In case you guys couldn't tell, I named this build slow n steady because I'm not rushing to get this thing built. There's a lot of homebrew and lowbuck mods. I do have bigger plans for this, but it's gonna take a while to get there... slow n steady.
So as far as I knew, everything was good to go with my jeep so I wanted to concentrate on the sound system. First order of business was to get rid of this tardo thing... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a...0/IMAG0260.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u...0/IMAG0261.jpg I would have probably liked it if it fit... or I had a show car. I just didn't really feel like it belonged in my jeep and the display wouldn't go back all of the way because of the dash so I got rid of it... later I found out that if I would have moved the AC controls I could have made it work. Meh well... Got me a kenwood - https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-H...0/IMAG0404.jpg This looks much better. Sounds better too... probably. Can't tell through the blown speakers. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-t...0/IMAG0439.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-x...0/IMAG0440.jpg The drivers went out in the 3 ways... These were in the front - cone completely separated from the surrounds... I tried repairing them with some speaker glue from parts express... turned out the drivers were still working, but messed up. Someone apparently didn't understand the concept of bass blockers or crossovers. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-9...0/IMAG0445.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-y...0/IMAG0446.jpg On a positive note, I ended up finding the original build sheet in the passenger side door when I took off the panel. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-i...0/IMAG0447.jpg Doors were going to look like this for a while as I was waiting on speakers to be shipped. Went with a set of 3-way Sony Xplod 5.25's that I found on propertyroom.com for a song (no pun intended). https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-R...0/IMAG0441.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-h...0/IMAG0442.jpg Ended up salvaging one of the original 5.25" infinity component speakers and I put it in the driver's side door. I found a 6x9 and threw it down-firing style in the rear hatch just for something until I got my speakers in... https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-q...0/IMAG0443.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7...0/IMAG0444.jpg In case anyone is wondering... no, it doesn't sound good. Speakers finally came in and I put the 5.25's in the front doors and the 1 component speaker in the hatch and 86'd the 6x9. Don't have any pictures of that, but I can dig up some pics of the 5.25's that I got if anyone really wants to know. |
Took me a little bit to figure out what this was...
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-c...0/IMAG0264.jpg Quick search on here showed me that it was the IR receiver for keyless entry... in case anyone reading was wondering. I don't have the remote and don't care to, so I moved on. Found another guy at work that drives an XJ... so I provoked him :) https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-J...0/IMAG0272.jpg Flash forward a couple of weeks... came out from work for a break and found a little puddle of green under the Jeep. Yes I freaked out... I assumed the worst. https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V...0/IMAG0320.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-R...0/IMAG0321.jpg Finally tracked the source down to the water pump... it was coming right out of the weap hole ::whew:: Took me quite a few hours, but I got the water pump out and new one back in. Turns out the old one was the original chrysler pump. Lasted for a-hundred-sixty-some-odd-thousand miles... not bad. I had to replace the water pump that was in the 88 camaro that I had after about 87k miles. |
We ended up having to move out of our house because the landlord was a deadbeat and the rent we were providing him wasn't being paid to the mortgage company. Turns out, our landlord was an employee of Taylor, Bean, and Whittaker... had like 3 properties. Ended up forfeiting two of them in his bankruptcy. Jerkwad.
So of course, I used the XJ in the move. It didn't have a hitch, so I picked one up at the JY for 40 bucks. Turns out it was for a Grand Cherokee not a Cherokee... frame rails are the same width, but the ones for the Cherokees have the down supports for the crossbeam on the inboard side of the rails so as to clear the shackle bolts... I remedied this by turning the bolts around so that the bolt heads were inboard and the nuts are outboard. Makes it a bit of a pain to change springs out because you have to drop the hitch - but oh well. I'll change it out one day. I did have a picture of that, but I can't find it. During the move, I strapped a gate to the roof and wound up thinking I had a brilliant idea to make a roof rack out of it... gave a few people on here some good laughs when presented the idea. Wound up laughing at myself about it when I really thought about it... here's some pics https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Z...0/IMAG0322.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Y...0/IMAG0323.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-F...0/IMAG0324.jpg Turns out it functions much better as a gate... go figure :) |
Got a set of near-useless cupholders from quadratec... sent a free sticker along with them.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-l...0/IMAG0326.jpg Tried flexing on the dirt road that leads to my in laws' place... I failed miserably.... heres' the stupid gate on the roof again lol. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-L...0/IMAG0337.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j...0/IMAG0338.jpg Decided to do some wheeling to see if I could do any better... didn't find anything to flex on, but it was a ton of fun. Here's a video that I took - I love laughing at my wife freakin' out on me... it's hilarious. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-u...520628.3gp.gif On the road out, I thought it would be funny to drive at crusing speed through a puddle on the side of the road and cover my wife's side of the jeep with mud.... the puddle had other plans. It swallowed that half of my jeep... D'OH! https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-9...0/IMAG0344.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-v...0/IMAG0345.jpg aaaand the aftermath... not bad for a stocker with 2wd and street tires. https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-C...0/IMAG0346.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-R...0/IMAG0347.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-h...0/IMAG0348.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-F...0/IMAG0349.jpg I was addicted at that point. Wanted to go again. |
A week later, I went out again. It was sloshier this time :)
Sorry the first pic is so small... https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Z..._5775633_a.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-v...it%2520631.jpg I didn't get stuck in this hole... but this ford did. I went through it before he did... picked a better line :) https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-v...it%2520630.jpg But then later on in the trail, we came up to a section that was under a few inches of water, had a pretty soft bottom, and went around a curve. I kept up a pretty good amount of momentum and almost made it out... but 2wd, open diff, and street tires found its limitations. My front wheels were actually on solid ground at this point. That's how close I came. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H..._7123684_n.jpg Got a little bit dirtier this time around. https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-w...0/IMAG0351.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e...0/IMAG0352.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Z...0/IMAG0353.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1...0/IMAG0354.jpg |
Decided I needed a cb and a good place to plug it in at...
My father in law gave me a Cobra 19 LTD Classic and I had a 5' Firestik that someone gave me. So I bought a spring for it and bought a custom fabbed mount that someone on here made and was selling (he's no longer on here though) I also bought a cheapy 3 way multi-tap and USB port and hard-wired it up. Best part was that I did it because I thought the OEM port didn't work. Didn't find out until two years later that it only works with the jeep turned ON... should have known - it's a chrysler product. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-H...0/IMAG0381.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-W...0/IMAG0356.jpg Thing looks kinda goofy being so tall... but it gets out so that's all that matters https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-w...0/IMAG0357.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-T...0/IMAG0358.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-S...0/IMAG0359.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-V...0/IMAG0360.jpg |
Well that's all I have time for right now... I'll post up some more tonight... there's mods coming, I promise.
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Nice! First mod.....ditch that d35 lol. You got quite a project here with 4x4 conversion and all that!
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Thanks!
Yeah trust me... it's on the list :) I'm converting it over to 4wd before I worry about the D35. Won't be putting bigger tires on it until much later on so the D35 will be fine with my 235's for a while. Once I think about lifting it I'm either doing a built 8.25 or 8.8. Whichever one I can get the best deal on 'cause they're both awesome when they're built... and my rig will be fine with either one 'cause I'm most likely not going to wind up seeing anything too hardcore. |
4wd swap FTW
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Heck yes!!! Can't wait to finally get the front axle doin' some work!
So I said there'd be mods coming... I wasn't lying. It's nothing major, but we all know how crappy the OEM headlights and headlight wiring are. It's even worse when you park next to this... low beams https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-n...0/IMAG0363.jpg high beams https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-3...0/IMAG0364.jpg His aren't HID's either... they're similar to E-Codes and he beefed up the wiring with a homebrew wiring harness and relays. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-t...0/IMAG0365.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-o...0/IMAG0366.jpg Same concept as the Putco harness - he just used marine grade wiring and found his own relays. Some more comparison pics https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Y...0/IMAG0367.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N...0/IMAG0371.jpg Then he left and I decided to play around with a 55w halogen hand-held spot/flood that I have that plugs into the cig lighter https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3...0/IMAG0372.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4...0/IMAG0373.jpg So since even my handheld light overpowered my headlights, I went home and immediately started searching for lighting upgrades. In the meantime - here's an easter egg for you... literally. We had an egg hunt during easter and someone hid this cool camo one on my mirror. No one found it and it rode around right there for about 2 weeks until I was talking to someone out near my jeep one night and stopped mid-sentence when I spotted it. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Q...255B1%255D.jpg Gotta love it |
Okay, so like I said, I started researching lighting upgrades. I've always liked HID headlights. First vehicle I ever saw them on was the Lincoln Mark VII in the late 90's. No projectors... just headlight housing with excellent light output.
So I found a set of MSR headlight housings on the cheap on eBay and then found a set of HID's. Unfortunately, I hadn't researched long enough to realize I need the bi-xenon kit... but oh well Here's what I ended up with: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-F...0/IMAG0426.jpg Between the kit and the MSR's I was out a total of 140 bucks. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-o...0/IMAG0427.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-x...0/IMAG0428.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-j...0/IMAG0429.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s...0/IMAG0430.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-c...0/IMAG0431.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1...0/IMAG0432.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1...0/IMAG0433.jpg I did have to modify the ruber gaskets of the MSR housings to be able to fit the HID bulbs... https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Y...0/IMAG0434.jpg Overall result was amazing... I didn't upgrade the wiring, just the housings and the kit https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2...0/IMAG0448.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-K...0/IMAG0449.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-L...0/IMAG0450.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-h...0/IMAG0451.jpg I didn't get any pictures comparing it to my friend's but even he said he was thinking about switching to HID after seeing mine... he even went out and bought a set for his wife's honda. He got the bi-xenon kit though so he actually had hi-beams. I've found that these put out enough light that I don't need high beams I know the question is coming up, so let me go ahead and pre-empt it. No, I don't get flashed all of the time driving down the road. I probably get flashed a few times a year... which isn't any more than how much I've gotten flashed just by driving a taller truck. I love the way these work... I've had them for over 2 years now and surprisingly, they've never given me any problem. I do need to redo the wiring at the battery terminal though. If I had it to do over again though, I would have just upgraded my harness, converted over to the composite housings and gotten a set of H4 halogens... then saved up for a set of Trucklites. Too much controversy involved in the HIDs |
Here's a shot of the front end with them on... and a little gratuitous poser flexing :thumbup1:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-y...0/IMAG0452.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-P...0/IMAG0453.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D...0/IMAG0454.jpg Head on view looks like it's painful, but that's only 'cause the little mulch pile my front end is parked on is angling the jeep right up into my face. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-w...0/IMAG0455.jpg Seeing this picture kinda depresses me a little bit. It's a powerline easement that has a huge backfill pile at the end of it. Was a pretty cool place to go play around, but illegal dumping has plagued the area so badly that it's almost no fun going down it anymore. https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-q...0/IMAG0456.jpg Extreme mulch flexing... any further and I would have rolled it :rofl: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-J...0/IMAG0457.jpg EDIT: They've cleaned up and bulldozed the easement, roped off either end of it and created a large debris berm as well as a trench on the other side of the berm preventing unauthorized entry. They have also began trucking out the backfill... perhaps in a construction project elsewhere. This is what happens when you act like an idiot and throw trash all over the place Tread lightly my friends. |
Heard everyone talking about removing the rear swaybar. Me being a former driver of pickup truck and being used to leaf spring in the rear with no swaybar, I couldn't even fathom why there was a rear swaybar on these... I looked under the jeep and sure enough, there it was. GONE! Didn't even hesitate - didn't make sense to have it.
I wasn't yet brave enough to remove the front one. But I had to test out the flex results: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6...0/IMAG0479.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-X...0/IMAG0480.jpg Stuffed the rear tire... I really like this shot https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Z...0/IMAG0481.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U...0/IMAG0482.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Q...0/IMAG0483.jpg If only I had the front sway disconnects then... I would have had the front left stuffed too... Unfortunately this little asphalt pile isn't there anymore :( https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N...0/IMAG0484.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V...0/IMAG0485.jpg ::END POSER FLEX:: |
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