Ozark Mountain Ranger

Yeah I had the idea when I was doing the lift. I realized that it was a PIA to use tools and try and position of flashlights just right. Giving these a test run under the hood they seem to produce enough light. I figured that all of the lights on circuit one under the hood would be linked to a pressure switch that automatically turns them on when the hood is popped. The other three circuits would be linked to switches located somewhere on the dash or possibly underneath the dash so that they are only accessible for flipping on to do maintenance and don't accidentally get bump on while driving

Ozark Mountain Ranger

Unfortunately I don't own a torch to get the center of these bushings out so I can use the bushing shells for my polyurethane bushings so we're going to try something a little different

Ozark Mountain Ranger

Process is going slow so far. They've been on the grill at 350 for almost 20 minutes and the outermost portion of rubber is slowly starting to melt and work its way out

Ozark Mountain Ranger

Success. The large bushing shells for the front part of the leaf spring were the hardest but they are like the size of a baseball. It took about 45 minutes all together on the BBQ Grill. Hopefully finding some time to tear down and replace all these next week

Ozark Mountain Ranger

Custom bumper off Swisher's XJ.
So this week I got a junked XJ at work. Turns out our purchasing guy actually got it just for me. I'm reutilizing the bumper (welds are **** it needs work) and adding tow hooks to it from harbor freight.

This bumper was so poorly put together I am scrapping it. Not worth my time to fix it



Harbor Freight 10000lb tow hooks, like $10 each

XJIrish4x4

These are the builds I truly love to see! Once again one who appreciates these XJs and brings it back to life.

Thanks for your service not sure if your still serving as a seabee but even if not thank you. Navy guy here myself

I like your build coming along nicely and that XJ is clean.

Make sure to check that other XJ for any axles you may need and other upgrades. Not sure your final goal in mind!

Ozark Mountain Ranger

The other XJ has an np242. I'm going to use the welded steel bumper off of it for sure and I pulled some interior trim pieces. It has the nicer set of dash gauges than mine does, mine came with the bare bone stock gauges. I'm going to play with it more once I get it hauled up to the actual demolition site. It has Teraflex 2 inch puck spacers in the front that I definitely need and front and rear shock boots. I might take down the shocks as well and see if they are longer because it looks like the previous owner jimmied together a 5 inch lift. Like I said in my previous comment, the steel bumper needs a lot of work but I also need to learn how to weld so one of my co-workers is going to teach me a bit about welding while helping me fix that bumper. It will not be the bumper that stays on there for the rest of its life. I would like to save to afford something that looks clean like Warrior front and rear bumpers or Smittybilt.

Ozark Mountain Ranger

Installed the Energy Suspension 25mm front sway bar kit. Astronomical improvement in the handling. Gone is the sloshy boat cornering. Cant beat it for $30.

XJIrish4x4

[QUOTE=Ozark Mountain Ranger;3456974]The other XJ has an np242 so the axles that go with it are specific for that transfer case if I'm not mistaken.

I'm not aware of that and tried to look it up but found nothing. I have no experience on this and would be interested to hear if so and why.

Kevin Miller

Love it so far! I'm jealous of your hood stuts and red led dash lights ..... I've been planning on both for awhile now.

Ozark Mountain Ranger

The red dash lights on eBay where dirt cheap. My ultimate suggestion for disassembling the dash is to have a set of long T handle Star Bits for taking apart the Box around the steering column. I originally tried to disassemble the Box using the Quick Change bits for a screwdriver and quickly found that the holes in the bottom of the steering column box are not wide enough for the screwdriver base to get in. The quick solution I found was to change those star bit screws out for Phillips head screws when reassembling so the next time I had to take the dash apart was much faster. Currently I still have my Dash taken apart as I've been having fuel gauge issues and I am working on wiring my dash for the switches for my service light project




Kind of hard to see but I have swapped out those Star Bits for Phillips heads. Hoping to post pictures of the wired Dash by the end of the week

Ozark Mountain Ranger

[QUOTE=XJIrish4x4;3456998]Turns out the other XJ is running a rear Dana 35 and is running 3.55 gears. I might take the gear set out of the front Dana 30 but I am not going to mess with trying to swap a Dana 35 end when that Chrysler 8.25 is technically larger and beefier. I am fortunate that there are about 30 jeeps in my local junk yards but most of them are Dana 35. If I was going to swap up to anything it would be the Dana 44.

Kevin Miller

I've had the steering cover off twice now and never thought of changing the screws to Phillips head, I think I will next time. Thanks for the tip

Ozark Mountain Ranger

I've got in the habit of anytime I'm working on something to change the star bit bolts out for either regular bolts or Phillips head screws or bolts. In an emergency situation I'd like to be able to fix whatever goes wrong with a screwdriver and the crescent wrench

Ozark Mountain Ranger

Removing the factory cigarette lighter (just a lighter no 12v power on pre 96 model)




Ran a dremel with a cone tip sanding bit in the dash to make room for the new usb 12v power connector




Mock up of the fitment




Running cables. Pos is a fuse tap




Works and charging




Last step drilled a small hole to see the indicator light