stitch702

This will be my official build thread. I stalked these forums for a bit learning what I can about these jeeps. I've been wanting to start an off road project for awhile and looked at many potential vehicles. I was almost close to sealing a deal to purchase a new jk rubicon but decided that I did not want to trade in two of my vehicles and still be stuck with a car payment yet again. I decided if this were to be an offroad project I definitely didn't want it to be my daily driver. After looking at some toyotas, land rovers, and jeeps; I opted for the xj. I found one which happened to be cheap, but had some issues I thought were fixable and typical for a 15 year old vehicle. Anyway here she is, Regina Red!!!
(Btw the reason she's called Regina is because there is this really fine looking coworker of mine whose just gorgeous, but her personality is such a *****!!) I think my jeep matches her personality and looks!

Before:







After:









Specs:

-1998 Chili Pepper Red Cherokee
-Chrysler 8.25 rear end
-4x4 Np231 Transfer Case
-4.0 H.O. I6 with 136k on the dash

Modifications:

-Iron rock off road long arms
-Jks quick disconnects
-Surco 60x45 roof rack
-Quadratic rear bumpstops
-Hockey puck adjustable front bumpstops
-Procomp d windows 15x8
-33" Procomp mud terrains
-Optima yellow top
-IRO otk hd steering
-703 injectors
-Leigh Performance 63mm throttle body.
-Adam's Driveshaft sye and rear driveshaft
-FST HID headlights
-JCR front prerunner winch bumper
-k&n cold air filter
-Durango steering box

stitch702

Here are more pictures I took when I first purchases her.






She had a couple issues from the start, but I expected some problems especially coming from a 15 year old vehicle.
1. Valve cover gasket leaks.
2. Oil Pressure reads zero.
3. Speedometer and dash gauges weren't working but after reading a bit on this forum I started tapping the upper right hand of the cluster and they started working again. So far so good!
4. Suspension appears rusted but body looks fine.
5. Tires are in serious need of replacement.
6. Dent on rear bumper, but not a problem since I'll be replacing the bumpers with aftermarket ones anyways.
7.Drivers side mirror is shattered.
8. Hatch does not stay up.
9. Transmission line is leaking from the metal fitting, but I hear that is an easy fix.
10. Pressure check valve on the fuel pump is going bad. It doesn't start on the first try, but ALWAYS on the second try.
11. A/C blows hot air because the lines are leaking.
12. Brakes need to be replacing. The thing was scary to drive because the rear wheel cylinders were bad and the brakes kept locking up so I would screech until I eventually skidded to a stop. Scared the crap out of some poor old crossing guard on my way home.

Overall I did a compression check the first day I got her to check how the motor was and she was pushing 140psi on all cylinders with 136,000 miles so I'm happy that the motor is mechanically sound. Let's hope that it stays that way. I think I may be in over my head with all the work she needs, but we'll see how it goes. I think this will be a great learning experience for me.

stitch702

I took her for some light wheeling on some easy trails in my area the next day. She creaked and croaked over the little bumps but she did good overall. I really needed some new tires because I was not getting any grip. I was overall impressed with the stock capabilities of this rig. However on my way home while on the freeway, I hit a bump and the whole front end started shaking and I held to that steering wheel for dear life! I guess I can add death wobble to my list of growing issues....

stitch702

Well I ordered a lift from Dave's Off Road Supply when they were advertising free shipping on Iron Rock Off Road Products during the month of June. Several members in my area run IRO lifts without any problems so I figured I'd give them a try. The total came to around 1439.98 shipped to my door. I ordered the kit with the basic shocks with no shock boots and JKS Quick Disconnects. They also included a FREE IRO Hack N Tap kit so I was very stoked about that. Took about a week to ship, but all in all I'm very satisfied with the customer service at Dave's Off Road Supply and will continue to do business with them in the near future.



Started off spraying all the bolts with nuts off and pb blaster for a good 2 weeks before I attempted the lift install.



Began by removing the shocks. Bolts surprisingly came off clean with the exception of one that broke. I took an air hammer and broke the weld nut. Moved on to the u bolts which came off with a bit of persuasion from my harbor freight breaker bar, propane torch, and pb blaster. After I started on removing the leafs from the frame end and that's where problems started happening... I had to use a 6 foot pipe I found to get the bolt to break free. Did about 30 cycles of spraying with pb blaster and propane torching it.



Got it out after a bit of time....like 4 hours time lol! Moved on to the rears and found that after doing the same heat and spray cycles the bolt started to turn but after a bit I discovered the bolts were seized to the sleeve!







So off I went to harbor freight which is down the street to pick up an angle grinder for 10 bucks after the coupon. It was the cheap drill master one but it did the job just fine!









The list of my trash pile keeps growing!





However one of the bolts I was cutting needed me to get under the jeep at an awkward angle. The grinder slipped out of my hands and into my chest. I think I should have opted for the more expensive angle grinder with the paddle switch option for safety reasons....thank god it got caught in my shirt before it could do more damage! After this I took a break for the day.





Well next day I started to bolt in the shackles with new hardware but discovered the threads to the weld nut were stripped. So off to harbor freight to pick up their tap n die set and while I was there I grabbed their saw zall for 20 bucks and a set of miluakee torch blades from Home Depot since I didn't want to use the grinder anymore. Anyway I came back and bolted in the shackles.



Ran into an issue though when bolting the passenger side shackle. It came into contact with the exhaust pipe. I tried hammering it and bending it out of the way but mangled it up so bad I just cut it with the trusty saw zall!



I then moved onto the leaf springs and shocks by assembling the bushings. Lined them up using the axle and a jack for support. Bolted them in with the u bolts and plates with no problems!











All bolted in!!!



Removed the rear sway bar and scavenged the brackets to use as bar pin eliminators. What pita to remove those things! Anyway here are the shocks assembled with the free bpe and new hardware.









Started on my fronts and the were actually easier than my rear. Probably because I had all the tools, skipped all the bull**** and started cutting away. Picked up all new hardware for my suspension so didn't have to worry about any stuck bolts.

Anyway I started with the front shocks. Top and bottom bolts came off easy. Removed the spring clip as well that is located at the bottom end of the coil.





Moved on to the sway bar links. One side was so rusty I ended up just cutting it off since I had the jks quick disconnects to replace them.









Removed the caliper bolts and just zip tied and bungee corded the calipers out of the way



Then I removed the trac bar assembly









Here is the iro track bar assembled and ready to be put in.



Moved onto the control arms. These bolts were seized to the bushing like my rears so I just cut them out with the sawzall from harbor freight.







My parts bin just keeps growing and growing...



After that the axle dropped far enough for me to just pull off the coils.

Once the coils were removed I proceeded to take off the the transfer case cross member. Started off by jacking the transfer case and supporting it with jack stands.



Then proceeded to unbolt the crossmember bolts. Take care to heat and spray with pb blaster since these bolts are notorious for breaking and snapping off. Luckily they came off just fine!



Next undo the four nuts in the middle of crossmember that bolt to the transfer case mount studs. You can barely see them in the picture. Also mine were rusted pretty bad so I heated and pb blasted the crap out of them.





Take ease when bringing down the old cross member. The ****er is heavy. It's good to have help or use a jack and jack stands to help you bring it down.



Anyway next there are studs on each side of the unibody that need removing. These are a pain. So I heated them and pb blasted them for a bit for several cycles. I tried the double nut method but it didn't work. I ended up going to harbor freight and buying their stud extractor and voila! It worked like a charm! The hardest part is removing the stud from the extractor!





Anyway moving on. Here is the iro crossmember assembled.





Here it is bolted onto the frame with the hardware provided from iro.





The first hole closest to the front of the vehicle needs to be tapped with a 7/16 tap I believe. Not to hard just make sure to use lots of lubricant for cutting. I used pb blaster again.



Driver's side long arm assembled and ready to be bolted on.



Long arms are in!!! The drive side y-arm was a pain. It is easier to bolt the caster arm first then bolt in the lower control arm and cross member bolt. It would also be a godsend to have help. My g/f tried but she only 90 something pounds and could barely bench the bar so she wasn't much help but at least she tried.





Then placed my shocks, coils, and hockey puck bump stops which I did went in depth a couple posts down. Also put in some rough country front bar pin eliminators that I picked up on eBay.



Next on was the iro track bar. Let me tell you this thing is beef!!!



Pressing the bushings in.

stitch702

Track bar bolted in.



Placed everything back together. Made sure to torque everything down according to the fsb specs. Here she is!

stitch702

Started making some bump stops since the coils were off. Pretty much straight forward. I think the hardest part of this project was finding a local place in Vegas that actually says hockey pucks.

Again scooped up the chicago electric drill since harbor freight is cheap and a block away



Picked up some hockey pucks at some local ice skating rink...only place in town, the drive took me damn near 45 minutes to get there!



I started by drilling the pads with 5/16 drill bit.



Then drilled the pucks using one size larger drill bit so it would slide over my 5/16 bolts easily.



I placed the bolt upside down on the coil pad because it was easier for me.



Slid the pucks in.



Bolted the top but down.



Done deal!

stitch702

Scooped up some jks quick disconnects! Figured I'd put them in before I finished my lift.



Here is that infamous pressed in bolt. I tried hammering, pb blasting, and heat, but the bastard still wouldn't come off! So what did I do? I headed down to Harbor Freight which is right down the street from me and picked up a pitman arm puller for cheap!


Cut the bolt in half so I could fit it into the pitman arm puller.





I tightened up the bolt to the pitman arm puller and just used hand tools to slowly pop the bolt out.



Voila!!!



The following pictures are just what I did per installation instructions on the JKS website to get the disconnects in. Pretty easy and straight forward.

stitch702

Scooped up some 33x12.5x15 pro comp mud terrains and wheels for $300!!! Tires are a year old with outstanding tread! The wheels are 5x5.5 bolt pattern but I scooped up a set of seven d wheels for $175 a few months ago. Gave 2 of the wheels away to some forum buddies on here since I didn't need them. Gotta love Craig's list! I guess I'll mount them on my wheels I bought a few months ago and sell these off...





Jeep full of parts!!



Lift is done! Tires/wheels are on!



Went to start her up but the battery was beyond dead. Even tried jumping it with the yota. Oh well probably will upgrade to an optima anyway with my next pay check.



Put it an optima yellow top. It was expensive but I'll see if it's worth it when I add a bunch of lights and a winch.



Also scooped up a surco safari rack for $100. Came with all hardware and cross bars. I may get some gutter mounts in the future. I have it secured right now with hose clamps. Seems pretty sturdy , I will swap them with u bolts when I have time and take a trip to the hardware store across town.





Attempted to bumpstop the rear with the extended rear bump stops from quadratec. However the old bolts broke when I attempted to remove the stock bumpstops....



So going to have to drill what's left of the old bolts out then retap...:/



Voila! Rear bumpstops from quadratec are in!!!

I also decided to be productive and grab some trunk supports from autozone since the the hatch kept knocking me out whenever I had it open.





Also thanks to xjmulisha for sending me these. They look clean for being junk yard fresh. These are going in on my next day off.



Got to doing the injectors. Followed the DIY on naxja.org. Wasn't too hard and I got it done in about an hour.





Old vs new



Overall I do feel a bit of umph from the butt dyno. Acceleration does feel a bit smoother. Plan on doing some performance mods in the future, but we'll see. One thing I'd like to add upon is that my jeep starts up on the first try. I picked up a used but working fuel pump for 10 bucks off some guy parting out his 99 thinking I had the infamous fuel check valve problem...but the injectors seemed to take care of that. Well at least I have an extra fuel pump.

stitch702

Couple of things to update upon. Haven't really done much since a little cold front hit Vegas bringing the temps down to about 28 degrees.

Girlfriend ordered me some FST HID headlights that people on these forums have been jabbering about. Can't wait to put them in they look pretty badass.
Best early x-mas gift!!!

Ordered the JCR prerunner crusader winch bumper for their back in black sale. Was tempted to order their rear tire carrier and rock sliders too, but I figure that would be exhausting my budget for the season right there.

Managed to install my IRO OTK steering. So far I'm quite pleased with the driving. I think my death wobble is gone but I still get a shimmy when driving which could probably be my alignment which is off. I managed to do a quick garage alignment to get by, but will probably take it to firestone since I have their lifetime alignment plan when I get the chance.
Stock steering

Iron rock offroad steering

The drag link and tie rod do not ever touch but still very close!


Tires and wheels need to be rebalanced since the mexican shop I took it too didn't do too well of a job.

Managed to stop my transmission leak by cutting off the leaking crimp and using some hose clamps. I bought a flare tool off of Harbor freight but it didn't even make a dent in it. I must say I've been having pretty good luck buying tools from them that work until now. I got lazy and it was too cold to drive down to rent a flare tool from autozone so I just used a bead of JB weld to make a ring around the tube and let it hardened so that I can have a make shift bead....that and a pair of fuel line clamps did the trick so far.

Cut my exhaust a bit further down. It used to be right in front of the shackle until the heat from my exhaust started to melt my bushings. So I cut it further down and got one of the screw on bent exhaust tips from autozone I found lying around my garage and it seems to work fine now.

Purchased an SYE and driveshaft from Adam's driveshaft here in Las Vegas. Has a great reputation down here as well as somewhat of a cult following. I tried to start the SYE install...but it was too damn cold outside with my back lying on the pavement...I may just be a vagina and take it to them to install for me....one of the few times I may pay someone to have something done for me...but I don't do cold...


Plans for next paycheck is to overhaul my intake and exhaust system. Been thinking of picking up an exhaust from performance curve with the flow master 44 and hi flow cat. As well as an APN header, 99 intake, BBTB, and walker down pipe.

James_P

damn, build looks great so far! Deff a nice start! Harbor Freight is awesome lol, I also pick up alot of last minute tools when needed!

speedballin

build looks awesome!

stitch702

Hey thanks for the compliments. Your builds look pretty good too! James I like how the jcr diy bumper came out. I'm thinking I too should have went the diy route and saved some money. Speedballin: the mustang looks sick. I had a chance to see some nicely built stands at sema but didn't snap a photo of that particular generation. Most were new gen or the muscle car era ones..
Here some pics though and a video...

speedballin

no worries my work went to sema i seen some of those shots lol
but the rat rod is sick and is that a scout? or bronco?

ksrummel

Is xjmulisha on here? I want some 703 injectors but a lot of people have them way overpriced! Btw the jeep looks great! Keep up the good work!

stitch702

Yea I believe he's still on here. Do a search of his screen name and pm him if he has any available