thewhitestripes

I recently bought a 97 xj country edition. Its red and has 247k miles on it. I got it for 1400 and it has 0 rust! Literally nothing. The 4x4 works well and the paint and body are in great shape minus the drivers side front fender, the fender is missing and the quarter panel was resprayed via spraypaint. My friend has had 2 xjs and hes had a blast with them and they have been amazingly reliable so I'm excited to get into the xj world. My plans so far are:
-small lift like 1.5 inches
- 31s (tire is unknown so far)
-fender trimming, I think bushwhackers with such a small lift would look kinda silly but I'm not sure yet)
-lights (I kinda like LED bars but PIAA lights are nice too)
-as far as bumpers and roof rack I really want to try my hand at welding them. My friend and I have never welded before but are going to split one from freight harbor and see how it goes
-cb radio

That's all I can think of for now. Any input would be nice especially because I'm so new to the offroad world. My last car was an 88 iroc I completely rebuilt. I will post pics of what I'm starting with tomorrow. Its going to be a slow build but I see a lot of guys starting builds after they are almost done and wishing they started one from the beginning so here goes mine!!

thewhitestripes

Oh and a snorkel. I know it sounds stupid but i hydrolocked my jimmy one time and had to junk it. What a waste. I'll never let that happen again.

91XJBlackonBlack

Pics!!!

Flowpro

If you've rebuilt an Iroc then an XJ will be a breeze. Good luck with the build.

KC SCOTT

Sounds like we're in the same boat. I just picked up a 99 and want to do almost the exact build. I'm out of cash for the moment due to the all my extra cash going to the Jeep, but want to do a 2" lift with a 30-31" tire. Good luck and keep us updated.

thewhitestripes

alright so its been a while but thats mostly cause i lost my phone and couldnt take decent pics. i ended up going with a trailmaster 3 inch lift, picked up some 31"ish" discover stt's on moab looking wheels (i forgot the name of them) the lift was a pretty easy install but ive done 3 already so ive gotten the hang of it lol. also got a 52 inch led bar and im in the process of redoing my headliner. bought a cb but havent installed it yet. also custom made my light bar brakets. a part of it wasme not having the right tools but making those brakets was a PITA!!! ive got more respect for guys that fab things up thats for sure. now for the pics!!
First pic pre lift kit. (some of thesepics werent exactly intended for the forum. hence the kayak blocking the front fender lol

thewhitestripes

better pre lift pic:

thewhitestripes

Install:

thewhitestripes

Post lift:

thewhitestripes

fronts done while i work on the back:

thewhitestripes

got a little mud on her!!! also you can check out the LED bar in this pic. First time off-roading with the lift went well!!

thewhitestripes

not to sure why the pics are coming in sideways they are vertical when i cut and paste them.