O.K. B's Build Thread

[OutkastBoss]

Our latest mods are the results of some minor carnage in Harlan.
Our Motor mounts did not give away completely but they cracked and allowed for way too much movement when we were doing "Lower Rock garden". The motor shifted enough that it completely ripped the spectre intake boot where it connects to the intake.

Luckily the firewall side Fitting is the same size and we were able to hook the filter back up and let it breathe from under the hood. I do not blame the intake for this, but Spectre replaced the part at no cost. They even offered to send a second firewall fitting since it is thicker and has a bulge to allow for a bit more offset if I have further issues!

To ensure we would not have further motor mount issues we got the Brown Dog motor mounts and brackets. You know it is a great part when the builder puts his name right on it!

And here they are installed, we threw Chachis MWC hat in there to represent!

The Service from brown Dog was exceptional and they handled my questions and kept me up to the minute on when they were being assembled and shipped. They did however forget to throw in a couple bolts, which was called unconscionable and rectified immediately. They also came with clear instructions and a B.D. sticker.

The fitment is tight on the passenger side and with the larger bodied Durango alternator things are extra tight. I have been told that I can get the alternator bracket to come out without taking the Brown Dog bracket off of the motor by a few people but it just doesn't look like it to me. I guess we will see when the time comes.

As far as the ride quality goes it vibes more than I thought it would and I was careful to follow the instructions on tightening. I probably should have replaced the trans mount because it feels like it vibes in the middle. I thought it was probably still good because it was only 2 years old, the same age as the stock style motor mounts were. So maybe I should have known better?

I hope replacing the trans mount helps a bit since my XJ has always rode so nice. Really though I can live with it being a little rougher for the trade off of not having to worry about my motor mounts or brackets.

 

[OutkastBoss]

We had actually ordered these before we went to Harlan so smashing the taillight came at a great time when I knew it was never going to happen again!
Here are the JCR rear quarter guards with integrated rub rail and tail light boxes, that we will add tube fenders to very soon.

We wanted to keep reverse lights so we used a trailer converter to combine stop, turn, and tail lights. I only used one and had to run 2 wires under the plastic trim for the threshold inside the rear gate.
The converter box is inside the drivers rear quarter panel. Installation was easy once I figured out that the OEM trailer wiring relays interfered with the trailer converter box causing it to malfunction.

I unplugged the oem wiring harness and cut out the relays leaving the wires out to the plug on the bumper that had been on my OEM hitch. I left the ground, constant power, and trailer brake wire intact as they were ran separate of the relayed harness I cut out.

I cut the wires that went out to the stock tail lights, found the signal for the functions with a light up current tester, and connected them to the corresponding labels on the trailer converter in. From the out I tied into the stock wires that ran out to the oem taillights.
For the right side the wires were cut and one comes from the right turn and goes to the in on the box in the other quarter panel. There is also a stop/turn/tail that comes from the box and back over there. I once again tied into the stock wires that went out to the oem taillight.
The stock reverse wires were left intact all the way out to where the stock reverse lamp would be. With all the bulbs cut off I used the tester to identify each function and connect to the correct L.E.D.

Here They are where you can see the bolt on inside cover for the taillight boxes that comes off to get at the wiring with 3 bolts.

You can see some of the slight bends that I point out to everyone that says they could easily make them for less.

And the L.E.D.'s all lit up.

The rub rail looks awesome and will hold me up just fine, it will make a good step up for the short roof rack platform I want built into the top of the planned hybrid cage.
It may save the side of the rig someday and makes me want to steal the solid metal door handles off our '85 XJ.

One of them was slightly bent out a bit from shipping but fitment was great and tightening down as the directions say really helps it fit super nice. It has a thin layer of caulk around the edges, gas cap opening, and screw holes per the directions as well.
I actually had a picture from my security camera of the delivery man dropping them so JCR has no blame in the minor bend that came right out during tightening. Some of the hardware was hard to get to but that was to be expected and probably exacerbated by my cut and fold.

 

[OutkastBoss]

Seeing the air compressor in that pic reminded me to mention that the Warn one I originally had didn't last 3 months and was replaced by a Craigslist find. He had it on a Lowrider S10 and was confused why a jeep guy needed one.
This one is a Viair 350c iirc that was supposedly 3 years old and kind of beat up and dirty. It isn't all that fast but it works.

I added a new check valve to it and the air filter from the broken Warn compressor fit on it as well. It has worked reliably for years now. I recently added a water separator and filter that goes after the regulator before the air lines head out to my pneumatic switches. I also re routed the wires so that I could get to the fuse without pulling the entire cover panel.

My tanks take up some cargo space but the setup has worked out well, it would be cool to get a really nice compressor one day that was twice as fast.

 

[MKR5150]

Look really good color matched.

 

[OutkastBoss]

Look really good color matched.

Thanks, I plan on body matching the fenders and likely the exterior portion of the hybrid cage. The interior portion of the cage will be black.

 

[OutkastBoss]

For our tube fenders we went with Hooligan Offroad, they were nice enough to sell us just the tubes and skins to add to the pre existing armor in the rear.
Here you can see the parts hooligan made for the rear on the left stool and the parts I made on the right. I got out of hand making the armor add-ons and may not use them all.

Here is the leg I added to extend the existing armor to the front of the fender. The parts were sprayed with weld through coating.

Once the tube was welded onto the armor the front of the skin was screwed down through the 3 holes on the tab that goes inside the door pocket. It was then worked from front to back with the C clamp and welded into place as the skin was shaped.
It is currently primed waiting on the front fenders to be installed, so it can be painted all at once. Here it is in weld through coating and some bare metal though.

 

[xeroOTG]

Back when you did your rear disk swap, you mentioned you DID NOT need to swap the axel to backing plate flange studs with the Liberty hardware? I have been hording parts to do that very swap and one of my big sticking points is that the hardware did not come with my backing plates. Great looking rig by the way!

 

[OutkastBoss]

Back when you did your rear disk swap, you mentioned you DID NOT need to swap the axel to backing plate flange studs with the Liberty hardware? I have been hording parts to do that very swap and one of my big sticking points is that the hardware did not come with my backing plates. Great looking rig by the way!

Thanks!
Mine came without hardware as well and I had to get a few random parts from Morris 4x4. Anyway, yes I reused the stock XJ studs from the 8.25 that hold on the backing plate.
I also left the stock length wheel studs, I read that if you run aluminum wheels you might want to do longer ones for good thread engagement. I can't recall if that applied to the G.C. swap, the Libby swap like I did or both though lol.
Good luck on your build!

 

[Fore Wheeler]

I too left the stock backing plate bolts. I however changed my wheel studs, because of my aluminum wheels

 

[hjeepxj]

Great build! Any updates?

 

[OutkastBoss]

Great build! Any updates?

Thanks!
I have a bunch of mods and some trips to add to this and I keep saying I will. So stay tuned for more, hopefully soon!

 

[hjeepxj]

Thanks!
I have a bunch of mods and some trips to add to this and I keep saying I will. So stay tuned for more, hopefully soon!

Nice!!!

 

[nathanael]

Nice thread, enjoyed reading through it. Thanks for all the details.