My Green Eyed Lady Project...and me!

[altrocker1]

hey everyone,

so i've been a member of this forum for a few years, but i'm more of a lurker then a poster. i have a few friends on here and some guys i've met through friends so i figured its about time to introduce myself. my name is craig and i'm in the des moines iowa area. i've spent the last 5 years living in NYC and chicago, and now have moved back to iowa to enjoy cheap living again. i'm an audio engineer and lighting designer by trade. i do audio/sound and lighting for theatre productions rock concerts and special events. i also work part time at an imax theatre as a projectionist as collin (bigslvrxj) can tell you...i'm always willing to trade free tickets for xj parts! here is what a typical day at the office looks like

now i've had my xj for 7 years and i decided since i was back in iowa, it was time to do some work on her. i started by doing a bunch of problem fixes and moved on to the lift...to this day, here are the mods i have done

new apn header
new 3 row radiator
b and m tranny cooler
4" lift
cragar soft 8's
31x10.5x15 tires
zj steering
IRO double shear trackbar
homebrew discos
new bushings everywhere
new ball joints
new u joints

my lift is a pieced together lift that was done on a tight budget, but after a lot of searching, i was able to get some good stuff. here is what my lift is made from

RE TJ 4.5" lift coils
Black diamond shocks for 4" lift
RE adjustable superflex uppers
RE Superflex lowers
s10 bastard pack (xj main, s10 main, s10 2nd, s10 3rd)
MJ Shackle

here are some photos of work i've done

steering

suspension

homebrew discos

rear shackle

how she sits today

pic is a little weird since its sitting in our sloped driveway...it actually sits fairly level. i'm probably going to swap the mt's for at's soon since they are super obnoxious on the highway, but here are my future mods:

-hack n tap sye (on the way via fed ex)
-t case skid, front skid, gas tank skid and front diff cover (have the front -and t case skid already)
bumpers
-4.10 gears and lockers...baisically my buddy can set me up with regeared axles with lockers installed for a price that made me almost crap myself...lets just say it will cost less for both than most people pay for 1
-winch...there have been some close calls during spring snow goose season where a winch would have made the difference between carrying out 1000 decoys or driving them out...and i'm lazy
-zj or wj seats
-bedlined inside and some underside
-new paint (my buddy is getting into car painting and will do it for beer and the cost of paint)

thats it for now...i gotta go try to get my hitch back on so i can go fishing!

 

[BIGSLVRXJ]

It looks great Craig, I'm glad you persevered and got it done...all by yourself at that! Congrats on being done with the lifting stage, now to move on to gears and lockers . I definitely want to check it out in person in the next couple days.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

great color... paint some of it black.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1053134
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1055111

welcome to the MWC.

 

[altrocker1]

ha...yeah i've crawled through both of those build threads. its funny because i hated the color when i bought it 7 years ago, but now its one of my favorites. i guess it grew on me! there is going to be some black and some bedliner being applied very soon. first priority is to get the rear bumper back on and the hitch...then sye, then body work and interior...then lockers and gears and yada yada yada...you get the idea. i also want to finish the armor and put some sort of recovery in the front so i can wheel it again.

 

[Rev Den]

Hi

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[altrocker1]

got my superflex joints tightened on my uppers today, however when i went to shorten them...one of them is frozen. the jam nut broke loose just fine but the joint won't turn. so i'm going to take it to a buddy's shop to see if he can break it loose. any ideas are welcome!

so in frustration, i moved on to installing my SYE. i bought a hack n tap style kit off of ebay from dirt bound offroad. everything installed fairly easily...i was i little nervous about f-ing something up on my dd, but it all went well until i went to screw the yoke on and realized that the hole that they had drilled was actually off center! it was a little frustrating, but i reamed it out with a dremmel (it was about 1/16" off) and then bolted it up. I think it should be fine since the actual hole i drilled was dead on center. i used red loc tite so it should hold up just fine. here are some pics...

shaft "hacked" off

everything installed

i'll be test driving it once i get my uca unstuck and shortened up a bit. then i'll be taking it straight to the tire shop to mount up the bfg a/t's i picked up from collin...no more loud tires for me!

 

[jeepman75]

XJ looks good.


Coleman (rented some LED lights from you last week).

 

[altrocker1]

sweet dude...good to see you on here. maybe our xj's will have to meet someday

 

[altrocker1]

Figured i should update this...sye now has about 5k on it and working GREAT...no vibes to speak of. hoping to get some rust sanded and painted before winter. my axle plans have changed AGAIN...now i have a d44 that will basically be cheap or free depending on how much i can sell off of the scrap rig. she's a little crusty, but will do the trick. i'm also going to pull the main leafs off of the scrap rig to use use as an aal. i don't need any lift from it really, but want to give the main on my bastard pack a little support when towing my boat...we will see how it goes. if it sucks, i can always take it out.

im a little bummed because i think my locker connection may have dried up, so i might be looking for other locker options

 

[altrocker1]

wow...its been a WHILE since i've dug this sucker up...pretty much everything is the same on my rig now except i have a set of RC drop brackets on it that i added...some more rocker rust has popped up but my floors and frame are still solid. this rig has served me very well, its been able to do cross country trips and still get me in and out of fields, forests and river valleys when i needed it too. even with open diffs, i was able to get in and out of snow that was up to my front bumper this past winter while goose hunting a few times. however, since moving to jersey she's starting to get a little rough around the edges so i am in the market for a new driver...also, for the first time in my life, i have public wheeling spots within a few hours of me...some small spots even as close as an hour. SO I've decided that I want to do some VERY necessary maintenance, some clean up and some upgrades Here are the things that I am currently dealing with mechanically:

-fuel pump is on its last leg...its a stock pump with 275k on it, it is well past its prime

-cat converter o2 sensor bung is stripped and in the cat is in pretty rough condition...having no o2 sensor in that slot is causing a few fuel mileage issues.

-i thought my apn header was going south, but upon further inspection, it looks like the manifold gasket might just need to be replaced. i was warned when i bought mine that i should use a napa gasket, but i didn't listen...so i'm pretty sure i made a bad choice

-i have a slight misfire that needs to be addressed...i'm fairly certain the combo of a crappy fuel pump, leaky manifold gasket, and missing o2 sensor is pretty much making my fuel air system freak out a little. i wouldn't be at all surprised if it goes away when its repaired. at times it smells like its running rich and at times it smells lean, i've never pinpointed at which time the misfire starts...

-motor mounts are SHOT again...this time i will use brown dogs and never look back.

-blower fan resistor needs to be replaced (have one, will be putting it in when i have a day off)

-power steering box is shot...will be upgrading to a durango box and wj pump.

-brakes are starting to squeak...sound like they are pretty worn

-pretty sure the heater core is plugged and leaking a bit...again, 275k, its probably about time

-im sitting on a ticking timebomb stock cps all other sensors have been replaced at one time or another.


now besides that...i have some body issues to deal with
1.) I want to wire brush any surface rust off the bottom and rustoleumify the under carriage. none of its in danger of rusting through, but id like to keep it that way.
2.) Rockers are going to have holes in them soon (will be replacing with 2x6)
3.) my cut and fold job needs to be ground down and painted again
4.) i successfully welded the frame crack i had from my accident on one side of the frame, and it has held, however there is a small fracture on the tank side of the frame that i was afraid to weld. when i remove the tank it will get fixed as well....

AND for the fun stuff...
Now that i will hopefully be getting into some organized wheeling i'm going to do some upgrades...but i do have some questions for all of ya'll who have more than just redneck wheeling experience like i do

SUSPENSION UPGRAGES:
-rear bastard pack is sagging, so I'm going to replace the rear springs with the OME springs i got from kim, and i have a set of relocation boxes from HD offroad. If my calculations come out right, it will sit about 1" higher in the back then it does currently and should ride MUCH better...i also won't have poly leaf bushings anymore

-Bilstein 5150's all around...im sick of my junky shocks, and AWFUL bastard pack. OME leafs + shackle relocation + Bilsteins + no more poly should help a ton with the ride. it cant get much worse

-i have a REALLY terrible front pinion angle because of the drop brackets. I have RE adjustable uppers and fixed lowers for a 4.5" lift, but after putting the drop brackets on i need shorter uppers. i have way too much negative caster. the roads in iowa weren't too bad, but out here the roads are almost unbearable. add that to a bad steering box, and its really awful trying to drive in a straight line on rough roads. The flex joints in my arms are also as tight as they go. the races are pretty worn. I'm sure they can be rebuilt, but part of me thinks maybe i should just get different ones....but here are my CA options
1.) rebuild the races in my lowers and get shorter uppers
2.) rebuild the races in both arms and increase my lift to 5.5"
3.) replace my arms all together
4.) sell the arms and drop brackets and install long arms...could probably sell the arms and brackets to someone for 2-300. then i could purchase either a serious or IRO long arm upgrade. this rig will still see a lot of road time though, so having no experience with long arms, I'm open to suggestions.


AXLE UPGRADES:

-I now have a rear axle that i'm working on assembling...it will be an xj d44, IRO truss (overkill maybe, but it came with the axle), 4.10 gears, ARB, new seals and bearings, ten factory shafts, disc brake upgrade...it will be all the axle i will ever need for 33's and then some.

-SO...i need a front axle to match. I am debating on whether or not to build mine or find a good housing and start from scratch. there are a pile of them for sale here...i've also located a brand new set of motive 4.10's for $100...I also want to lock it as well. I'm not sure that a truss is necessary, but since i'm going to have a rear axle with a truss...then why not have one in the front as well. That way if i ever turn this xj into a crawler of some sort, i will have a great set of axles to sell that will hold their value fairly well.

Perhaps its a little overkill, but id rather just do it right the first time. I'm on the hunt for some 33x10.5x15's so i can hopefully throw the stock flares back on and run with them for a while.

Lots to do...so now i need to find a garage in my hood so i can work on it...

 

[BIGSLVRXJ]

Plans sound great Craig, I hope to see it again in person one day

 

[altrocker1]

Money well spent...picked up by a friend of mine, and i'm going to pick it up tomorrow still has the stock gears/carrier in it...i have no idea what ratio they are, but its worth 20 buck to some one

sandblasted d44...needs a quick once over with a wire wheel but most of the hard work is done...i hate sandblasting

brake parts, studs, spacers and some install parts...all ready for disc brakes

bearing kit, gears, arb, compressor

10 factory shafts and factory spares

aaaannd...a truss...never though i would put a truss on my jeep, but it came with the axle package, so why not