My bumpstops came in yesterday so I decided to throw them on today. Walk outside and the Jeep won't start. Great. Starts only while on the accelerator then won't idle. So I'm thinking maybe the the IAC needs to be cleaned. Take that out, clean it, clean the TB a bit more from the last time (when I did the header replacement), and throw it back it. Still won't idle unless I hold my foot on the accelerator for a bit around idle then it will go back to idle. Then suddenly it goes away. Said **** it and went to my bumpstops.

Rented a strut compressor and started lifting the truck up on stands. Spent some time wondering how to jack it up correctly in order to get the coil off and install the stop without limiting my space needed to slide the coil back on after the stop has been installed. Finally figure that out then while I had the coils compressed I had a ****ing strut compressor slip causing the bottom to slide half way around the coil and shift the mount so that it was barely hanging on to the spring. Great, now I have a half compressed coil with strut compressors barely hanging on while the truck is hanging a tire. Unreal. After dealing with that as safely as I could (lucky it didn't fly off) I noticed that the probable cause was that one of the safety pins wouldn't seat. Ok, so next I basically compressed the coil again safely and removed it to find that the mother ****ing bumpstops I ordered are too wide. So all of that work and nicking the **** out of my shock and coil and I couldn't even install the new stops. Un-****ing-real.

I need a drink.

 

Sounds like an awesome day. I had one side of my strut compressor slip when torquing way down. Threw on a ****ing hockey mask cause i was afraid jt was gonna smash my God damn face

 

Tell me about it. The worst part about this entire ordeal was after the starting issue my intuition was telling me to walk away and quit working on the XJ today. Should've done just that.

 

Damn jeeps

 

Mine has done the exact thing you described one time like a year ago, and it has never down it since, it's wierd.

 

I'm still wondering exactly what it was because when I started it at first with my foot slightly on the gas it was blowing a fair amount of smoke out of the tailpipe. It went away after about 5 seconds or so but it was still wierd.

 

My buddy's zj did it one day too, he sold it shortly after though, so I don't know if it was a one time thing with his.

 

Haven't updated this in a while, haven't done much to the Pepper.

A few weeks ago I threw on some daystar bumpstops in the front. I just need to fold the pinch weld and I should be good to go. The tires barely rub the welds when the wheel is turned all the way when fully flexed.

Had a steering issue as well. Thought it was my box finally going out but it turns out it was my TRE and pitman arm connection. I don't know how it suddenly loosened up since we tightened it when I did my box weeks ago but it was very loose. I am thinking that it could've been either cocked in there crooked when we bolted it back up after doing my box or there could have been some type of debris in there causing the TRE bolt not to seat all the way in. It had the pin fully intact as well so we know the bolt didn't come loose. Tightened it up and now the steering is back to normal.

Anyway, besides for a few odds and ends needing to be done I don't really have any big plans for the future few months for this thing besides driving the heck out of it (waiting for snow here). Few random pictures on my phone taken over the past month:

 

Lookin good...where's the wheeling pics though!

 

I've been wanting to get out to the badlands for weeks now but no one seems to be able to go. It's about 100 miles or so away from me. Definitely not a hike I want to take alone.

 

No big updates or wheeling pics but we finally got a bit of snow here in the Chicago area the other day.

 

Good looking rig man, nice clean work. The 33's are plenty if you aren't ready to upgrade gears, and they fit it nicely.

 

Thanks. I'm happy with the 33's and 4.10's combo. Fits nicely with the lift, has a good pick up to it acceleration-wise, and the road noise is not too bad on the highway.

 

Well, it's time to sell the Jeep. I have been traveling more and more and would like to get into something more gas-mileage and eco-friendly.

I just want to say thanks to all of those who have helped with the build. Great people here who are extremely cool and helpful - by far the best forum for Cherokees.

For anyone interested in buying it, here's the link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200984602097?forcerRptr=true&item=200984602097&viewitem=

 

Sold the Jeep last week. Thanks again to all that helped with my part of the build.