nbcaffeine

98XJ, a prior owner stripped all the badges, VIN lists it as a SE. Base model, IIRC
I6 4.0L
211k+ miles (PO says engine was rebuilt 90k ago)
~4ish inch skyjacker lift
Live in PA, vehicle originally from FL, only 1 winter up north.

My goals are basically: get it up to date with whatever service it needs, then get it trail ready. I'm trying to do it on a bit of a budget, but there are some needs rather than wants in that dept. Anyway, I have a few questions to get me going. I've searched through CF plenty, found some great stuff, wondering about CF's take on a few things:

For a new owner of an XJ with 211k+ miles, what sorts of maintenance things should I look at doing? I've always sold my old vehicles before they hit 100k miles, unsure as to what really needs doing in a car so long in the tooth.

Flares: They'll eventually be replaced, but I'm planning on keeping the stock flares for a bit. The problem is that they're faded quite a bit. Any suggestions on getting them back to a more black color? Think budget here, I'll be replacing them within a year probably. I recall seeing something, perhaps dye related, on a forum at some point.

PO busted the hood release, thus the wire sticking out the front in the pic above, have to pull that to release. This an easy pick and pull from a Junkyard? Dunno if this is common or not.

After cleaning up the old dog smell and dog hair and making sure it's up to spec on maintenance, I'll be working to get it trail ready and run with my wife's 09JK. At that point, Quick Discos and skids (edit: and rock rails) will be obtained. Haven't thought much beyond that.

TL;DR: new owner of high mileage XJ. Where do I start getting it ready to go another 100k+?

Morat

There's nothing magic really. I'd change -all- the fluids including a good flush of the cooling system.
Check the UJs, they'll probably need replacing too.
Then make sure your oil pressure is good, temp stays in the middle and fix stuff as it crops up.
How is she for rust?

nbcaffeine

Thanks. Since this is my first one, was wondering about any common gotchas, at least maintenance wise.

Ended up looking up the hood latch and cable, Autozone wanted $47, Amazon for under $33. Saw someplace that a JY pull ran $25ish, might as well get a new one.

One of the main reasons I got this one was that it had been in the south (US) and not abused in our northern super salt winters. Only some rust along the top (above that little channel above the doors). So, that's definitely a plus.

Really looking forward to getting this up and running and having some fun with it

andrewmp6

Try 1aauto.com they are a vendor on here see if you can get a discount.As long as the jeep has been taken care of they will run forever with good maintenance.On the fender flares if they are plastic get a bottle of pre wow and a bottle of black wow it will turn them back black.The pre wow is a cleaner that removes wax and grease so the black wow will stick good.