TrailerTrash

Thanks!

I am fairly happy with the way the color matched. If I had to do it over I would put some clear over it. It came out kind of matte rather than gloss.

Try not to make hard lines with tape. you have to either use a molding or something so the old and new paints arent touching or kinda "blend" or "mist" it in over the factory paint.

If you get what I mean lol


Thank you. It is pretty much the way I want it now. Minus the halfass lift. I wasn't planning more than a 2 inch lift(when I had hopes of buying a stock XJ) but now that i have this i really like how it sits its not too much not too little ya know. So I will be sticking with this lift height and just get everything dialed in and replaced/fixed with better parts.

After that its just working out issues as they arise. The end game plan is to have a reliable rig that can handle the snow around here, maybe do some mild offroading, and be a good road trip vehicle. Me and the misses like to go to the beach and road trip to concerts and such and out Civic coupes arent very good for that lol



thanks man. I found your build thread right after I bought mine. I probably read your entire build thread 3 times. I love it. Quite the inspiration

I never even noticed 2 door XJs before and I had no idea they ever came with window wings or how rare they are.

TrailerTrash

This is how it looks today. added some stickers, little things here and there like painted the wheel weights ect.

TX RamRod

Great looking Jeep! I believe you've got what they call a "unicorn," rare to find a 4.0, 4x4 5-speed. I'm a little biased, but I love the color. I also like the mild route that you're going. I just bought another Cherokee and if I keep it I'll end up doing a 2 - 3" lift with some all-terrains. I'm glad to see that you're addressing the issues and fixing them correctly, another rare sighting these days lol.

TrailerTrash

Thanks man!

I think 2-3" is plenty for anywhere I would ever go so its perfect for me. Not saying anything against bigger lifts because everybody knows that some people need them for where they need/want to go

I forgot about this repair job. The driver seat "needed a bolt replaced or something" when I bought it. it was like a rocking chair. something was very wrong. unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of it all fixed up. I guess it broke then people "fixed it" then it broke again and kept breaking







unless this bolt somehow pulled through I have no idea why this is here



not welded very well at all



bubblegum settings - extra cold/no penetration

esteem

Great looking color

Van_Homan

Nice job on the rust repair. It's great to see a rare XJ saved from rusting away.

TrailerTrash

Thanks guys!

Nothing new recently and probably won't be for awhile. Just driving it and enjoying it. It's nice to have awesome heat in a fuel injected 4x4

TrailerTrash

I found an exhaust leak at the front hanger after changing the oil last weekend. It wasn't too hard to repair. I am far from good at out of position welding. Not to make excuses but the batteries in my Miller Elite died so I had to use my awful Harbor Freight backup So between getting flashed I was able to get it welded up. I went around a 2nd time to make sure it didnt leak lol don't make fun

I had to get a bit creative with the hanger. I didnt want to weld it back were it was so I used a trick my stepdad taught me. weld the hanger to an exhaust clamp


Cracked almost the entire way around

I made one cut and the whole piece came loose lol

needless to say it wasnt doing much

fixed! lol just kidding

ugly but leak free

TrailerTrash

New stubby antenna




gray pearly swirly shift ****



I have the AUX cord coming out a hole in the shift boot. It goes from the near of the head unit down under the console and out. I wrap it around the shift boot when not in use




The iPod cable runs the same way down under the center console then out a hole i cut in the center console. the head unit controls the iPod so i can just leave it in there





my old school Craftsman carpenters tool box. It is where I keep a buttload of tools, some small spare parts, jumper cables, ratchet straps, wrags, gloves, fuses, and i forget what else




There was no anchor for the spare when I bought the vehicle. but it came with a spare 31 on a stock wheel. I made my own anchor, removed the factory tire rest, and did the "move the seat brackets forward" mod to get the back seat to latch in place and the hatch to latch with a 31 in this spot. I stash a tow strap behind the tire. I keep the bottom of the rear seat out so I can lay the top down and have plenty of cargo space. under the seat I keep 2 jacks, some wood blocks, a spare serpentine belt, an a tire iron. the bottom drops right in place if I ever need to haul passengers in the back. in the floor behind the passenger seat is more tools. a 100some piece Craftsman socket set with some extras inside. it fits perfectly in the floor. and last but not least my old milk crate with essential fluids for emergency use

TrailerTrash

I finally got around to fixing the front sway bar issues. A previous owner ignored the links after installing a lift. So the links bent backwards. the passenger side was bent and the drivers was really bent. all the bushings were shot which you can plainly see. The drivers side lower nut came off the stud easily. I had to work the passenger side back and forth with PB once a day for a few days before it came loose. there was nothing left of the stud. I used all Moog bushings. $25 with amazon prime
I love projects like this. Had some issues but it was fun and now the ride quality is much better


passenger side

driver side

driver side was distorted

passenger was nothing but rust

passenger side stud

I straightened them out and added 2.75". i figured a 3 inch lift with a bit of sag. I tapered the ends to get better penetration... in my head anyway. I guess that was a good thing to do lol im not the best welder

new bushings and hardware from my master kit sold to me by Tubur

grade 10.9 bolt to replace the stud

TrailerTrash

I am going to sand blast the wheels and repaint them this color. It's a bit darker than in the pic





I think I now have everything I need for my new lift setup. Other than the lift kit itself and the steering stabilizer. Both will be Zone products. In the pic we have...
JCR nut strips(removing hitch so it is out of the way and then sandblasting/repainting before reinstall)
IRO adjustable shackles(stock bushings are rotted)
Tubur's master hardware kit
Crown front bumpstops(current ones are rotted away)
Rear shock bolt flag nuts
Energy Suspension bushing lube

TrailerTrash

I have finally collected every part I need for redoing the lift. All the parts above plus a Zone 3 inch kit with full leaf packs, Zone shocks, and Zone steering stabilizer. The Jeep passed inspection this past friday I was going to start the leafs over the weekend but we are pretty busy building a new front deck so the Jeep is on hold for now.


Awhile back I spent an entire evening getting the hitch off and out of the way. That was NOT fun. snapped off a few of those big bolts and the factory nut strip looked like a strip of bacon by the time it came out lol but I got the hitch stripped of rust, cleaned up, and slobbered with 3 coats of Chassis Saver and 3 coats of paint. So it is ready to got on with the JCR nut strips after the leafs are in




I attempted to be a cheapass and make my own "The Cure" out of an old Civic strut bushing. It fit perfect... but was too soft to work well. So I just ordered the real thing. I am VERY happy with this product. I had to shave it down a bit which was expected and was no big deal. Night and day difference.


I "fixed" the headliner the cheapass way with $15 of moulding and a staple gun lol I had to hammer some of the staples in after this picture







Ever since I bought this vehicle the passenger side window went up very slowly. Down was just as fast as the driver side but up was slow. I figured no big deal. Then a few weeks ago it got really slow like I stopped putting it down cause I was worried she wasn't gunne make it back up lol


So I checked around and found out the 2 doors take a different assembly than the 4 doors and they are salty as *****. I was hoping it was just the motor so I popped the door panel off to have a look and found this




As soon as I hit the switch to send the window up, this broken section of tubing pushed away from the rest of the unit and that caused both the window supports to be and different heights. That would force the window to lean back ever so slightly and bind up in the tracks and go very very slowly.


Time for yet another cheapass repair
Basically the tube needed to be held in place so it wouldn't push away from the motor. I used some PVC, steel rod, hose clamps, and zipties
Clamped the PVC around the tube then bolted a rod to the housing then clamped the rod to the PVC and used more zipties and clamps so nothing moves lol










It works perfectly. Looks awful so being hidden away is a good thing I lubed up the tracks really well and she goes up and down without an issue


That's all for now. New wheels are bought now just waiting for center caps. stay tuned


cheers

TrailerTrash

After seeing several pics of XJs on American Racing 61s I fell in love. But didn't want to pay the $120 per wheel for a new set. Not to mention I don't like polished/brushed aluminum or chrome wheels. So basically I love the wheels but dont like the finish.



I got lucky and found a set on craigslist for $200 bucks with a set of decent 31s on them. The guy was really nice to deal with I met up with him and the deal was done.




Very nice set. He said he went to 33s on his Wrangler and just wanted these gone. His Wrangler had alot of toe out so 2 of the tires arent super great but I would have been happy to pay $200 just for the wheels. So I can't complain. Even came with lug nuts.


The 4 AR center caps are the cheap plastic chrome filmed things and they are really tall and ugly. I did some searching and found some brushed aluminum center caps from Jegs that were an inch and a half shorter and only 1.5mm larger. A little filing and sanding made the wheel center hole a tad bigger and the center caps fit right in.











A buddy of mine wants the tires for his beater XJ so I'll make a little money back. Originally the plan was to have them powder coated this color








That was another plus about getting the new center caps, they are aluminum and can be powdercoated. But... from everything i can find about the wheels, the little rivets are plastic. Soooo i am not sure what to do about that. I could paint the wheels myself but obviously it wouldn't be nearly as durable as powdercoating.


But for now I put them on and really love the way they look except they are just too bright and flashy for my taste. So ill have to give it some thought and figure out what to do

Van_Homan

TrailerTrash

Thanks for the suggestion and compliment. I really hadn't thought of plastidip as an option but now you have my gears turning


EDIT: I think this is the ticketMatte Anthracite Wheel Kit