm trying to do some research on different options.
The steering box is a stock Cherokee box that is rebuilt by Blue Top Steering. I am very happy with mine and haven't had any issues what soever. The pump is a PSC pump and fits the XJ fine, no complaints there either
My unibody was not drastically off, but it did take some wrestling to get the bolts torqued down. The bolts were binding on the driver side and were in at an angle, but with some help of a hammer it lined up fine in the end. My bracket came all pre drilled as a bolt on installation. I will attach some pictures and feel free to ask questions.
Thanks for the pics. I am going to have to place a call to RE and see what they recommend. Also, you mentioned that you were going to get new Bilstein's with BPE's. What did you mean by that and are you not happy with your current Bilstein's?
Thanks! Glad you are happy with the headlights, for the price I am very pleased with them. Your builds are looking good!
The steering box is a stock Cherokee box that is rebuilt by Blue Top Steering. I am very happy with mine and haven't had any issues what soever. The pump is a PSC pump and fits the XJ fine, no complaints there either
Do you have pics of the new steering box and pump installed?
Do you have pics of the new steering box and pump installed?
Apologies for the late reply, I’ll grab one tonight. Anything specific you wanted to see? The only major thing is the PSC pump which was initially meant for TJ’s, so there is one bolt that doesn’t screw into the intake manifold on XJ’s.
The XJ got regeared to 4.56 gears earlier this week. I’m still in the break in stage, but it’s a major improvement over the 3.55’s. Highway driving will certainly be much more enjoyable on the longer road trips.
I got an Engel MR 040 tri voltage fridge/freezer. I will eventually go with an ARB rear drop down fridge slider, but in the meantime I made a platform out of 1/2 inch Birchwood ply. I bedlined it with a Rust-O-Luem rattle can. The finish is super tough and provides a great surface for putting stuff on. I’m happy with how it turned out as I still have easy access to the compressor and HiLft jack.
Very nice! I plan on getting my axles installed before the trails open up for the season. Is yours a automatic? I think with my 5 spd it will be the best up-grade since I dropped in the axles from a j w/auto tranny (3.55 gears)
Do you have pics of the new steering box and pump installed?
I was able to get the brace attached, although the lower bolt on the bracket is on but not completely tight. My friend is a mechanic and is going to help me with several issues on the xj, one of them will be to tighten that bolt. It turned out that my bracket wasn't an RE, so I had the brace and bought a new bracket from Amazon. After it was done I had to see how it drove and I could really tell there was a big difference, everything was tight!
Apologies for the late reply, I’ll grab one tonight. Anything specific you wanted to see? The only major thing is the PSC pump which was initially meant for TJ’s, so there is one bolt that doesn’t screw into the intake manifold on XJ’s.
I just wanted to see how it looked. I think the in-line cooler would be a good pic to see of.
In your other posts of the fridge and compressor, I don't see your spare tire. What did you end up doing with that? Pics?
Do you have any other plans for this build? What do you think of your new gears and did you install lockers?
I just wanted to see how it looked. I think the in-line cooler would be a good pic to see of.
In your other posts of the fridge and compressor, I don't see your spare tire. What did you end up doing with that? Pics?
Do you have any other plans for this build? What do you think of your new gears and did you install lockers?
I ended up putting the spare tire on the spare tire mount on top of my JCR rack. It’s not ideal but it’s out of the way. I only put it up there for longer trips.
When I rebuilt my Dana 30 last year I added a Lock-Right mechanical locker. I just put that in the new 4.56 carrier. As for the rear I swapped out my Dana 35 with a Chrysler 8.25 which had the factory LSD. I haven’t tested it’s true capabilities yet but I’m sure it’ll perform better than an open carrier. I’m hoping to go with ARB Air Lockers down the line. I’m still in the break in period for my gears so I haven’t been able to truely see how they are running, but off the bat it’s a major improvement. The engine sounds much happier and cruising at 65 on the highway it’s running right at 2000 RPM, compared to around 2550 previously. My 4LO also feels much much more “torquey” and I think off roading is where I’ll see the biggest benefit of the regear.
As as of right now I’m pretty happy at how the XJ is performing. I still have a bunch of parts that need to get installed, which are namely:
- JCR 1 ton steering
- JKS ACOS system
- Rigid Chase light
- Gas tank skid plate
- Oil pan skid plate
- C Rok Rock Skins
- C Rok outer steering frame brace
- ARB Diff breather
- Finish up some wiring
I still have to do a few more trips to fine comb all the smaller problems, but overall I’m really happy. The next biggest thing to address will be considering an engine rebuild. Long term future plans could possible include front and rear 4 link but I can’t see that being anytime soon Shot of the spare tire on the JCR rack PS cooler tucked in behind the front crossmember The missing bolt is circled in red Freshly rebuilt Chrysler 8.25 with factory LSD
Last edited by adriaanvn99; 03-13-2019 at 12:54 PM.
01-24-2019, 11:41 AM
