Thanks! Your from the Springs area I see, do you work at the Academy? Do you go wheeling around here often?

Thanks Guys I appreciate it!

Thanks man-let me know if you ever come out east near the springs and want to go wheeling. Those are some sweet pics in your moab album- isnt grand junction like 2 hrs away from Moab? Lucky, lucky.

 

I'm in 2012...been working on my rig more than wheeling.

 

Nice XJ dude! And it shows you are in the military. You seem to be very thorough. Rock on!

 

Thanks man-let me know if you ever come out east near the springs and want to go wheeling. Those are some sweet pics in your moab album- isnt grand junction like 2 hrs away from Moab? Lucky, lucky.[/QUOTE]

Ill do that for sure. Ya man just under 2 hours. the only good thing about living here lol

 

Whats up man! havent heard from you in a while. Hope school is well.

A friend of mine at school just put 35s on his wrangler. Lets get some wheeling done!

 

Yea man we should. Not really free though until next Sunday though I'm going to my buddies house and snow boarding this weekend.

 

Well here are some updates on my build. I have put a lot of thought into my xj recently and because I have so many things I would like to do to my jeep, I have decided to prioritize everything.

Although I really want to jump to 35's or 37's and new axles, frame stiffeners, long arms and steering, bumpers, etc. I have come to realize I will just have to hold out on all those big ticket items until I start getting paid a bit more, have another car to drive, a trailer, etc. At which point I will do all of these items at once and turn my xj into a beast.

For now though I really just need to make my xj comfortable for on road/freeway and decent off-road while spending the least amount of money possible (for now). I guess you could call it completing phase 1 of my jeep build.

So here is my phase 1 final to do list:

1. Install my 4 JKS Bar Pin Eliminators to get rid of that thud noise over bumps (just bought new shock bushings finally).


2. Install the 6 degree shims to replace my 4 degree shims that are not enough.


3. Install the 3 new u-joints I just purchased into my front drive-shaft and install my front driveshaft again so that I can finally stop driving without a front driveshaft due to vibrations.

4. Make some diy sway bars with hiem joints and grade 8 threaded rods because the rubicon express ones I have are too short and they suck.


5. Install my 2" spacer/remove the stock isolator again in the front to give me a total of about 6" lift in the front and 5.5" in the rear.


6. Purchase these control arm drop brackets for about $230 to hold me over until I get long arms in phase II of my build. Also I am hoping this means that I do not have to replace my stock upper control arms with adjustables.



7. Fix the howling noise in my chyco 8.25 axle rather than replace it because it has 4.56 gears, a locker and 29 spline shafts that make it as strong as a d44 so I hear (by spending $250 to replace bearings).

8. Buy 4 longer shocks since the rear billstein 5100 I just bought are meant for a 4” lift and the fronts RE shocks are meant for a 3.5” lift.

9. Get a drop pitman arm if needed for the steering.

10. Buy adjustable upper control arm if needed.

11. Get longer front brake lines due to driver’s side already serving as a limiting strap at full droop.

Miscellaneous Items:
-Install my gas skid and transmission skid plates


-Rewire the roof rack lights due to a short

-Buy C02 system or oba system

-Check out the exhaust if it has holes, and get some new spark plugs.


Soooo that should be it ...Almost there.... haha

I will try to get some pics as I get this stuff done over the next month or so even though its just tedious work, it might be interesting to some. Please give me input, advice, criticism, especially with regards to the drop brackets and whether I will need new uppers-anything is helpful thanks!

 

Nice plans for phase 1. I would think that you would be able to get away with stock uppers. If this was going to be your atleast semi permanent set up I would suggest upgrading to something stronger but since you're going with LAs down the road I wouldn't worry about it too much. The drop brackets should bring it close to stock geometry as far as the control arms go.

 

Subscribed!
Nice build.....more pics

Newbie question
About your little engine bay wash "how-to", do you leave the engine running while pressure washing?

 

Thanks for the input. I am thinking I will get the drop brackets on and see how everything lines up. I will probably get some uppers eventually though just to dial in everything a little better.

Thanks, I will definitely get some updates and pictures as I get more done. As far as the engine cleaning, I pulled the battery cables off to make sure I didn't get any shorts. Those products I used though are what make the difference. Still shiny a month later haha even with the snow on roads.

 

Well today I replaced all the U-Joints on my front drive shaft. 2 of them were bad so it definitely drives smoother now, but still vibrates due to the pinion angle being wrong in the front axle. I really need to get those control arm drop brackets... I think I will order them tonight. Hopefully they will fix my front drive line vibes and if not I will have to get adjustable uppers.

Here is my front driveshaft and my spare front driveshaft. The lower one in the picture is the one I use because it has a better ball joint. This is before I replaced all the u-joints on it:


U-joint removal tool:


One of the crappy old u-joints and the new type I put in place:


Here is the installed driveshaft. As you can see the pinion needs to be pointed up higher. Can't wait for those control arm drop brackets.




I also had enough time to install my front bar pin eliminators before the shop I was using closed.

Here are some pics of the old bar pins and broken bolts:



And the new bar pin eliminators and poly bushings:



I highly recommend these to anyone. Especially if you have older shocks at least do yourself a favor and replace the bushings. The old ones moved around easily and I could see how they could be so loud every time I went over a bump. No more thud noises at least in the front now.

Anyways thats all for me tonight. Tomorrow I am going to try to get some more work done.

 

Wow, now I know what my XJ has the potential to look like! Great work!

 

Looks like you have a nice start. I sort of wish I started with a stock xj and built it up. I thought it would save me money by getting a somewhat built xj to start with, but I ended up replacing nearly everything the previous owner put on the jeep because it was either broken or worn out. But hey everything is clear in hindsight... I am happy though that I have low miles because this thing will last forever.

Some updates (sorry about the pic quality from my cell phone):

I bought a sweet craftsmen toolset yesterday- pretty expensive but it has a lifetime warranty so stoked.




Also installed a fire extinguisher bracket in that useless cubby hole in the rear. Looks pretty sweet.


Finally here is a comparison of my xj to a stock xj just for kicks:




I also ordered my Rocky Mountain Control Arm Drop Brackets Friday . They are in the mail right now- I can't wait to install those things and have a smoother ride.

 

I was planning on getting some stuff done on the jeep today, but I had the itch and decided wheeling was a better idea

 

Here are some updates on the jeep:

-I Installed the 6 degree shims and it fixed the rear pinion angle.






-I also finally figured out which hardware to get for my tomken undercarriage skid plate I got off of craigslist awhile ago. Great customer service at tomken, I emailed them and they send me this hardware list/instruction set the next day. I bought all the hardware and now I just need to install it.




-I Got my Rear Bar Bin Eliminators installed:



-I also bought some of these to hold up my sway bar disconnects when I take them off:



-I notice that my exhaust piping coming out of the muffler is super loose. So I guess I will have to get a new U-bolt clamp, or just get it welded. Any advice here is much appreciated.



-I Found this cut in the inside of the front left tire sidewall Anyone have any advise? Should I replace it with my spare that has full thread, or...??



-And finally, I went wheeling again.




-I am Still waiting on my control arm drop brackets, should have them by next week- install pics to come.


.