ae racer

Hey guys thought i should prob post a build thread of my Jeep finally. First off this will be a slow build because im away at college, my jeep is back at home, and I'm broke most of the time.

Bought her 11-18-10 and im loving every bit of it. Im from Bakersfield, CA and i Drove all the way up to Napa, CA to buy her. She was priced at $3000, day before i head up, the cl ad changed price to $2500 so thats what i got her for.

She got her name because the first time i took her out locally, my buddy talked me into jumping her. So because she flew and shes gray, I recently came up with the name "The Gray Goose". So here she is when I first met her.





little blurb from the CL ad
-5.5 Inch Rough Country Short Arm Lift with sway bar quick disconnects.
-33 in all terrain tires with 70% tread left.
-Logan offroad front bumper
-JCR stage 3 rear bumper (First Gen)
-NEW brakes all around with NEW rotors and drums (brakes have less than 1000 miles on them)
-NEWLY Rebuilt Rear DANA 44 rear end. Geared to 4.56 with rare DANA Powerlok Positraction. Less than 1000 miles on the rebuild. All new seals, ring and pinion, and fully rebuilt posi. Armored.
-NEWLY Rebuilt front DANA 30 front end. New seals, NEW 4.56 ring and pinion. (less than 1000 miles on the rebuilt front end) Armored.
-NEW 1995 brake power booster and master cylinder (less than 1000 miles on the booster and master). It brakes very well.
-Newly rebuilt motor from S&J engines (about 2500 miles on the motor)
-Rusty's steering track bar
-Rubicon express cut and tap SYE kit.
-Rubicon express rear drive shaft
-Rubicon express steering box brace
-New polyurethane bushings all around
-Sony explode 6 speaker sound system
-Audiobahn 8 inch sub woofer with remote mounted in console
-NEW aluminum 3 core radiator
-NEW aluminum transmission cooler
-NEW fan clutch
-Passes CA smog. Just smogged in July.
-Champion 8000lb winch
-JCR stage 2 rock sliders
-New high-lift jack
Other technical specs:
Engine - Jeep 4.0 (Renix)
Transmission - Aisin-Warner AW4
Transfer case - NP-242
Although it drives just fine, there is some work that needs done to make this a great jeep. Here's what it needs:
- New Throttle position sensor (or it needs adjusting)
- It has a cracked flex plate (hairline crack) Knocks at warmer temps because of this
- The bearings in the transfer case need replacing
- It has a high-flow Flowcooler water pump that makes it great for off-roading but it pumps water at such a high volume that it runs kinda warm on the freeway. It runs very cool at slow and 4x4 speeds. If you intend to do a lot of highway driving I would recommend a stock water pump.
- Tranny cooler return line needs to be replaced as it leaks a bit

A little over a year later i still have yet to replace the tc bearings, flex plate, or the tranny cooler line. Shes not a regular DD...



Almost forgot my plans for her for now. Going to keep her looking stock and create enough cargo room for four to go on a camping trip. (planning ahead for a family camping vehicle, only 21 right now). She will be kept clean and be more of a dd and camping/expedition rig than a rock crawler. Im planning on getting a second one, hopefully super clean white '93 which will take over this ones' job as the camping/easy wheeler so this thing can become the rock crawler.. Either that or just find a beater to make the purpose built crawler.

5.5" or 6.5" Rubicon express Springs up front that i got on here not to long ago
5.5" big offroad leafs
12" bilstein 7100 front
10" bilstein setup rear
IRO Long Arm upgrade
NP231 with SYE and all new goodies when I find a good deal on one when i have $$
Uniden Pro 520XL cb for xmas to replace my broken Pro 500D when it was broken into (story later)
rustys center skid *free
15" black D-window steelies with 33"X12.50 or 11.50 Toyo mud country
roof rack with light bar
pre-runner hoops for lights on front bumper
black door handles
97+ black side mirrors
black grill/header pannel
bed liner lower quarter pannels
Liberty injectors
cubby mounted sub
cargo area rack
Interior cage at some point
lockers front and rear

subi_stout

good deal. I never seem to come across these

ae racer

So the first "mod" was to remove the visor (which i still have for sale..hint, hint) i liked the look much better. Didnt do much to it but drive it and wheel it for a while.

for a bit, it backfired like crazy and as a result the jeep jerks while accelerating or decelerating..I had replaced the cap and rotor which made the backfireing a little bit better but it was still really bad. Messed with the TPS and replaced it with a spare my friend had but the Goose still stumbles at constant 55mph on the freeway and on colder days STILL to this day (HELP). Shes actually stumbled so bad a few times that shes killed herself at low speeds but started again after 5 min or so.
eventually i'll get around to the flex plate, bearings, cooler line, and more recently the track bar bushings on the axle side.. tends to "pop" when turning one way then the other...lol

ae racer

took a few trips out local places and played in the mud and such. few trips to Hollister Hills..pics now..
Dec 2010 in HH

Getting ready to leave early in the morning


the lovely Maroon interior with almost factory looking headliner "mod" by the PO. (not sarcasm, the color has grown on me and I love it now)



Driving



Sitting at the lookout point in HH waiting for my buddies to show up







Having fun flexing my jeep out for the first time in the quarry. Still alone.



not much bit i think my sway bar is still connected



some stuff



the mud pit



after my try at the frame twister, logs side first. Definatly like the darker rims..lol



My friend's Big, Bad FJ after his trip through the mud.



My first body damage. Never take an over grown, unmarked trail without walking it first. Super scary like 7 point u-turn switchback for me, like 15 point for the FJ.



Tail light "guard" caught a protruding tree branch and broke the light.





The FJ's first "major" damage. There is a dent there, just hard to see.





more flexing







My buddy in his 2WD Tacoma



ballanced..



Idiot in a 2wd truck thought he could get through..went in too hot and went into both ruts and got sideways.







Jeremy to the rescue ith the winch.







Trip #1 done...

ae racer

took a snowboarding trip



Then went to Last Chance Canyon with some friends in Jan 2011.





The FJ in the V-Notch













The damage after having to back out



and my new paint job after the trip

ae racer

Then i got my last fill of mudding in Feb of 2011. My buddy just got new 33" muds that he wanted to try out.







Decided to clean the windows so i could see..lol i liked my new shade of brown on the XJ.

ae racer

Then we headed back up to Hollister for my 21st in April, a month late...
Didnt really get to wheel much. I was the tail end of the dust kicked up by my friends and screwed up my alternator and my buddy Seal with the 2wd taco thought he fried his in his new jeep from the mud pit but all it needed was a good wash. While trying to get the alternator out, Seal broke my power steering pump so I had a 3 hr drive home with no power steering which sucked.
just showing up



Seal's new jeep on the moagls




Flex with connected sway bar again..lol






This guy almost rolled




our three Jeeps



Mine is on the right, my friends freshly cleaned one on the left



Side-by-side repair



at the gas station on the way home

ae racer

Hmm, I must need to get a second page for people to read this...lol

Well this past summer i went on a camping trip with my friends just above Kernville. Had a blast, just sucked because the only wheeling that got done was at the camp site. I was able to finally get my cb equiptment installed though.




mine and my buddy's jeep



sittn with our human tape measure...lol, hes 6'3" and we use him quite a bit for visual reference.



all three of us



some beautiful scenery

theBrew99XJ

Your Jeep looks sick! Where did get those Tail light guards and how much were they?

papaj

Nice rig man! Great pics

alsxj

Very good lookin xj man, love all the pics, do you like the white gauges? and ever fix that headliner haha

SGT ABN XJ

Very cool pics, and for wheelin it..Those aren't dents them's memories..lol

ae racer

Im not sure where they are from, they were on it when i bought the jeep. I gave them to my buddy. He still has them and would sell them. Thing i didnt like about them was they bolted onto the light its self. lmk if you want them and ill pass on his info.

Thanks guys. I like the white guages, makes it different from most and the same goes for the interior. As for the headliner, im going to keep it as is b/c I think that it looks good.

Yeh, the more that i think about it, the more im leaning on wheeling this one since its already built (and will be getting better this winter i hope) and just finding a really clean white and black XJ for the family rig. Its got a few small dents in it already and my first toy was an 88 charcoal gray 4runner so I'm starting to figure that the "toy" cryteria is an 88 charcoal gray 4x4...lol and the dd has to be white b/c my o6 gmc is white...lol. We'll see though how it all plays out.

TheJerm

Well this isnt much of a build thread but cool pics, I wish rocks were nice and dry on this side of the country. When you do start changing stuff, due to the name, you should be drunk the entire time so it lives up to the name. lol

ae racer

Well the last wheeling trip i went on was to Hungry Valley in October. Went with the big white XJ in the previous pics(now Teal), and Mikey.
The night before, the human tape measure and I preped and painted my spare hood that i got for free with some "matching" paint and the added the hood vents i had gotten at the JY to replace the ugly cowl hood that was on it.

the three of us



where's my hood?



the new one (might just need to be buffed to get the same color...)



way too easy



AJ going all the way through the rocks. Time for limiting straps and a softer rear end..



oops




the other side



And this guy just bounced his way through....



he still had more trouble than AJ getting through this last part



one of the guys stuck in the mud that smelled like sewage



and the nasty engine bay afterwards



Why dark tinted windows can be a bad thing, you cant see crap while backing up..lol



then he goes and knocks both axles off and goes for a float in the mud... where did those 33s go? lol



the main group we came with



and then the other xj guys around the area saw the gathering and joined in.