Well, they currently are pretty straight....however thats gonna change soon. A plan is in the works as we speak.



Just gotta wait and see.....

 

Walk to work? Dude, you STROLL to work, it's not even a walk!

...by the way, nice work getting that front apart and back together. People who ***** about not having a lift or some special tool should hang out with you sometime and work in your garage... oh, that's right, you do it all on the side of the street or an alley! Hardcore style

 

Mine aren't the greatest shackle angles right now either. I feel it has settled a little though. I plan on someday doing something to fix the angle and the bumpy ride. But it really doesn't bother me too much yet.

TMC- is that a stock gas tank skid on yours? have you put it to any good use yet? I have a chance at getting one just haven't decided if I want to jump on it yet.

 

Haha! Well I dont know about being hardcore lol! I think most would beg to differ that my stuff is the opposite.

Thanks man! I just gotta work with what I got.

 

It is stock. My XJ has the Upcountry package, so engine skid, TC skid, gas tank skid, front/rear tow hooks. Although I dont have the front skid lol.

I havent had a chance to "test it", but it should work fine for what I run. I would buy it if I were you and it was a decent price.

 

I had to run down to the store for Jake this morning, so I took a quick sneak down the alley to check it out, the Jeep looks great! I also noticed that the front is sitting a bit higher than the back now, not a ton, maybe 1" to 1 1/2"? If I didn't know what you had planned for the back I'd suggest you enter into a lowrider show, LMAO!

Now, if you will excuse me, Craigslist is calling and I need to get back to hunting down cheap, neglected XJ's (or ZJ's, I'm not picky!).

 

Thanks man! Haha! Yeah the front is measuring 3.5" which Im thrilled at since the coils are used and shouldnt settle any.

If all goes according to plan, I should be able to level out the rear soon....


.....although every time I look at it from the side Im reminded how much I need tires.

Bad.

 

Subbed

 

Thanks Jason! Hopefully my build thread wont bore you too much!

 

Well, I got a hold of some slightly used RC shackle relocation brackets. Bought them from a fellow member on here, thanks again Chad!

I went to install them this weekend and it turns out my factory shackle buckets have just the one hole facing the front of the Jeep. The RC brackets require two holes for mounting...looks like I get to do a little fab work next time I get a chance to work on it. No offense to RC or Chad what-so-ever, I just think it can happen on some of the "earlier" older models.

Actually a fellow NAXJA member ran across the same problem with his Renix era 88. Heres a LINK ....so Ill honesty just have to do what he did.

This should level me out with the front and give me a great ride.



Updates soon.......


(for those following )

 

I went to work on the shackle buckets, and I broke my socket and adapter so it looks like another week of PB Blaster soaking and a run to the parts store. First time Ive had any type of "hiccup" since I got the Jeep, so Im pretty happy actually.

So I moved on to another item I had on my to-do list. On my Wrangler I had a few years ago, I had removed its so called carpet and bedlined the floors. I loved it. Clean up was so easy. Just removed the rubber mats, vacuum and/or wipe/wash the floor and your done. Naturally I had to use my past Jeep knowledge on another Jeep. You always hear about horror stories of people removing theirs in a XJ and finding rust, holes, or both. Well.....here was mine:

Driver:




The driver side was pretty much perfect, couple of surface spots to scrub down and clean and it was good to go.



Passenger:




Now those with a keen eye or have done this before may notice something peculiar about my pass floor board (not the small rust spots). I cant remember if I ever mentioned this, but this XJ has a WA Rebuilt title. I was able to register/insure it under my name without any problems, but it obviously had something happen to it to where the state had to issue it. I dont have any other picture except for this one. This is after I cleaned up the rust and laid some primer down before the 'liner.




If you somehow cant see it or have never seen an XJ's floors, there is a crinkle in the sheet metal in the transmission hump that follows the channel and at the base going across the floor board.

Now I know it looks bad because of the lighting/shadows. When I first saw it, I immediately got under the Jeep and started inspecting the frame rail, motor/trans mounts, control arms/brackets, door jams, and under-hood cowling/firewall. I didnt find anything that seemed bent, patched, or re-welded.

My best guess?

Sometime in its life it took a hit in the right front fender or front corner and this is where the unitbody "gave way" along the factory floor pan channels.

At any rate, Im not really worried about it because:
-the front end is measuring true
-both frame rails are straight and solid
-all motor/trans/control arm mounts are solid/intact
-there is no other sign of damage
-its obviously been inspected to be able to receive a state registration approval
-a friend had the same thing happen to him with his old XJ in a similar spot


Moving on, so after the surface rust was removed, wiped down, then primed I started laying down bedliner. I wanted it to be textured but not super rough so I went with Duplicolor Truck Bed coating again. It took about 1 1/2 to 2 cans for multiple light coats. There were some spots that ran a little, but I think it turned out great since I didnt fully remove the interior.

Driver side:









The black makes the sheet metal crinkles look worse than they actually are

Passenger side:






After thoughts:

Extra road noise? None, although its a Jeep. If I wanted a quiet ride I would've bought a sedan.

Extra heat? I drove it for quite awhile after it dried and I didn't notice any difference what so ever. I think its because these would be thinner coats than if I would have used something like Herculiner or others.

Prep work? I didnt have the time/place to fully gut the interior and let it dry.
So for me the name of the game was masking. Also since I didnt have any rusted through spots or sheet metal to replace it went a lot faster.

Recommendations?
-Frog Tape. Amazing stuff. Period.
-A couple open boxes of A&H Baking Soda zapped the smell out of mine.




Ill be buying some HD floor mats for at least the front and back seats. Also I still have to do the cargo area and under the back seat, but I think the front came out great!




Still more plans in the works, so keep checking back if your interested!

 

I like your floor like that, I didn't think I would, but it actually looks better than it did with the carpet in there. That wrinkle is no big deal, and if it bothers you too much, a little love with a ball peen hammer would knock the majority of that down (but I honestly wouldn't mess with it).

Nice work by the way!

 

Your front seats recline forward! Give me haha.

 

Thanks my good sir!

Im really happy with how it turned out!

Haha! In those photos they can actually slide forward about two more notches

Do yours not do that? Is it not on older models or did you have to swap your seats?

 

It's not on older models that the 2 doors didn't forward recline. Have to find a one that does for the passenger seat. All passengers either go through the hatch or crawl over the center console. I also have electric seats that might make a difference.