All show and no go build
 

I think it is time to start my build thread.

I bought my XJ about a month ago and here's where I am starting from.

153000 Miles

A20P 4.0L Engine(ERH)/4Sp Auto Trans(DGS
DGS 4-Speed Automatic AW4 Transmission
DHAP Lock-Up Torque Converter
DHNS Command-Trac Part Time 4WD System
DHSP Floor Mount Automatic Shift Lever
DJKS Dana 30/181MM Front Axle
DMDS 3.55 Rear Axle Ratio
DRMS Dana 35C/194MM Rear Axle
ERH 4.0L I6 Power Tech Engine
P225/70R16 BSW Wrangler HP Tires
TZAP Goodyear Brand Tires
WDFS 16X7.0 Alum "Icon" Silver Wheels
WLZC All Aluminum Wheels

Found a picture I took the other day. That spot in front is hers even though she won't admit it.

I love that color.

Bought IRO critical path 5.5 last week and started with the PB today. Doesn't look too bad underneath but man my stock suspension and leafs are in bad shape.

You sure thats an XJ looks to clean to be,lol. Can't wait to see you lift it,put tires on it,bumpers on it,and get some mud on it...........Mud or :ban: J/k

x2 first thing I thought.

it looks way to clean in general its in too good of shape, go drag it against some trees and rocks

You guys are hilarious.

Quick Update. So over the last few weeks I started getting my parts in. purchased 4.56 superior gears from 4x4groupbuy. Received my new speedo gear, Daystar bumpstops and steering stabilizer from QT. And last but not least I finally made up my mind and bought wheels and tires. I ended up going with procomp polished 1069 and Nitto Trail Grapplers.

So hopefully in a week and a half I'll have phase 1 done. I can't wait, it's going to be awesome. :kick:

So we have been working on installing the lift kit, regearing and getting the new wheels and tires in and mounted. Waiting on the custom drive shaft to show up and next week will be addressing the clearance issues steering and moving the sway bar mounts.

Here are a couple pics of the progress made.

Couple more stock photo's from December

pretty clean. i have the same color. A 2000 though

Ordered the last of the parts I needed to complete project phase 1. Still waiting on custom drive shaft to arrive from IRO. Hopefully it will be in this week.

Looks good man. I'm not big on chrome, but those wheels do look nice on it, plus it's different.

is it just me or is it leaning a little bit on the passengers side? If im right and you figure out why its doing it let me no cause mine is leaning just like that...

Looks awesome lifted did you get short arms or long arms?

Thanks, was a very tough decision picking out wheels. I too am not big on chrome or over the top wheels. These are nice and bright but I factor that into them being brand new, I figure a couple runs through the dirt will tone them down a little.

I want to say I was leaning when shooting the pic and the ground dips where it is parked at the moment. But I noticed that too. Only real leveling issue we had was with the front and a 3/4 spacer solved that.

I went with IRO Long Arms. I figured with the height I wanted to run it was best to go the long arm route from the start. Also since my better half will be driving it at times I wanted a very stable platform just in case she has to run over a prius

Good choice! I'm running IRO long arms also, for the exact same reasons as you.

Pretty annoyed, been waiting on the custom drive shaft to come in, been two weeks. :furious:

Got my 1 ton steering, drop pitman arm and stabilizer installed today. Sway bar body mounts have been moved forward a tad. So a good day all in all. Just need that damn drive shaft and we'll be golden.

Looks good so far man. Definitely seems like you are doing it right the first time rather than messing with t/c drops, and stock steering. Lets see some pictures of the steering. Did you do above or below the knuckle?

Thanks, taken a lot of time and effort to get to this point not to mention $$.
I went UTK figured that was the best route to take for now.

I'll post some pics after I get it back from the shop and cleaned up tomorrow.

Phase 1. Need to make a couple adjustments. Drove about 50 miles today and the ride is pretty stiff.

Parts Installed:

IRO 5.5 LA kit
DT 8000 Prerunner Shocks
Rugged Ridge HD SYE
IRO Custom Drive Shaft
Stainless Extended Brake lines
Superior 4.56 gears
ProComp Wheels 17" 1069's
Nitto Trail Grappler tires 295/70r17
Serious Off Road 1 Ton Steering
Rugged Ridge Steering Stabilizer
Rugged Ridge Drop Pitman Arm

more pics

Your jeep looks awesome, I'm loving the wheel/tire combo!
I'm planning on doing a similar susp. Setup on mine.

So after driving around this weekend I came to the realization that something was not right. I had a wonderful white knuckle experience on the highway in a construction zone. I felt like I was about to lose all control of the vehicle while at 55mph. Slowing down helped but things were still pretty sketchy.

"search" lead me to a thread where MikeXJ last summer had the same issue and it turned out to be alignment related. Hell I hope this is just alignment related. At the moment this thing drives like a f-in catastrophe. :nuke:

Results from the shop came back.

Left Front Right Front
-0.7 -0.4 Camber
5.9 6.0 Caster
0.59 -0.30 Toe

Steer Ahead 0.44

So the Toe is way off.

here's the thread I found.
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/sc...se-help-92773/

Noticing a difference after having the alignment done. True test will be on the highway tomorrow.

lift looks very nice :thumbup1:

Well the professional alignment helped. I drove the same section of the beltway today felt better but still not 100%

love the wheels

Looks good man! I wish I had the IRO kit.

Super clean!

Thanks! I need to get it dirty but want to wait until the gears and parts are broken in and all the bolts are tightened up. Some recovery points would be nice also but I'll just have to be smart about where I go.

Well it looks like the alignment helped with your truck and your post beat my response to your PM! :) A professional alignment is always a must after big modifications! Thats what I should have done in the first place when I did my truck over. When I was trying to figure out my "Scary Unstable Steering" ...which really was f***ing scary! I tried to set my alignment by self with a tape measure, which has had success in the past. Since it never helped my problem, I would measure and adjust again and again to the point where I would toe-in or toe-out blindly just to see if it would make a difference -- which it never did.

So after deciding it wasn't my alignment I made a huge list of unnecessary adjustments and bolt over tightening which evidently did nothing. So I put my tail between my legs and said "oh alright Ill bring it to a shop" ...$100 later my problem was fixed. When I brought it to the shop I had the steering set with extra toe-in (since I cranked on the tie-rod and never set it back to what I thought was a decent setting) thinking the tech would have to toe it out a bit -- well it turned out he had to toe it IN more. I guess with 35" muds you need some serious toe-in.

My truck drives pretty good now, but its still a lifted jeep with no sway bars and clunky mud tires. Cant ask for a Caddy.

Goodluck with your truck man! It looks great I love the color! Any questions just shoot

-Mike

Spent the last week breaking her in. Still not convinced the steering is 100% correct. Certainly feels like I have play in the responsiveness when I turn the wheel. I'm no expert so I'd be interested in hearing what sort of handling characteristics others running similar setups have.

So far a quick look hasn't produced any smoking guns and all the steering parts do appear tight except I did see this when testing the turning radius lock to lock.

That is loose! I would tighten it down asap! they should have cotter pins threw them as well to keep them from backing off (looks like the tight one has it)

Sweet rig!

OMG Tighten that tie rod down! and put a cotter pin in that asap! Did you install the steering yourself or did a shop do it? That could have been fatal.

Take a picture of your steering and trac bar (wide view of everything going on down there) so we can get an idea of your drag link - trac bar angle. they must be parallel, if not you will experience some bump steer

I saw a cotter pin on it the other day looks cross threaded.

A shop here in the area installed the steering setup for me. Going to address this first thing tomorrow.

I'll snap a few wide angle's of the setup tomorrow and post them up.

I ran frankz's steering for a few weeks before I put a new axle in. It's well built, but if that poly spacer you have in there isn't compressed then the tie rod can roll, and cause you to feel like you are loosing control. My poly spacer completely split in half due to unknowingly cuting the spacer when installing it. You should try to tighten it, but the thing is, the hole on your knuckle for the tre is tapered, so there is a chance that you have the nut completely tightened, and that the poly spacer is not thick enough to fill the gap and prevent the tie rod from rolling. If that is the case, I would try to get a thicker spacer or add some washers in there or something so that the spacer is compressed. This is just based off what I figured out myself when my steering felt super loose...but I also had bad upper control arm joints which I didn't realize at the time were causing most of my issue.

I never quite got that steering perfectly set up due to my new axle already having steering...so I can't confirm that compressing the spacer will help for sure... call frank though he will help you troubleshoot it.