My XJ

[UpstateXJ]

Well, here it is! Have some work to do but I am ready to build another rig. My winch and tires should hopefully be here tomorrow.

Enjoy!





This was my old rig that I sold and put some of the money towards my new project.

[Mudderoy]

Well you have a good base to work with. Are your plans as radical for it?

[bluedragon436]

That is a nice rig you got there, and the old one was def. a nice looking build up!! Are you planning on running an exo-skeleton on your XJ??

[UpstateXJ]

No, not planning to go too radical with this one...at least appearing. I am thinking about putting Rubicon axles under it or a D44/9" combo with air or electric lockers, really leaning towards a Clayton long arm kit with rear coil conversion as well. I couldn't really drive the old rig on the road, I want to be able to hit the pavement as well as the trails with this one.

No exo for this one. Plans are to do an interior cage though. I did keep my Warn 12000 winch off the old rig...but I don't think that it is going to fit the bumper lol. I have a Smittybilt winch and 34" swamper tsl's that will hopefully be here tomorrow.

[bluedragon436]

Nice deal... def sounds like some sweet plans for the build up.. I wish I had the knowledge or the shops that would be able to do an internal cage as well as a few other things I would like to have built for my XJ... One big reason I've thought of trying to move back to SC as soon as I can... I would think that doing a 44/9 axle swap would be the cheaper of the options you listed, as they are pretty easy to find on CL or even Ebay

[UpstateXJ]

Yeah, just really time consuming fabbing all the brackets to the 44/9 to work with the coil suspension etc. Would almost be easier to run coilovers and homebrew links with the axle swap.

I am a little lucky as far as the shop goes...I rent a bay at a local shop and they guys there have been building and racing cars for years. Trying to get them bit by the offroad bug

[bluedragon436]

Never hurts to have the help and knowledge to achieve the build up you are wanting though... maybe they'll pick up the bug one day, but for now you can enjoy tapping their experience and knowledge base

[cherokeemudslinger]

Very much agree nice and a big jump on moddin i would check all front end bolts and nuts make sure eveything is snug as a bug. Mine was on a 3inch lift when i bought her and man almost everything waa loose under the front . But now im runnin 41/2 i installed

[UpstateXJ]

Yeah, I pulled the front bumper off today to take to work with me and several of the bolts were loose. I plan to "nut and bolt" it from front to back. I did a visual inspection when I did all the fluids in it earlier today. Surprisingly there wasn't too much out of whack. Can tell that it has been wheeled but not abused too much. And could really tell that it had seen some water crossings and mud. The lube in the axles was kinda chocolatey lol

[cherokeemudslinger]

Thats a good idea to check from front to back i do mine with every oil change i do on mine just like part of the oil day project and re lube all the fittings every other oil change

[bigjim350]

Ehh the xj drivetrain is pretty tough. I flooded mine out twice and didnt change any of the fluids for almost 2yrs. ALL fluids had water in them when i finally did change them....even brake fluid, still running strong though.

[cherokeemudslinger]

Yeah they are pretty tough . I do alot of creek riding and worry alot about the greese so basically i just like flushing out some of the milky stuff lol

[UpstateXJ]

Hah, yeah, there are a few creek crossings that I run across. Hoping to figure out what axles I am going to be running shortly that way I can plan on the other upgrades around it. I have a buddy that has a set of one tons that he wants me to run...I just don't know if I want to lose the ground clearance or run that big of a tire to be good.

[bluedragon436]

Shoot I get a chance to get the hook up on some 1 tons, I'd take the small bit of ground clearance lost... then again I'd go up to a larger tire size anyways if I had the axles that could very easily handle the larger tires...

[UpstateXJ]

Well, I took the XJ out this weekend and am glad that I brought it on the trailer. Wheeled it for about an hour and then sheared the steering box off. It actuall broke the bolts and the bracket on the backside of the box.

As for the tons. I think that I may end up getting them. Will look at narrowing them up a bit so they don't sit way outside the fenders. I also have a set of H1 military wheels that would bolt up to them.

Just getting back to the shop...

How she sits on the trailer.