nope just the exhuast is gettin picked up by my mom and other than that just getting a bunch of gas cards

 

Well today i decided that im not going to trim the fenders in kust gonna slap some thick molding to cover up the holes. I can always cut em later but right now im not lookin to hack up the body to much I'll get pics when i install the molding

 

Well guys today i had an open shop day at school so the ol' XJ got some stuff done. First i put her up in the air and sprayed down the T-case linakge with some white lithum grease (works like a dream shifts much easier) then took off the throttle body and cleaned that out man was that thing nasty also cleaned all the intake air sensors I would recomend doing that it REALLY helped espically cleaning out the idle speed sensor and motor and plunger assembly it idles much better now and much cleaner. great gains for an hours time.

Oh yeah i also picked up a D-Shackle hitch reciever and locking pin got it from gander mountain and the shackle is huge i didnt notice until after i bought it that its a 7/8ths inch shackle rather than the 5/8ths normal ones oh well its just more BA lookin lol

Later guys

 

well i havnt done much recently on it. I just got my wisdom teeth out today so we thought it would be a good time to take it into the dealer to get the trans and T case serviced also gettting an oil change. I could of done this all myself but my uncle said he would pay for it so i gladly drove it over there yesterday.

In other news I should be placing my order for my RC 3" kit, Caragar soft 8's, and my superlift adjustable trackbar either this week or next.

Im also still wondering about tires I have thought about BFG all terrains for a long time now and have periviously planned on getting them. But I do live in michigan where there is A LOT of mud so im also considering BFG muds. I want BFG's cause I think they do a great job having a voice for the offroad comminity. I just want to make sure that if i get Muds im not all over the roads. But then again the new JK rubicons come stock with them so how bad can they be

Any thoughts?

 

They are nice riding tires. Slightly agressive but not too much where it's loud and obnoxious. My buddy sold his 32's off of his JK to a guy with a grand cherokee and he loves them.

 

I'm thinkin those BFG M/Ts would be a much better choice if the places you wheel get real muddy. the BFG A/T doesn't clean very well in the mud and alot of times just cakes up. The A/T does extremely well almost anywhere else though. That's coming from my experience down here in the thick and nasty FL muck, where Super Swampers reign supreme. but I see alot of rigs with BFG M/Ts and they do rather well!

 

Oh yeah, and not to knock your choice of exhaust or anything, but it is really a matter of opinion when it comes to exhaust tone and flow. I tend to side with the camp that beleives that Flowmasters really don't flow all that well, and they tend to be quite loud, with alot of resonance. It might be worth considering one of these option in your search for a catback system.

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku
http://www.4wd.com/productdetails.as...10&partID=3510

Both are similarly priced to the Rusty's kit, except they use turbo style mufflers, which flow a bit better and have a smoother sound. Once again, it's all a matter of opinion. So check out a bunch of sound clips on youtube and figure out the tone you are looking for. By the way NICE XJ!

 

Yeah im leaning towards the MT a little now maybe get em siped so they do a little better in the rain and snow.

As for the exhuast thanks for those links but I hear the dynomax system is ok but nothing special and it tends to sound worse over the years. and the 4 wheel drive hardware looks like a good kit but I love the sound of the 40 on a cherokee and i dont want it too loud.

Thanks guys

 

Alright guys after running flareless for a month or so now. And after looking at the metal edges and those holes and my mom nagging me to do something about it I decided that I would get some short machine screws to go in the holes and some trim to go around the edges. I think it turned out good and is a good solution to people like me that want to go flareless but dont really want to cut the body. So heres how I did it.

First I took a measurement of how big the holes were so i didnt get a bolt with too large of a head.

These are pics so you can see what the fender looked like before and note the holes size and unfinshed looking edges.



Next I went over to Home Depot and picked up a few bags of these machine bolts with matching nuts. for 98. cents each. While I was there I picked up a small jar of exterior white paint to coat the heads in for around 3 bucks.
After my trip to Home depot I headed over to Murrays Auto Parts for the molding it just has a grove in it and was around 7 bucks for about 9 feet. I used 1 pack for both front fenders. I'd also like to note that my local napa did not carry this product so make sure you can find some.

Heres a pic of my materials. Dont mind the tow strap.


After you get all that you need to paint the bolts so first I put the nuts on the end so I had something to hold on while I dipped the head into the paint.


Then I let them dry overnight

The next day I took all 32 bolts outside and started putting them thru the holes. This is pretty simple and strait forward but i'll share a trick i found. Use a pair of vice grips to hold the nut its much easier. Also be careful cause while tightening watch the paint it could chip. A few of mine did but it can be touched up. Also this is why i measured the head size. cause if the head on the bolt is too large as you turn it it will take your paint right off the jeep. so be careful. Also make sure you get these bolts pretty tight you dont want to be loosing em going down the road.

Now while your looking at how nice those bolts look take this time to clean the edges of the fender. Get all the dirt, mud, or in my case ice off there.

Next, I went to the molding which is a super easy 2 min. job basicly just line up the grove on the molding to the sheat metal and press it on. If your doing this in the winter like I did then the molding will start to get cold and stiff. To get around this I barrowed my mom's hair drier and heated the molding up and it worked great. Then just cut the molding and your done.

Here are my finished pics I only did the front but I think it came out really good. You can barly see the bolts in the pics.







^ You cant see the bolts in those pics due to the sun and the camera but in this next picture you can see the bolts.



Thanks for reading guys and if you have any questions feel free to ask

 

i like the black strip around the edges, its a much cleaner look...

 

yeah you can barly see the bolts from like 10 feet

yeah I love the molding it looks so clean

 

yeah my mom is always nagging me too...

she tells me every day to "get those damn wheel things on"...haha (flares)

 

haha my mom came out and saw it and was like "hmmm yeah i guess that will work" lol now i just need to get her to trim the endcaps. Shes fine with putting parts on cause it can be reversed but if i cut something she flips lol

 

haha yeah...mothers will be mothers...

you should have seen my moms face when she found out i bedlined my rockers...

 

haha yeah i wanted to do that but like basicly everyday i drag her in here to look at this computer screen to see how she feels about something. and really I havnt even wanted to have that discussion lol.