First off, hey everyone I'm Gary, just another one of those college kids...lol. The story goes...after getting tired of wheeling with a crappy ifs set-up on my S10 ZR2 i decided i'm gonna buy an xj as a trail toy. After months of searching and researching i purchased a 1992 Laredo for $1200. It was rough on edges. It came with a lot of Rusty's offroad stuff: 4.5" lift with full leaf pack, shackles, HD tierod, adjustable trackbar, and those bling bling chrome dif covers. All that was sitting on a set of bald 31" bfg a/t's wrapped on bling bling american racing wheels PICS and yes that is a high lift bolted on the hood and yes the hood weighed like 80 lbs lol



Also it has a NP231 t-case and HP d30/crystler 8.25 axles.

First thing i did was took off the high lift off the hood so i could actually open it. Then i replaced the homemade coldair intake the PO had that was completely gombed up with dirt. I had a spare BBK cold air laying around from a 2002 gt mustang so i made it work.


Then i replaced all my fluids..the engine oil was black, tranny fluid looked good, t-case fluid was low, front dif had a little water in it, and the rear still looked fresh. In the process i discovered a split motor mount and tranny mount and that i need to redo my exhaust.

 

And so i replaced my motor and tranny mount. The motor mount was completely cracked all the way through but i've seen worse. Also during that trip to the part store i picked up a new thermostat and housing gasket and did a complete flush also. Everything looked like chocolate milk.


Took my flares off. Stay tuned for cutting



Had an uniden cb lying around so i wired it up and baught myself a 102" whip and put it on the rear bumper.

 

Found a sweet deal on a set of 33x12.5 pro comp m/t's. They still had the **** on them and were $550. I scooped them up quickly.


Had to cut my fenders then because i also removed both of my swaybars and it was rubbing bad. I used a cutoff wheel and a jigsaw. Finished product:


Somewhere during that i replaced my rear shocks because they were busted. I baught some rusty's rear shocks since they were fairly cheap and that's what the fronts had.

Also baught a hitch for pulling on the trails. It's a curt class 3 that i got for $120 off autozone's website. The reciever chain is just something i made when i got bored one day.

 

I then had to fix a few electrical issues. The backup lights did not work. I cleaned the nss and it did nothing. It turned out being corrosion inside the light socket. Went to the junkyard and picked up 4 of them for $5. I hope this saves someone some time if they ever read this and have the same problem. Also my turnsignals ended up being the same issue! So all my lights work now but my headlights are all f'ed up and it's because the PO put a 97+ grille on there. So i picked up a grille at the junkyard off a 95:



Also made a rear storage system out of an old toolbox i had and filled it with some brand new recovery straps and other gear. This also shows how i have my whip mounted.


Ialso rebuilt my rear drums. It was completely caked inside

 

Most of the things that were top priority on my to-do list are done. Time for goodies! I purchased a JCR crusader series winch bumper, smittybilt XRC8 winch, and a set of KC daylighters.


My bumper came with them but i suggest buying their unibody tie-in brackets aswell, they are beefy and increase strength. I painted the bumper with some flat black rustoleum paint. Added the d-rings aswell.

In other news...i had to change my exhaust set-up because it was sagging heavily and i'm fairly young so ofcourse i want something loud
I cut off the muffler and installed a "super duper high flow cat" and ran 2.5" pipe all the way out the back. She's a little bit loud lol.

 

nice xj. gonna be watching.

 

Here's a few random flex shots i have in a place i made on my land. That is no swaybars and factory bumpstops. The 33x12.5's do not rub at all anywhere with the cutting i did....besides at full lock on the control arms. They are older but i forgot to add them in.




OH, and after that i finally got her registered, inspected, insured, and road ready! More importantly...trail ready

 

Took her out wheeling the following day in a badass local trail that consist of mud and giant hill climbs. The XJ performed flawlessly. 33s are no problem to spin in 4 low. I did get some trail damage and busted a tail light and got some new scratches. Sadly, no action shots because it was late evening then it got dark and no one had a decent camera. Aftermath pic though. The XRC8 winch worked great aswell, had to make 2 hard pulls on it.



this is 2 weeks ago.

 

looks really good so far!!!!

 

Me and some guys went in the same trail but different direction on saturday. Again it was late evening and went wellllll throughout the night. 3 words...long *** night. lol. The XJ quit on me in a mud hole. It wasn't hydrolocked but i believe it's an alternator problem by what happened later on. The 4.0 is doing good to have 200k miles on it though. Got out of the trail and went to mcdonalds...wouldn't crank back. The yellow top battery wouldn't take a charge so couldn't jump it.


that's my buddy holding the flashlight in the pic.

We jumped it by the cables and i was able to drive her home. I now carry a spare battery with me.

Oh and almost forgot i added a cherokee forum sticker before last trip.

 

The interior smells horrible from the mud so i will be making a weekend project out of removing the carpet and bedlining the floor. Also looking to buy some new seats, i'm eyeballing the $35 ones at JCwhitney (there's a thread on here about them). I've already started my d44/9" axle search..i don't want to stay at 33's for long. Planning to run a 35 maybe 37 later on. Also looking at the seriousoffroad, TNT, or RK longarm upgrade for the front. I still need a name for the xj too lol.

 

Thanks guys!

 

Haven't done much lately except work and school. I'm currently talking to a guy that is selling a set of built waggy 44s. If it works out i'll be purchasing longarms aswell. Looking into TNT's kit. Anyone with experience with TNT's longarms?

Anyways.. pray for me that i end up with these axles lol

 

Did some wheeling today, all mud and giant hill climbs throughout tight woods. I went with 3 other XJ's an a ford ranger.

 

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