K_Dub

It's about time that I admit it. Of all the cars I've owned through the years, none of them were Jeeps. I drove them like they were Jeeps, I told myself I could do Jeep things with them, but at the end of the day they were not actually Jeeps. That has recently changed...

My buddy moved out of state a month ago and left behind his 1995 2 door XJ with a 2.5L, AX-5, NP231, and 4.10 gears. He warned me that the steering "gets wonky over bumps", and on my second trip out I got to feel death wobble for myself. It's been mostly parked since then while I figure out what I have and diagnose what I need. He was told it had a 3" lift, but no record of installation. It's got Rancho 5000 shocks, and un-named red springs up front and a normal looking leaf pack out back (not AAL or shackle extensions but sits level). There is a trackbar relocation bracket, but it looks like it only moved the mount a half an inch or so (similar position to the re-drilled ones I've seen here). I took a bunch of measurements, and compared them to info I found here and elsewhere in my research. It's 21" from hub to fender flare, so I'm thinking more than 3" lift. The axle sits a good 2" toward the driver's side. The sway bar connected to a pair of completely destroyed disconnects. The passenger side end link was severely bent and the disconnect pin was seized in place. The axle end mounting bracket and bolt were also bent to a nasty angle.

I've removed the end links, and zip tied the sway bar up and out of the way. Straightened out the mounting bracket with a jack and come-along. I ordered new adjustable end links and an adjustable track bar so hopefully that'll get things pointed in the right direction this weekend. It also needed a new muffler welded in prior to smog check so I could get it registered, but I had a shop do that for me. Next up is the steering gear which is leaking aggressively, likely due to repeated death wobbles, so I'm weighing my options for upgrading the part plus new bracing. I want to get it truly road worthy by the beginning of December. I haven't really gotten much seat time yet, and none on the trails, so my goal is a nice long weekend trip Dec 7-10th to see what she'll do.

Long term, I'd like to make this my daily driver. I got it with the intention that I sell my Nissan Juke (don't laugh, that thing's a lot of fun). I need to stop pouring money into the bank, and start pouring that money into Jeep parts. Right now, I have the worst of both worlds as I continue to commute in my financed car while the parts list for the Jeep stacks up. That can't go on forever, so I'd better get this thing working fast.

Eventually, it'll need new front seats, a new stereo (bluetooth please), working HVAC system and most importantly it needs to stop trying to kill me when I hit a bump. I'm starting from scratch on this with a lot of unknown history, so this forum has been a great resource for me to learn from. I'm looking forward to posting my progress, and plenty of pictures as I go along.

cruiser54

welcome. sounds like you have a great plan.