Awesome build and tag!

 

Still looking good.. I am hoping to get mine looking more complete once I get back stateside from my trip to the sandbox... I will def. be keeping up with this thread for sure...

 

Thought I would slip a little humor in there.

Yeah, I'm definitely going to look into the ZJ proportioning valve. I googled some alternate methods, some are pretty simple, i.e. just removing o-ring. But I'm more of a guy that tends to lean towards the engineered solution so perhaps I can source a ZJ p-valve at the local salvage yard. Wish I would've completed the brakes a few days ago because I was just at the junk yard the other day scrounging up the next phase for the Jeep.

 

When I purchased the XJ it only came with 3 fender flares. I searched some of the local salvage yards, took a while, but I ended up finding a nice replacement to complete the set.

Since the replacement flare doesn't match the color of the ones I have, I've decided to paint them all black. While I'm at it, figured I might as well freshen up the rear bumper endcaps as well.

My starting point...

 

Originally Posted by sanchezcruz_20
Thanks, hope to see your own build thread soon! Did you get the the Jeep yet?


Hope to pick it up from the dealer this week... So, yea am getting excited its my first Jeep and as mentioned , like you, am new to this platform , but have been doin a lot of research on this forum and here at home.. regardind XJ's...

Will post of a Build thread as soon as I get it and start the build...cant wait !!

cheers

 

paint them with bedliner! (that what i did)

 

1. Scrubbed them up with some dish soap then wiped them down with some Windex

2. Lightly sanded them to mar the surface with some 320 grit

3. Wiped them down again with some Windex

4. Applied adhesion promoter, 2 coats with a few minutes in between

5. Painted satin black about 10 minutes later, second coat 15 minutes later

My products:


After scrubbing down and some windex:


After sanding:


After windex:


After painting:


They're drying now, but I'll get them bolted back up and get some snapshots on the Jeep a little later.

 

You can see here that I don't have a provision for the brake line bracket yet. The manufacturers want you to weld the bracket, but I don't have a welder of course so I'll have to figure something else out. In the meantime, the hard brake line is supporting the soft line with no problems.



Have you thought of using te u bolts to fab a bracket to?

dude looks awesome!

 

I was gonna suggest a bracket using the u-bolt too.

About your brakes you still need a little bit more time to bed the pads properly, that should make a difference too. Great build can't wait to see it with the flares installed.

p.s. could you fill the information in your profile about your truck so we can quickly know about lift set-up/tire size and other mods...

 

Thanks guys. I was thinking about using the u-bolts as a mounting solution but I will likely have to modify the bracket. Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Looks like the flares won't be getting installed til this weekend. I busted several of the bolts holding the flare retainer brackets on and so I'm going to have to drill out the studs and replace with new hardware. I'm going home to my parents' house for the weekend and my dad has a drill press I could use.

Vincent, funny that you mention the brakes b/c just on my way home from work I felt like they were getting a little better "bite".

Also, brown truck dropped these items off today. Probably get these installed this weekend as well, if not sooner.

 

Picked this up at the salvage yard today.... Rather than install the complete ZJ proportioning valve, I'll only be upgrading the internals of the XJ's factory valve.


From left to right: Rubber o-ring, piston/plunger, spring, bleeder cap

The donor ZJ was a 97 Grand Cherokee with rear disc brakes so it should help properly proportion brake force distribution on my XJ now that I have disc brakes at all corners.

Things I have to do this week/weekend:
1. ZJ proportioning valve internals upgrade
2. Recondition fender flare retainer brackets
3. Install fender flares and fender well liners
4. Install tow hitch

 

If that proportioning valve doesn't work as good as you like, you may want to order an adjustable valve from Jegs or Summit. That way you can dial in the rear brakes the way you like......Nice build. Thanks

 

Very well done!
As everyone else also stated, great pics and build thread!

keep up the great work.
Love the brakes.

 

Nice work as always... yea, you will love that hitch, mine came with the XJ so it was bonus... looking forward to seeing the flares back on !!!! That brown truck seems to delivery something each wek ... hahahahah !!!!

cheers

 

Excellent build report. Look forward to more, cause the modding never ends...