Clean 2001 DD Build
 

So the time had finally come to start building my DD xj into something a little more off road capable, yet still be safe and drivable on road!
Got the jeep about 6 months ago and did a bunch of maintenance to it, tinted the Windows, and redid the stereo.

Parts list will be the following:
3.5" full traction long arm kit
16" alloy wheels
285/75r16 tires
Bushwacker flat flares
Dirtbound off-road bumpers/tire carrier
SYE
Dynomax exhaust
Front and rear bumper lighting
And about a million misc little pieces

This is how she sat before we started tearing into it:

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Had to get rid of the lp30 and Dana 35, picked up a hp30 and 29 spline 8.25 to swap in

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Cleaned them up, completely rebuilt and regeared and got them painted

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Many nights later and a few specialty tools made, got them finished up with new 4.56 gears. Now onto building the new DIY Dirtbound off-road Mojave bumpers and tire carrier..

They arrived in a bunch of flat pieces with zero instructions.. Oh well that's half the fun anyways is figuring it out!

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Having two people holding stuff while bending and mocking everything up sure was helpful. My dad giving me a hand here in that picture.

Started to take shape and a while later we had bumpers and a tire carrier

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Rear coming together nicely

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All together with the tire carrier

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Was all painted using rustoleum spray truck bed liner. Has a nice subtle texture to it.

If you do these Dirtbound bumpers they can come out great, just take your time making sure everything will line up correctly on the jeep before welding fully. Definitely come out looking good though!

With the jeep pulled in the garage and a parts pile growing it was time to start getting to work on the car itself! Began by cutting out the body for the flat flares using the cut and fold method

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Kind of a nerve racking thing cutting into a clean body like that! Didn't take close pictures of the rears but they got the same treatment.

With the fenders cut and bare metal edges painted to stop rust, I sprayed undercoating in the wheel wells and underneath the rockers to the inside of the "frame rail"bro clean things up

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All the pieces that we're getting rebuilt or put back under the jeep got stripped to bare metal with a wire wheel and painted with duplicolor engine paint to keep them from rusting, and we'll just to look pretty until they get scratched up!

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that's only a portion of what got cleaned up and painted! A lot more time consuming than you might think

Wheels and tires came in! Decided to go with pro comp 69 series alloy wheels with 4"BS and 285/75r16 bfg ko2's. This will be my daily driver so I wanted something that would be good on road, yet still have an aggressive look.

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Of course had to tuck them under the car and get a sneak peek as what it would look like..

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Not quite at ride height, it will sit a big higher and still has to have the flares installed. Going to be cool though!

Putting in SYE and all new t case seals this week getting everything ready for the lift to go in. Picking it up this weekend so more pics to come!

Super sexy build so far! I'm interested in the Dynomax catback. Definitely let me know how you like/ dislike it

I am interested in that catback as well! I placed an order a week ago only to find out they were on back order and 4 wheel parts couldnt tell me when they would be back in stock!

Edit: and of course this build is looking good, but we all knew that already

Looking good! Keep it up

I like clean DD builds. BTW, on the Dynomax, if its the same aluminized with SS tip one that Amazon sells, I got it and it looks great / sounds great. I got a Magnaflow cat at the same time. Its louder/deeper than stock but not obnoxious at speed.

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Finished making my rear license plate bracket. Used some exhaust tubing that slipped together, and will get a pin so it can be removed when I need to take my spare tire off.




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Welded shut the holes from the factory bumper cap bracket and coated the lower quarter panels as well as the rockers with the same spray Bedliner as the bumpers


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Pulled the transfer case out and cleaned it up, getting ready for the SYE to go


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And got the front bumper mounted and lights installed and almost done wiring them up.

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All running to an aluminum switch panel I made that sits in in the factory ashtray location.

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Lift kit to be installed this weekend! Lots of good pics coming

SYE installed and back in the rig. Ordered from PORC off road, seems to be good quality! Replaced input shaft seal and rear transmission seal while we were in there.

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Got the lift picked up yesterday and boy is it sweet.. Got the leafs in



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And a little sneak peek at just how cool this lift is..

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Stay tuned

That's WAY more beef than an XJ needs. You're likely to rip apart what ever mount it's fastened to before that thing fails.
Are you suffering from some type of envy???? lol.

J/K,,,, I love over building. Bringin' the beef means making it home after the tough trail.
I'm "Stayin' Tuned"........

Haha that's what comes with the full traction long arm kits. Those are the heims for the lower control arms... They're huge! I was shocked when I opened the box and saw them.

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With the SYE on and bolted back up, could start getting the new control arm bracket in place and get the transmission crossmember back in

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Stuck the rear leafs in there to free up some floor space where my axle was sitting

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Tomorrow project.. Get the front all back together.

Nice progress! I wish I could've gone gears before lift and tires....
Next rig I get is gears first then lift...
Keep the progress up. Subscribed!