Originally Posted by MI_Offroad

Hi everyone, I'm one who bought Steve's Cherokee, I got it for my sons first car. It is definitely well put together. I was going to buy a stock one and do the build myself, but once this came up I figured, "Hey I don't have to do all the work now!"

So now I will focus on engine mods and detailing. Here's what it will be partnered with.

Originally Posted by MI_Offroad

Hi everyone, I'm one who bought Steve's Cherokee, I got it for my sons first car. It is definitely well put together. I was going to buy a stock one and do the build myself, but once this came up I figured, "Hey I don't have to do all the work now!"

So now I will focus on engine mods and detailing. Here's what it will be partnered with.

Originally Posted by sanchezcruz_20

Thanks bud. I'm not going anywhere, just won't be posting as much. At least, not until I get my new rig........ AFTER a few house projects of course.



Thanks! I'm hoping the house projects will go quickly since I won't be doing a full write-up with pictures on each step. Haha

I will be sure to maintain all the links to the pictures. As for my next XJ, probably not until next summer at the earliest.

Originally Posted by sanchezcruz_20

Finally remedied the broken crossmember bolt, but not exactly as I had planned.

Punch-and-Fish method:
I finally got the bolt punched through. This took some WORK. I probably spent a few hours off and on punching away but it eventually succumbed.


The tape you see on the sides was just covering some of the frame rail b/c a lot of debris was falling down onto me.

With the hole cleared, it was time to fish the bolt:

Running it through...


Wire in place...


Ready to pull...


Right about here is where I'd like to show you the picture of the bolt coming through the hole...

[IMG] bolt poking through the hole in the frame rail [IMG]

But I don't have that picture. Because the dang bolt was too large to come through!!!! Not because of the bore, it was too long to stand up inside the frame rail. Apparently the frame rail narrows in height right where the bolts come through to fasten the crossmember. Since the bolts are longer to accommodate the 1'' spacers they just didn't fit.

Since I had punched out the welded nut, there was no going back (drilling, tapping, ez-out, etc). I figured I had 1 of 2 options remaining.
1. Cut the floor to access the inside of the frame rail
2. Fish a nut over the hole

So, I removed the passenger seat, kick plate and lifted the carpet to see what I was dealing with. Now, I don't have an angle grinder or any other high powered cutting tool so I busted out the Dremmel. I tried to line up where I thought the floor should be cut and started into it. Long story, short.... I gave up after about 45 secs when I realized the Dremmel just wasn't going to get the job done. At least not with the crappy cutting wheel I have anyway. In retrospect, I'm glad it worked out this way.

What about option #2? If only I could fish a nut over the hole and keep it in place while I tightened the bolt. But how?

This is how:

I taped and super glued a flanged nut to a wrench and fished the whole thing through the frame rail. If I had a welder, I would've gone that route.

Here it is in place:

You can see the shaft in the frame rail. The length of the wrench is an important feature as it keeps the nut from spinning while being tightened.

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get the bolt to thread b/c I wondered if the wrench would just jump around in there. Let's just say, here's the finished result:

I tightened all the bolts down to specified torque.

We'll see if the craftsman wrench that lives in my frame rail results in a rattle during driving, I'll keep you posted on that.

Transfer case drop, DONE.

Originally Posted by MTLXJ

Post a picture of your new house when you have the chance!

Originally Posted by BotakBeng

Welcome!



You wish, a house is a never ending project.

Again, thanks for your great build thread.

Originally Posted by Marks2000XJ

This was a great idea. You should patent it! If that wrench ever starts to rattle just squirt some great stuff foam up in there.

Originally Posted by sanchezcruz_20

Been wanting to work on a couple odds and ends, get the XJ fine tuned a bit... I picked up a set of bar-pin eliminators for the rear shocks.

The factory design isn't real pleasant to work with and it's always bugged me so I decided to purchase a set of BPE's. I'm probably going to be upgrading the shocks soon anyway, so the BPE's should open up my options a bit and make swapping in the new shocks a lot easier.

The BPE's also extend your shock travel a bit and should also help preserve the life of the shock bushings. So, perhaps a quieter ride as well.

I'll toss up some pics when I get them installed, I have a few other things in the mail waitng to get installed anyway.

Originally Posted by ivantheigor

Are those the TJ or Jk ones... the rough country website only gives those two options in the drop down menu... Im guessing tj?
http://www.roughcountry.com/jeep_xtr...liminator.html

Originally Posted by jeepstr52

i know you sold the jeep but where did you get the solid rear diff cover i cannon find one for anything.. thanks

Originally Posted by snowymountains

Wanted to give another vote to your build! You did a marvelous job at documenting it.

BTW....this is not a post to read right after buying your first XJ

Originally Posted by 97jeepxj40

Agreed. I have this bookmarked for next summer to find out if a new build will be started :-)