Abbotts91XJ

Hey guys I'm new here I wanted to make a build thread for my jeep so here I am. I got this off my buddy for $550, it runs so good I couldn't pass it up. I've always loved jeeps my parents had multiple jeeps as well as some s10 Blazers and such so I grew up wheeling. I also wanted to be able to give my two boys the same experience and passion that I was given for it. My woman enjoys jeeping just as much as I do so its a great way for us to get out as a family. We are already planning our first trip for the spring time and I'm sure we will have a lot of fun down the road as well. I'm looking to make this a fairly capable budget family rig that's also my DD for now. In a couple of years if all goes well I am going to buy a new truck and the jeeps going strictly off road. So this is what I started with:
1991 Cherokee Laredo
4.0 H.O, AW4, NP231, Dana 30 & 35
Bald 215's
Mismatched wheels
More rust than rockers or floorboards
Terrible old headlights
Missing rear bumper
Smoked engine and transmission mounts
Super saggy suspension
Rainbow shaped crossmember, you could call it "high clearance"
Transfer case was a little funky

She needed some loving for sure, but one thing that got me is everything in the interior works. Everything. This is the only older jeep I've ever seen that every gauge and interior light worked. I was impressed.









Plans for right off:
3" lift
31" tires
New wheels
2x6 box steel rocker/rockslides
Gut interior and fix floorboards
HID conversion
LED light bar
Full fluid change
Lots of fender trimming
Flare relocation
Extend breather hoses
Build Bumpers front and rear
Locker, not sure if I want to go with front or rear first.
Steering skid
Safari rack with full size spare, hi lift and fuel can mounts

Ultimate goals:
6.5" custom long arm kit
Rear 4 link coil over conversion
1ton axles
37"ish tires
Selectable locker front
Welded rear diff
OBA system
Swap rear seats for two separate seats
5 point harnesses front and rear
4:1 low range
4.10ish gears
Full skids
Who knows what else I'll think of haha.

So I'm starting this a little late, the jeeps already got a bit done to it, plus on top of what I wanted to do, my transfer case let go on me so I had to pull one out of a donor jeep and replace that.






I was looking for a set of 15" wheels and a set of 31x10.5's but what I found was a set of 16's off an explorer with some decent 265/75's which convert to a 31.8x10.44 but having 16" wheels gives me a lot cheaper options for larger tires so I'm happy with it. They look alright to. This is with the 3" add a leafs and coils and the new wheels and tires.



Then my 50" curved light bar was next. It came with brackets to hang it at the top of the windsheild but the brackets where smooth on the surface that contacts the light bar where the screw holes are so I could not get it to stay facing straight, plus the brackets where different than the one in the picture and put the light bar in my line of sight. So I ended up using the universal brackets and mounting it on my windshield dam. Clearence is tight but I got it so the hood can open and the windshield wipers can move their full course without anything contacting my light bar. But like I said its TIGHT.



Then I put in my HID conversions with red parenthesis halos. They where $60 off eBay, the bulbs suck, one of them blew in 3 days, and the frame/base of the bulb is all cheesy plastic. The housings however seem to be much better quality, made of rugged seeming abs plastic and crystal glass. The halos look cool and I wired them to my marker/blinker so it blinks with my blinker and looks pretty sweet. I also painted my headlight bezels satin black. I used krylon fusion paint it's made for plastic and works awesome. I'm going to black out a lot of the factory chrome on my jeep.



I also replaced my crossmember as the one that came on it was pushed up about 4 inches by a rock or other mysterious trail obstacle that someone failed to clear. I got one off a 2000 with a AX15. This is the fabled factory drop crossmember. It's a real thing I put one in my jeep. It's got about 7/8" of drop over the normal crossmember. Notice the low section where the transmission mount sits. This is where the drop comes from.




The last thing I've got done at this point is trimming my rear quarter panels. I am going to take my flare off and cut and fold the rest of the way around the wheel well and then cut the flare and put half of it on the back door.



The next thing I'm going to do is trim my front fenders. I'm planning on cutting them something like this. (got this pic of Google but it's somebody's on here, nice jeep who ever you are!)




I also have all the metal to do my floor boards and rockslides so as soon as I can get my buddy's welder I'm going to fab all that up. I'll post more pictures when I get more progress going.