Tim's 99 XJ
 

I picked up a 99 Cherokee May of this year and I thought I would post a little bit about it. It is my first Jeep, and I expect it will get some upgrades as time goes by, but I can probably only dish out a few hundred $ per year. I thought it would be good to have one thread I can ask questions about my jeep and list the changes I make to it.

First off, I picked it up with about 140k miles and no rust (which is rare in my region). Here is a list of the improvements the previous owner did to it. He had the jeep all by about 20k miles of it's life and did all the improvements to it.

Full springs in front
Leaf springs and small block lift (not add a leaf)
Rough Country struts throughout
Solid Steal Steering Stabilizer Bar
Steering Stabilizer Shock
Swaybar Disconnect
Solid Driveline with SYE
Brake Extentions
Rough Country Control Arm Drop Kit (not a fan of)
31" AT tires (brand new)
Lift is 6.5" Rough Country.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...tee/jeep01.jpg
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I snagged some brand new 2012 Rubicon take-off wheels and tires for a bargain. Turned around and sold my previous wheels and tires for the same price. I'm only out the cost of the wheel adapters. I think it looks much better now. The spare tire wasn't working too well up there on the stock luggage rack. There was a lot of rattle.
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/678aa07f.jpg

Snagged a rack from my local classified adds. Check out my 14 year-old gritting his teeth in the 3rd pic.
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Here are a few pics from my second trip to Moab this year. The jeep did much better with the mud tires. We also aired-down a bit and it crawled most everything I tried. Only problem was rubbing. I think when the lift was installed they just left the stock bum-stops. I have a 6.5 RC lift. I would think with only running 255 tires on there, I should be fine. But i dented the crap out of my fenders. I had to pop them back into shape several times.

All-in-all it was a great trip though. The whole family (me, my wife, 15yo, 9yo & 3yo) stuck it out through Fins N Things, Hell's Revenge and the lower half of Poison Spider. They were troopers.

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Picked up an almost new Aussie for the Chrysler rear a couple weeks ago. $150
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/IMG_1839.jpg

Decided to finally do something about that unbearable rubbing.
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/IMG_1847.jpg
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Then I gooped the crap out of the "cut-n-folds" Living in Utah, Salty roads are a huge factor, so I'm very paranoid of rust. I did a couple heavy coats of JB weld, sanded and then weather sealed even further. Forgot to take photos of that. But then I bed-lined the edges, inside and out. Also across the rear panel, cause I ripped off the bumper trim brackets that were riveted on. I didn't figure there was no paint behind those brackets.
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Here's how she sits now.
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/IMG_1901.jpg
Still not sure what I'm going to do for flares in the rear. Probably TJ flares.

That's a good looking Jeep!

Here's a better shot of how the front flare looks now that it is raised. Lines right up with the body line.
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/IMG_1831.jpg

Just my opinion, but if you're gonna have the fender flares off the back, it looks better to be consistent in the front.

Now you just need a little offset for your wheels and that'll be an aggressive-looking Jeep.

I agree on the comment about a consistant look. I need flares. Just barely did the fronts. Haven't fully decided what to do with the fears yet. Most likely TJ's trimmed and painted to match.

A little muddy, but all the dirt around here is snowy right now.
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...5585F2148D.jpg

Looks good! Put stock flare on back and trim bottom of flare. My rig is 4in lift Rubicon take offs and flares moved up front and rear. Rear can only go up 3/8 or so but with cut in fold plus trimmin flair on top inside and bottom edges

Nice start on the build, Since you are local I would like to go wheeling with ya some time .

When or if you decide to get some sliders or bumpers look into Rigidco They are based out of West Valley City All he makes is XJ parts and your local so no shipping I have his Winch bumper and sliders on my XJ

Went up 5-mile pass for the first time. Boy have I been missing out. Problem is, When I installed my used Aussie locker a few months ago, I really didn't know any better, and should have ordered a replacement spring & pin kit. I noticed when I first installed the locker, 1-2 of the springs appeared stuck compressed. The previous owner probably smashed them down pretty hard in order to remove them. I didn't think anything of it though. However since then, the locker has been popping in and out more frequently all the time. To the point that even on daily road driving, It may pop 3-5 times when accelerating 0-60.

Well, Rattlesnake was quick to let me know, the teeth were not going to stay in place with serious load. I presume the springs not equally pushing the gear in the locked position made it easy to pop unlocked, which basically turned my rear end into a noisy, popping, and banging neutral axle.

I went home in front wheel drive :sad: Better here than to ruin a Moab trip though.

Tonight I will pull the cover and see how bad the damage is. Hopefully, the teeth look ok. If not, I will try to flip the locker. I'm just worried I won't be able to get the second c-clip in place without removing the carrier if it is flipped. Wish me luck.

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