Sean1125

So I'm gonna start my build thread...

I guess you can say this is going to serve as scrapbook of my progress on my XJ. My step dad recently passed away in November of 2011 and we always wanted to build an XJ together, so this is for him.

Bought this 98 XJ from a 23 year old girl with two kids and another on the way so she needed a mini van bad, so I picked her up pretty cheap at $2000.




Specs:

122,xxx miles
AW4
NP231
Chrysler 8.25
Dana 30 up front (I Believe)


She runs great but has alot of suspension issues, the PO boyfriend did a "Daytona Beach's Finest" hack job to the suspension and my head spinning about what to do. Thanks to many of you guys I was able to get an idea of what to do to fix it...THANKS AGAIN

I never owned a Jeep before, I owned a 95 Bronco forever and could tell you anything about those things, but the jeep world was arabic to me.

So here starts the build...

Sean1125

First things first... The PO removed all of the carpet and did absolutely nothing to the floor and it was a huge eyesore to me... so after removing the seats, grinding, sanding and prepping I sprayed the whole floor board with Duplicolor truck bed coating.











I dont know what the deal is with those aluminum foil padded crap that was on the floor of the XJ, but I couldn't get it off so I said screw it and painted right over it. Thankfully I did extensive cleaning with almost a whole bottle of acetone so the bed liner is holding up well so far!

Sean1125

My suspension is a complete mess...

If you want to see the detailed pictures of the hack job, check out introduction post.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f8/found-my-xj-123197/

I ordered the RC 6.5" lift and purchased some black steel wheels and Hercules Trail Digger MT. These tires have gotten plenty of good reviews and at $900 bucks for tires and wheels I think I got a good deal.

Also have to replace the axle seals up front.

Sad thing is I do not have all the tools to do my lift so I'm having Wilson's 4x4 do the lift for me.

If any of you are in the Daytona Beach area check them out! Dan Wilson is the nicest guy around and knows just about everything you need to know about a Jeep.

Keep posted, pics of the lift and tires will hopefully be coming Tuesday!?!?!?

Lowrange2

Cool. It should look good. Hopefully the Duplicolor bedliner stuff sticks better for you than it does me. I sprayed part of my hood with it and it's flaking off in spots. but that might be due to my insufficient cleaning.

I'll just drop this here:

Big redneck POS truck stole your name. Don't worry, your XJ has a bigger front axle.

Sean1125

All that truck will ever be good for is hitting a mud hole at 45mph... screw that

Sean1125

Sweet black XJ behind that truck though...

Lowrange2

I agree! Perfectly good waste of a can of red paint.

alienoutlaw89

I just saw your xj at Willson's yesterday

Sean1125

So the lift started going in today and so far so good!!



Heres the wheels and tires that are going on her!!



So I found this in my glove box and have no idea what it is...




Anyone know? Like I said in an earlier post the PO installed some aftermarket guages and here are some pics of the hack job... trying to figure out what I have to do to bring it back to stock so I can put the better guage cluster in.

Sean1125

Haha was it sitting in the back?

Sean1125

So I finally got my xj back today, this is how she sits now...

Oh so sexy...

THENNING

looks good so far man...your gonna like those trail diggers had a set and they went through anything

Sean1125

Thanks Bud!

Yeah I'm pretty excited to see what they do... I have heard great things about them.

MCObray

IAC. Idler Air Control valve. If your XJ happens to be idling rough, i'd suggest cleaning it.
Write-up from JF:
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f13/h...-valve-756934/

Sean1125

Ahhh... Well I must have back up cuz this was in my glove box... Haha