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Let me know how much you'd like for them. I can give you my zip to check for a shipping quote as well. I may be interested in some of your other items depending what they are as well. Im slowly buying everything needed for my new build. Have LCAs, 33's on Moabs, ZJ steering and a few other small things.
Yeah shoot me a PM, I'm sure we can work something out. I've got the springs and the set of sway bar disconnects, I can look to see what else I have that you don't already have.
It's time for a new year's update. The SYE went in and the transfer case got all put back together. With no rear driveshaft, I put it in 4WD and drove it home. That was one of the sketchiest drives I have made, letting off of the gas and applying it again would cause the Jeep to jerk to the left. The first time it did that was coming over a bridge, scared the hell out of me.
After taking some measurements and the advice I received on here, we decided not to relocate the rear axle. They measured for the driveshaft and ordered a Tom Woods. I went ahead and had the shop install the frame stiffeners and measure for bump stops while they had it in there.
Sitting in my office one Thursday I was browsing FB, found a fairly clean '98 Cherokee for sale about 5 hours away. Made the deal, picked up a car hauler and left at 4 the next morning to pick up another headache.
I got it home, cleaned the hell out of it and spent the next day replacing the headliner.
I spent last weeking installing the JCR Crusader rock sliders which were a huge pain in the ***. Overall I'm happy with the way that they turned out, but my biggest complaint is the way that they pulled my front fender out. Everything lined up great until you jack the skids up to mount them to the unibody/pinch seem it rolls the sliders, pushing them out and creating a gap between the fender and door that wasn't there previously. I'll get over it, but it still bothers me. Then I installed an Iron Rock Offroad gas tank skid and Ares Fab rear quarter panel armor. The fit and finish of both of these products were great. The quarter armor ties into the unibody nut strip and ended up being much more solid than I expected. One of the most difficult parts of all of this was carefully trimming the Bushwacker flares to fit around the armor. Six out of the eight flare mounts had to be trimmed, as well as the flares themselves. Thought tedious, it was worth it to keep the nice clean lines.
Somewhere in between all of that I installed some Vosicky headlights (knock off trucklites). I figured for 20% of the cost I'd give them a try. So far I'm pleased, huge upgrade over the OEM lights.
And before I start getting hammered on here like I have everywhere else... I know what rust is. I know rust is bad. I know it needs paint. I will be taking everything back off to paint it.
Hey nice work on all that to your Jeep!!! I'm super jealous of the armor and SYE kit. I would be more worried about putting that NOS can down your throat then some rust on your bumper lol. I figured you were going for that California rust look. It will be fine but the rest of the Jeep looks amazing keep up the good work.
Note: The only thing I didn't seem to care about is the quality in the mounting of the rocker sliders. Seems like you will hit those mounting points/bolts, etc and grind them away. Meaning it will eventually fall off or come loose. Is it really bolted into or rivet nut into the body of the truck besides the bolts into the unibody? Guess I would prefer the strength of welding it vice bolted but that is just me.
I know the armor panels for the body of the rig are bolted in or rivet nut they all are but they take far less abuse normally than the rocker sliders will. Either way looks like very nice stuff!!
Hey nice work on all that to your Jeep!!! I'm super jealous of the armor and SYE kit. I would be more worried about putting that NOS can down your throat then some rust on your bumper lol. I figured you were going for that California rust look. It will be fine but the rest of the Jeep looks amazing keep up the good work.
Note: The only thing I didn't seem to care about is the quality in the mounting of the rocker sliders. Seems like you will hit those mounting points/bolts, etc and grind them away. Meaning it will eventually fall off or come loose. Is it really bolted into or rivet nut into the body of the truck besides the bolts into the unibody? Guess I would prefer the strength of welding it vice bolted but that is just me.
Originally Posted by XJIrish4x4
I know the armor panels for the body of the rig are bolted in or rivet nut they all are but they take far less abuse normally than the rocker sliders will. Either way looks like very nice stuff!!
I really appreciate that, I'm proud of the recent progress and can't wait to get it out on the trails. I suppose there could eventually be some issues with dragging across the sliders, but they are all tapered bolts that would still hold it in place. The brackets bolt to the unibody frame (in this case the frame stiffeners) and to the pinch seam, pushed up against the body. The slider itself bolts into rivet nuts on the body and then into the brackets along the bottom side.
It's probably worth noting that JCR clearly classified these on their website as "medium duty," and that if you plan to really abuse them then you would be better off with the 2x6 rocker replacement style sliders. Mine won't see heavy abuse, these are a "just in case" for me.
I really appreciate that, I'm proud of the recent progress and can't wait to get it out on the trails. I suppose there could eventually be some issues with dragging across the sliders, but they are all tapered bolts that would still hold it in place. The brackets bolt to the unibody frame (in this case the frame stiffeners) and to the pinch seam, pushed up against the body. The slider itself bolts into rivet nuts on the body and then into the brackets along the bottom side.
It's probably worth noting that JCR clearly classified these on their website as "medium duty," and that if you plan to really abuse them then you would be better off with the 2x6 rocker replacement style sliders. Mine won't see heavy abuse, these are a "just in case" for me.
Nevertheless JCR makes a good product! Your design I would agree probably not for the hardcore off road enthusiest but it will suit most needs for that oh **** factor! 2x6's solid steel is the way I'm planning to go but I would rather be overkill than be in a situation where I needed it but didn't have it. Plus I know my style of off roading, I start out small but then find myself doing the unthkinkable. lol.
That unpainted front and rear bumper is giving me stomach ulcers! Everything looks great man. I want that gas tank skid. Subbed!
Lol I get a pretty good mix of "why aren't those painted?" and "that looks awesome, just shoot a coat of clear over it!" They'll get painted at some point. In the meantime I sanded them down last night and got back down to bare metal.
Originally Posted by XJIrish4x4
Nevertheless JCR makes a good product! Your design I would agree probably not for the hardcore off road enthusiest but it will suit most needs for that oh **** factor! 2x6's solid steel is the way I'm planning to go but I would rather be overkill than be in a situation where I needed it but didn't have it. Plus I know my style of off roading, I start out small but then find myself doing the unthkinkable. lol.
The way that the rest of this thing has gone there's a good chance I'll end up deciding to upgrade these as well. This started out as a budget build
I replaced the crankshaft position sensor and tightened the belt up, hopefully I've resolved the dying problem. I took it yesterday to be aligned since I've upped the springs and went to a larger tire. It rides like a dream now.
There was a little bit of sleet and ice yesterday, so they just about shut down the entire state of Texas. I took advantage of my half day off to clean this thing up in my warm garage. I cleaned it inside and out, then ended up pulling off the worn out window visors. They were cracked, falling apart and coming off of the windows. It took a while to get all of the adhesive off, but it looks nice and clean now. I never minded the look of them and I used them quite a bit to crack my windows in warm weather. I'm not sure yet whether or not I'm going to replace them or leave them off.
As mentioned above, I sanded the bumpers down using a random orbit sander and some hand sanding. It looks better than it did before, the bare metal looks kind of cool. I shot it with a coat of WD-40, maybe that'll help keep it down.
Lol I get a pretty good mix of "why aren't those painted?" and "that looks awesome, just shoot a coat of clear over it!" They'll get painted at some point. In the meantime I sanded them down last night and got back down to bare metal.
The way that the rest of this thing has gone there's a good chance I'll end up deciding to upgrade these as well. This started out as a budget build
I replaced the crankshaft position sensor and tightened the belt up, hopefully I've resolved the dying problem. I took it yesterday to be aligned since I've upped the springs and went to a larger tire. It rides like a dream now.
There was a little bit of sleet and ice yesterday, so they just about shut down the entire state of Texas. I took advantage of my half day off to clean this thing up in my warm garage. I cleaned it inside and out, then ended up pulling off the worn out window visors. They were cracked, falling apart and coming off of the windows. It took a while to get all of the adhesive off, but it looks nice and clean now. I never minded the look of them and I used them quite a bit to crack my windows in warm weather. I'm not sure yet whether or not I'm going to replace them or leave them off.
As mentioned above, I sanded the bumpers down using a random orbit sander and some hand sanding. It looks better than it did before, the bare metal looks kind of cool. I shot it with a coat of WD-40, maybe that'll help keep it down.
I think the bumpers are pretty cool now that you got that rust off. Probably be able to clear coat them and wouldn't rust. Well if you did that you would need to clean off that WD40 oil lol.
WD40 good trick with that is spray it in all body panels that have rubber plugs you can remove to get into rockers, doors, fenders, etc. If you do that and add to it throughout your winters even in salty conditions it will save your metal big time. Cheap alternative to undercoating or fluid film or the old way of just coating all your undercarriage with motor oil.
I get the whole thing about budget build. That was the original plan for mine. Then joined the clemson offroad club and went from 31s and 3" to 35s and 5.5" real quick. I first wheeled with them and cringed everytime I heard anything hit a rock, and now I'm like meh it's probably just a diff cover or rock slider haha. Last trip I was determined to make it up a trail called rail bed and the line I had to take to not get body damage I had to bump it pretty hard and came down on the 2x6 sliders repeatedly hard enough to make the interior lights come on, but they're still attached and seem to be in the same place as before, I made the trail, and I drove the jeep Home and continue to daily it. I feel these things start out small and then all of a sudden you're like holy crap what have I done?!
I get the whole thing about budget build. That was the original plan for mine. Then joined the clemson offroad club and went from 31s and 3" to 35s and 5.5" real quick. I first wheeled with them and cringed everytime I heard anything hit a rock, and now I'm like meh it's probably just a diff cover or rock slider haha. Last trip I was determined to make it up a trail called rail bed and the line I had to take to not get body damage I had to bump it pretty hard and came down on the 2x6 sliders repeatedly hard enough to make the interior lights come on, but they're still attached and seem to be in the same place as before, I made the trail, and I drove the jeep Home and continue to daily it. I feel these things start out small and then all of a sudden you're like holy crap what have I done?!
Defiantly can relate. I had originally intended on some back road driving nothing major and while I have yet to hit the trails I know the group I'll run with is mild but the trails don't look forgiving. So I'm doing just that building mine to sustain hardship the XJ may become victim of. That and I know myself, I start out small but soon find myself following the hype. Plus I would rather have it and use it then to not have it and need it. Go big or go home! 4.5" lift is good for me lol I say that now huh then watch a year or less from now I'll be on 5.5-6" with 35" tires
Good to hear your rock sliders holding up to the abuse and the jeep is still DDing!
I think the bumpers are pretty cool now that you got that rust off. Probably be able to clear coat them and wouldn't rust. Well if you did that you would need to clean off that WD40 oil lol.
WD40 good trick with that is spray it in all body panels that have rubber plugs you can remove to get into rockers, doors, fenders, etc. If you do that and add to it throughout your winters even in salty conditions it will save your metal big time. Cheap alternative to undercoating or fluid film or the old way of just coating all your undercarriage with motor oil.
Fortunately down here we don't have the harsh winters and salted roads. I'll be pulling them off soon and getting them ready for primer and then paint.
Originally Posted by Basslicks
Tight work, man! This thing is lookin' real good.
Thank you sir, slow and steady.
Originally Posted by Kevin Miller
I read your thread from the beginnimg. What a great transformation!
I appreciate that. It's been a lot of fun and has come much further than I ever planned to.
Originally Posted by SatiricalHen
I get the whole thing about budget build. That was the original plan for mine. Then joined the clemson offroad club and went from 31s and 3" to 35s and 5.5" real quick. I first wheeled with them and cringed everytime I heard anything hit a rock, and now I'm like meh it's probably just a diff cover or rock slider haha. Last trip I was determined to make it up a trail called rail bed and the line I had to take to not get body damage I had to bump it pretty hard and came down on the 2x6 sliders repeatedly hard enough to make the interior lights come on, but they're still attached and seem to be in the same place as before, I made the trail, and I drove the jeep Home and continue to daily it. I feel these things start out small and then all of a sudden you're like holy crap what have I done?!
That's the way it goes. I just hope that I can stay happy with the current set up. I've still got a few things on the list, but not major things at this point.
Originally Posted by XJIrish4x4
Defiantly can relate. I had originally intended on some back road driving nothing major and while I have yet to hit the trails I know the group I'll run with is mild but the trails don't look forgiving. So I'm doing just that building mine to sustain hardship the XJ may become victim of. That and I know myself, I start out small but soon find myself following the hype. Plus I would rather have it and use it then to not have it and need it. Go big or go home! 4.5" lift is good for me lol I say that now huh then watch a year or less from now I'll be on 5.5-6" with 35" tires
Good to hear your rock sliders holding up to the abuse and the jeep is still DDing!
4.5" and 33s should have been fine, but there were some clearance issues so I got the Bushwackers. Then I had too much room, so I went to 35's. Then I needed gears... might as well add lockers while I'm in there... and on and on and on.
A few folks from our Jeep group took a trip to Barnwell Mountain Recreational Area outside of Gilmer, TX (about 2 hours East of Dallas). I've been working hard over the last 2 months to get the Cherokee ready, and in the nick of time got it all done. I had my first wheeling trip and man, I am hooked. Every dollar spent, every hour worked has paid off and I could not be more happy with the results. The Jeep performed flawlessly and exceeded my expectations tenfold.
Most of all I am happy to say that the Jeep survived the trip without any carnage and I was able to gain so much experience for the next event. I hurt a few feelings from some Wrangler owners and at the same time earned a lot of respect for Cherokees. We had a great group that guided me as an inexperienced wheeler and I couldn't have done it without them.
A great friend of mine rode with me (who I may have swayed into buying and building an XJ after the trip) and put his incredible photography and videography skills to use to capture some great pics and footage. He's working on putting together a video that I will be able to share as well, but in the meantime here are a few of the photos from the trip.
Stuffed!!! One of my favorites
Another friends of mine's Grand Wagoneer. That thing is a tank and took the weekend like a champ.
A few of the rigs that went with us
Always nice to see a variety of rigs outside of the Wranglers. This 4Runner and old school 2 door Explorer were no joke. They took a lot of trails with us and went places that no one expected them to be able to go.
And as a bonus, two sweet XJs on tons. They were beasts, I can definitely see the appeal.
12-05-2017, 07:23 AM
