Muddy's Build Thread! aka HeadStrong!
 

Hey everybody, been on the forum for quite a while but never really posted anything. Decided to start a build thread to get opinions and show others how to do it!:icon_cheesygrin: My XJ is a 97 Sport 4 door 4x4. Bought it completely stock minus the head unit. It was only owned by one person and it was an old grandma, so it was very clean!! And it was maintained very well because her son was a mechanic who did all the work on it. I was 17 when I bought it and in highschool so I had no money to do anything to it so it stayed stock for most of the time. Here are some pics of it when I first got it.

Attachment 349633

Attachment 349634

I immediately ditched the bug shield and mud flaps. As you can see it was sagging a tad bit but not to bad.

It hadn't gone out to much since I bought it in the summer of 2011 but decided to take it out on a hunting trip.

Attachment 349635

Attachment 349636

Attachment 349637

This was all in Muskogee Oklahoma and there hadn't been to much rain so a lack of mud there was.

Fast forward to January of 2012 and my jeep and i had a mishap! I T-boned a ford explorer leaving school. Wish I got pics of what the ford looked like but my jeep was barely harmed by it.

Attachment 349638

Attachment 349639

I was stunned by how it held up. He was going maybe 40 and i hit him probably going 20 or so. He was speeding but I also didn't have a clear path of view to turn and we met. No tickets or anything just an increase in insurance.:sad: It took a while for me to get in gear and fix it so my jeep sit like this for two weeks. I thought it looked mean!

Attachment 349640

Then I fixed it. I had to bend the bumper back, bend the fender back get a new marker light, headlight bezel, and header panel. The new header panel is plastic instead of fiberglass as it was way cheaper than a new fiberglass one. How it looked after:

Attachment 349641

Attachment 349642

Still looks like that today. I plan on getting a new fender and paint it as my jeep needs a new paint job. Paint is starting to fade pretty bad. This incident also lead me to the jeeps name and the title of the build!! HeadStrong!!!! And yes, i do know this is a Trapt song, and I happen to like that song also. :rockon:

Can't forget the stock flex pics!!

Attachment 349643

Attachment 349644

It was probably around summer of 2012 when i wanted to start making things for my jeep and start modding it! So I started to build a roof rack.

Attachment 349645

It is made out of rigid tubing which is 100X stronger than EMT. I wanted to go for a baja style rack since I want a safari type XJ. It's raised 6" in the front for lights and 4" around the rest.

I graduated that summer and in the fall of 2012 i was enrolled in college. So that meant less funds and less time for the jeep.:sad: Fast forward to the beginning of January, when it all started to change! First I got 31x10.50/15 put on. It was a very tight fit and only rubbed at full steering lock. Not much flex though.

Attachment 349646

I planned on putting the lift on before the tires but the tires came first. That following weekend after I got the tires I got the parts for the lift. And so it began. I went with a junkyard lift/aftermarket. 3" Rusty's HD coils, bastard pack, and JK rubicon shocks. I got the front on that weekend.

Attachment 349647

I would have done the rear that same weekend but didn't because of other issues. SO I rode around like i had a couple hundred pounds of sand in the back. It only sat like that for a week, lifted the rear that following weekend.

Attachment 349648

Attachment 349649

Overall it netted me 4". Or 3.5" in front and 4" in the rear. It measured 21" in the front and rear measuring from center hub to fender.

I came out after class one day to find that a stocker parked next to me. Had to take a pic.

Attachment 349650

So it was all lifted by the end of January! I forgot to mention that I also got new sway bar links and other miscellaneous lift parts from my local group members. Hunting season was coming to a close in OK so i went out small game hunting at Ft. Cobb lake. Hunting was not so great so I did some wheeling while I was at it.

Attachment 349651

Attachment 349652

Attachment 349653

Attachment 349654

Attachment 349655

Attachment 349656

It was the first time I did some wheeling with the new lift and it did well.

Then I went to the Canadian river with another XJ and a YJ, which never gets pictured for some weird reason,

Here's one of my buddy's XJ.
Attachment 349657

Then mine!

Attachment 349658

Got stuck twice, the first of which I did not get a picture of but I was 3 wheeling, 1 in the air, and with open diffs, wasn't going anywhere. The second is where it got somewhat bad in my book. Water was deep and i lost momentum in the sand. Water was coming in the passenger side and filled it up to the top of the door trim.

Attachment 349659

Attachment 349660

Attachment 349661

I then popped the drain plugs and it all drained out by the next day. I took the shop vacuum to the floor and got the remaining bit of water out. And I also cleaned up the exterior, OK river sand isn't so friendly to paint.

Attachment 349662

Attachment 349663

Then it snowed the next day. Weird OK weather were its 60 one day, snowing the next then back to 60 within the next 24 hours.

Attachment 349664

Oh, also found out that I lost my muffler at the river that day so I ordered a new flowmaster 44 which should be on by the end of this weekend. I plan on making bumpers, sliders, skids, etc. for it and also buying new things in the near future. And go on more wheeling trips with the local groups. Sorry for the long story of my jeep, wasn't expecting it to be so long. I will sure to keep everybody updated, that is if I remember!

nice jeep!

Got the Flowmaster super 44 on! Sounds great! I definitely recommend it to anyone.

Got some new wheels on. Gives the jeep a meaner look.

Looking good man. I graduated from Yukon in 08. Disliked that place so much haha.

Thanks. I graduated from Mustang last year and know what you are taking about!

Gave it a bath today. Not the best but its cleaner than it was. I think my plan is to murder it out but not sure about it. If I were, it would need a new paint job; and I would rather spend that money on mods.

Got some new plans for the jeep since the ride and flex is not to great. As soon as I get the money to do it I plan to redo the entire lift and get to 5.5-6.5 inches. Gonna piece this lift together since I want it custom and to my likings. Gonna start with the rear soon to fix the ride and flex. Here's a small list of what I plan on doing.

Suspension:
Front:
-4.5 inch lift springs, most likely RE.
-ACO's
-Adj. Short arms until I have the money for long arms.
-discos

Rear:
OME 2.5 lift springs, medium duty, heard it netted 3 inches
Extended shackles, 2 inches
Shackle relocaters, RC, up to 1.5"

And with Bilstein 5100's the ride would be great and much better than what I have now.
Would probably get 33's or trim and put 35's.

After that I would upgrade the steering and beef up the axles. Then accessories after that like bumpers, sliders, etc. Tell me what you think about the set up and point out some things that I missed if there are any.

Nice cherokee! I'm also in the oklahoma area. lol

Thank you, if you are on Facebook look up Oklahoma Unibody Jeepers!

Looked up and joined!

Been a while since I have been on here and i guess its time to update the ol' build thread. Forgot to mention on here when it happened but earlier in June I found out that my detent, throttle valve, kickdown, whatever you want to call it cable started to fray and almost tore while in the jeep.
Attachment 339840

That problem finally got fixed last week and it was not fun. I am not a fan of opening up the transmission to fix something. Hopefully I don;t have to get under neath there again.

After that was fixed I waited on my new parts to to get here and some of them did
Attachment 339841

Shackle relocaters, adjustable shackles and a new rear brake line. Still waiting on my leaf springs from JeepinOutfitters. I ordered them last Friday and still haven't got them. Guessing its an in stock issue since my order status still says paid instead of shipped. I am waiting till I get the leafs to redo the entire rear. Hopefully the rubicon shocks I have on now will allow me to put everything on till I can figure out and buy new shocks. Also hope that my 2" T-case drop lets me drive it without any major vibes until an SYE.

The boss gave me the entire 4th weekend off so it was a 4 day weekend for me. Partied Thursday, Friday and went wheeling Yesterday! A new park recently opened up and one of my local groups had a trip to go out there and I went with them. It was a ton of fun and more difficult than what I have done before. For you Oklahoma jeepers the place is called Backwoods Offroad in Hydro, Oklahoma. Anyway here are some pics!

Attachment 339842
Attachment 339843
Attachment 339844
Attachment 339845
Attachment 339846
Attachment 339847
Attachment 339848
Attachment 339849
Attachment 339850
Attachment 339851
Attachment 339852
Attachment 339853
Attachment 339854
Attachment 339855
Attachment 339856
Attachment 339857
Attachment 339858


This trip was the first time my rig was somewhat challenged. And the first time I ripped both flares off. Tires bent up the fenders a little and they are going to need to be bent back out. Other than that there were no other broken parts or things falling off luckily. Check out my Youtube channel and videos that I get from inside the jeep!http://www.youtube.com/user/ZackHstadt

Man, its been a while since I updated this build. Guess I will do so now!

Ended up rebiulding my entire suspension. Here was the first bulk of parts that came in.

Attachment 332789

Finally got that put on the weekend after I got it. I mainly did the rebuild in steps.

Only after a hassle with my damn old leafs. All 4 bolts were stuck onto the sleeves after I un-threaded them. But made quick work of them with a cutting wheel and grinder on the bolts and forced the eye's out. Worked out good for one side, the other was more difficult after prying out the leafs. While doing so I ended up stripping the threads off the front eye nut. So I had to cut a little trapezoid out from underneath the nut. Knocked the welded nut out and replaced it. After that is was a cake walk beside Rough Country's screw up on the relocators. Whoever welded the nuts on didn't weld them straight so it made it a pain in the ***. Just re-tapped the nuts and everything went in real easy. Started working on it around 5:00 and didn't get done till 1:30 in the morning. Now I just have to put the brake line in and do the SYE then its onto the front.

Attachment 332790

Also put my CB antenna on with a custom mount!

Attachment 332791
Attachment 332792

And if I want to go into a parking garage, if i fit, or park inside a house garage I will never hit the antenna on the roof! Also makes it so i will never break my antenna while wheeling.

Attachment 332793

Then ordered my SYE.

Attachment 332794

Flexed it out for the first time since the SYE install and redone rear. Its maxed out in the front with more possible shock travel but the rear is a different story. Shocks are limiting me in the rear. Once the long arms go on and I can fully max it out to take measurements, I will buy new shocks.
Attachment 332795
Attachment 332796
Attachment 332797
Attachment 332798

Then the major upgrade. Got my IRO long arms and track bar.

Attachment 332799

IRO long arms were then put on. It was another mod that took until the early morning hours to finish! I wanna say it was about 230 when I backed my jeep out and was drive able. Here's a before and after. Sorry about the second pic being dark.

Before:
Attachment 332800

After:
Attachment 332801

Haven't measured it to be completely correct but the RC 6.5 coils are probably putting me at almost 7".

The JK Rubicon shocks didn't work so i am borrowing my buddy's shocks that he had on his 6.5 X flex kit until I get new shocks.

After a long night it was then off to Tulsa for the flex competition and a little bit of night wheeling. This trip was the first long haul with the long arms since it was the very next day and not even 12 hours after I put the lift on. For the whole 2 and a half hour drive I was very caution as to what would happen since I hadn't got my jeep over 60 with the long arms. Turns out everything was just fine. Got up there and started taking my shocks off to measure what length my new ones need to be. The one thing that i didn't get, because of UPS' mistake, were my front brakelines and I needed them bad. unbolted the front lines and hoped that it was enough for me to flex to get measurements. And I think they were just enough.
Attachment 332802
Attachment 332803
Attachment 332804
http://http://i1177.photobucket.com/...811_000753.jpg
Attachment 332805

If you look closely you can see my passenger brake line stretching like a guitar string. Also unseated the coil:D! I wanna say that is max and the measurements sound about right to my buddy who is also at 6.5 lift with LA. It scored 899 on a 20* RTI ramp. I say that my brake line could have been limiting me just a little.

After that it was off to do some night wheeling. Didn't get any pics of the terrain but it was just some steep muddy hill climbs, a creek some rocks and a big mud pond.
Here's my jeep next to my buddy's
Attachment 332806

His is 6.5 RC LA that got him 892 on the ramp. His is on 33's and mine is on 31's but I sit about even with his.

Here is the aftermath of the wheeling. Nothing broken yet, just real muddy, and I was trying to stay out of the mud. But i got lost and had to go through mud to get back to the main area.
Attachment 332807
Attachment 332808

Put the bumper caps back on and got some new, free, tires. 31x10.5 Mickey Thompson Baja Mud Claws.
Attachment 332809
Attachment 332810
Also picked up some tires for free .99. They have 100% tread.
Attachment 332811
Attachment 332812

Decided to flex it out.

Attachment 332813
Attachment 332814
Attachment 332814
Attachment 332816
Attachment 332817
Attachment 332818
Attachment 332819
Attachment 332820
Attachment 332821
Attachment 332822
Attachment 332823
Attachment 332824

I have a video of rocking the jeep. Don't know the easiest way to post it but if you want it I can post it. This ditch is one hell of a ditch. It was scary entering it. I was surprised that my A/T's actually made all the mud look like nothing when going through it to get up the other side. Once I was finished with the pics I pulled forward until I lost traction when my rear tire hit the water. Put it in reverse and back up a little to straighten it out along the creek but once I did that I went too far. Almost tore my axle out from underneath the jeep. My buddies were telling me that the rear tire was damn near under the rear passenger door. Had to get pulled to the side of the ditch a little so i could straighten out the jeep to be parallel with the ditch. Once we did that i just backed right out. These A/T's have kept proving themselves over and over again and I am happy with them. But the Baja claws need to go on! Only reason I did this was to test out my new brake lines that I had put on earlier. lol.

Finally put the Baja Claws on.

Attachment 332825

Attachment 332826

And this is how she looks today.

Attachment 332827

This is what I just did today.
Having trouble with vibrations and grinding noises lately. Opened up the front differential to only find nothing. But I did notice that I had a lot of play between the ring and pinion. Backlash is probably way to much. But its weird because I had never previously opened the diff nor had I messed with the gears and never had a problem until about a month ago. If it continues I will have to disassemble the front again and wait till I get gears and a locker to put everything back in to have 4wd. Really wish my jeep didn't have these problems until I have the time. College is starting to get hefty on my time and dead week is approaching. But it is what it is.
Attachment 332828
Attachment 332829

Sorry if some of it doesn't make too much sense. Kinda copied and pasted this stuff from somewhere else. That's mainly it for now for my Jeep. Still in college and don't plan on having any money to do anything until next summer. Will try to keep this build updated as much as I can.

Forgot to mention what all I am currently running. Its a frankenstein 6.5". 6.5" Rough Country coils, Iron Rock Offroad long arms, IRO track bar, RC brake lines, Old Man Emu 3.5" leaf packs with RC shackle relocation brackets and RC 2" adjustable shackle, 5150 Bilstein shocks. Regular SYE with stock XJ front shaft.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice! Subscribed.