jturbo

Thank you!

Tonight I adjusted the steering box to get rid of the play. Another item off the list...

jturbo

Today was heater core replacement day. Previous owner told me that the heater core needed replacement, so this has been on the to-do list....

Here's what I started with at about 11:00 AM:

Ready to remove the HVAC box:

Box out on the garage floor:

Yup - she's done:

jturbo

Getting through re-assembly:

And how I left it for the tonight:



A few notes / issues:
1) broke off the hazard warning switch. New one already on order. I took it apart and attempted to fix it, but there's a whole lotta stuff inside that small assembly.....
2) both outer rear seat bolts snapped off. I'll need to drill out those out.
3) I busted the 4WD indicator (attempting to remove the light). I was able to glue that back together.

Finished up at about 4:00PM, including a stop for lunch and coffee breaks. So not too bad all-in-all.

Here was a video that I watched:
This guy provided a decent check list of everything that needed to be done. Helped me a lot.

jturbo

Drilled out both broken seat mount bolts (rear outer) and got the seats installed tonight....

thetastelingers

Thanks for sharing that. Good ammo for whenever mine goes out.

jturbo

Glad it may help you out.

Last night I dumped the coolant back in the system.
Today I received the replacement hazard / turn signal switch assembly that I ordered from eBay.
Got that installed tonight. Hooked up the battery and did a few tests to ensure I didn't have anything electrical screwed up.

Also, bought a replacement muffler today from Napa. The original one is going on the way out, split down the seam. I'll get that installed in the coming days.

jturbo

Got the last of the items on my to-do list checked off today. Welded the lower hinge on the rear left side door and put a new muffler on it today. I also fired it up and let it come up to temp - no leaks and now more sweet smell from the heater. Hosed it off and took a few quick pics.

RockinRonnie

Sweet looking XJ!

Battle

That rake! I wish most replacement "stock" leaf packs weren't so tall. How does it ride? My stocker will need new leafs soon enough.

jturbo

Thanks Ronnie!!!

I also installed a 0.75" Teraflex lift using front coil spring spacers as well as a set of rear extended shackles. I don't like the rake either. It rides fine, but I've had a drive line vibration with this setup (today was the first official day driving the XJ). I never measured the height before, but with the shackles, I had 21-22" from the bottom of the flare to the center line of the axle (so that's 4-5" of lift from stock?). So tonight I removed the longer rear shackles and threw in my original ones. Now I'm at about 19". I'm going to order some new stock shackles as the bushings in the original ones are in pretty sad shape. Here are the Teraflex units that I pulled out.

It was already dark when I finished the shackle swap, so I only have a quick picture in the garage. Looks more level. I'll get a better pic this week.

TylerA23

Thanks for the update on the shackles. I ordered stock (Crown) shackles, but was on the fence about the ones you originally put on. Hoping my parts start coming in over the next few days. Ebay had 15% off everything the other day, so I went ahead and pulled the trigger and ordered all the parts for the rear suspension. (Crown HD leafs / monroe rear shocks / stock bushings) but got the shackles off amazon for $15 / each. ..... and wow I'm glad I posted in this, I just realized I only ordered one shackle (whoops).

jturbo

Sounds like you'll have what you need to rebuild / refresh the rear suspension (minus the missing shackle). I've been poking around the web tonight and I think I'm going to get the Energy Suspension rear urethane bushing kit (p/n 2.2120) for just the shackles and rebuild the stock units. I have the same basic setup on my daughter's 99 XJ and it's been working fine for a while now.

TylerA23

I initially looked into those Energy Suspension ones as well, but kept seeing peoples complaints about them. Most complaints regarded the noise they made. Im also going the budget friendly route as well with the regular bushings.

jturbo

So this past weekend I officially got this XJ on the road including MA state inspection. Drove it all over the place Sunday doing errands with the wife.
Monday AM I go to back it out of the garage and the brakes feel soft. Pump the pedal a few times and the light on the dash comes on. Ended up having a leaky rear wheel cylinder.... Replaced both of those along with other necessities.


Drove it to work today, snapped a new pic of side profile less the aftermarket lifted rear shackles. Sits much more level now:

So that's how it will stay for now. Again, I was going for "up country". I think it looks good.

RockinRonnie

I would agree looks great!