99 Ohio Expedition Rig
 

First off this build has been in progress for the past 2 years, but I have pics of what Ive done so far and as you all know.... a Jeep build is NEVER done!

I bought my XJ 2 years ago with a near mint 47,000 miles on it. I searched for almost a year and a half before I found what I wanted, a low mileage 99 that ended up being only 2 hours away from me! Ill post a before pic of when I first bought it and then go in order of the mods I did up until today (which I just ordered JCR rear 1/4 armor about 20 minutes ago)

Here she was when I first got her:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/9924593853/

More pictures! More info! Lol

I knew I wanted an expedition type rig because I do a lot of camping/hunting/fishing so I added a Rough Country Series II 3 inch lift and then put some iOn Alloy 171 15x8 wheels with Federal Couragia 31x10.50 tires on.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7427/9...77e51334_z.jpg

After I added that I knew I needed a little help with my steering so I got a RE Steering Stabilizer.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5323/9...9014e488_z.jpg

Definitely need to see where you have gone with it!

Oh Ive got tons of pictures lol Im just trying to remember the order of what I did and going thru all my pics. Its gonna be a late night

What part of Ohio you from?

I drove it like that for a month or so and decided I needed to trim the front fenders because I had minor rubbing on full turn.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3820/9...308194fb_z.jpg

I knew eventually the 3" lift alone wouldnt be enough because I had minor sag in the rear, so I ordered RC adjustable shackles along with a set of TeraFlex coil spacers for the front.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2813/9...24a232e5_z.jpg

The Shackles were a you know what to put on. I fought with them for a few hours before white flagging and buying an air hammer for assistance :surrender:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5448/9...ef5cdd8b_z.jpg
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3795/9...70f0df8f_z.jpg

In the last pic I had them set on the lower setting, I ended up moving the bolt down to get more lift.

Millersburg

As everyone knows lights are a problem. I swapped out my stock lights for some Silverstars and ordered some IPF lights for my front bumper. I made my own tabs and welded them on.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2823/9...cac53fcb_z.jpg

Here they are when they came in and then mounted (My woman sent me the pic when Mr Brown truck dropped em off)

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2872/9...637ca25a_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7360/9...0cfb4b93_z.jpg

Ok after all I did I decided it was roof rack time. I needed more room for hunting/camping gear and I sure as heck wasnt spending a butt load on a rack so I decided to make my own. Basically I made it over the winter on days I got off work early, My boss was cool and let me pick a spot in the shop to work on it. In a nutshell here it is from start to finish:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/9991274135/http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/9991009695/http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/9991018444/
Pretty close to being done now, just adding some middle bracing to strap things too
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/9991027875/http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/9991036764/I used JCR Offroad gutter mounts and welded them to my rack to mount to my XJ. Overall I was pleased with the rack other than the fact it was heavy as all hell. Its no longer in the same configuration but that will come later in the build. Here it is mounted on my Jeep.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/9991191233/
How I park at work :thumbup:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/9991137746/

Random fun in my Moms woods (50 acres to have fun on... when its not Deer season :gun_bandana:)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/9991100635/

Next thing I did was a cowl induction. It was easy since I have an SE with no ABS to route around. I got a slight difference in gas mileage, usually 4-5 more mpg, but obviously when the 1 ton roof rack was off I got more around the 7-8 mpg.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7303/9...2bbd1c98_z.jpg

I also rewired my old fog lights and turned them into back up lights. Even tho they are cheapy lights they were a huge jump over the stock back up lights. :batman:

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2861/9...eb194df4_z.jpg

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2872/9...bb097c52_z.jpg

I ended up taking my front bumper ends off as well.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3808/9...f07a90b0_z.jpg

Next thing on my list happened because I was in too much of a hurry and broke about 3 bolts on each of the fender flares so when I wanted to rehang them they didnt snug up. :oops:
I just took all the flares off and painted the lips along with the lower 1/4 of my XJ with bed liner. I used DupliColor bed liner after trying out 3-4 different brands. Its been on for over a year now and has worked great.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2853/9...69161171_z.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5519/9...fb69e809_z.jpg

Nothing big, but I mounted a fire extinguisher to my spare tire mount
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10002214236/http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10002158584/

Well were pretty close to where I am right now, 2 months ago I put a JCR front bumper on. I was happy with it, the look I love.... just needed a little bit of massaging to get some holes to line up. I also got the Uni tie in brackets and beefed up steering spacer and just did it all at the same time.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3783/1...d5aeba94_z.jpg

I ended up painting it with the bed liner black and its held up well!
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7423/9...5df3b245_z.jpg

It took me a few hours to get it all lined up and mounted since I was working alone, my fiance (who was 8 months pregnant at the time) ended up giving me a lil help when the curse words flew the most :brickwall:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3696/9...3733f670_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7294/9...94c4bff1_z.jpg

Heres a few poser shots of the bumper

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/9677119287/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/9642627902/

Well about a month ago my fiance shocked me with some news... not only were we having another baby in 2 weeks, but she decided we needed more room over her 2013 Focus and traded it in on a 2014 JKU! :grin: So far they are getting along well... no driveway fights, yet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/9548298265/
As if having no funds for my XJ wasnt enough Im now saving for a leveling kit, rims and some 33's for the JKU. Since it will be mostly her driver were not gonna go crazy with it, she has to be able to get the kids and a newborn in and out so I was happy to even talk her into that.

This gets us to where I am today. Baby is 2 weeks old, and as of yesterday I ordered JCR rear lower 1/4 armor. The only spot of rust on the body was found back there when I removed my rear bumper corners. I sanded and primered both lowers and will just use the armor to cover up and protect.

As for the roofrack... I got tired of lifting it on and off, plus it was HEAVY. All I did was flipped it around backwards and knocked half the top off, so now the back is the front and the front is the back.... if you can imagine that without over thinking it :pinch:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10008436635/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10008511873/
I like this rack configuraion a lot more. Its much lighter yet still beefy. I still have some cleanup work left with it like grinding and re touching some paint.

Looks good but IMO that's a bad place to put your fire extinguisher. Your secondary back up fire extinguisher maybe. But in the case (god forbid) you actually need it that would be a ***** to get too

Good thinkin..... but I do have another under my driver seat :sweatdrop: I was more or less trying to show that I put the spare tire bracket to use... somewhat :D

Oh okay gotcha! You're at least a step ahead of me. I haven't gotten one yet lol

Haha yeah the one in back was just a "hmmm I have an empty bracket there.... why dont I...."

In other news I had a slight thought of you today (no homo) I passed a near "mint looking" black '88ish Comanche. I bout went off the road staring... Ive loved em since highschool my buddy had one but just never got one.

I really like your XJ. Very nice!

Thanks!

Well I got my JCR lower 1/4 panel armor today.... I ordered (and got billed for) the basic cut ones and to my surprise got the deluxe bumper tie in ones.... so I guess Im just going to cut them to size tomorrow because I could always re-weld the extra bit on if I would ever get their bumper. (which is doubtful)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10061870994/

I've actually only seen about 6 Comanches in person. And the first one I saw, I bought haha it was no where near mint though

Maybe you should leave tie ins on. It's always give you more protection? Unless it looks stupid I donno lol I've never seen em

Where was that taken? I'm curious cause that looks like the bridge near Coshocton behind AK Steel.

BTW I'm not far from you. Coshocton.

After sleeping on it and holding them up to my Jeep today I decided Im going to keep them how they came. When you take the bumper guards off the rear bumper is short lengthwise so I figured it would add a little more protection, might look kida different up close but yeah Im not cutting them now.

My step-dad and Uncle used to work for AK-Steel, but this was taken down my way in good ol Holmes County lol. Theres a creek right outside Lakeville (by the speedway) that a bunch of us all fish at and thats where this bridge is.

Well I didnt get a chance to take pics during, but I trimmed my front fenders today. I added a bit of paint then covered the edge with door trim... I love the way it looks and Ill probably get to the rears this weekend.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10076366573/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10076236364/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10076374223/

I'll be following this build. I like what you have done. Plus 99 is a great year for the XJ.

I got started on my rear fenders and added the quarter panel to the passenger side last night. I thought cutting and folding in the rears would be harder than the fronts... but it was easy, plus my daughter gave me a hand holding the bolts lol:p. Im going to finish up today and grind down any sharp edges and repaint.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10099458315/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10099430444/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10099436794/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10099544915/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10099585676/

Got bored today since my AFC NORTH LEADING CLEVELAND BROWNS beat up on Buffalo already Thursday night so I decided to... "cover" a rust like issue. When I put my JCR rear 1/4armor on I found a few rust holes right behind the rear tires. They got covered up but I still knew they were there, plus it left a gap for future rust and dirt to collect.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10125710996/
I made a couple of templates out of paper and traced it onto a 26 gauge sheet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10125802823/
Cut them out, test fitted, trimmed and painted with some bed liner then mounted using self tapping screws and added a good bit of silicone to keep it sealed.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10125725396/
After everything was dry I gave it all a second shot of bed liner. Now I have ease of mind knowing no dirt or grime will get stuck in between any crevices :thumbup:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10125719286/

Oh, you probably meant on the Jeep. :rofl:

Wow, your fenders came out amazing, how did you cut them so clean?

................Or did I? :whistling2:

Thanks. I taped off around the edge I wanted and used a sawzall to make the cut, then went over it with a grinder to get it smooth as possible. I painted it with bed liner and used door molding on the fronts to keep from cutting up my arms and give it a cleaner look.

Nice looking XJ!:thumbsup:

Thanks!

Well we got a ton of rain over the weekend so I took my roof rack off since I figured Id be playing in the mud this week. Thought Id share how I remove it. I mounted 4 small ratchet straps on the ceiling in my garage so you just hook up and pull out :naughty: it also doubles as my fiance calls it "Jeep roof taker offer" (I use it to remove the hardtop off our JKU)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/10129918365/

Did you get the Rough Country Series II 3 inch lift kit with the add-a-leaf or full pack?
Think the 31's woulda fit with the trimmed fenders before the extra lift?
Also did you add a SYE?

I have a 99 I just picked up recently and I'm looking at similar mods.
Like the build so far :thumbup:

Thanks, '99 was a great year! I got the add a leaf kit because at the time I was tight on $$$$ and my stockers werent sagging too bad. I plan on getting a whole new pack eventually tho.
My 31's fit fine when the lift was put on, I think I cut maybe an inch off the front bumper at first but I knew eventually Im going to get 33's plus I like the trimmed look so thats why I did it.
I dont have a SYE yet but that is also in the near future (tax time). I had no vibes when the initial kit was installed, but after I added the coil spacers and adjustable shackles I did get minor vibes at certain speeds.

I recieved my build sheet email today, so I decided to post it so I had it in another spot:

Vehicle Description: JEEP CHEROKEE SPORT UTILITY 4-DR
Model Year: 1999
Body Model: XJ J L 74

Sales Code Description

M5 Prem Cloth Hi-Back Bucket Seats
AZ Agate
APAS Monotone Paint
ARUP SE Decor Group
A20P 4.0L Engine(ERH)/4Sp Auto Trans(DGS)
BASS 124 Amp Alternator
BCDS 500 Amp Maintenance Free Battery
BGAS Power Front Disc/Rear Drum Brakes
CADP High Back Bucket Seats
CBWP Highline Door Trim Panel
CDBS Reclining Front Seats
CFMS Rear Fold w/Removable Cushion Seat
CGGS Traveling Inboard Seat Belt Buckle
CGWS Next Generation Front Air Bags
CKAS Carpets - Floor and Cargo Area
CKNS Cargo Compartment Carpet
CKTS Cargo Tie Down Loops
CKXS Plastic Liftgate Trim Panel
CLE Front & Rear Floor Mats
CSRS Passenger Assist Handles
CSSS Lift Gate Assist Handle
CUFS Full Length Floor Console
DGB All 4-Speed Automatic Transmissions
DGSS 4-Speed Automatic AW4 Transmission
DHAP Lock-Up Torque Converter
DHNS Command-Trac Part Time 4WD System
DHSP Floor Mount Automatic Shift Lever
DJHS Dana M30/181MM Front Axle
DMDP 3.55 Rear Axle Ratio
DRAS Corporate 8.25 Rear Axle
EAAC All Engines
ERH 4.0L I6 Power Tech Engine
GBBS Tinted Windshield Glass
GCBS Front Door Tinted Glass
GEDS Tinted Rr Drs/Qtr/Liftgate Glass
GFAS Rear Window Defroster
GNAS Rear View Day/Night Mirror
GTZP Power Mirrors, Fold-Away
GVBC All Vehicles W/Power Mirrors
HAAP Air Conditioning
HGDS Deluxe Insulation Group
JAZP Analog Instrument Cluster
JBFP Instrument Panel Black Bezel
JCDS 100 MPH Primary Speedometer
JHAS Var Intermittent Windshield Wipers
JHBP Rear Window Wiper/Washer
JJBS Dual Note Electric Horns
JJJS 12V Auxiliary Power Outlet
KDPS RADIANT SILVER MET. C/C - BADGE - CH
KGPS RADIANT SILVER MET. C/C - BADGE - JE
KRPS RADIANT SILVER MET. C/C - BADGE - 4
KTPS RADIANT SILVER MET. C/C - JEEP
KYPP RADIANT SILVER MET. C/C - 4.0L
K3ZS BLACK - FENDER FLARES
LAJS Headlamps On Warning Chimes
LCKS Front Dome Lamp
LDBP Cargo Compartment Lamp
LMAS Halogen Headlamps
LPSS CHMSL Lamp
MBJP Black Front Bumper
MBKP Black Front Bumper End Caps
MBNP Black Rear Bumper
MBSP Black Rear Bumper End Caps
MCAS Front Bumper Guards
MDA Front License Plate Bracket
MFAP Black Headlamp Bezels
MFFP Black Grille
MHAS Black Windshield Moldings
MMCS Rear Qtr Solid Window Insert
MMGS Belt Moldings
MMKS Body Color Drip Trough Molding
MNAS Black Door Handles
MNJP Black License Plate Brow
MUKS Silver/Chrome Badging
MWG Roof Rack
NAA Federal Emissions
NBKS EVAP Control System
NFAS 20 Gallon Fuel Tank
PG8 Forest Green Pearl Coat
QG8S Forest Green Pearl Coat
RAAC All Radio Equipped Vehicles
RAS AM/FM Cassette Radio
RCRP 4 Speakers
RDDP Fixed Long Mast Antenna
SBAS Power Steering
SCDP Luxury Steering Wheel
SDAS Normal Duty Suspension
SHAS Front Stabilizer Bar
SHCS Rear Stabilizer Bar
SUA Tilt Steering Column
TBCS Compact Spare Tire
TBLS Inside Mounted Spare Tire
TM6P P215/75R15 BSW Wrangler AP Tires
TZAP Goodyear Brand Tires
WJDP 15X7.0 Styled Steel Wheels
WLYC All Steel Wheels
XCYS Upgraded OBD-II Connectors
XJFS Tethered Fuel Filler Cap
XPFS Protective Coating and Remover
YAAS Build To U.S. Mkt. Specifications