dabat

I figured that I now have enough pics and mods to finally start my build thread. This is what I used for a hunting buggy and also my daily driver.

Although it went pretty much everywhere I wanted it to, I needed something bigger. I have always liked Jeeps but not a big fan of cj's yj's etc.( I do like the new 4 doors though) so my search for a clean low mile XJ began quite a while ago and then one day found this


I picked her up at a government auction for $3410.00. She had 156000km, no rust and looked like it had been pretty well maintained. The only problems were sealed holes in the roof for antenna and strobe(already drilled for my roof top lights, hahaha) and the passsengers front seat was missing.
I got a seat from the jy(looks brand new) and started to figure out how much to lift it. Who would've thought that I would spend so much time just playing around to figure what height would work best for me. I finally settled on 3" after reading about driveline vibes and getting a little bit scared of dealing with that. So off I went shopping for a lift kit and I ended up getting a pretty good deal on a RC full leaf kit.

dabat

After realizing that interior front storage was really lacking I picked up these


I think they came out pretty good.
My next step was to test fit different tire sizes. I didn't really like what 31's looked like on there, but any bigger meant fender trimming and I really like the way it looks now so decided if I wanted bigger, more lift was in order.(Kicking myself for not going 4.5" in the first place). So I ordered 1.75" spacer and RC shackle. While I was waiting for that I got some GILA 20% tint and put that on.
Tint and new height.

zackxj

looking pretty good, gotta love the low COG.

eking81

looks good so far

dabat

I test fit some 265/75r16 tires and liked the look, so new wheels were in order and ordered these in 16x8 with 4.25"bs

Now which tire to use? I really liked the look of the Duratrac and everything I heard was very good, so I jumped in a buddys truck that had them and then didn't like what I heard. I thought they were a little loud and I am not a fan of noisy tires. I have had a lot of luck with Silent Armours in the past and that's what I went with. My offroading is limited to fall and winter and the SA's have always performed well for me(outstanding tire in snow) and this is also going to be a dd so the SA is a better choice for me. Tires and wheels came in on Friday, so xj is currently sitting at alignment shop getting aligned and new wheels. I have not seen it yet but my buddy who works there called me yesterday and said it looked really good. I can hardly wait for tomorrow.
I did notice while taking it for alignment that she was vibrating really bad so now I need to figure out what SYE kit to get for it.

XJeeper193

where did u get the side pockets for the doors?

dabat

JC Whitney

XJeeper193

thanks!

96_xj

Sweet build so far! pictures once it is back!

dabat

I got it back today from the alignment shop and I am very happy with it.



What do you think?

SGT ABN XJ

Wow I love how rims and tires can make a vehicle look awesome, nice choice.........

dabat

Well, today I finished the speaker install. I had already replaced the door speakers with 6 1/2 Pioneers and really liked the way they sound, so I chose the same speakers for the sound bar. Man, what a dissappointment. I can't beleive the same speaker sounds so poor back there. I even put some leftover dynamat against the roof, but no improvement. I will have to figure something out to improve the rear sound or does anyone have any thoughts. I would really like to deep them out of the way(ie. no sub box), which is why I like the sound bar. I was thinking maybe in the tailgate.

dabat

I just ordered the sye kit and a 2 low kit from Northridge 4x4, so that will be the next big project, in the meantime anyone have suggestions for sound quality from soundbar.

XJeeper193

i just put 2 pioneer 250 watts in there i got out of a jy and i love them

dabat

what size speaker were they?