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Project "Rubicon This!"

XJosh95

XJosh95

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Green Bay, WI
So, I've decided to start up a build thread before my progress gets beyond a point of getting buried in too much matter to deal with.

I got interested in XJ's through Brad (GoSlowGetStuck) after he bought his and took me wheeling a couple times. It wasn't long before I knew I had to get into this hobby and throw away a lot of money and make all kinds of life-long friends.

My search began and I knew that I wanted a 4 door, 4.0, 4wd, auto and it couldn't be red. I found this one on craigslist near Brad and asked him to check it out and try to get it. The guy was asking 1200 and Brad got him to 1000. Brad picked it up for me and I payed him the next day.

Here's what she looked like when I got her.
n1036140294_30308703_6618.jpg
 
That first night I did some tune-up stuff and got things ready to hit the trail in stock form. About 36 hours after getting title in hand, she went off-road. About an hour after getting through the Badlands front gate, I got stuck :gag:
stuck.jpg


Later on in the day I took a nice poser shot while she was dirty.
pose.jpg
 
Less than a month later came WinterFest 09 which would be my first. I was relatively new to the forum and knew nobody aside from Brad and made a few friends that weekend. It was a lot of fun.

I got her loaded up for the weekend...notice the sag in the ass? HA!
loaded.jpg


And my first 3-wheeling episode that thrilled my pants off!
3whe.jpg
 
That following May I attended our Redbird trail clean-up. I had a really good time there. It was a great place to get to know people on a much more personal level. Everybody there was a lot of fun and helpful with getting my rig through the tight trail 21. I didn't make it through without body damage though.
wreck-1.jpg


Wound up smacking the tree hard enough to push the radiator core support into the mechanical fan, keeping it from rolling. That overheated her and popped the head gasket and that turned into a nightmare of chasing gremlins for about a year. But I did get her back into good health.
fixt.jpg
 
I started to do little things here and there to get into a bit better situation for off roading. So I added a roof rack that I welded in a tire carrier and some tabs on the back to hold the hi-lift.
rack.jpg


And then got the budget boost done. I got the tires from work. They were still plain-jane street tires, but they filled out the wheel wells a bit better and provided me with a bit more ground clearance.
boost.jpg
 
I've got some crappy cell pics that I need to get onto photobucket, but I'll post up some more later. She's starting to really come along.
 
nice josh, i got my first 3 wheel scare in that same spot (well looks like the same spot badlands?)
 
Yeah, certainly gets the sphincter to pucker up. I almost look forward to it now.
 
I started getting things here and there that I knew I would need sooner or later. Everything always on the cheap: trades, used, abused, bargained with people for things...you get the idea. I got an Aussie for the D30 through one of those transactions. That thing did wonders at WF Oh-10. Probably got me into a bit of trouble that I shouldn't have. But SeanR winched me out of that mess.

Not long after WF, I scored a deal on a rear bumper that wound up being a tire carrier but had some issues that needed addressed to get it to work and all back together.
bumper-1.jpg


After a few wheeling trips on street tires, I got a little tired of it and finally got some A/Ts. Aaron insists on beating me up about it since they're not M/Ts yet, but I'll get there. Found a set of silver steelies and got them painted black and mounted up the A/Ts.
wheel.jpg
 
When I first got this thing, the rockers were in pretty decent shape. It didn't take long for that to change. They got fubar'd and the rust started to really show up, so I had to remedy that with 2x6 rockers.
sliders.jpg


Then with a little more work with torches and welders, I got the rear bumper fixed up new.
carrier.jpg
 
Somewhere in the mix this summer, I grabbed up a rear soundbar and recovered it and tossed in some wallyworld speakers. Got the wiring harness too, so all I had to do was splice the harness at the original location and lights and speakers work.
soundbar.jpg


This years fall trail clean up at Redbird got me into yet more trouble. I can't seem to get through there without messing something up. I broke some bolts off from the motor mount and we (read: John and Rev) had to do some engineering on it to get me home, but I made it safe. Cardinal rule with breaking stock parts? Time to upgrade. So, I've got these...still waiting to go on.
mounts.jpg


Also waiting to go on are a winch front bumper, ZJ V8 Steering, a newtome steering box, another Aussie should be getting here within the next couple days, a couple skids and hopefully by January a full 3" lift. And 4.10s might be in there too.

I picked the name "Rubicon This!" since my ultimate plan is to be on 4.5" long arms, locked F&R on 32's with 4:1 Low range *distant future for the 32s and 4:1*
 
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Oh, not long after getting the rig, I scored a 29sp 8.25 from a guy on craigslist for $25. I was equipped with the 27sp, but both mine and the new axle were 3.55s so I had no down time. When I got it, it was completely torn apart. So, I figured now was a good time and rebuilt it with new bearings, seals, wheel cylinders and hard lines and before WF Oh-10, I swapped it in.
 
nice pictorial..keep it coming. I still think you should have the name "Rubiconifer This" since you slammed a tree :D
 
Guess I should start a build thread too! :D
 
XJ&CHZ4ME said:
nice pictorial..keep it coming. I still think you should have the name "Rubiconifer This" since you slammed a tree :D
Click to expand...



Hahahahahahahahahahaha, that's awesome.
 
There's a nice vid of me inching through the mudpit there too!
 
Is that Les' tree?

mac 'thought that got cut down' gyvr
 
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