Project Great White - 1997 XJ
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Joined: Dec 2008
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Year: 1997
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
My buddy Brad is in charge of doing that. I'm not exactly sure what he has in mind. He has an alignment rack at the shop so I'm sure we'll be dropping the front axle in and then putting it on the rack to see where our angles are... I'll keep you posted as to what we do for the front end aligment items when we get there.
Thread Starter
Seasoned Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 371
Likes: 0
Year: 1997
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Thread Starter
Seasoned Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 371
Likes: 0
Year: 1997
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
I started the rock sliders install today. I was able to get them mocked up, mounted and the holes drilled in the uni-body and pinch seam. I then pulled them off and primed them. Let them dry and painted them with two coats of Rustoleum semi-flat. This way if I scratch them up on the trail and they start looking too much like crap, I can just hit them with the rattle can again and they'll look as good as new.




Last edited by MichaelMaxim; Jan 18, 2009 at 09:38 PM.
Thread Starter
Seasoned Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 371
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Year: 1997
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Well I picked up my new toy today. A Miller 180 with Autoset MIG welder, 60 cu ft bottle of argon/CO2 mix, a cart and a new Miller auto-dimming Pro-Hobby welding helmet.
I also ordered my JD2 Model 3 tube bender yesterday online which will be shipping out on Monday. So now the tube fender process and fab should start as soon as I get the new goodies at the house!
Also got a 5lb spool of .030 solid wire for this project too. The welder came with flux but you don't want to use that on mild steel when you're using shielding gas.


I also ordered my JD2 Model 3 tube bender yesterday online which will be shipping out on Monday. So now the tube fender process and fab should start as soon as I get the new goodies at the house!
Also got a 5lb spool of .030 solid wire for this project too. The welder came with flux but you don't want to use that on mild steel when you're using shielding gas.

Thread Starter
Seasoned Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 371
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Year: 1997
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
My front bumper fab work is done... Here are the pics... I love the design and lines of this thing. Thanks to Drake at TDOffroad.com for hooking me up with some mad fab skills. I'm just learning the basics of fab work now... he's amazing.




Thread Starter
Seasoned Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 371
Likes: 0
Year: 1997
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
I placed an order 49 ft of 1.5" .120 DOM tubing today for my tube fender build... Just got the tracking number so it should be here the sometime next time. The bender will be here on Monday or Tues so I'll get started with two pieces and learning the basics making some templates like a 90, 30, 120 degree bends and a few others as references.


