A salute to 10 years with the XJ...

macgyvr · Jan 2, 2010

December 21st, 1999 after a year and a half of looking for a Jeep to go wheelin with, I finally settled on a 1995 Jeep Cherokee SE 4x4 plain jane with a/c, a 4.0, and an automatic.

I took a pic of it the day that I bought it, but I haven't been able to locate them. I do have some pics of it stock tho. 10 days after I purchased it, I took it wheelin on Y2k...at the badlands. I'll add comments of the pics that I remember.

some peps are on another forum that i also posted this on, so it might be a repeat, but i know there are several here that haven't seen it.

mac 'a decade with the same wheels' gyvr

when she was just a little stocker

maiden voyage to the badlands

two weeks after the first trip and still with a temp tag in the window...added 3in rough country $100 lift from JC Whitney...and brand new 31in general grabber mud tires

tow hooks soon followed

macgyvr · Jan 2, 2010

a couple of months after buying the old XJ I was at the badlands the first winterfest weekend in 2000...i got water in it...managed to change the oil and get it back to my apartment in muncie. a couple of days after that, i attempted to drive it to my parents house...i blew the motor up at 70mph on the interstate.

in what would be the first of many times that the bronco towed the jeep, it towed me home...on a uhaul trailer

back wheelin two weeks after the motor blew up...a snorkle was added at some point as well as 33s...and a tire carrier the following pics may not be in the exact correct order

mac 'we were wheelin once a month at the badlands in those days' gyvr

macgyvr · Jan 2, 2010

in April 2001, a group of us decided to take a trip to Livingston, KY...the old XJ ended up on her lid...the insurance company totalled it, nearly paid it off, my dad and i put it back together and got a windshield back in it.

there was some wheelin in livingston

oh yeah, the tire carrier...had a hub mounted on it...that became a game...this was the night before the rollover

the next morning...

a skinny rosco

rosco drove the jeep an hour north to lexington where ryder came through this time with a truck and trailer to tow her home.

limp snorkel

if you have never seen it the rollover video is here:
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mac 'covered a little over a year' gyvr

macgyvr · Jan 2, 2010

so you just rolled your only vehicle...what do you do? well, you fix it, cause its your only vehicle...

my dad and i put in about 100 man hours and about 300 bucks...put the windshield in it that's still in it today...and put her back on the road.

mac 'popcan...wrinkled, but not destroyed' gyvr

macgyvr · Jan 2, 2010

got her back on the road to go to tellico with NAXJA

in July of 2001...not the best way to tow, but it worked

early 2002, i decided that i was going to go with a four link in the rear...not worried about a 4 link calculator or anti squat, we built it...and did a radius arm set up in the front. that was the beginning of the plating the uniframe.

mac 'coiled up' gyvr

macgyvr · Jan 2, 2010

even back then there were thoughts of different setups and body mods...

welded up the rear d44 too

snorkel came off with the rollover...and she flexed like mad with rear coils

ran into a police XJ that Fort Wayne used to have...

this was summer bash in 2000...yes its a little out of order, but always looking for a better way to tow...this wasn't one of them

bronco did more towing duties...even towed to branson, MO in 2002 for camp jeep

finally stepped it up a bit and bought something to tow with and retired the bronco from towing duties

somewhere along the line i bought some 38 inch tsls...still running the d30 and d44

built the a-b pillar of the cage prior to going to moab in 2003

mac 'we're getting there' gyvr

macgyvr · Jan 2, 2010

went to moab in august of 2003...those trucks in the background...they were prototype dodge power wagons...dodge engineers...and they beat the snot out of those trucks

after moab, it was time to swap to d60 front, eaton rear, and cut the back off
got some axles from a mud truck in MI

tow rig got upgraded again

cut the back off at hotdog friday in jan or feb 2003...

mac 'reassembly' gyvr

macgyvr · Jan 2, 2010

rear done and axles installed

then did the front

the front "frame" build can be seen here...as well as the coilovers...
NAXJA

front "frame" build

upgraded the tow rig again in 2007...went to moab in 2008...lots of that stuff can be found on in moab 2008 threads

in TREC racing form...

35s in the pic for racing but have 39s krawlers for rock crawling

i've missed a lot, but that's just a short look back over 10 years of ownership...what will the next 10 hold, well, I dont know but I'm thinking that I have about outlived the chassis and that parts may get transformed over to a full buggy chassis...only time will tell...

the best part is that its not the only xj i have...

mac 'i'm planning on being around for a while' gyvr

ROBZ95Xj · Jan 2, 2010

Simply Awsome and Entertaining!

5spd_xj · Jan 2, 2010

:clap: AWESOME! I enjoyed reading/looking through very much :thumbup: :thumbup:

here's to another 10 years :cheers:

XJ&CHZ4ME · Jan 2, 2010

Nicely done Mac "no mohawks in these pics" Gyvr :thumbup:

xjtrailrider · Jan 2, 2010

Cool story Mac! Its funny how these things become part of the family after a short time.

Pretty cool how you pulled the A pillers back out and just kept rollin, these are some tough little trucks.

MrShaft696 · Jan 2, 2010

Nice, its definately been a long road. I think alot of people would have given up a couple times on that body.

lesslimited · Jan 2, 2010

Nice picture story, Mac 'drinks enough beer while working on the XJ, he forgets what year it is' gyvr.

Judging from the green grass in the chop top pic, and this pic from Winterfest '04, I'd guess the chop happened a little later in '04...

And no pics of the "free candy" van?

POLAR_JEEP_04 · Jan 2, 2010

very nice.

macgyvr · Jan 2, 2010

lesslimited said:
Nice picture story, Mac 'drinks enough beer while working on the XJ, he forgets what year it is' gyvr.

Judging from the green grass in the chop top pic, and this pic from Winterfest '04, I'd guess the chop happened a little later in '04...

And no pics of the "free candy" van?

ah yes, the chop top took place after winterfest 04...i'll look for the free candy van pics...there are so many in so many different places on the internet that its hard to keep track...

here's one from 2006 after the back was done and before the front was started...with the free candy vangina doing tow duties...affordably while i was enjoying no car payment...

mac 'forgets years easily' gyvr

bwfdrums · Jan 3, 2010

Nice rig man. Maybe someday I will achieve your level of awesomeness.

AIbandit · Jan 3, 2010

Nice rig, nice thread. I enjoyed watching the evolution.

Ghost · Jan 3, 2010

Nice mac! Great going down memory lane.

GSequoia · Jan 6, 2010

macgyvr said:
went to moab in august of 2003...those trucks in the background...they were prototype dodge power wagons...dodge engineers...and they beat the snot out of those trucks

I think there is still transmission fluid on Escalator from those Power Wagons. :eeks1:

A salute to 10 years with the XJ...

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<<the good ol days

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