pittman71

I wonder how much longer they need to be. I guess I will just try them. I think my plan will be to make the bastard pack first, then depending on how much lift I end up with, I'll probably buy some new springs to level it out. I'll have to try that BP method you mentioned. Thanks again.

adamk

Here's two threads that will give you some info on the control arm lengths and someone that has used them.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/c...h-chart-81592/

http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoWJcontrolarms.htm

pittman71

Awesome, Thanks! I had meant to bookmark that first link when I came across it while doing research but forgot. So going by that chart, if I have a 3.5" lift, I will need lcas that are between 16.09 and 16.33. If the WJ lca is 2' longer than a stock XJ (15.75"), then it would be 17.75" Hmmmm. More figuring to do, but this helps a great deal.

The 2nd link looks as though he is using the fronts as fronts and rears as rears for the upper and lowers....and also drop brackets for the LCAs.

pittman71

Since I am trying to figure out and gather parts for my lift, I decided to take care of some cosmetic stuff on the Jeep.

Went to my local Pick a Part salvage yard and found a steering wheel in great condition for only $12. Used a puller rented from Advanced and these write ups to change it out since I had not done one with an airbag before: http://www.links4jeeps.com/writeups/clockspring/
http://home.myfairpoint.net/m_levesq...ssite/id2.html


Before



After

GreenXJ98

Nice start to the build! I just took some bastard packs off my xj. here's a pic of all the parts. It was about 3 inches of lift.

GreenXJ98

Just cut the eyes off those S-10 leaf packs, and put your main XJ leaf on top. You'll be good to go.

pittman71

Also got these at Advanced for $38. Read great reviews about them. Like everyone says, they have plenty lifting power compared to stock.

pittman71

Thanks! Are those the original LCAs or did you use something else?

Yep, coming up soon.

TMC

Im enjoying the build so far man. I have a (older) 2 door as well, and yours looks to be in pretty decent shape!

I plan on being around where you want to be, 3"/31", and am getting quite a bit from the local pull-n-save as well.


Sub'd!

GreenXJ98

Yeah, those are the stock control arms. I upgraded to Rusty's off road upper and lower control arms, full coils and leafs, and got all new shocks. The bastard packs were pretty decent, I just wanted to upgrade my suspension all the way around after I bought it.

GreenXJ98

If you were closer, I'd sell you my bastard packs for like $100.

pittman71

Thanks! I'll be following yours as well.

Well I searched for a while and could not find a headliner or board for that matter that was in decent shape. So I decided to try to salvage mine even though it had some pretty bad gouges in it.

What I started with



Pulled it and scrubbed off the left over foam



Picked up some headliner material and 2 cans of adhesive from JoAnnns fabric using their 40% off coupon. Spent about $50 total.

This stuff is great. Super sticky!



Turned out pretty good for my first...especially with the gouged board. Total for materials was right at $50

TMC

Wow! That turned out great! Especially considering what you had to work with. Just curious, did you do anything to fill in the gouges?


My headliner fabric was taken down by PO, but my board seems to be in fairly good condition. I need to do this.......



Was it as difficult as what I've read?

pittman71

Thanks!

I wouldn't say it was difficult, but it was definitely time consuming. I am pretty mechanically inclined, but I don't do it for a living. While building my CJ I learned that things usually take longer than you think they will. My dad and I now say, "Think about how much time you think it will take you to do the job and at least double it.....sometimes triple. Doing things the first time is a learning experience. So if you ever need to do something again, it will go quicker the next time.

I didn't do a write up since there are many of them already and there is not much to it. Basically, you just unscrew and pull the plastic interior panels around the sides and rear of the headliner. Also remove the sun visors and dome lights. You will need a large torx to remove the rear seatbelts. Then slide the headliner board out through the back.

For the gouges, some of them were torn and still had material I could bring back together. Other areas were just missing. I knew it wouldn't be completely perfect, but it actually turned out better than I expected. Huge improvement!

pittman71

Out of the 4 salvage yards I went to looking for parts, none of the XJs had this cover for the license plate lamp. All of them were broken like mine.



I looked for part outs on Craigslist but no luck. I finally found one on ebay, but had to pay $32 shipped.