Can't wait to get her all fixed up so I can take her out & break her.........

 

Custom shaft is not needed. Go to a JY and pull a front DS from another XJ and slap it on the rear. Then when you carry a spare on the trail, you only need one and it works front or rear.

 

^ true, and much cheaper than CV shaft, big difference between stock DS & custom though. Tom Woods, or Tatton are true Beef compared to thin /light stock DS. Either way (OP) you'll be good to go.

Good progress, let's see some 33's under it!

 

Thanks for the tip on the driveshaft. Ive checked a few local JY's and no luck but a few calls i'm sure i'll find one.
In the meantime I yanked the transfer case and getting her cleaned up and ready to install the SYE

 

Got the slip yoke eliminator installed- overall a very simple job. Using pneumatic tools makes the job go by much faster. Unfortunately, or forunately for my bank account, business is just insane right now so i've had little time to work on the jeep. I pulled the grill and headlight trims and got those painted while she's been sitting around tho- simple quick jobs

 

Decided to go with a custom made driveshaft- the front is pretty small & I want something that can take a beating on the rear. Got it ordered thru a local company called Universal driveshafts. It'll be done early next week. Transfer case is all installed- tomorrow being a day off I plan on getting all a bunch of the little things done so she's road ready when I get the DS back. Been thinking about wheel/ tires lately. Thinking of 16" rims with 33 x 10.5's

 

Torqueing down everything front driveshaft back in and getting her cleaned up for test run next weekend. In the meantime, I swung by 4 Wheel Parts this morning and bought these- mine are flat black with the Pro Comp xtreme m/t's

 

Trimming the rear fenders I guess I cut a little too high and cut past the pinch welds. Damn. Tried to weld it and its pretty thin metal- aint gonna be an easy fix. Anyone else do this?

 

Yep. Did that when I installed my bushwacker flares. If the gap isn't too big, you can just use some body seam sealer.

 

Wheels & tires on.....
Waiting on a driveshaft

 

On the road/ Replaced the exhaust system- went with a magnaflow cat & muffler & 2" piping. She's running pretty good & i'm gonna head up Saddleback in the am to check her out.

She's not so ugly anymore.......

 

Took the xj out today for a run up trabuco canyon to holy Jim. She handled fantastic and was a blast to drive. I'm very impressed with the 4.0 engine turning the 33's with no problem. The suspension handled the washboard road in no prob and I had her sideways through the corners. Good times. I love this jeep

 

random pics

 

So far on this bone stock XJ:

New 4.5" Rubicon super-flex with diso's
2" spacer in front
New leafs & shackles in the rear
SYE kit & CV driveshaft
Magnaflow cat & muffler
Smittybuilt rack
Alpine stereo
Pro Comp steel wheels & 33 x 12.5's

Next up: lighting- bumpers & recovery- ??

 

When I cut mine, it was pretty hard to weld that thin even on the lowest voltage. TIG would be the way to go and make it look nice, but I was out of argon so I used FCAW. I just did a bunch of small tacks an inch apart, then went back and put more in between, then put more in between until it was tacked almost solid, then ground it and filled it all in with Bondo.