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Lipstick on a pig
- Thread starter TeeGee
- Start date
There were a few iterations but we eventually settled on the final form: cup holders, switch panel, phone charging, battery switch, line lock for rear brakes, speed shifter, and radio. All mounted cleanly with no visible wires.
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XJI6191
NAXJA Forum User
& I thought I (sometimes) had problems with mine being 220 miles away - but I do get to see (drive & tinker with) it most weekends.
If you can maintain the momentum, keep the pictures coming (though you don't need to post each one separately)
If you can maintain the momentum, keep the pictures coming (though you don't need to post each one separately)
It seem like the tapatalk app only allows individual pictures per post?
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While out crawling up a chute, this happened. D30 stock axles beating on 35s don’t last. So I did a fairly controversial upgrade: RCVs into the D30. Sure I could have gone with a D44 or 1 tons. But at this point in time, this was still a “simple” camping rig. It would never see crazy rock crawling that would necessitate new axles with internals.
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At this point I went and drove it for the first time. We did a 200 mile round trip shake down from Southern Utah to the Grand Canyon and back. While the Jeep did great there were some issues that presented themselves:
1) cooling was still an issue. While the fans worked great, it still got hot enough to require turning off the Jeep to let it cool down. Current theory is that the conversion to an open system is allowing air bubbles into the coolant.
2) RE mono tube shock bushings had been destroyed. This was operator error. Years ago when I first installed the lift kit I had forgotten to put the metal inserts in one of the shock bushings. After 200 miles on dirt the bushing was destroyed and the shock was rattling around the axle-side mount.
3) While the Jeep worked great at crawling up damn near anything, it lacked comfort and the ability to maintain a good speed over a washboard let alone any kind of small whoop.
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After the Grand Canyon trip I had been on the lookout for upgraded shocks. My family comes from the Mojave desert, and I’ve had friends involved in desert racing for while. Some shocks from a certain white XJ that a YouTuber owned came up for a crazy good deal. Granted I never wanted to go with a coilover conversion. For the cost and what I wanted to do with the rig, I felt it would be an absolute waste of money.
But the deal was too good to pass up. Coilovers and bypasses that were already tuned for an XJ? Done.
And so I let the Mad Scientist loose on the XJ. Armed with a plasma cutter and a tig welder he got to work…
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While I’m sure all of this could have been done far simpler with some Ruff Stuff coil towers…the harder (but better?) road was taken. The fab nerd that is my brother took this as a blank canvas upon which to paint his master piece…
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This bring us up to speed as of last weekend. Engine cage is nearly done. Waiting on the removable cross section that goes over the valve cover to be done. It is getting a full internal cage (which in keeping with the theme of the build, be very clean), rear will still be leaf sprung but front and rear will have hydro bumps.
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Suppose I should write a full parts list as the XJ sits currently:
Dirtbound Off-road front bumper
ARB Solis pods
Warn Winch
Dana 30 RCVs
4.88 gears
ARB Air locker
Ruff Stuff frame stiffeners
Method “hole” wheels
35” BFGs
Removable Grant Steering wheel
Corbeau Heat seats
Corbeau XJ sliders
King 2.5x12 coilovers
King 2.0x2 bumps
KC HiLites Pro 6 Led bar
Front Runner Slime Line II roof rack
Front Runner RTT
Front Runner Awning
RE Long Arm kit
RE 5.5 leaf pack
King 2.5x12 Bypass
King 2.5x4 bumps
Dometic 75 series fridge
2x Optima yellow tops relocated to rear
Lumina dual battery setup
PSC power steering pump
CavFab steering
PRP 5 point harness
Full internal cage
Electric fan conversion
TYT dual band radio
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Dirtbound Off-road front bumper
ARB Solis pods
Warn Winch
Dana 30 RCVs
4.88 gears
ARB Air locker
Ruff Stuff frame stiffeners
Method “hole” wheels
35” BFGs
Removable Grant Steering wheel
Corbeau Heat seats
Corbeau XJ sliders
King 2.5x12 coilovers
King 2.0x2 bumps
KC HiLites Pro 6 Led bar
Front Runner Slime Line II roof rack
Front Runner RTT
Front Runner Awning
RE Long Arm kit
RE 5.5 leaf pack
King 2.5x12 Bypass
King 2.5x4 bumps
Dometic 75 series fridge
2x Optima yellow tops relocated to rear
Lumina dual battery setup
PSC power steering pump
CavFab steering
PRP 5 point harness
Full internal cage
Electric fan conversion
TYT dual band radio
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- Location
- In a strange land
That console is beautiful. The XJ console has always bugged me. Your brother did a great job of coming up with a better design. My compliments to him.
- Location
- The Gump area
One thing for damn sure......he welds better than me! Very nicely done
