Hello Everyone. I've been on the forum for about a month now and you all have helped me alot with either direct questions from me or just by reading other posts.

I'll start off by saying I'm not really sure where this build is going to go. My XJ needs quite a bit of work so I don't really want to sell it to anyone. For now I'm going to do some cheap mods to make it more offroad worthy. If everything goes well there will be much more to come. If not it's going to sit in the yard and become a parts vehicle for my 2001 Cherokee that I just bought.

The XJ is a 2000 with an automatic and np231. It has 168,000 miles on it but the motor has 99,000. Something is going on with the engine because it uses some antifreeze but it's been doing that for about 8 months without getting any worse. It doesn't seem to be going out the tail pipe and the oil looks good. There is a slight oily film on the antifreeze when I open the cap but not much. Head gasket I'm guessing. The engine runs like a top though. It also has a high pitched whistle under idle or part throttle that is either a vacuum leak or intake leak from what I've read here. The body is not too bad other than the rockers. The "frame" is solid and the floor boards seem ok but I will know more when I pull the carpet. I also have to weld the upper drivers door hinge back to the body since it's ready to fall off.

I am going for a low COG build. 3" lift and 32 or 33 inch tires but I plan on starting out with 31's and no lift. I still have to figure out what to do with my wheels. I'd like to run stockers but I'm not sure how the back spacing is going to work with either 0 lift and 31's or 3" lift and 33's. I might have to find some used steely 15x8 with a little less backspacing. I have more research to do in that area. I plan on removing both sway bars too.

Today I pulled all of my fender flares in preperation for cutting. The front cuts seem straight forward(I marked the outside edge or the flare before I pulled them) but I'm not sure where I'm going to cut the rears. It looks like I I'll have to cut more out of the rear of the openings than the front. I'm assuming that is ok since the wheels will push back a little as they compress, I think? More research to do on that. I also removed my front bumper ends and plan on tapering the stock bumper like I've seen others do here. I also tried to remove the rear bumper ends but I cant find out how to remove the last 1 or 2 upper bolts holding them to the quarter panel. Any tips? I don't have my manual around today. I did do a search but couldn't find exactly what I needed. Whatever is left holding it on is up by the sheetmetal piece thats under the fuel fill.

After I get the wheel wells cut I will start piecing together the suspension lift. I think I am going to buy new coils for the front and bastard pack the rear. I want this rig to flex pretty good but I dont think I want to relocate the rear shackle mounts just yet. Are there any main leafs from other vehicles that are a bit longer so I can get a better shackle angle than stock? I've read that having the proper angle helps droop alot and I'm going to need all I can get since I'm going to need to limit up travel in order to clear 33's.

The other problem I just found out about today is in the rear. It's got a D35 in it. The pinion bearings are already a bit sloppy so I'm sure it wont last too long when I wheel it. I'm hoping it will be ok with 31's for awhile. It's not my DD so I'm not too worried about it. It has posi though.

If anyone has any comments I'd sure appreciate them. I haven't wheeled in about 10 years so I'm looking forward to going again. My last rig was an 87 K5 with a 4" lift and 33's. Rear lift was a shackle reversal and flexed nice.

Here she is:

 

Doesnt look like a beater to me. Yeah sure its a little rusty but that can be fixed. Every XJ has its problems.

 

that is what you call a blank canvas good luck on your build.

 

Do a search on cut and fold for the rear wheel openings

 

Thanks all. No, it's not too bad but That's a pic of her good side. The passenger side rocker is BAD. I'm going to wait on repairing that though just in case I scrap the whole idea. I plan on cutting the fenders next weekend....I'm sure that will psych me up. I'm going to just cut what I can on the rear for now. I'm sure I'll need to cut and fold eventually though.

The beauty of this build is the jeep doesn't owe me anything and it's not my DD. I probably wouldn't try modding my DD like this.

I'll post a new pic next week after the trim job.

FYI. The 4 flares are off to the dump next week unless someone wants them.

Gregg

 

Hello All,

I pulled my rear carpet today.....not too much cancer under there. There is a small electrical part under the rear seat. Anyone know what it is? See pic 2. I'm thinking it's for the ABS. Can I remove it?


Thanks all.