Cerveja

Did some junkyard shopping over the weekend and picked up some hood latches, fan shroud and snagged a self dimming rear view mirror with a compass and temp gauge from a cracked up Saturn. Did a little searching and ran power to it and seems to work just fine. Just need to wire it into the jeep and install a temp sensor. I will have to take a couple of pics and include them.

Got back to the tire carrier. Adjusted the legs to get them back to square and welded in the brace.



Ground down the welds where needed and then set it up on the mill to trim the ends to the right dimension and angle.



I need a bigger mill. Didn't have much left to clamp to but managed to trim the ends down without things going horribly wrong - Always a bonus.



Hopefully I can finish welding it before the weekend and get it mounted up on the bumper.

Cerveja

Trying to get her back on the road to go wheeling this weekend. Pulled the driver seat out and the center console out to check on some wiring. Wanted to mount a hydraulic "old school" Oil Pressure gauge to make sure the electric dash one isn't lying to me. So I started constructing a mount for it in the old gapping hole where the ash tray once resided.



So it looks like a disaster now, but it does get better. I could have just rough mounted it, but since I bought the gauge and need to spend the time running the tubing, I might as well make it permanent.



Had to create an oversized casting to grind it down to the shape I wanted. So a few batches of fiberglass resin mixed in with a few handfulls of wood chips and shavings from some old woodworking projects for filler. I like adding the wood chips, not nearly as messy as woven or chopped fibers, it sands fairly well and keeps the mix from being too brittle.



Ground it down to size and starting sanding it down to a reasonable shape. Added in some bondo for filler and to patch up the voids and air pockets uncovered while sanding it down to size.



Test fit the oil pressure gage and gave everything a quick test fit.



Finally put the interior back in and wiped everything down and gave it a good vacuuming. Apparently glass gauges don't photograph well. Should have turned on the lights, maybe some backlighitng would have kept down some of the glare.



Got the seats bolted back int and called it a night. Previous owner apparently was not big on fixing bolts once he broke them off. Passenger seat had three bolts holding it in place, the driver's seat only had two holding it down. I guess I should be happy the bolts were on the inboard side so the seatbelts would have still worked....maybe. Either way both seats have all four bolts working again, and the interior is no longer covered in dirt, dust and metal shavings.

Cerveja

Welded the necessary brackets on to the bumper and assembled the carrier frame.



Threw some quick paint on it to keep it from rusting, but apparently not enough, three days of on again off again rain is already showing rust.



Not quite done yet, needs lights, license plate tabs, and release lever mechanism to make folding it down easier.



She'a just a little closer to the liftgate than I thought, guess I wont be bumping up to 37's unless they are the same width.

Cerveja

Packed up the truck and took off Friday evening to spend a couple days in the woods rather than the garage.







Kept mainly to the GREEN and BLUE trails as the Ranger had a front axle that was slowly detonating as the day continued on and the Commander wasn't quite as trail ready as the other vehicles.



"Commander" Andy and his wife Marsha and their two daughters joined us for the day in their fairly stock Jeep. Small lift and a slight upgrade in tires but not much else.



Despite it's size and stock componentry, it has a very solid transfer case and is very fun to watch. Every time a wheel loses traction it locks up almost immediately and all power goes to the remaning unlocked wheels.

Cerveja

Friday was pretty rainy and Saturday was mostly dry, had some occasional showers, just enough to keep the trails slippery.



Hunkered down for a wet night and got settled in for the evening. Food and beverages around the fire place and a couple late night movies.



First a flash back to the future with a little "Idiocracy" followed by some iron man. Picture looked much better in person than the crappy BlackBerry could photograph.



Awoke this morning to a very soggu campsite. Cleaned up shop, and headed back to the trails for a couple hours, which turned into a full day of wheeling the more aggressive trails.

Cerveja

Loaded up the rigs and got ready for another day in the woods.



Tried doing a very wet and muddy log run, made it almost to the top but the wheels kept sliding off a log and hanging up the rear diff. Tried several different angles, just couldn't make the last obstacle.



Following the group through the "Merry Go Round".



Plotting a course thru the "Undertaker"



Taking some time for a photo-op before hitting the last trail and heading home.





Bambi needs to find a better hiding spot. Another month from now and she's going to become a hot commodity.

Cerveja

Park was nearly empty. We saw like three other vehicles the entire day. All the rain was keeping people away. So taking advantage of the empty parking lot and a break in the rain I figured I would test out the flex.









Didn't go all the way up, just to where I could feel the back end really getting light. Wanted mainly to get up underneath it and see how things were tucking up in the wheel wells.







Going to spend a couple days on the road around town and then back in the garage for a good cleaning and fix a couple things gone wrong. Couple windows stopped working, CB Antennae got caught in a tree and pulled out of the roof, On Board Air is still leaking and needs to be tightened, need to pull some parts and prep and paint them, etc.....never ends

JRT1393

Man what an awesome thread! That trip out west is about exactly like what I want to do one day. You've pretty much built what I want my XJ to be (a couple small differences of course). The linked rear, winch up front, front and rear D44's from a Rubi, tire carrier bumper, the stroker, everything. Expedition I guess would be my goal. Keep it up! I look forward to where this thing takes you!

Cerveja

Thanks for the Props JR. It's been a fun vehicle so far and seems to work pretty good both on and off-road. Need to break it down and rust proof it and work on a bunch of details, some electrical issues, an air leak in the lines, and misc stuff, but she's running reliably enough that I am having fun with her.

Cerveja

Took care of all the family obligations for the holiday last weekend, so managed a few solid days of work in the garage. Pulled the bumper, Gas Tank Skid and set them up in the garage.



I wasn't real crazy about how the release mechanism was working and it turns out the hitch was protruding a bit more than I had designed so had to go back to the drawing board and sort some things out. Spent a little time with the tubing bender and fixed the interference. Also had to rethink the latch mechanism placement.





Trying to get the skid plates and bumper shipped out for powder coating, so I burnt through a ton of flap discs smoothing out the welds and prepping the metal.









After the first couple outings, I thought the bumper and carrier held up great, although there was a little bit of twist in the bumper from the weight of the carrier levering about. So I took the advice of a couple other Cherokee bumper builds and built some frame reinforcements.





Need to finish welding on the fold-down portion and build the remaining bits for the release lever. Hopefully I can get going on the paint before the weekend before rust starts attacking all the bared metal.....that would suck.

Cerveja

Been a busy two weeks grinding and prepping parts for sand blasting, powder coating and assembly. Sent them out late last week for a few days of blasting and then a couple days of rust protection and powder coating, then a couple days of assembly.

Started out with the frame reinforcements.


I was getting a bit too much movement from the tire carrier and didn't want to pull the weldnuts out of the back of the frame


I left the "tongues" hanging out of the reinforcements. They help support the JCR DIY Bumper. Sure makes mounting and installing the bumper a lot easier, especially if you are doing it alone.



I was looking at the Gas Tank Skid from JCR, but wound up welding up my own. Pretty similar in concept, I think if I were going to do it again, I might have picked up the bottom tabs on the bottom of the bumper. But overall I am certain this will keep the tank equally safe.


The old inserts were pretty rusted out and it was harder matching the hole pattern to the original inserts and easier to start from scratch to match it up to the new Gas Tank Skid.

Cerveja

Finally got the overhead Light bar done. Parts have been laying around the garage for months until I could get everything welded up and powder coated. I used a 1X2 steel tube for the cross bar and some 3/8 plate for the stanchions.


It was a pain in the neck running all the wires through the tube, but finally got everything strung and tested the lights off a battery pack.


I added the clearance lights for looks. I figured I was running power up the anyways for the overhead flood lights, might as well add another circuit for the running lights...and I am kinda digging the look.


Although they are really hard to see, I added a set of bike skewers to the cross bar. I doubt they will ever see much use. Hoisting a bike onto the roof of a normal car is tough enough, but at roughly 80 inches off the ground, I doubt my bike will ever end up top the Jeep.

JeepaholicNinja

Loving the fender flares, even in gray! I actually think maybe you should leave them that way (I never thought I'd say that...) And the amber lights are awesome...Wish my XJ had coils in the back!...But then again, I wish my XJ had anything but stock, saggy, literally broken, suspension...

Cerveja

It's not fully complete, but it's back from powder coat, fully welded and had to be installed to finish wiring and troubleshoot some of the lighting circuits already added.


Powder coat made assembly a ton easier. Not sure if the sand blasting took off a couple microns, or the smooth finish made sliding it over the bushings easier, either way I am not complaining.


Poison Spyder's 3-Point tire strap fit great looks just as good. It would be nice to spring load it to make it easier to lift, but I know it's easier than trying to load the tire onto a spring out and line up the bolt holes.


I still need to finish assembly and painting of the quick release handle and lever. Until then the 5/8ths safety pins will do the trick.



Adding the brake light to the tire carrier was the right call. Never really stepped back and looked at the rear of the truck. The top of the spare tire is nearly as tall as the roof and the 3rd brake light.....unless you are driving in a semi truck, I doubt you could see it at all. The two flood lights should make parking at night and setting up camp easier and the red light bar on the back contains a running light, turn signals and brake lights. Plus, the license plate is actually behind the tire instead of hidden in front of it. It should make driving on the street a bit more legal.

Cerveja

Last project for the night, put the transfer case skid back in place. Anybody running a Clayton four link will likely recognize the pictures, otherwise it's really hard to get some perspective without having the vehicle up on a lift.







Time to take a couple days off to finish Christmas Shopping, do the family thing and then move back to the interior. Feels good to finally have the heavy stuff off my plate for a while.

Everyone have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday.