2 door lo-cog build

finally got my hands on a 1996 2 door xj. ive been wanting to build a low center of gravity build for awhile and now have the chance. picked it up as a lien sale for 1,200. mainly bought it because it had some brand new 33' gt radial(p.b.rocker clone) tires and rims on it that went onto my zj. it already has sliders, and a trim job to fit the 33's on the stock suspension. will be used mainly for camping trips and snow trips.

specs:
4.0 ho
200,000miles.
aw4/231/8.25 29sp.
has aftermarket performance header
missing door wing window and rear hatch glass. (someone stole stereo)
paint in bad shape.
idiot light dash that was also broken during break-in.
no carpet with drain holes made.
seats stained prettty bad.
leaking tranny cooler lines.
16gauge front bumper....going to go soon.
had a misfire and t.v. cable was misadjusted.
crappyass air intake and missing front pcv line of of vavle cover.

did coolant flush/fill, wires,cap/rotor, plugs @.035, oil change, welded on a 24' glasspack, fresh brake fluid. ran a snap-on solus to check everything. all sensors/inputs/outputs checked out ok. jeep now runs great and has more power than expected.

plan:
suspension is staying at stock height with 32s on 15x10s.
ruffstuff diff covers.
rear aussie locker.
zj steering.
lca skids. belly pan.
bumpstops and longer shocks.
remove rear seats to make rear sleeping quarters with storage on either side.
lowcog roof rack.
bumpers tied into sliders.
1999 intake manifold swap/bored tb.
cowl intake mod

how i bought it:



how it sits now.






and the zj.

Are you sure that it has a 29 spline rear end? 96 was the crossover year on the shafts. My 96 had 27 splines.

Other than that it looks great! You'll love the gt radial tires.. I have a few runs on mine and i love them!

Jeep450r said:

Are you sure that it has a 29 spline rear end? 96 was the crossover year on the shafts. My 96 had 27 splines.

Other than that it looks great! You'll love the gt radial tires.. I have a few runs on mine and i love them!

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hmm, im not sure. i was just going off the sticky that said 96 had 29 spline. do you know if there is a way to tell by looking at the outside of the diff?

i havent had a chance to 4wheel with the gt-radials but on the street they are decent and not loud at all.

moparmansfield said:

hmm, im not sure. i was just going off the sticky that said 96 had 29 spline. do you know if there is a way to tell by looking at the outside of the diff?

i havent had a chance to 4wheel with the gt-radials but on the street they are decent and not loud at all.

Click to expand...

I think they swapped to 29 spline half way through 96. Mine is a 96 but was manufactured in 11/95 and has 27 spline.

The 96 I had was 27 also. To my knowledge the only way to tell is pull a shaft.

gotta pull a shaft.

i had a late 96 which was a 29 spline

ktm racer 419 said:

gotta pull a shaft.

i had a late 96 which was a 29 spline

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do you know the date of manufacture? i just checked mine, 10/96.

moparmansfield said:

do you know the date of manufacture? i just checked mine, 10/96.

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SUPPOSEDLY you would have a 29-spline then.

To be 100% sure, I would pop the cover.

MoparManiac said:

SUPPOSEDLY you would have a 29-spline then.

To be 100% sure, I would pop the cover.

Click to expand...

yeah i most likely will. ill just put the ruffstuff cover on first so i can open it up.

moparmansfield said:

do you know the date of manufacture? i just checked mine, 10/96.

Click to expand...

mine was a september 96 i think. i might still have my drivers door from it so i could check lol.

got the tranny lines fixed last night and cleaned up all the interior wiring. driving with no rear glass sucks, all the exhaust fumes get sucked into the cab, so that is priority number 1 right now. the jeep has an aftermarket coolant temp gauge that is "wired" to a spot on the thermostat housing. it isnt the coolant temp sensor,the big one, but this little sensor looking thing that bolts in from the front...the gauge doesnt work.
*can i splice into either the rear or front coolant temp sensor wiring to get a signal for the gauge? i do have the idiot light gauge cluster..

also it sounds like my ac compressor has a bad bearing so i will be taking out the ac since i wont be using it much anyways.

confirmed my rear axle is a 29 spline 8.25. pulled a shaft.

while i had the diff open, my welder took ahold of my hands and made me weld the spider gears. so i took it wheeling this weekend. busted a bead but thats all. replaced the tps, which fixed all my driveability and idle issues. this thing is turning out quite nice. paint still needs to be finished.

plans have changed a bit. this is going to be my first full width swap rig. ive been wanting to do the swap for awhile now. my plan is to run chevy axles, 14bolt rear(very cheap in my area), d44/d60 front passenger drop, either flip the 231 or find a d300 to swap in. i plan on picking up the 14b in a couple weeks and the front next month. its about time i actually use my welder.

can someone learn me about the 231 flip or d300 swap? ive searched and read a bit but havent really gotten a clear idea on what im supposed to do.

moparmansfield said:

Click to expand...

THOSE SUNGLASSES ARE HUGE!

moparmansfield said:

plans have changed a bit. this is going to be my first full width swap rig. ive been wanting to do the swap for awhile now. my plan is to run chevy axles, 14bolt rear(very cheap in my area), d44/d60 front passenger drop, either flip the 231 or find a d300 to swap in. i plan on picking up the 14b in a couple weeks and the front next month. its about time i actually use my welder.

can someone learn me about the 231 flip or d300 swap? ive searched and read a bit but havent really gotten a clear idea on what im supposed to do.

Click to expand...

am i reading this right?

14 bolts are cheap everywhere

but you will hate it on 33s under your unibody

lil' big and heavy for what ya seem to be wanting to do

ktm racer 419 said:

am i reading this right?

14 bolts are cheap everywhere

but you will hate it on 33s under your unibody

lil' big and heavy for what ya seem to be wanting to do

Click to expand...

the plan isnt solid... i mainly just want to keep this thing low. now that i think about it..33s are a little small for what i want to do. maybe 35-38s. i want this to be WIDE, to the point where the tire is pretty much outside the body line. i have a good source for metal and have read almost every build thread on here so i have a good idea on what to do to the unibody. and i can get a 14bolt with 4.10s/4.56s for $150..thats not cheap?

and like i said, plans have changed. i did buy this with the intention of it being a mild wheeler that i could drive long distances...but im going to lower my zj down and make it more street friendly so i can build the xj.

moparmansfield said:

the plan isnt solid... i mainly just want to keep this thing low. now that i think about it..33s are a little small for what i want to do. maybe 35-38s. i want this to be WIDE, to the point where the tire is pretty much outside the body line. i have a good source for metal and have read almost every build thread on here so i have a good idea on what to do to the unibody. and i can get a 14bolt with 4.10s/4.56s for $150..thats not cheap?

Click to expand...

14 bolts are cheap because theres 146 million of them and they seldom break.

with that said if i find exactly the one i want (c&c and 4.56) id be willing to shell out a bit more for it

i love my driveway. ha.. got some 4.56s for the green jeep, just waiting on a locker to do install.



finally got to work on the xj. put on an 80's xj tranny line+cooler(had to rebend line), new wing window, r.e. trac bar, v8 zj coils plus a 2"teraflex spacer. found my upper c.a. bushings are shot and the lowers arnt far behind them, probably causing the wobble im having. bought a instrument cluster with gauges but for the wrong year(mech speedo), so its going up for sale .

ktm racer 419 said:

THOSE SUNGLASSES ARE HUGE!

Click to expand...

:laugh2:

Some sweet looking rigs man!