You and me both! lol. I just want to see this heap roll on all four tires once again. It's been WAY too long for me. I'm getting cabin fever by not being able to go wheelin.

No tube bending yet. I went to mount up the new custom front bumper as that to be in place first so I know where I'm running the tube to... but that didn't fit as planned so I have to modify the mounts on it first.

It's always one step forward, two steps back with this project, I'm telling ya!

Once I get that mounted, I'll start bending some tube for the tube fenders. Pics will be posted for sure.

Anytime... also check in the summit and jegs catalogs every now and then they have straps and stuff on sale. What I like about Northern is, if you get one of their credit cards, and spend 199 or more they give you 6 months no intrest. So they are paying me to buy stuff

Progress Update on the XJ:

I took a few hours today and decided to make my time useful and work on getting the front bumper to fit. It was custom built but the measurements were off a tad so the mounting plates wouldn't fit around the unibody. So I cut the tabs off with bandsaw then used the plasma cutter to trim the rest out.

Brad had a sheet of 3/16th plate laying around so snagged a little bit off the corner. I cut out two little 2"x3.25" tabs to weld to the outside of the bumper to space out the mounting plates. Welded those all up and it fit like a glove.



I'll work on drilling mounting holes this week and picking up some Grade 8 hardware for the mounts to the unibody.



Cut the mounting plates off so it was flush with the Jeep...



Mocked it up and it fits good.



Pulled it back off the Jeep and finished welding it up. Now I just have to drill the mounting holes then paint it.

DAAAAANNNNGGG!! Looking great!

One bolt per side for that bumper?

Can you not read?

lol I said in the post that I STILL have to drill mounting holes on each side and pick up some grade 8 hardware to mount the bumper. I also have two front mounts that I'm making.

I've just posted an up-to-date parts list of everything that has gone into the project so far on the first page under the pic of the Jeep in it's original form... take a look if you're curious what all has gone into the project.

I tell you what, that bumper is going to look clean when it's all said and done. What are your plans for the rear?

Awesome XJ! Wish I had the time, money, and skill to perform that kind of surgery on mine! That is definately one of the meanest and cleanest cherokees ive ever seen! Can't wait to see the finished product and some footage of it at work in the wild! My hats off to you man!

Rear bumper? I have a Rockhard 4x4 rear bumper on there now that wraps around the quarters. That's where my tube fenders are going to be welded up to.

Thanks man. This has definitely been an expensive project for sure. But the flip side is that I am actually learning how to fabricate as I go. I guess watching all those reruns of American Chopper is finally paying off.

I'm a computer geek by trade... far from a mechanic.

99xjLove - Here's the rear bumper...

now thats what i call a nice rear end

if you dont mind saying it, How much did you pay for that rear bumper?

Great lookin build