regear install was $400? or ring and pinion was $400 and you installed it yourself?

to the OP - ways to save on this list is to buy more junk yard and used parts
such as grand cherokee zj steering and durango steering box
used wheels and tires like I said before
cut your own driveshaft from the junk yard for $70
build your own bumpers or have a buddy do it or keep the stock ones and buy rock sliders instead

the 2 things I wouldnt skimp on is lift-so you rarely have to replace parts. RE is what I'm looking at as well
and rock sliders. if you see any rocks at all, you'll want some.

yarom you sure bought some premium parts. any pictures of it? sounds like a sick build

 

this may be a sore subject for some lol


ive got a little over 5k in my jeep

 

Same thing here. I wanted to buy a nice xj that is mildly lifted to use as an offroader and still have a clean dd. So I spent more than I should on a very clean xj with nice bumpers, 3.5in lift and 33s........ which two months later was bent and bruised everywhere, I baught a bunch of armor for it, found out quickly I needed rock sliders, so I baught some, needed a hitch so I baught a bumper with a hitch, not enough flex so baught more parts. And on and on and on. And I still have no lockers or gears. Oh yeah, and in the midst of this I ended up buying my old 87 Mercedes back from my friend to use as a daily while the Jeep is under the knife . So yeah, fiscaly, it was not a good move. I should have just baught a trail ready crawler that barely drives down the street. But its ok, too late to think about selling as its way too beat up now. I will just lock and gear it on top of all that I did to it already.

 

I thought they made the XJ 4x4 capable on stock???

 

Well, this round I planned on spending quite a bit of $ to builid my rig correctly.... I picked up my 01 XJ for $5,000 (85,000 miles) and planned on spending an additional $5,000 on goodies. Goodies = 4.5' Tomken lift, 1.75" Teraflex budget boost (should have gone with the 6.5" R.E., oh well), 5 - 15x8 alum. black rims, 5 - 33x10.5 BFG AT, 9000 lb winch, front winch bumper, rear tomken bumper w/ tire carrier, break lines, CB, high-lift jack...
since then I have picked up:
SYE & drive shaft $500.00 +/-
Bushwacker Flat Fender Flares $ 600.00 +/-
Still need:
Cry. 8.25 rear axle $100.00
High pinion D30 $150.00 +/-
Rebuild kit for above axles $ 100.00 +/-
Regear front & rear $400.00
Lockers, won't even get into that...........
Total bill not including lockers, compressers, etc.. $ $12,000 +/-. I did buy eveything new, didn't want to deal with worn out parts....

- - - - - Ho Ya, my wife knows about the $5,000 for the jeep, BUT..... dosn't have a clue as the the total price for goodies...... lets keep it that way... kinda like Vegas, "what happens here.... stays here!

 

Ya, like every Corporation, they pinched pennies when they could... Some of the XJ's are set up right from the factory, but not all. Motors (straight 6's ROCK), drivetrane is good, axles are the big area they skimped on. D35 STINK but some have the Cry. 8.25 that is really good and even better is the D44 (not too comon). Me, I have Anti lock breaks & the D35 in mine