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Project Snowball

XJ-Mayhem

NAXJA Member
NAXJA Member
Location
San Jose, CA
This is my attempt at a build thread, but since I'm not usually the best at remembering to take pictures we'll see how that goes.

I was originally going to call this my version of a 5KXJ, but all I could think about was how my original plans have snowballed out of proportion... I don't normally name my vehicles, but figured snowball was fitting since it's white.


Bought it for cheap off a high school age kid - he said it had problems randomly dying while driving. One look at the battery cables which had apparently been through a blender and taped back together and was pretty sure of the problem.



Spent time going through Cruiser's Renix tips (it's a 90) and got it going well enough to take it's first outing to Hollister.
pTP4fP2.jpeg




Then I did what any reasonable person would do and tore it apart to "build" it
WsMPxJO.jpeg
 
I found a RE 5.5 short arm kit with everything minus shocks for something like $400 and figured it was too good to pass up. But, that was taller than I wanted for my original plan of 33's so I found a used BDS front coil and rear leaf for $200 I think it was.



Plan is to run the RE upper and lower arms, with the 3" BDS coil and 3" rear springs on 35's now. I'm not sure if I need the short arm drop bracket for 3" or not?



Originally I wanted to keep the downtime minimal and keep using and abusing this thing between "upgrades", but that plan fell apart when finding a 29 spline 8.25 proved harder than I thought.



So, with Nate's help we pulled an 8.8 from the JY.
aVGVk3A.jpeg



It didn't have matching gears to the stock 30 front so I wasn't sure what to do with it until I found this WJ 30 for sale locally for $500. I figured the RCV's were worth that alone and it seemed like not too much work to shove a WJ 30 into an XJ.
The WJ 30 already had 4.88's, an Auburn electric LSD/Locker that doesn't actuate, RCV shafts, gusseted C's, sleeved tubes, and a diff cover
X5S656a.jpeg




So that gave me direction on the 8.8 - I had it rebuilt by Mike's Gear & Axle to 4.88's with a new open carrier and mini spool, and some new axle seals
hExjpTm.jpeg




Ruff Stuff 8.8 kit and diff cover came, so I cleaned it up and did a light coat of paint until the brake parts come from RockAuto
Yeth6UF.jpeg
 
So that's where I'm currently at with it. I'd like to get it done for Spring next year, but there's a decent amount of odds and ends left and a few big $ items like tires... The cage and frame stiffeners will wait until next winter probably. I just want to get it going and being used instead of paper weighting my concrete. If it sits too long I'll probably lose interest haha



Here's my list of the plans I have for it as of now:


[FONT=&quot]8.8 build[/FONT]

  • [FONT=&quot]Caliper/pad/rotor - Cheap RockAuto
    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]8.8 xj swap kit - Ruff Stuff
    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Diff cover - Ruff Stuf
    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]4.88 gear set
    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Master rebuild kit [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Open carrier
    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Mini Spool [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Gear Lube[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Rebuilt 1310's on stock front driveshaft to use in rear[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Spacers/adapter 5x4.5 to 5x5 to match front width
    [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]WJ30 build [/FONT]

  • [FONT=&quot]Ball joints [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Bushings [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Calipers/rotors/pads - Cheap RockAuto
    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Unit bearings ??[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Rebuilt 1310's on stock front driveshaft[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Rusty's mini truss[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Gear lube
    [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Steering [/FONT]

  • [FONT=&quot]Crossover - likely Ruff Stuff kit
    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Modify RE track bar to fit lower lift?
    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Install steering box brace[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Suspension [/FONT]

  • [FONT=&quot]Shackle box[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Rebuild BDS 3" leafs with new bushings[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Front bumps[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Rear bumps [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Rebuild RE upper/lower arms?[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]BDS 3" front coils[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Bilstein 5100's
    [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Drivetrain [/FONT]

  • [FONT=&quot]Radiator [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Water pump[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Flush transmission [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Brown dog motor mounts [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Trans mount [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]231 sye/rebuild [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]16” 5x5 wheels [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]35” x 16” tires Patagonia MT - $210 Walmart [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Exhaust/muffler/Cat [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Header? [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Fab work [/FONT]

  • [FONT=&quot]Square tube rockers[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Frame braces [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Hybrid cage [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Bumpers[/FONT]
 
I would stay away from the WJ dana 30. Its low pinion, there are very few options for axle shafts. Id grab a HP30(swap wj brakes over) from an XJ or a 44 from a JK if youre going to do all that work to it. I cant stress enough how the WJ30 is a waste of time. only way id run it is if it was already geared, locked, RCVs for like 1000$ otherwise build something else.
 
I would stay away from the WJ dana 30. Its low pinion, there are very few options for axle shafts. Id grab a HP30(swap wj brakes over) from an XJ or a 44 from a JK if youre going to do all that work to it. I cant stress enough how the WJ30 is a waste of time. only way id run it is if it was already geared, locked, RCVs for like 1000$ otherwise build something else.

I think you misread my post and didn’t look at the pic…

The WJ30 already has RCVs, 4.88s, sleeved tubes, gusetted Cs, a solid diff cover, and an Auburn locker that doesn’t work… and I bought it for $500

You really think I can do better than that for $500 or less?
 
yeah if its got RCVS, 4.88s id run it for 500$. yeah I missed that part. Just scrolled through and saw youre building a WJ dana 30 and was like oh man.

Yeah good score, those RCVS are like 1300$, plus locker gears, etc. Thats a killer deal. for 500$ id run it.
 
although for the 8.8, I would say ditch the mini spool -and do a selectable locker or a grizzly. If you hit up RWKhaus on here he does killer pricing on yukon lockers. I got a grizzly for an 8.8 last year that I put in a buddies rig for a killer price.
 
The 8.8 is already been Re-geared and locked with the mini spool Jon. haha.

Maybe thats the way he should look when the time comes to upgrade.... or maybe hes trailering and the spool is fine?
 
I assumed you missed that part haha, I figured the downsides were worth it for this budget build… i would have spent $500 or more just to regear a HP D30

I will be primarily trailering the rig, mainly for peace of mind when running trails that I can still get home. I’ll be running a front driveshaft for the rear, who knows if it’ll balance. I may go used on the tires, and doubt they will nicely balance either. It’s registered but I haven’t smogged it to get my stickers, doesn’t smell like it’ll pass as is. So for now, I’m not considering it “drive to the trail and back” reliable.

I wanted an automatic locker for the rear but the goal right now is get this thing going for as cheap as possible without being a total hack job… the spool was like $80 vs a few hundred for a lunchbox. But now that it’s got an open carrier I can drop a lunchbox in later down the road.

I am looking for suggestions on the steering though - what are my cheap options? Will ZJ stuff work for now?

Also, the control arm drop brackets… at what point do I need them? I have them from the RE 5.5 kit, but I was planning on using the 3” BDS coil. I’m worried with that small of lift the drop bracket will do more harm getting hung up than good.
 
ZJ steering wouldn't work for a WJ axle.
 
I have drop brackets and 3” BDS kit on little Waggy. The lower arms are basically flat. It rides very smooth. They probably would be rock anchors if I took it in rocks “but they are so close to the tire and so beefy it is fine to hit them”. Because there is no angle to the arms, the axle seems like it is pushed forward a little extra (BDS fixed length lowers) and the sway bar got into the coils. Easily fixed with RE sway bar relocation/drop brackets too.

I don’t know what your experience is with spools. I had one years ago, street driven on 35s, and a welded 14 bolt on 37s trail only. It will burn through tire tread very fast on pavement (noted about trailering) and it pushes off road. People like to say the front locker causes pushing, but my experience is that the front will pull into the turn but the rear spool causes pushing and resistance to turning.

With a decent front axle, I would rather lock the front and leave the rear open.
 
I think I have the sway bar drop brackets in the RE kit I got, so noted on that, thanks. The brackets do look beefy. I guess I can try without them and add them later?

I don’t have experience with spools, but this definitely isn’t set as the final iteration of the build. I figured it’ll be fine for a season of wheeling next year and then I can change some things after that. This is just meant to be done on a tight budget and the $3-400 for the rear lunchbox could easily go towards the steering that doesn’t exist.

In the future I would probably go lunchbox in the rear and possibly rebuild the front with a selectable, but I’ll worry about that once I figure out how to finish what’s in front of me.
 
Put some race car parts on tonight…
3bDWgb8.jpg

rHrjtUc.jpg


Clearance is not what I was expecting
gvHhQvz.jpg


Then I got started hanging the leafs and realized I will be needing a shackle box now…
2ZEBpWL.jpg

TYQUp2r.jpg
 
Haven’t really updated the build… but it’s up and running. Hit Mirror Lake and Bald Mountain last weekend. Did well, made it up everything under its own power. Definitely some things I want to improve upon though

C450E2BE-2663-4F5D-B1AE-248A8A338CB8.jpg B43A606B-0665-44AE-AB91-43C4906F30A2.jpg 0490A80C-338E-4282-85FE-F318270A842B.jpg 46F21FAD-0D3C-4EDB-B190-D8EFFD7F268C.jpg 0E38A2C7-FFAC-4412-A162-A188C3B00134.jpg
 
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