Hi folks,

Finally found myself a good XJ. 1998 SE 4dr, 73k miles, auto, very clean, aside from the screw holes where whoever last owned it mounted their CB. Main use is DD (though I walk to work every day, so I guess more like a semi-daily driver... SDD?), access to mountains for climbing/skiing.

Working on a list of intended mods... right now figuring roof rack, tow package, skid plates, rocker guards, mod the front bumper and put a winch up front, onboard air, go to 235s or 245s when the tires wear out. Want to keep it on the highway friendly side, but some enhanced off road capability would be nice to the extent that it doesn't wreck my gas mileage.

I'm thrilled to have my XJ!

Andy

 

If it were mine, the top of the list would be a roof rack. I just don't think they look right without one. Not just an aftermarket one, even a stock one makes it look SO much better.

 

nice...
i'd start with performance mods first...
injectors,
99+ intake manifold,
63mm tb,
apn header,
high flow cat,
better muffler,
and switching to aluminum wheels will save you a little weight...
do all of these and your gas mileage is gonna be comparable to a car...

 

looks great andybrnr!. Clean, solid and rust free. No signs of any major on or off road bumps. Hope it gives you years of fun

 

Nice! Looks like a totally virgin Jeep, nice when you can find them like that with such low mileage.

 

nice jeep! reminds me of what mine looked like for the first 8 days after I got it and before my lift came in.

 

Looks nice and clean, and good find with the low miles, as those are getting harder to find!
Also nice to see it looks to have factory front and rear tow hooks.
I agree with doing the factory style roof rails, I think those and factory style window tint, as well as the stock sport, classic, or limited aluminum wheels give it great look without costing too much!

 

Looks like some factory tow hooks too!

 

Nice looking rig. For me I would do the body armor first but that's just me.

 

Good suggestions... if I do as much of the install myself as is reasonable (no access to a welder at the moment, so exhaust stuff would likely need to be shop), what's a reasonable cost to complete? Also, suggested parts sources would be nice.

As for the roofrack, how difficult is it to mount a factory-style rack? Is it simple enough to just go pull one from a junk yard and bolt it on, or is it more complicated than that... looking at the roof, it doesn't appear that there are dedicated mounting points if it didn't come stock.

 

your cost will be only marginally less buying an oem roofrack. look into the ones that mount on the roof seam. they look quite nice, and you can find a used one for a decent price. if you still wanna go stock, yeah, you can just take one off at the junkyard. do you have the mounting holes on your roof?
the exhaust should go on with clamps just fine... you should be able to do without a welder... get some fittings and get creative..
all other mods are quite inexpensive and will require some junkyard hunting... just remember to grab a few bottles of water, because you're gonna be dehydrated by the time that you're done... lol...