Pinkyman

Well I got my bumper installed over the last couple of days. One of my steering box bolts broke, and my steering box spacer was not about 10 pieces. Brent from iron rock was nice enough to meet me there so I could get a new one, then I was able to get the steering box and frame tie in installed.

As of now it's all finished up, and I couldn't be happier with how it looks! Now I just need to figure out what to do with my license plate.

Pinkyman

I also blew a hard line on my way to work on Monday. I replaced it in the Napa parking lot on my lunch break. Ive replaced the front lines from the master already, but i may need to look into doing the same on the rear.

Im also going to be ordering my frame stiffeners here shortly, and ill probably tackle that over the winter.

Pinkyman

I took the Xj deer hunting over the weekend. Put about 150 miles on it. And i drove it out to the pasture to see if there were any good spots for a stand next year. I was pretty impressed with the duratracs, and only had to use my 4WD for like 20 feet.

I also found out that im getting about 12MPG......... Lol

Pinkyman

I replaced my cap and rotor and plug wires the other day...... I replaced the plugs a few months ago. I would say they were LONG overdue.. Im not even sure how it was running lol. It starts and runs and idles smooth as it ever has now

And maybe that will help my 12MPG that ive been getting lol

Pinkyman

Well I did some work on the Xj tonight.....

I noticed my exhaust was getting louder, so I crawled under it, nd my exhaust clamp had wiggled loose! I tightened her up, and now she's quiet as a mouse!

I also chased down a clunk that I've been looking for for 9 months or so... I got almost one full turn out of my passenger side front leaf spring bolt, now the clunk is gone! This thing is almost scary how quiet everything is now!

I also checked my trans fluid again.... Still overfull. So I drained out almost another quart, and NOW she's in the "OK" range.

The fluid is dirty as ****, but the matter at hand is that it was over 2 quarts over full!

The pop can is for reference..

Pinkyman

We took the xj to the tree farm with the family again yesterday. It was really muddy with all the rain weve got, and all the melting snow, but the Jeep handled it well. There was a guy that got his big Buick SUV stuck in the mud, so i pulled right up to him and grabbed my tow strap. Then my brother in law walked over and said, "We can just push him out." So 3 guys and 10 minutes of pushing later, he was out, and i still didnt get to use my Jeep to extract them

What a difference a year makes.... They grow up so fast

TeXJ

I told my wife we need to just drive around all Christmas season with a tree on top of her yukon XL haha. It's Christmas-y right?

Pinkyman

I just used a wreath, but its the same concept lol

TeXJ

go big or go home!

speaking of which, i saw an avalanche last night with lights from the front bumper to the rear bumper! I only saw the side view as it went by kind of fast.

Pinkyman

Thats awesome lol. I thought about doing lights on the cargo basket, but i opted out of that one haha.

Pinkyman

I also got my frame stiffeners ordered up from IRO on their black friday sale. I should have them in the next few weeks, and ill probably put them on in january. It will be nice to get some reinforcement over the rusty spots on my unibody finally.

Pinkyman

Well Saturday Brent and I spent some time with the grinder and welder. We were able to cut out the rust, and then we welded in a piece of 10 gauge in where the rust was. After that we got the rails stripped down, and got the unibody stiffeners welded in. A quick coat of undercoating and it was all finished up!

The only issue i has was one of the weld nuts for the crossmember stripped out, so i tapped it to a 7/16s, and used a 7/16s bolt, and it was good as new


Heres the before and after:

Pinkyman

I installed my auxiliary trans cooler last night. Hopefully this will alleviate the issue of the trans overheating and blowing fluid out of the vent. It hasnt happened since i drained out the 3 quarts of fluid that it was overfilled, but im still somewhat leary. Im going to take it for a run this weekend and see how it goes.

Pinkyman

Well I made the 1.5 hour drive to dresser, WI today for the annual winter run with a few friends. They had a good turnout of 100 or so rigs. It was about 40 today, so the ground was mostly frozen, and didnt get sloppy until the afternoon when it warmed up. I pulled my flares off at like 10pm last night, and man Im glad I did, or they would have been toast lol. I did some of the hardest trails that I've ever done, and the Xj did great! I didn't get stuck or hung up once, and it made the trip there and back with no transmission overheating, or any issues at all! It was a great time, and I can't wait until the next event!

Pinkyman

Heres a short video i took. Its nothing too exciting to watch, but it sure was fun!