Yup absolutely. I just worry about the strength of the sheet metal at the shock mounting location. Granted its not under that much of a load, just be careful cutting as I know there are some factory pinch/spot welds in that area.

Nice, I'm not sure how long ago the previous owner installed the lift. As soon as I took the lower arms out and moved the inserts around I could tell they were shot. Luckily they are pretty easy and inexpensive to rebuild. A lot better than pressing in the factory style bushings. Glad they worked out for you.

Are you gonna throw a coat of paint on the arms?

For the top shock mount, I would add a piece of 3/16 steel up there. There is a pinch weld that goes right through the middle. So reinforcement is needed for sure.

I thought I had the tool to get the side piece off but I didnt. I just used a punch and spun it out. Super easy. I think it took me an hour total including pulling and putting the arms back on. It was like $11 each arm so I cant complain. Now they are super quiet and no more clunking.

Nope, they are just going to get even more scratched up so I decided not to bother.

Well last week was a successful week of driving the Jeep to work. We can call that the shake down week. No problems and a lot of the minor issues were isolated and fixed. I flushed the clutch and brake systems. Fluid came out black. I also adjusted the drums. The ebrake barely worked and it felt like only the front brakes worked. All better now. I also found out I am getting an awesome tax return. So I can recoup from what I have dumped in to this thing as well as do the rear suspension and shocks. Ill probably do a rear locker and install the front Truetrac as well. A tow hitch will be coming too. Already got the nut srips coming from xjwonders. That all will be coming soon. Stay tuned.

But today I finished trimming the bumper caps and put them on. Looks much better now! Should hold me over until its time for bumpers. I also found out the shackles are hitting a bolt in the bumper a tad. No big deal for now. The shackles sit at a 90° angle and the leafs are 100% flat. So the shackle doesnt move back much.

Lookin' Good

Thanks. Just need to get rid of the rear squat and it should look even better!

I know a lot of people paint the lower parts of the doors black and I think it looks good. But I dont want to be like everyone else. So I was thinking of just painting a little black on the side. Like only up to the bottom of the door. I feel like it will make everything flow better. Thoughts?

I say that or put the black side molding back on. Everyone takes it off, so why not be different and put it on. i think it will look good with your setup.

youve got to trim the molding a lot to run them with bushwackers. That's why I took mine off.

Im thinking about doing something similar to my white xj, but I'm thinking about white monstalining up to the top of the doors. For protection against branches and stuff.

I really like it with the bumper caps back on. Looks much better!

I dont have any side trim to put on so thats not going to happen. Even if I did, like cbs said, more trimming... I do like the monstaline but if I did it, it would be a small area and not even worth it. See professionally modified picture below. Thats what I was going for. Before and after.

Rusty makes a black powder coated steel rocker cover for $150 that covers that same area. Check it out.

http://www.rustysoffroad.com/rustys-rocker-sliders-xj-cherokee.html

That right there is a good idea! Looks good and protects. Not as good as real sliders but better then nothing at all.

That is the way mine is painted, but I think yours will look much better with flat flares. The plan is to replace my rocker panels with 2"x4" heavy gauge steel painted black and supported to the uni-body frame.

dat XJ, dem mountains. Beautiful.

this is how mine is painted and I still have my plastic body molding

Opps! don't want to Highjack his thread! But I do like that look as well.