Today my JB CONVERSIONS Slip Yolk Eliminator kit came in. This thing looks beefy! and the seal in the new housing looks like it should hold quite well. But only time will tell. I am looking forward to installing it in the next week or so.
I am also painting my aluminum eagle alloy wheels black. it took forever to mask them off! no tape would stick to the tires so i ended up lubing them with vasilene and then sticking news paper to it and then taping more news paper to that newspaper. anyways... here are the pics for you guys. so far...

 

finished two of the wheels. I used rustolium filler primer, wheel paint, and clear coat. 2 coats of each.
They turned out great! ill get better pics tomorrow when i finish the other two.

 

SYE IS INSTALLED!!!! BEST MOD YET!

I could not be happier! This is the first time i have done major mechanical work to a car. and it went without any hick-ups! just did a lot of research on the net and made a few trips to sears to get the right pliers and socket extensions! The hardest part was....really there wasnt a hard part! once i had the right tools it all went smoothly!
and now i have ZERO vibrations!
And the ax-15 even shifts twice as smooth! i guess just from ujoints not binding as much.
Overall i spent under $300.
-$200 - JB CONVERSIONS SYE
-$50 - eBay 93 V8Grand Cherokee Drive shaft
-$45 - New U-joints

The only problem was that JB forgot to put the shift rail/rod plug in my kit. so i used a snap plug i had laying around with some gasket material. I will call them tomorrow and have one sent out.

Thanks for all the help getting this big project out of the way guys!

 

Nest on the list is some extended brake lines and then ill have some good wheeling pics up!

 

Well i went out to start the jeep two days ago an the thing would turn over but would not start!
I checked the ignition, spark plugs, and fuel rail pressure and that was all fine. I was not showing any codes or check engine lights.
So i went on the net and looked for these symptoms and found that is it commonly a bad CRANKCASE POSITION SENSOR.
So i spent two hours trying to unbolt this stupidly placed sensor that is on the to[ of the bell housing. but i eventually got it and went down to auto zone and go a new one for $82 bucks. put it on and it ran fine!!
Here is the old one...

 

Today i Installed my AUTOPAL H4 CONVERSION HEADLIGHTS

I haven't driven at night yet. but after i do i will post pics! so far i am pleased! they seam very clear and seam to be designed well. (the bulbs fit perfect).

 

nice jeep man wish mine was a 5 speed

 

2016 UPDATE!!

it has been a while and I have some interior mods to update with!

Dash camera: ONLY $15 !!!! great upgrade on the cheap!
Only has 3/5 stars on amazon and i will admit the video quality is not the best. 720p at most. High enough image quality to identify a license plate number out to 15 yards. But certainly good enough quality to use in case of an accident such as getting cut off.
The suction cup mount is SUPERB. did not come down once in a year of usage. This thing has been up through a HOT atlanta summer and has been working fine. no over heating.
I just have it wired through the headliner, down the A-pillar, and to the 12 volt car plugin that is wired through the ignition, so it turns on and off with the engine. however there is battery power so in case of witnessing something or needing a camera in a tight situation, you can easily grab it and turn it on with the button on the dashcam. the battery is supposed to last ~1 hour. I have not tested this out however.

Night vision mode is a stretch, but as long as you have your headlights on it gives enough image quality to make out all the cars on the road infront of you.

Also it looks like a radar detector in the case that a police officer demands to use it as evidence, you can play it off as a radar detector (IF you are looking to not have it used against you or someone else) - unlikely, however this is an advantage over other dash cameras.

Needs a class 10 full size SD card. you can set it to record in 30sec/1min/3min/5min intervals. It automatically writes over old content. I have a 16bg card in there so it should store well over 3 hours of video. i.e. you have 3 hours to remove any data you want after it has happened.

i highly recommend to anyone who wants a BASIC dashcam. At $15 why not!

 

RAM mount for phone/device. You can piece together this mount any way you want. suction cup or screwed to your dash. I bolted mine down and it has been GREAT!!!

love this mount! super secure and easy to insert/remove phone!

Spring loaded arms. Reasonably cheap on amazon.

 

Custom KYDEX holster. CHECK YOUR STATE/COUNTY/CITY LAWS!

 

If you dont want to make a holster like this one, you can buy one from these guys:
http://kctactical.blogspot.com/2013/11/kct-kydex.html
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i5q03hu4zx...0/DSCN8600.JPG

 

Noticed a loud poping sound coming from my trans or rearward last week. inspected the driveshaft b ecause i have had the ujoint go bad at the axle yolk in the rear. it checked out and i could not feal anything bad in the double cardon joint at my slip yolk eliminator yolk. replaced the trans mount. problem persisted.

So I removed the drive shaft and sure enough, the DURALAST GOLD ujoint in the middle of the double cardon joint had burnt all of its needle bearings.

This is the second one i have had go bad in the past 3 years of this new (used/refurbished) driveshaft.

I went with Duralast Gold non greasable because i figured if one broke i could easily find an autozone to replace it. Well... i expected them to last longer than 3 years!

I DO NOT RECOMEND DURALAST GOLD U JOINTS. You will be taking advantage of their lifetime warantee often!

I replaced all three with SPICER 1310 greasable. Bout for $13 each at 4wheelparts. (must replace the zerk grease fitting with a low profile fitting in the double cardon joint u joints. ask me how i know...

just thought i would share. Posted in modified tech because of application to a rear double cardon joint. Admin move if necessary.

thanks for listening. hope this helps anyone googling " duralast gold u joint vs. "

 

6.5” FRONT and 6.5” REAR DOOR speakers are mounted in my SE basic model 99 XJ. Install was easy. No metal trimming. Just cut a 4.5” hole in the plastic panel. The hardest part was getting the special speaker mounting clip/nut/retainers in place on the sheet metal then lining up the 1.5” screws to go through the speaker grill->speaker housing->interior door panel->sheet metal door frame. Though once you do the first one the rest are easy!

Mounting speakers to the outside (interior) of the plastic panel has many advantages I believe. It looks great if you are into showing off your audio equipment, arguably sounds better with them not mounted behind a plastic panel, allows for 1” greater speaker mounting depth (although I still used shallow mounts)/ and best of all, when you blow a speaker you can replace it without having to remove the interior door panel.

And of course I ripped out the factory sound deadening and added some Peal&Seal to make my doors shut with a nice “thud” and add some road noise deadening. (ill post photos of this step when I wire the rear speakers).
One expected issue was my manual window cranks were hitting the speaker grills. SOLUTION: get out the ol’ heat gun and gloves and bend the door cranks in an “S” to add about a half inch of clearance.

I used this thread to give me a little idea about how to do this: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/spe...5/#post2371546

 

Bought these JK Sahara edition FRONT shocks off craigslist. They have 5,000 miles on them. Cost $40. Just have the fronts for now. After I feel how these ride Ill get jk shocks for the rear or possibly jump up to Bilstein 5100s.

My 99 XJ has a five year old 3" RC lift. I am very excited to ditch the RC 9000 shocks. My back will thank me.

Went with the RC bar pin eliminators (even though these orient the shocks the wrong direction??). I will have sway bars connecting and do not plan on heavy wheeling any time soon. This XJ is my DD.
This BPE kit is only $20 on Amazon. Hard to pass up.

I went with a Rancho RS981 poly bushing kit. This kit required slightly opening up the holes to fit over the 7/16 shock pin. No big deal.

Went to the local hardware store to pick up some grade 8 bolts, nuts, and lock washers to replace the rusted Chryco hardware.

I have had the shock bolts drenched in PB blaster for 48 hours. Fingers crossed the break free easy tomorrow when I do the install.

 

Looking forward to finding out how the shocks work out. Great build!