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Newbies needing your experienced help!!!

09moabxj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Scottsdale, AZ
What are some things that you wish you would have done the first time relating to building your XJ's? Us newbies that are just now getting into all this are many years behind the rest of you as far as experience and XJ knowlege. Things like brand of lift, lift height, tire size, axles, locker type, exterior and interior mods, engine mods...well pretty much everything from bumper to bumper. Thanks in advance to all that can help out.
 
Figure out what you want to do with the rig up front. Go to there, and ride with some others. See what they have and how it works. If you notice no one is running that Rusty's lift you have been eyeing - ask why. They are the ones doing what you want to do, so their advice is probably worth something.

When in doubt, gear deep. The 4.0 likes to spin fast more than it likes to work hard. 4.10's may seem like a good idea now, but really you'll find 4.56's run those 32's a lot better.

You cannot install enough cooling.. trans, power steering..

5 inches of lift and 33's will take you almost anywhere a full body rig can go, and at half the price of 6.5" and 35's. Forget that 8 inch lift no matter how fun it looks.
 
theNAST1EST said:
...you get what you pay for...


i'm pretty sure i don't just speak for myself when i say i've learned from experience

good luck
Not all the time! SkyCrapper, Fabcrap, etc.
 
The answer to your question depends alot on you. Where you wheel, how you drive, if this rig is also a DD, etc.......

Specific questions will get you better answers----and don't forget to search. Alot of useful information is here, if you just take the time to find and read it.
 
I recomend buying a 220V welder and learning how to use it. Then with some reseach you will be able to build your own parts. Start with bumpers and rockrails. After building those your welder should have paid for itself. Once you are to this point reinforce your frame rails. Now that you have that experence find a HPD44 and build it for the front and swap a 9" or whatever you prefer inthe back. You can build all of your own links and steering parts. Since you will probably decide on a radius arm set-up or a 3 link you can build your own crossmembers and skid plates. About 5.5" of lift works good with 35's after you cut the fenders. Since by this point you have saved a bunch of cash building your own parts spend some money on Bilstein shocks and a good set of rear springs. You can build your own boomerang shackles for about a 1.5" lift so some 4"-4.5" springs will work great and flex better then higher lift ones. You could also buy a tube bender or a prefab rollcage and add this also.

By the time you are done you will have pride in what you have created and saved cash by doing it yourself. You will have learned all the ins and out of your rig, gained a lot of experence and knowledge.

This way you aren't spending money on parts you might replace later and have a nicer rig then if you just bolted things on.

That just my opinion. You may not have a place to work on it or whatever. If this is the case spend your money wisely and on quaility parts.

Remember search is your friend and take your time deciding what you want to do so you don't have to upgrade later.
 
TNT said:
I recomend buying a 220V welder and learning how to use it. Then with some reseach you will be able to build your own parts. Start with bumpers and rockrails. After building those your welder should have paid for itself. Once you are to this point reinforce your frame rails. Now that you have that experence find a HPD44 and build it for the front and swap a 9" or whatever you prefer inthe back. You can build all of your own links and steering parts. Since you will probably decide on a radius arm set-up or a 3 link you can build your own crossmembers and skid plates. About 5.5" of lift works good with 35's after you cut the fenders. Since by this point you have saved a bunch of cash building your own parts spend some money on Bilstein shocks and a good set of rear springs. You can build your own boomerang shackles for about a 1.5" lift so some 4"-4.5" springs will work great and flex better then higher lift ones. You could also buy a tube bender or a prefab rollcage and add this also.

By the time you are done you will have pride in what you have created and saved cash by doing it yourself. You will have learned all the ins and out of your rig, gained a lot of experence and knowledge.

This way you aren't spending money on parts you might replace later and have a nicer rig then if you just bolted things on.

That just my opinion. You may not have a place to work on it or whatever. If this is the case spend your money wisely and on quaility parts.

Remember search is your friend and take your time deciding what you want to do so you don't have to upgrade later.
thats very very good advice and true ive been pricing rock rails and bumpers never really occurred to me to compare the price of that vs the price of a welder.
 
Question...search...read

Repeat.

There's a lot of information out there and not just on NAXJA. Some of the members and forum users here have excellent websites.

Be patient

As Cal said, figure out what you NEED from your rig, DD, rock crawler, exploration, fishing/camping/hunting get away vehicle. They have many things in common but definately some individual characteristics also.

As TnT said spend your money wisely and on quality parts. Tha comes with knowing what you want from your rig.
 
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