red91xj buildup

Well after my XJ sitting for close to 2 years, my buddies have PESTERED me enough to try and get it worthy for Moab here in May. It starts and runs but is definitely in need of some TLC . (Oil change, tune up, motor mounts, alternator, hoses...) I started building this truck right out of high school before I had the know how, money or care to do things right. It is on a rough country 3" coils and AAL in the rear, 2" lift shackles and 2" coil spacers. Rubi Express adj track bar, rough country adjustable LCA's. It's a 1991 sport with the HO 4.0l. It's on 33's as it sits.

My question is should I try to fix all the stupid things I did to this truck and build it as it sits or go with my backup plan of basically resetting and re-building the truck right. Full size coils for how high I want, full leaf packs, build the axles and put a proper locker instead of the welded front diff, swap in a Ford 8.8 possibly... I'm on a budget, as most are these days, but it's not SUPER tight and not SUPER generous either.

My ultimate goal would be to drive it out, wheel for the week and drive home, but if push comes to shove I can trailer it out.

Thanks for any advice guys/gals.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

Ide get some real rear leafs. Maybe get the 8.8 with a real locker and run it fixin the little things. And watch for some used springs if moneys tight. Nothin wrong with shackels in my oppinion and ive beat the tar outta my rc lowers and there doin great. BUt thats me and some of u do alot more beatin than me.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

Start from the beginning.

After building my first one, i started over.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

I'd just go do it right, fix everything right as well, from scratch. There's a lot of chances to break in Moab, and on the way there and the way back. I went to Moab once and it was so sweet, unfortunately my Jeep wasn't built very good and I drove from MI all the way there and then drove down here, so I couldn't wheel it that hard, but even with everything properly done I still managed to overheat.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

id sell it and get a newone. start with a good base and build it better

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

well selling and starting over from a fresh rig is out of the question unfortunately. The truck itself is solid , just the way I went about building it the first time wasn't the best. Thanks for the input and giving me something to think about.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

If it's nothing you can't unbolt (i.e. you didn't weld or chop up anything on the stock portion of the vehicle) I'd wheel it how it is till you find out what really affects it and needs fixing, then fix that. You can probably even recover a bit of money by selling the old lift parts you take out on your chapter classifieds or craigslist.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

Mine sat for two years as well. Then I got it running and started working on it. I was thinking of selling, but im glad I didnt. It was in rough shape, but over the past year I have gotten in to where it is. And Im glad I didn't dump it and start over.

So keep it and fix whats up with it and welcome back to the addiction.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

What rear axle do you currently have? If it's not the D35, I'd leave it. If it's the D35, then you definitely want to swap that out. An 8.25 or XJ D44 should be almost a direct swap. Maybe build a bastard pack or get new leafs to replace the AAL, get rid of the welded front, especially since you plan on driving it there and back. Not to mention the lack of differential action on the grippy Moab slickrock.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

It is the d35 rear. That's why I'm thinking an 8.8 swap. I didn't do anything to the stock portion of the truck. Just the suspension and axle... I think I will reset and try and rebuild. Thanks guys.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

Don't discount the 8.25 29 spline or the Dana 44. Both being stock XJ axles would be easy to swap in.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

That is true. Aren't the XJ D44's kinda hard to come by though? Maybe I'll plan a trip to the u-pull and see if I can find a 8.25 or a XJ 44 on a freak chance.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

May be a dumb question but I'm going to throw it out there anyway... With the front diff being welded, in order to rectify that, I need to replace the spider gears and carrier right?

Also here is the plan I've come up with.

My motor is sound, minus the cooling system issues which are typical to the XJ.

Swap in a 97+ C8.25 or XJ 44 if I can find one, and lock it. Polish the turd (D30) with a locker that replaces the stock carrier, alloy shafts, and 760 joints. Redo suspesnion with RE 3.5" coils and leaf packs, new track bar since the used one that on there now is not in the best shape. Maybe stick with 33's, maybe drop down to 31's-32's. I've already chopped the fenders so I think I could fit the 33's on 3.5" (the RE runs high if I remember correctly).

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

Depends on how the front was welded. If it was just welding the gears to each other, you should be able to get it back apart somehow if you really want to, may involve grinding it into pieces inside the carrier though. If you replace the carrier you will need to reset the carrier bearing preload and backlash to avoid chewing up the ring&pinion. If you do a full carrier you'll need to do this anyways, so go for it if you want to, it won't make your life any harder than replacing the carrier.

I'm currently fitting 33x11.5s (TreadWright ATs with full tread) on 3.5" of actual lift, so yes, it is possible. With 4" backspaced 8" wide rims I only rub the LCAs when my steering wheel is within about 1/10th turn of full lock. Didn't even trim all that much, the trimming I've done so far has stayed within the outline of the original mounting position of the factory flares.

IIRC, the 760 joints came factory in any XJ with ABS up to some year mid-90s (96?), after that all d30s had 760 joints. A pair of shafts+joints+unit bearings from an early 99 (remember the unit bearing changed design mid 99) cost me $60 at the junkyard last Saturday for reference.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

Yeah I don't remember how we did it... Was 5+ years ago. But I guess since I'm going to do a locker that replaces the stock carrier anyway it doesn't matter. I'll keep that in mind about the shafts too when I go to the U-pull this weekend (if it stops snowing...).

Thanks.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

Alright, I think I'm gonna make this my Build thread... Wish I could rename the thread but oh well. So last week I was going to bring the XJ from my parents house to my house and get it into my garage to start work on it. I got it on the road and got about 3/4 of a mile and I hear a POP and my steering goes to hell. Stop and limp back to my parent's house and investigate to find that the trackbar ball joint has DESTROYED itself. I have NEVER seen this nor have any of my friends.


So I pulled that back off the jeep and junked it. I put the stock trackbar back on just to get me over to my house (~3 miles) She drove a lot sketchier than I remember but it's been about 3 years since I drove it ANYWHERE besides on and off a trailer to take it with me to my various domiciles. LOT'S of road wander, no death wobble though which was a surprise because ever since I went from 3" to 5" it was only death wobble and nothing else. I'm guessing the wander can be attributed to stock track bar and no front sway bar. (Like an idiot when I built this jeep the first time I removed the sway bar and cut the brackets off the axle.) So I think I'm going to try and weld new brackets on and get a sway bar back on there.

Today I got the hood off, the JCR sliders off and tried to decide what direction to go with this pig. I know in my above post I gave a list but I'm always changing my mind. Some pics of her evolution since I took possession of her 5 years ago to motivate me...

3" on stock tires


3" on 31's... HArd to tell difference in stance here

As she sits now. ~5" on 33's


We shall see if I can get her built worthy of Moab by end of May on a limited budget.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

I just found a rear XJ 44 on craigs with disc brakes for $250... is that a good price on a rear xj 44? Thanks guys

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

Well I bought it. Picking up Sunday. Swapping in Wednesday.

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

With discs that's a deal not to mention a rare find, those things are hard enough to find stock. I've seen them sell here stock for what you paid.

Got any pics of the build progress?

Re: Keep going or stop and reset?

No pics yet. Build officially begins Wednesday. :firedevil