Project: "Money Sponge"
 

Hey all, I recently bought my first Jeep about 2 months ago: 2000 XJ Classic. The XJ used to be a Sheriffs "get to the rough places" vehicle. All the maintainance has been kept, and came with the factory brush guard. The XJ has 144k miles however; the engine was replaced at 96k. Anyway, on to the fun stuff! So far, so good! I have big plans in the making.

Since the purchase I have replaced the stock speakers and head unit. JL-650CXIs in the Front, JL-525CXIs in the back. Apline MRP-F300 to power the front and rear speakers, and a Kenwood BT945U headunit. I had an old sony amp and an infinity reference 12 from an older vehicle. I plan on replacing the subwoofer with a JL-10w3v3-4 and an Alpine MRP-M500. I have the amps under the rear seat, and I'm still unsure if that's where I will keep them. I talked to KFXHellRasier and he made me a custom enclosure for a 10" subwoofer. The enclosure came and is GREAT! Very well built, hopefully I'll have the money soon to install it and see how it sounds. If it sounds anything like it's built, I'll be happy :)

I replaced the front shocks with monroe sensatrac and want to replace the rear however, I'm fearful of breaking a bolt so, I have been spraying PB Blaster for the past couple of weeks, hoping that will help. I really wanted a roof rack and stumbled upon a thread by B. Lee: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f11/fully-welded-gutter-mount-roof-rack-112246/ After a few messages we decided that it would be easier to just build a new one to meet my needs (wants). So, after another few messages: Brian came up with a sketch that had everything I wanted: high lift jack mount, spare tire mount, canoe mount, 4 light tabs in the front, and 2 in the rear. Brian also was able to pre-wire the rack to support my lights! The pre-wiring should save me a lot of time. I might have been a bit ahead of myself, because I don't have lights or a canoe of my own yet.. I suppose just planning for the future? :) The rack came very well protected in a crate without a scratch! I’ll have to admint that I was pretty excited to get the rack in and ended up mounting it at 7pm in the freezing cold, haha (Dedication!)

Now, for some future plans: 4.5 or 5.5 long arm lift, what size of wheel spacers would be practical for either lifts?. I’m actually thinking the RE 4.5 Superflex might be nice and save me some money vs. the long arm kit (I really want to keep my smooth highway ride, I commute pretty far, on a daily basis) Bushwacker fender flares, 33’s. I have seen a lot of forum members lining the bottom of the doors and quarter panels, that looks like a good idea to me and I might try doing that. I also want to line the roof rack and brush guard. I was thinking about even lining the roof to right above the gutters. Has anyone done that or know of why that wouldn’t be a good idea? I have the rampage H4 upgrade kit with the upgraded wiring harness, just haven't installed it yet.

So far, I have been really impressed.. I was crossing my fingers with purchasing custom made equipment from a forum I just joined. However, the professionalism with Brian and how well everything went and the amazing roof rack I received, along with KFXHellRasier's custom enclsousre. I'm sure I picked the right Forum...
Thanks everyone and I'm excited to keep you posted on the build... might be awhile.. I need to quit letting this thing soak up all my money and save a little! (Doubt that will happen, I really want that lift!)

I’ll try to post more pictures, including some non-snow ones, more of the roof rack, and a couple of the enclosure. I’ll post shots of my wiring for the audio system when it’s cleaned up. If anyone wants detailed pictures of anything, let me know and I’ll do my best to post them. :guns:

Picture of the Rack and Crate
 

Here is a picture of the rack and crate. Everything was very secure.. it took me about 30 minutes to remove everything, well done!

mmmm, bbq. I like warm socks!

Hey Shane, thanks for the kind words, and I'm very glad you like your rack. Looks great on your XJ, and I'm sure you can't wait to get your lights installed! It'll really look good once it's outfitted as designed. I think you'll like how the jack mounts work too, real easy.

I'll give you my two cents on the lift/tire plans. I like a narrow stance personally, and since you have a nice set of aluminum wheels (and I'm not sure how you feel about trimming fenders, changing/removing flares, etc), I'd go with the 4-5" of lift and 33x10.50's on your wheels. Without wheel spacers (and probably even with them) the tires will stay under your flares. There's several 33x10.50's out there today from BFG All Terrains to Swamper TSL Radials to Boggers, depending on your wheeling plans vs the long commute.

As for the lift, the long arm would be nice, but can be pricey as a whole kit. You could do a fairly inexpensive short arm kit and upgrade arms later. If you do, get the basic, cheap short arms. If you stay in the 4" range, you can probably postpone or eliminate the need for a SYE.

Gearing's another story altogether, but you could likely live with stock gears and the narrow 33's for a while. Heck, mine's not a DD, but I have stock 3.07's and 34" LTB's and it's driveable with no problem. Not ideal, but works just fine on my budget!

Keep us updated, I'm looking forward to seeing this come together for you!

Had a couple of nice days this weekend.here are some cleaner shots of the Jeep and roof rack components.


Question: anyone know the best lining option that won't fade? I would really like to start lining the roof rack and brush guard. Thanks

Sorry it's been awhile guys. Just moved into a new place and have to be responsible for the time being..:thumbdown: Plan on re-wiring the audio system and posting pics in a couple weeks. Otherwise, spring time should bring some nice upgrades! I just got a garage, so.. I have to be careful how much I lift her; not a bad problem to have, I suppose! However, my car scraping is definitely a bad problem to have! Have to fix that first!

Got my first Jeep nod yesterday -- was pretty awesome. I iniated my first one today. Feels good man, feels good. :cool2:

Ya get it all squared away? I just now found this. Glad to help out. Crank it up!

I rhino lined my roof. I don't see any reason why not. As for ade ehh the rhino lines ok.... personaly I did my whole truck at the time a couple years back in real lin x and that stuff lasted without fade for years. Sold it to a buddy who's still got it and its got the smallest about of fade to the hood and up. Top on the roof. And I just like the texture of real line x coating waaayyy better than any other liner. Most have too much of a rubbery feel and some are too much like plastic. Just my input though man.