Spokes Build

Whats up guys, ive been a member on here for a while, just didnt really post much. So i figured now that im posting and asking and helping with threads ill make a build so you guys can see what im doing to my jeep and what i wanna try and do haha anyways...

this is my 2nd XJ build, had a 01 60th an, sold it and got 6800 for it


but my red one started out as a stock XJ bought it back in Oct 2011 with 150k miles, 4.0, aw4, 30/8.25. solid floors and minor surface rust... oh and ugly ass ford wheels, even got it a little dirty the first weekend lol



so i ordered an RC 4.5 xflex lift, full packs, upper and lower arms. PORC sye, ZJ DS in the rear, all the other usual stuff


some time passed got some money for tires and wheels, ruggid ridge d windows, 15x8 with 33x12.5 km2s. also when i ordered the lift i got 4.56 gears, but i havent put them in yet cause i need a HP30 and i have a LP right now.

broke the tires in, also ripped my rear flares off lol




ever since ive gotten the RC lift its been nothing but problems, the TB sucked so i replaced it with an IRO double sheer which is 1000x better. and as of now the entire RC lift is shot, every bushing in it is toasted.

did some BDS 4* shims to help pinion angle

culd and folded the rear

threw my KCdaylighters on the roof, the light bar is a factory crossbar just drilled out.

its cleans up nice

all the crap i carry with me lol tools, straps, parts, etc, the sub in the pic i blew up so i now have a Eclipse 12" max rated for 40,000W (yeah it bumps) lol

plastidipped the cut fenders.

more wheeling!

poser (instagram @ jordan250r)

wheelin at RC

and just this past weekend did a $14 cowl snorkle to prepare for hurricane Sandy. used 3" dryer vent hose

As for plans for the jeep i need to replace all the bushings in my CAs so im going to do that and than hopefully the front end will be tight again. im still undecided on what steering set up i wanna do.

Im thinking of doing Ruffstuff frame stiffeners and running ballistic mounts will do a 3 link on the passenger side using the ballistic mount with 0 degree. not sure what i wanna do for joints and tubing. (give me some ideas!)

also going to swap in a HP30 hopefully within a few months and throw my 4.56s in there too.... or i have a friend who said he would sell me a 44/9" combo out of a 79 F150. steering brakes, everything for $350, just need to fab up mounts to throw em under the jeep. im still undecided if i wanna do that or not cause of the width.

also i have a 91 2dr ax15 XJ that i drive too, its rocking 215s and is going to stay that way for a while lol


so now ya know a little bit about me and my jeep lol :wave1:

feel free to give me ideas and advice!

79 Dana 44 will be one peice cast mount... I would skip on those and a Dana 44 will have the same size u joint as your dana 30 FYI..

Joints on that lift are known to be junk. upgrade them to something better.
i say heims cuz they take a beating.and i don't care about it being too rough of a ride.
passenger side is the way to go. might as well do an OAB while you're in there welding.
looks.good when its not.covered in mud.

steering look at serious offroad if you want tre.
if you want heims check out the kit ruffled stuff sells.

I would recomend heims better then ruffstuffs. I have about 300 miles on mine that I used for my 4 link front end and one of the 7/8th and 2 1.25 joints are already worn out

Oh and I would secure the crap in the back better, don't want your socket set knocking your head off...

whitexj98 said:

79 Dana 44 will be one peice cast mount... I would skip on those and a Dana 44 will have the same size u joint as your dana 30 FYI..

Click to expand...

good to know? other thoughts on axles? the guy can get me almost any axle? whats a good jeep-ish width axle lol

in4aride said:

Joints on that lift are known to be junk. upgrade them to something better.
i say heims cuz they take a beating.and i don't care about it being too rough of a ride.
passenger side is the way to go. might as well do an OAB while you're in there welding.
looks.good when its not.covered in mud.

steering look at serious offroad if you want tre.
if you want heims check out the kit ruffled stuff sells.

Click to expand...

yeah i regret buying it. im going to replace the leaf bushings with OEM Moog rubber bushings. Whats OAB?

whitexj98 said:

Oh and I would secure the crap in the back better, don't want your socket set knocking your head off...

Click to expand...

in that pic i didnt have anything bunggied down. everything is bunggied down usually.

couple pics from the past weekend.



One hand washes the other, well one jeep washes the other lol

anyone ever make a rear tire carrier using the hitch mounts?

maybe cut the bumper and make my own Detour style?

What's up spokes - just saw your build thread on here om and recognized it from JF.
I've seen a couple rear tire carriers built off the hitch and the problem I see with them is too much movement at the hitch attatchment point. That can wreak havoc on the rear glass.

I think hitch style would suck... If you going to build one do it right and build a complete bumper/ tire carrier. It's really not that hard if you have acess to welding/ basic fab eqipment...

If you organized the rear better I'm sure you could squeeze the spare in the back you just have to figureout how you want to secure it.

JeepN4kc said:

What's up spokes - just saw your build thread on here om and recognized it from JF.
I've seen a couple rear tire carriers built off the hitch and the problem I see with them is too much movement at the hitch attatchment point. That can wreak havoc on the rear glass.

Click to expand...

yeah i dont like the ones that go in the actual reciever.

whitexj98 said:

I think hitch style would suck... If you going to build one do it right and build a complete bumper/ tire carrier. It's really not that hard if you have acess to welding/ basic fab eqipment...

Click to expand...

trying to get a welder come spring time so i may just do that!

clean4drxj said:

If you organized the rear better I'm sure you could squeeze the spare in the back you just have to figureout how you want to secure it.

Click to expand...

yeah im going to do that pretty soon, since the hurricane hit us my RC joints didnt come in so i cant drive it yet :hang:

and the exhaust fell of my 91 when i hit a puddle so i kinda fixed that but now it has a bad leak and i dont have the coin to fix it lol :hang:

time2getdirty said:

I would recomend heims better then ruffstuffs. I have about 300 miles on mine that I used for my 4 link front end and one of the 7/8th and 2 1.25 joints are already worn out

Click to expand...

Im unhappy with my ruffstuff heims as well. Im switching over to JJs, MUCH quiter on the street. In my jeep every little crack, bump, twig i run over produces and audible clunk, and you feel it in the floor boards....very annoying.

Do JJs and dont look back

As far as axles go, swap in a HP30, and gear your axles. F/R axle swaps cost a lot more than you think they will (ask me how i know lol) Personally i would never build a front d44 from the junkyard.

The main reason i did the waggy 44s in my jeep is because i found them geared/spooled on CL for $800. I figured to regear my old hp30 and 8.8 it would cost more than that, and i wanted a new suspension set up as well. IRO long arms blew monkey dick.


Not trying to discourage you, rather inform you.

twodoorXJ said:

Im unhappy with my ruffstuff heims as well. Im switching over to JJs, MUCH quiter on the street. In my jeep every little crack, bump, twig i run over produces and audible clunk, and you feel it in the floor boards....very annoying.

Do JJs and dont look back

As far as axles go, swap in a HP30, and gear your axles. F/R axle swaps cost a lot more than you think they will (ask me how i know lol) Personally i would never build a front d44 from the junkyard.

The main reason i did the waggy 44s in my jeep is because i found them geared/spooled on CL for $800. I figured to regear my old hp30 and 8.8 it would cost more than that, and i wanted a new suspension set up as well. IRO long arms blew monkey dick.


Not trying to discourage you, rather inform you.

Click to expand...

yeah i think im just going to build a HP30 and my 8.25 since i already have 4.56 gears sitting in my room for them haha the currie JJ seem pretty good. got a lot more research to do.

as for HP30 im going to try and get one out of a 96-99 since they have the bigger u-joints. maybe ill gear it, truss it and run it like that for a while, same with the 8.25. :gee:

replaced upper and lower johnny joints in my arms, and adjusted them to 16.5 on bottom and 15 up top. jeep is so much better now, last time it was in the shop i guess they adjusted the arms unevenly cause they were about 1/2 off TRE are tight, lower ball joints should be replaced pretty soon but im going to swap in a HP30 so im not going to bother


but now with the arms at correct length the front DS pinion angle is bad and it vibes pretty good, so for now i just pulled the front DS


any ideas on how to fix without screwing with arms?

Without messing with the arms??? cut and rotate the c's so pinion angle is good.
find the middle ground of opinion.angle and.master by adjusting.uppers only

in4aride said:

Without messing with the arms??? cut and rotate the c's so pinion angle is good.
find the middle ground of opinion.angle and.master by adjusting.uppers only

Click to expand...

cant really do any fab work right now. it sucks cause the jeep is 100% better with the 16.5 and 15 as apposed to 15.5/15. im gonna go a HP30 soon so i may just cruise in 2wd til i get it swapped.

I was being facetious. adjust the upper arms.