First XJ and some questions

Hello NWC. First, thanks to everyone who supports this forum. So much good information here! Now down to business. Got my first jeep and have been fixing it up a bit. Looking for that mix of comfortable daily driving but respectable on the trail. This is what I started with:

1998 xj 4 door
185,000 miles
I6 / 5 speed
30 front / 35 rear



Not a road queen at all. Bought it on a bit of an impulse but glad I have it. It had a bit of a lift on it, not sure how much though. Came with completely shot 31/10.50/15s on it.

Here's the list of changes up to now:

Hahaha. Put this post together with Tapatalk but most of it didn't make it.

Another time....

Welcome! Nice starter rig! Best advise is sit back grab a beverage and do some reading and get to know some of the great people around you. They are all full of advise, whether or not you want to hear it or not. Lol

Have you wheeled much before? If not, let your jeep progress with your skill, if seen guys build their jeeps beyond their ability and end up in situations above them.

Hope to see progress and feel free to ask any
Questions you may have

Welcome to and the NorthWest Chapter.

Ha ha... looks alot like mine when I first got it... minus the baby lift and shot 31's..... that rear end is sagging pretty bad.... whatever lift direction you go with, be sure full leaf packs are in the list....
Do you have any idea where you want to end up with this in the tire size and lift category?

Welcome to the NW group.

Like mentioned a post above. Take a look at that rear end lift.

Sorry for that first post getting cut off. I guess the phone app doesn't let you post much at one time. Anyhow........


So here is a list of the things I have done up to this point:

• Dana 44 rear with a 98zj disc conversion. 3.07 open and was a straight bolt in
• 98zj proportioning valve
• OME full leaf pack
• 3/4" shackle
• Motion Offroad 3" progressive coils
• 3/4" coil spacer
• Currie adjustable lca
• Bilstien 5100 front and rear
• Crown extended brake lines
• JKS adjustable track bar and quick disconnects
• New 98zj tie rod, drag link and pitman arm
• Procomp steering stabilizer
• 1 1/4" wheel spacers
• 265/75/16 Toyo AT from a friend
• 16" jeep liberty wheels from the salvage yard
  

Along with that has been a major tune up and a water pump. Also been working on the interior. Not a road queen, remember? hahah...

Here is what it looks like now:



This past weekend was my first time out with it. Went up in the hills above Scotts Mills:





We had such a good time! Yea, this is my first jeep and my wheeling experience is limited. Looking forward to getting out though and learning what I can do and where I can go with it. The tires were a really good deal but I am going with Duratracks when these wear down enough and maybe to a 15" rim.


Now for the questions.

I figured that with the work I have done to it and the tire size, that with the sway bar disconnected I should be able to stuff that front tire right under the fender. When we were out I drove it up onto this stump to see how it would flex and I was surprised. The rear wheel was buried under the rear fender. It was great. But the front axle was a few inches yet from the bumpstop. Is it possible that the shocks I have on the front are to long and at max compression they are limiting the uptravel? Or is the front going to be less flexy than the rear?

Who is doing good axle rebuilds around the area? I am looking to put 4.10s in it and haven't seen many posts about people talking about where their work was done. Would like to do full bearing kits and maybe a front locker. Anyone had any work done at Woodies in Vancouver?

Was going to ask about some klunking noises I have in the front but I think that the bushings on the sway bar are shot. I didn't hook it back up when I came out of the hills and it isn't making the same noise now. Or maybe I rattled what ever was loose into someplace it is going to sit still for a bit.

What is the consensus about transfer case drops with less than a 4" lift. I have a bit of vibration at about 50mph and was wondering if I need to lower the tcase a bit to address this.

Front pinion angle. I have seen lots of talk about just a few degrees off horizontal. Would this angle put the dif tipped up or down? I haven't measured my dif angle but I don't have any signs of the dreaded death wobble and did a driveway alignment with 1/8" toe. It drives really nice actually. Stable at highway speeds and doesn't wander. Feels a little slow turning but I'm running a little slow these days too. Maybe it's just me.

Comment about the disc conversion: WOW! It stops sooooo nice now. Recommended to anyone considering doing this.



Well, there you have it. I have been reading a lot here on the site and thanks to everyone who posts because it has become a great resource. Looking forward to hearing from you guys about how I am doing with the build so far also. Please let me know if I haven't gone about something correctly so I can figure out if I need to be changing something.

Things on the to do list:

Bumpers
Onboard air
Rock sliders
Lights for wheeling at night



Thanks for reading. See ya out there somewhere..........

You should bring it up to the shop,we can flex it out with the forklift and see what's going on.

So are you not liking the 16" rims? Why do you want to go back to 15's? -just curious.
As toy your pinion angle, its usually the REAR pinion angle that you need to pay attention to... at 4" of lift, you're bound to have some vibes, until you do a SYE (Slip Yoke Eliminator)... you may try putting 6° shims under the leafs to help correct it a bit.... a transfer case drop is just a temporary solution, and although will prob work, you'll be WAY better off ditching the slip yoke and the stock drive line. Your front axle is a HP D30 (High Pinion Dana 30) which is better suited for higher lifts, as the pinion is higher up on the axle giving beter ground clearance, but also is less prone to vibes from lift. Death wobble is from Draglink to Track bar angles being way off.... they need to be parallel to avoid this. Your steering upgrade is a decent choice, and should be good enough for your average wheeler, especially someone just starting out. The adjustable lower control arms was a good choice as well.
If you need help with anything just holler... (especially with electrical, OBA, etc...) I wouldn't mind helping out. I love working on jeeps - call me crazy.

im jelious of you late model 5spd... when you switch tires are you going to grow tire size? if you plan on staying around the 31" mark, id stay a gear ratio closer to 3:73. i did 4.10s in my manual xj, 33" MT's and it was right at stock. i would have preferd 4:56. with a 31 i would imagine it being way to deep of a gear at 4.10s. 3.55ratio with a manual trans should be around stock on 31"s. if it were mine id go for 3:73.

keep in mind im verry picky on my gear choice. because of how it efects the trodle reponce, and tire control. i am sensative to gears i guess.

im going to have a matching set of 3.55 axles up for sale soon. a LPd30 3.55ratio (would need shafts,and brakes. which you have) and a 29spl 8.25" rear. you could probably sell that d44 for the same coin as i want for the matching set. then it would be a day of bolt on stuff. im not trying to sales pitch you or muck up your thred. just something for you to think about.

deffintly get a SYE as the boys said. if you plan on going to Browns or something like that with rocks. Get yourself some SILDERS....PDQ! the jeep will quickly take you places that will dammage the body. in unrepairable ways. (Ask me how i know...) other than that its all about seat time, and havin a good time. its a natural progretion, you will know quickly what you want and dont want the more you take it out. i hope to wheel with you somtime soon(if mine ever gets out of hoover mode) and it is going to be a cool build i can tell already. you have done you reacerch.

now back to :repair:


Bronze.

NW99XJ said:

So are you not liking the 16" rims? Why do you want to go back to 15's? -just curious.

Click to expand...

I don't mind the wheels. They look good and are holding the tires on just fine. hahah... It seems there is better availability of 15 or 17" tires but I haven't done any serious research yet. Just been reading a bit about what people are getting along with tire wise. Need to get through gears and lockers before I can start thinking about the money for another set of tires...

Bronzewyrm said:

when you switch tires are you going to grow tire size?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. I was thinking about going to a 32 when I get another tire and maybe trimming a bit but 32 is where I'll stop with the tires and this isn't going to change till next year sometime. This is going to be my driver. So it sounds like your preference would put the 32 right in the middle of what you like for gearing. 3.73 for a 31 and 4.10 for a 33? I need to decide on something though because I'd like to do it in the next few months. Who is doing good work these days?

Any thoughts on the front not flexing quite like I thought it would.

I had a question about upper control arms also. I haven't done anything with the ones on it now but am going to. Should I go with just a bushing replacement or possibly a zj adjustable upper or something more substantial?


Thanks in advance...

This is a bone stock XJ with the sway bar disconnected.



The best thing to do is to cycle your suspension with a forklift then you can see what's binding and what's not through the entire range of motion.

Had wrangler sold it bought xj
Sold xj after a month no uni-body for me thanks! Theres a tj in my drive way as of tonight..don't get me wrong they have there place but without cutting em all up short of a full crawler..I just couldnt get my head around it...Anybody wanna buy a 90 xj on 33"s lol???

I would stick with the 16's the 15 is dying off in the same way as the 16.5. If you want durratracks I can get you a good deal on them. I got the 31 10.50s for $600... also x2 on going up to monkey boys shop. He is very knowledgable and quite the fabricator

Woody's 4x4 does good work. Ask for Tom.

Well 3.73 is a great gearing in my stick Ive ran them with 31's and it would give you whiplash if you were'nt careful (my wife driving it) now I have 285-16-75 and it feels almost stock still a little more power but not much I assume its like 3.55 in a stick with 31's

Been working in the jeep again a bit. I put upper control arm bushings in it last week. What a huge pita. I should have done this when I did the coils because it would have been so much easier.

I had a question about reinstalling the passenger uca though. I ended up having to use a come-a-long to pull the top side of the axle back so that I could bolt it back together. Is this usual? It took a lot of pull to get the job done.

Yes, unless you unloaded the suspention, meaning taking weight off the axle, and then most of the time you will still have to pull on it some.

98fivespeed said:

Been working in the jeep again a bit. I put upper control arm bushings in it last week. What a huge pita. I should have done this when I did the coils because it would have been so much easier.

I had a question about reinstalling the passenger uca though. I ended up having to use a come-a-long to pull the top side of the axle back so that I could bolt it back together. Is this usual? It took a lot of pull to get the job done.

Click to expand...

Yeah we had to do that for mine too.