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Ok so I have a 1999 XJ, early year, unfortunatelly with a d35 in rear but otherwise a very good car. I am very new to working on jeep and so I figured I would start a thread to gain knowledge and advice as I go through my XJ build.
I will give you a quick run down of my situation, I always wanted a jeep for years and years and recently (actually 3 years ago) i finally bought my 99 XJ and I love it....intend on having it forever a now that I have a little spare change I wanted to put some money back into my car which has helped me get to work over the past 3 years. She gets oil changes every 3000-5000 miles with full synthetic and has been given every scheduled maintenance on time or early and has been babied mechanically...cosmetically..not so much...and she runs great overall besides a few small things.
I have an extremely slight knock I hear sometimes when she is cold however this has been going on and not gotten worse whatsoever over the last 50,000 miles so Im pretty unconcerned with that..more notably I rearended someone and hence have had my bumper removed and my front end straightened( already done last week) and my shocks are destroyed from pulling around a double axle trailer as well as the winsheild being destroyed from simply living in colorado. Oh yeah and it takes 2 trys to start her unless I prime it with the ignition key..also not a biggee for me.
So a few issues but overall a very sound car that I just love driving. So here is my current plan for which is by no means set in stone but will be acted upon fast..so if there is anything Im missing hopefully a pro sees this thread and chimes in with some advice...
I plan on doing this in 3 stages... basic... accessories....then cleanup looks etc. My goal is for it to look good, ride good on the street and get me to some further up 4x4 fishing spots here in Colorado when need be....as well as just have some fun with my girl in the jeep in the mud
Stage one.
new windsheild (a no brainer..already payed for just need to redeem)
305-75-16 MT on MT aluminum rims (Already bought last week)
JCR front prerunner winch bumper with D rings (Already bought, not installed, waiting for it in the mail)
...these next three items are coming as a complete discount kit off ebay from Adams driveshaft
4.5" Rubicon Super Flex Lift (plan to purchase this Sat)
Adams driveshaft (Plan to purchase this Sat)
Rugged Ridge Slip yoke eliminator (Plan to purchase on Sat)
Spidertrax adapters (purchasing tomarrow)
H.O.R.E. front xj grill and tube fenders...these are sick!! (plan to purchase this Sat)
Rustys gear set 4.56 kit which has bearings shims everything new.
Alpine deck, 1000watt amp, 2-12" sonys (already installed)
Stage 2.
Sometime within the next few months... the first stage is gonna run me a lot of dough this week so Im thinking to start these upgrade in about 1-2 months out from now.
JCR rear bumper with fog lights and tow hitch, rear corner panel integrated armor and rear taillight led assembly (this is clean looking on their site!)
JCR roofrack with tire carrier, light tabs etc
Warn winch for my front bumper
KC lights
H.O.R.E. Skids
H.O.R.E. Under armor
1 ton steering upgrade
Optima battery
Stage 3,
Rhino lining
paint job
full size 5th spare with matching rim
Axle swap with dana 44 with ARB air lockers (front back)
RE long arm kit upgrade
Any input would be greatly appreciated..like I said Im a noob at this... dont know much of anything besides what I have read on forums in the past 4-5 weeks since I decided to take the leep into jeep modding. I will try to attatch some starter pics.. and hopefully here in 6 months or so I will have some semi finished pics. I assume your never really finished tweeking on these things.. but semi finished.
OK so theres a pic.. As you can see Im missing my bumper, fender and the back end is sagging like crazy.
I just ordered my lift and decided to go with a 5.5" Iron Rock long arm lift, a SYE, Tom woods double carden style driveshaft, and Spidertrax adapters for my wheels. Cant wait to get it on the Jeep.
Also bought a new ported box for the stereo. Not sure if anyone is even reading this but it will be nice to have just for myself even if noone is reading
Last edited by greenisland; 10-07-2013 at 11:12 PM.
Got my today!! Woohoo!!!..Two tires are hiding but... I got a 5.5" Iron Rock Long arm,, and my Spidertrax wheel adapters and my 305/70/16 MTz in the mail today.. and I managed to pick up that brand new mounted full size spare at the flea market for $30... smoking deal. Also notice that Iron Rock accidentelly sent me two sets of shock boots. So if any of you IRO guys are reading this , just send me a prepaid postage box and I would be more than happy to send them back.. The guys (and girls) at IRO have been great.
And then here is a picture of the system, and you can also see my come-along, fire extinguisher, and fishing pole holder inadvertanely, lol. These are cheap speakers but will do for now
Hope to get the lift on sometime this week but we will see how that goes...
Last edited by greenisland; 10-15-2013 at 10:09 PM.
I recieved my JCR bumper this monday...looks pretty sweet to me... nice welds, and overall good crafstmanship...one little notch that doesnt belong(little more than 1/8")in one of the bumper brackets that looks like someone fell asleep with the grinder in their hands but its no biggie.
Nonetheless the bumper got here just a little later than anticipated half because JCR is moving facilitys right now and half because the UPS guys are idiots and loaded a 110lb package on the wrong truck...making it get here 4 days after it was scheduled to be delivered.. Nonetheless I am pretty happy with JCR and their product..and intend to buy both the rear bumper as well as their (overly priced in my opinion) modular roof rack. I wish they gave a deal on the roof rack with all accessories included. They say its "modular" so its cheaper to ship and Im sure it is but after you buy all the peices your looking at a $900+ roof rack that is fairly basic in nature... and Im going to have to have my guys weld some more bars in too because there arent enough to really hold anything smaller than a massive ice chest or 10 person tent. Just my .02 . Welds are real nice though and the product does seem stout so thats my incentive on top of the fact that they make some sweet rear tail light assemblies that I intend to buy and of course I want it all to match as much as possible.
Alright so the Jeep went into the shop on Monday to get the 5.5" long arm Iron rock lift installed, as well as my transfer case serviced (gasket etc) and SYE installed, my wheel adapters and wheels too and last but not least my fenders cut out. I would have like to save the money and install the stuff myself but I got a really good deal and I simply dont have the space or the time...mostly the time.
I had my longarms and brackets painted canary yellow and took my JCR bumper in to the auto body shop next door today to have it cleaned, etched, primered, painted yellow then super clear coated for durabilty...
Just a quick shout out to the people helping me with this build... Ted over at Collision and Hail Auto Repair in Colorado springs as well as the guys over at Pit Road Auto Sales have been awesome with helping me out with everything, so if your in the area and need some body work or need to buy a used car or have it serviced check these guys out they are top notch in my opinion. Ive seen Ted make miracles happen with smashed up cars, no joke, only A+ work over there.
So I have some pictures of my lift kit after it was painted before I gave it to the shop and I will also get a picture of my bumper and its small blemish up here so you all can get an idea of what Im working with.
I intend to paint the whole jeep blue, and have the Colorado State flag "C" which is red with a yellow center..I want this huge on the side of the jeep so its basically a rolling Colorado State flag. I intend to make all the accessories and upgrades I install to either be that matching red or matching yellow..thus my bumper and lift kit are gonna be yellow... red doesnt look as "cool" to me
Stay tuned..(if anyone is even following ) i should have some lift kit pictures up as soon as I get it back from the shop..any day now. And my bumper soon too
Last edited by greenisland; 10-23-2013 at 07:26 PM.
I also have a 99 XJ but mine has an 8.25 if you live down south and the Jeep is from down south the lift will be easier than mine living in Michigan I had to torch off 5 bolts both front leaf spring bolts and rear bump stops good luck with your project.it will be worth all the knuckle buster's when it's done. Post pics when you are done.
I also have a 99 XJ but mine has an 8.25 if you live down south and the Jeep is from down south the lift will be easier than mine living in Michigan I had to torch off 5 bolts both front leaf spring bolts and rear bump stops good luck with your project.it will be worth all the knuckle buster's when it's done. Post pics when you are done.
I sprayed my xj down with PB blaster at all the major joints/bolts I new of that might be an issue but I suspect it probably would have been fine either way because there is no rust. I havent seen any rust in my undercarraige and I suppose it would be ignorant for me to assume that there is none...but nonetheless I dont see any.
Also I want whoever reads this to know that I put it in the shop for this lift etc install,... I just want to be clear so noone thinks Im trying to take credit for something I didnt do, or atleast not without "proffessional help",.
I saw it in the shop today and the axle had been taken out and cleaned and painted (awesome!) and other things have been installed as well. I also got the bad news that my rear bearings were leaking badly.. and with bigger tires going on WITH 1.5" spacers/adapters 5.5-4.5 I figured it was best to get the bearings replaced since (from what I have read) the adapters are already going to be ruining bearings.
So here are a couple of pics of the jeep a bumper pic and my jeep on the lift in the shop in the other one.
And I kinda hate this color .. So I plan on doing away with it as soon as possible.. I probably see like 2-3 other cherokees of the exact same color a day here in Colorado..very popular color.
Last edited by greenisland; 10-24-2013 at 09:03 PM.
Looks like it's going to be a cool build, for the paint maybe just put on some army tan? That way you'd just have to rough up the paint now and then go over it with cans of spray paint be cheap and effective for a different look, then maybe plastidip the quarters and what not to add some black but that's just my $.02
Well I finall got some pictures up. Its a bit wider than I had planned but it should do for now
the whole undercarraige was taken apart and painted, the long arms were painted and decaled, the beadlocks (fake) and front bumper were powdercoated zinc yellow.
Kinda off topic I slid on the ice into a Honda Pilot a few days back and have to hive compliments to JCR on their bumper. The accident chipped the paint a bit but didnt do anything structuraly.. not even a scratch or ding spot..just nothing... other persons car...not so lucky, perhaps $2k-$3k damage.. so Im writing this not to demonstrate how poor of a driving record I have but to show that this bumper with the tie in brackets is solid and it can definetally take a beating. Also lucky for me the thing that really made the most impact was the 3/4" steel D-ring shackle mount... so there wasnt much the car couldve done to really hurt it anyhow, but it stood up exceptionally nonetheless.
Next Im gonna get the H.O.R.E. tube fenders and get them powdercoated as well as the custom grille by hooligan. And then the rear tire carrier bumper with a second spare and the roof rack..Winch and KC lights just might come this christmas. It should look conciderably better once that is done.. my front fender cut outs were kinda hacked up so some new fenders are definetally next on my list.
Also I need to get some new 34.5" (dont remember the metric size)bfg mud or all terrains... these tires are horrible on the ice..really really bad and I need to switch them asap. That will be 2.5" more tire too so I will need to make sure to be soft on the right pedal from what I understand until I do my axle swap.
I know this is about a year and a half late but the tires are 32"..lol. So I got a new email address and lost my old account etc etc.. nonetheless I am back and couldnt be happier to get back in the mix with all you XJ guys! Also I have a few upgrades that have taken place since last time. I have a new JCR gas tank skid (that some guy just pulled up next to me when driving home and gave me for free! Brand new too, he had a ZJ and he accidentally got the XJ skid....lol...what a score!) and I finally blew up my thirty five and replaced it with a ford 8.8 limited slip with disk brakes and got the front and rear regeared to 4.56. And got a 24" LED light bar out front as well. Also added a cold air intake and got some weathertech mats which Im putting in today. Jeep is running great as always...now lets see if I can get some pics up
I have some more plans in the works (of course).. I just purchased a custom grill from the guys at Hooligan Off Road and should be getting that in about two weeks, and the the next purchase will be a JCR 1 ton OTK steering kit that will be installed by the good guys over at D & C Extreme here in Colorado Springs. And then I intend on adding ARB lockers in front and rear and arb diff covers and at the same time adding a 30- 30spline with constant velocity joints in front and super88 kit in rear.. as Im sure you all know this will be a pricey stop off at the shop but I think will it be worth it in the end (if your obsessed with your XJ like I am atleast, and have no concept of vehicle value vs investment). Then a roll cage and some frame stiffeners with some tube fenders and armor added at the same time to help out the cherokee uniframe. I also hope to have some new 35" x 12.50 BFG KO2's on before next winter (if they arent still backordered by then). Then just cosmetics...rear JCR bumper with tire rack, and JCR roofrack, new headlights, paint job etc. And then last (maybe 2 years from now) I would like to build out a new engine..maybe a 4.6, headers, intake etc etc... Super stoked to be back on here..new email account, new username and FINALLY a new computer that works but same ol 99 XJ noob build
Also I would love to talk to a moderator about maybe combining my old account to my new account.. but I cant figure out how to get a hold of a moderator..maybe PM me if anyone knows how or who a moderator is. Also I became a CherokeeForum Supporter today so Im stoked on that
Last edited by greenislandxj; 01-17-2015 at 01:06 PM.
10-01-2013, 12:53 AM
99 XJ Noob build
