KingsColor

Hey guys! This is my build for my recently purchased 99 XJ!

I bought it with 200k miles (meh)
4" Lift
33" Baja Mud Claws
Trimmed front fenders
Folded rear fenders
CB with PA
Performance kit w/CAI
Some other various things





The point of the purchase to have a mild crawler that doubles as my daily driver. I enjoy mudding and crawling but I needed a daily driver so until I save up enough fund to get another vehicle for a DD, this is it!

First, I'm heavily into audio and the set up in the jeep was just terrible. I modded the faceplate and the air ducts a bit to fit in a 7" Pioneer AppRadio for a headunit, it doesn't look amazing right now because I didn't have the reseources but I worked with what I had and I think it looks pretty nice for the time being until I can come up with another way to make it look pretty.

Put in a new set of Kicker 5.25s, once I get the headliner replacement in I'll check out the speaker bar and probably pick up some new.

Next, the tires that were on there were awful, prev owner said that he put them on and never got them balanced because the tread was so bad. So, ordered a new set of 35" BFGs. The ride is SO much better.





Put on a new hitch from Curt hitch, got a nice deal on it and I put it on with some ease except the passenger plate side plate that it's supposed to bolt up to was bent up bad so I only got 3 out of 4 bolts in that side, I'm not worried though.

I ordered a bunch of parts to come in and I was expecting at least one item to come in on Friday but nothing came in so I decided to do some maintenance to the jeep.

Cleaned the throttle body and IAC


Also changed the oil and the seafoam treatment to the jeep and the parents' car while I was at it. Hopefully I can expect some gains in efficency.

Just waiting on the parts to come in and go from there...

Next chance I get I also need to trim the fenders and get some more clearance for the 35s because they seem to be rubbing on when I turn hard or up a steep incline. I'll probably get a new steering pump and belt put on too.



I'm definitely excited about working on the jeep, I just need to get all of these parts in so I can do the work! I've got a lot to learn about suspension and Jeeps but again, definitely excited!

KingsColor

Lots of progress on the XJ, I just haven't gotten around to uploading pictures! This is just some of the progress that I have on my new phone, plenty of other pictures that I need to get around to uploading from my old phone.

Upgraded interrior lights to cool white LEDs, I think they look awesome:


Also upgraded instrument cluster to LEDs


Putting them in: (PITA)


Struggled with installing a power steering pump multiple times, caused me a lot of grief because it was constantly making some kind of noise ended up replacing it like 3 times with the warranty. Turns out I hadn't been doing the first operation guidelines correctly and subsequently damaging the unit. Finally got it correct and still making a squeak. Weeks later I figured out it was due to misaligned pulley. I'm so glad I'm done with that fiasco.


Got some goodies in the mail: (New RE 5.5" coils, control arm drop kit[Temp until I work up to long arm])


Prev:


Putting them in:


POS LCA shoe:


Put on new shackles: (Also notice the shackle relocation kit, I have pictures for that on old phone)




Got some new 784 injectors from 831xj. Great item and fast shipping, definitely recommend!


Didn't get any pictures of the install, I forgot

Some things I'm looking to in the future:
roof rack
lights (maybe LED bar or maybe some nice KCs)
new HIDs (I have a set ordered from FST, going to be a while for those.. ordered on 11/12)
front winch bumper (ordered one from Rockhard but I don't like it and I'm contemplating returning it)
12k winch
new leaf springs (current are sagging...)
ZJ seats
rock sliders
get my SYE put in.... (bought an IRO hack-n-tap but I don't have a new DS for it)
other things I can't think of right now...

Lots of other things done, I'll include them on the next post once I get the pictures from my old phone!

JeepMN

Where did you get your blue LED's from?

I got mine from Superbright and they look more like purple. I like the color of yours.

KingsColor

Bought them off Ebay. like $26 for the whole dash kit. I don't have the link with me right now but I can grab it later. They're honestly not the best product compared to the LEDs you would buy from Superbright but it was a cheap and easy kit to buy.

KingsColor

Not a whole lot done to her recently. I've been more or less broke recently but hopefully I'll have some more money in the near future to fund more goodies.

Recent work:
Finally got IRO Hack n Tap SYE installed (got a front DS off craigslist which I paid too much for...)
Upgraded to 136A Durango alternator
Upgraded ground wire to 4gauge (need to order positive cables as well)
Changed CPS

CPS decided to **** out on me after a snow storm and negative degree temp while I had 4 friends in there with me, gee that was fun. So much snow my 2wd Ford couldn't pull it but that thing can't pull **** anyway. So I got that replaced.
Ordered some brown dog motor mounts once I get those in I'm going to install them, change oil, and install new tranny mount and drain/fill tranny.

Took her out in the recent snow storm to do some medium wheeling and also hooked up a sled to the back and had some fun with that. Gotta say I love my XJ, lots of fun in the snow! I'll get some pics up later when I'm off work.

KingsColor

Just some pictures from recent. No pictures in action in the snow though, wish I had. Apparently I'm really bad at taking pictures too because I forgot the final picture on everything.

Took off old bumper to put on new one




SYE


Finally cut through..


Fully installed! No more driveline vibes, it's awesome.


Removed alternator because it decided to crap out on me


Old, broken POS


New 136 Amp in place, this thing is BEEF when it comes to power supply


Forgot CPS but who cares about CPS?

AND-- I fixed the damn problem with my window switches selectively working. Took apart my driver's switch console and cleaned up the contacts for the window lock mechanism and also noticed two broken solder contacts so I fixed that and guess what? WORKS PERFECTLY! I'm so happy to get that fixed without having to spend $80+

Up next:
New UCAs
All new bushings everywhere
1-ton steering
Shock upgrade (front and back)
Full exhaust upgrade (flowmaster 44)
Welder (Need one for the following mods)
Roof Rack
Winch plate for bumper
Winch
Lights
Small turbo set up
Re-gear to 4.88s

Lots of things I want to do, now I just need the money

HS00XJ

Good start. keep it up

KingsColor

Adjusted shackles and relocation kit to level out lift and get a better shackle angle



------------------
Also noticed an annoying squeal in my brakes and I had a coupon for 20% off brakes and rotors so I went ahead and replaced my front brakes. Unfortunately I messed up the install and now it's making a scraping sound while I'm driving so I parked it until I get a chance to take it apart and redo it...







Unfortunately funds are really tight right now because I'm still in college and have some outstanding debts to pay so progress has kind of halted for a few weeks. I need to start clearing off my debt before I keep buying things for the jeep...

Next item of high priority though is steering upgrade. I tried to adjust my steering and it's completely rusted and there's no way for me to adjust my toe which is off by over an inch. Hopefully going for 1-ton OTK but I might end up with ZJ upgrade.

One more important item is my alignment. IT IS TERRIBLE. I need to adjust my caster but I don't have an angle finder and I'm pretty sure a shop is going to tell me to fly a kite so I need to figure something out because I noticed that my brand new BFGs are starting to wear badly on the inner side of the tread.

That's about it. I missed the KS Rocks Park event because I forgot about it and didn't get off work for it. OH WELL!

Jeep on.

94XjSport94

Uhhhh what SYE is that? Your tires are wearing like that because of your alignment issues. Brakes hitting the backing plate?

KingsColor

IRO Hack n Tap. Yea I know, but I'm having trouble actually doing the alignment. Possibly, but I don't know because I haven't had a chance to look at it, I'm at work right now.

KingsColor

It's been a long time since I've updated this. I had some trouble with the engine some time in late spring and got all pissed off and parked her for quite a while out of frustration. During that time I lost my job so I definitely didn't have any funds to fix her or even keep her on my insurance.

Eventually I did get her back together and I've done a few things here and there, but not much has been done. Here's an update. Sorry about all of the pics and their sizes. I resized all of them to 50% and they're still pretty big.


Brown Dog motor mounts. These things are awesome, they're beefy and better yet, American made! The install wasn't bad, but as you can tell, I definitely needed new mounts. Also installed a new tranny mount just because I was replacing the motor mounts.





My new engine hoist coming in handy


There's a reason I needed new mounts, this isn't it.


This is.


New mounts in, looking beautiful.


Next up, was replacing my ball joints. It was my first time doing such a thing, and believe me, I never want to do it again.









Finally got one set in late at night




The next day, I finished the other side. You can obviously see my enthusiasm for the job.


Looking good.



The same day, I replaced the old steering stabilizer with a new one, hoping to better my steering problem. Nope. Well, it might have helped a bit, but nothing significant.


The worksite


Took the doors off for the first time of the season.


Now comes my nightmare. I was having an annoying oil leak that I finally deduced to be my rear main seal. After some research and tutorials I figured I was finally ready to take on the challenge. I believe at this time I also noticed that my oil pressure would drop pretty low while I was at a standstill and then go back up when I'd take off.

The beginning


Here's a picture of the oil pan off, not bad


Didn't take any pictures of the state of the rear main, but that thing is just another one of those things that I never want to do again, it was a PITA.

Also decided that since my rig had 200k+ miles and I had the oil pan off, I'd replace the oil pump as well for safe measure. I did some research and decided to just go with a high flow oil pump because it was cheaper and it came with a new stem and screen.

Comparison of the two


The high flow is just a bit longer than the stock one so I had to pound a dent into the oil pan to give clearance. The dent wasn't big, not significant enough to take a picture, I guess.

Painted the oil pan with plasti-dip. In hindsight, it was a dumb idea because it started to peel off, but it was the only black paint I had at the time.


Pic of the new high flow installed


New gasket


[StoryTime]
So I had everything put back together, I then went for test drive, it was only like 5 mins since it was late, and figured everything was fine. Oil pressure was doing just fine at 50-60 PSI and I liked it being in that range.

Fast forward to the next day, I wanted to go out with friends so I got ready and hopped in the jeep, then took off. I get about 5 miles down the highway and as I stop at a stoplight, I start to smell something awful, I couldn't quite place the odor at the time but it was familiar. So I take off another mile, then I notice my oil pressure gauge was reading 80 PSI, or possibly higher because the gauge tops out at 80. At that very moment, smoke starts to billow into the cabin- my brain clicks, I was smelling burning oil. So I pull over, jump out, and notice that oil is leaking heavily from the oil pan. Oil has covered my undercarriage. I'm freaking out, thinking I really ****ed up this time. Something bad happened and I must have ruined my engine. I was able to baby it the 8 or so miles back to my house with the help of my mom who brought some quarts of oil to me.

I searched and searched the internet to hopefully figure out what the problem was, but I wasn't getting anywhere. So, out of frustration and gloom that I might have done some serious damage to my engine, I parked her.

She sat.

And sat. For months.

KingsColor

One day, a couple months later, my brother came to visit, he had known about my tribulation with the jeep since the day after it happened. But he showed up and urged me to get back to work on Zella so she's not sitting around anymore and he offered to help. He's knows a bit about cars, he might argue more than me but it's a close match, and the offer of help was tantalizing. Plus, his best friend and roommate whom is a shop mechanic was only a call away if we needed help.

We got under her to take off the oil pan, we then noticed that the bolts for the oil pan, which I only had tightened instead of torqued, had come loose and were barely holding on. Interesting. My brother was baffled by the situation as well, so we called up his roommate and his roommate's diagnosis was just a clog in the system. The oil couldn't move through the system, so it built up pressure(remember the 80+PSI) until it had enough and blew out the path of least resistance. It blew out the back of the oil pan. Maybe I'm lucky that I didn't torque down those bolts, or else it could have done something even worse.

I had noticed that the oil pressure remained at the 50-60 range on the way back from the incident so I assumed that the clog must have dissipated somehow. The solution, then, was to just get a new oil pan gasket(with RTV this time), refit the bolts, button her back up, and put in new oil. Thankfully, the problem was solved and there were no leaks or any other problems with the engine. I was ecstatic to have my baby back.
[/StoryTime]

Back on 11/12/2013 I ordered a pair of Froelich Suspension Technology's (FST;Kris Froechlich;Leadfoot) retrofitted HIDs. After all of his blunder with business management, I finally received the set in later April of 2014. They didn't get installed until July, but here's a picture. 6000K HIDs with a blue angel LED angel eye.


Here's a couple pictures of the new visibility.




It rained heavily one day so I took the opportunity to go mudding in the back of my parent's farm.


My parents went on vacation to California and left me alone at the farm for the week. I then took it upon myself, my brother, and my friend to try something new and try to bog around in my parent's pond.

It didn't work out well.


Here's my buddy trying to pull me out with his new turbo diesel F250. Which he and I both found out that his new truck's 4WD wasn't working. What a shame.


Finally got her out after some trouble.


I let my older brother stay inside and try to get the jeep out so that he wouldn't get wet and dirty. The damn idiot left the passenger window down while he spun the tires in the water. Do you understand where this is going? Because he didn't.





Not much had been done to the jeep for quite some time but I finally got around to fabricating the back doors so she can be completely doorless. Another PITA, because the T40 bolts you need to unscrew are at a bad angle. Also, the bottom bolts on the bottom brackets of both doors were so badly rusted that I just couldn't get them out, I ended up just cutting them off. No pictures of the process, but here she is without doors.



Bonus pic of my 54 year old, old man of a dad riding behind my jeep on a sled-like thing.


[StoryTime]
I had lived in Kansas for about 9 years with my parents. I'm not going to school this semester and I decided I wanted something new so I packed up my stuff and headed for Utah to stay with my sister so I can experience the pleasure of living close to my aunts, uncles, and cousins. And to be a part of my niece's life. I have made the trip from KS to UT on many occasions, but this time it was right out of my nightmares.

I left on a Wednesday night expecting to drive mostly straight through, maybe a nap or two at a rest area. 6 hours into the 17 hours drive, somewhere in the middle of Nebraska, after leaving a rest area I noticed my temp gauge has nearly topped out and the check gauges light was illuminated. Uh oh. "What the hell is going on?" I thought. Luckily I made it to the next exit and to gas station. I parked my jeep, jumped out and immediately I heard a loud pop as I was about to lift the hood. Antifreeze was spewing all over the ground. I couldn't quite tell but I thought-and hoped-that it was because the upper radiator hose had come off the spout. I bought some new antifreeze, filled her up, and to my dismay, she was still leaking. After freaking out for a short while, I assumed that my radiator was now shot so I had to get a new one. The problem? The nearest auto store was 20 miles away at the next exit. 2 hours later and several stops on the interstate to let her cool down and fill her up with more antifreeze/water, I made it to Advanced Auto. It's not my first choice of auto stores but it will have to suffice. LUCKILY they had ONE radiator in stock that fit my XJ. But now, I had to replace a radiator in a parking lot. Thankfully, I never go anywhere without my tool bag. The employees there were really nice and helpful because they understood my plight.

The replacement wasn't easy, by any means, which is awfully strange for a radiator. First of all, it wasn't OEM, but a close match. It had all of the right spouts and openings, but none of the fittings. The fittings I needed were for the tranny cooler line that runs through the radiator, and I couldn't pull them off of mine because they're not detachable. I had to become ingenious. I ended up going with 3/4" brake line that fit the threading on the new radiator, cut the existing tranny send line hose, fit the brake line into the hose, and attached hose clamps to keep it there. Next on the list was the return line. It wouldn't attach to the radiator because they were two female ends so I had to run across the street to a hardware supply store to pick up a 3/4" male to male adapter that I had to grind off to get it to fit. I thought everything was solved. Not quite. The brake got in the way of fitting the radiator back in, so I 'persuaded' into place. More like just shoved that SOB down and hoped I didn't break anything. It ended up bending the brake line and I called it good. The whole process took 4-5 hours, which is absurd if you ask me.
[/storytime]

The culprit:


Here are some pics of the install:


Brake line ingenuity:


Out of focus, my bad


And a pic of the wonderful woman that I bonded with while she aided me in this horrific process. THANK YOU AGAIN YOU BEAUTIFUL PERSON (Awkward pic because she didn't want her picture taken but I took one anyway)



Bonus pic from the trip, somewhere in Wyoming


[StoryTime]
The first startup was a big rough and then every time after that, there was something wrong when I tried to turn her over. It was like losing power or something, I just can't explain it. At about 10PM on Thursday, I was in Cheyenne, WY stopping to fill up on gas. I think I might have left my lights on while I filled up, not sure, but once I was finished on my way out of the gas station I noticed my lights weren't on, even though the switch was turned on. I pulled over into a parking lot to inspect my lights. I saw smoke. It turns out, the controller for my HIDs had somehow shorted, and then caught on fire?? I assume it had something to do with the strange turn overs I was now experiencing. I extinguished the fire then realized there is absolutely nothing I can do to fix this right now. So I had to postpone the journey once more because I couldn't drive until the morning when it's light out.
[/StoryTime]

Pics of the remnants of my HID controller.




I finally reached my destination in Clearfield, UT on Friday afternoon.

The following Sunday, it came to my attention that I was leaking tranny oil. Must be the brake line. Conveniently, there's a hardware store right across the street from my new house so I was able to sort out the situation with new hardware. I used a 3/4" 90* female/female elbow and then a 1/2 hose adapter with a 3/4" male end that attached right into the elbow and send line hose. Problem fixed.

Nope. Still leaking. It's leaking from the return line now. I guess that I had ground down too much of male/male nipple that it caused too much play in the metal hose. So I bought a new one and ground it down less. Problem solved. For good. I hope.

[No pics]

Finally, I needed to fix my headlight situation so I can start driving at night again. I figured for the time being that I could at least rig it up with low beams so I could drive until I sourced a new controller. The method I went with was using relays because HIDs run off a direct line from the battery. I got the low beams to work but then I decided to try for high beams as well. Thankfully I got it to work after a bit of trial and error.

Here's a diagram of how it's set up:


So, now we're all caught up to today.

KingsColor

Now that I'm in Utah there's tons of places to go wheeling so I will definitely be taking advantage of that while I'm here. Of course I'll continue to build up my rig. My brother-in-law has a welder that I'll be able to use to aid me in my build.

In the near future I plan to do/add the following:
Winch
Fix dents + bedliner the bottom half
Durango steering gearbox
Quick-disconnect plugs for doors
Build a roof rack
Fender flares (Hoping for bushwackers, but might end up making my own)
Sub enclosure/toolbox/storage for the hatch
WJ seats for front and back
Regear to 4.56 or go to Ford 8.8 + 4.10s
New shocks that actually fit my lift size
Long arms

KingsColor

Went through and edited all of the pictures so they're not so damn huge. I hope you guys appreciate that, it took over an hour haha.

Nothing done to Zella this weekend. I bought some bondo to fix some dents before I bedliner the bottom half. I plan to start that tomorrow.

I did a junkyard run, picked up: replacement gear shift cover, aux fan, 4x4 badge from a wagoneer, arm rest console latch.

I scouted some WJ seats, cloth. They're $40 each seat so I didn't pick them up, might pick them up next weekend. Also scouted a early model XJ ceiling console, didn't pick it up because I'm still unsure of it; I don't like the old style of it. And also got a price for a ford 8.8 from an explorer. They want $137 for it, untouched and I have to pull it. Is that a good price?

Also, was supposed to pick up a welder tonight. It's just a 90 amp flux wire but it's $50 and I think it's perfect to learn on. My brother-in-law has a Millermatic MIG machine at his shop so if I need something heavy duty done, I could ask him.

I'm really disappointed I didn't get anything done or even go on any trails this weekend but I hope next weekend will make up for it.

Brandonrcm

Looks good man. Really thinking about doing the rear lower quarter cut and fold on mine, then seeing yours when the colors are close I'm thinking it'll be a go. Sucks about all the issues you've had over time, but that's jeeps for ya.