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The "he who shall not be named" build

2j_macrae_z

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Mackenzie BC
Hey everyone I'm Cody, my first post on here. This is my first Jeep but I'm not new to the offroad world I've owned 3 Chevy k1500 with 3" of lift and 35s, also 3 Toyota pickups with 3" lift and 35s. However I have been outta the 4x4 game for awhile, got married, bought a house, bought wife a new car, so I couldn't afford a "fun" vehicle for awhile. However I happened to stumble across a 2000 Jeep XJ (base) for a deal I couldn't pass up, $300CAD. It's got little to no rust, never offroad, been parked for 5 years. It's got the 4.0HO, AW4, C8.25,D30. For $300 it need some work for sure, new door pins (both front doors) needs axle ujoints (came with Jeep) all new breaks front and rear (came with Jeep) and the driver fender it's a little.. Need replacing lol. I owned the Jeep for just over a week and I found a screaming deal on tires too! I'm gonna need to do a lot of work to fit them though haha but again I couldn't say no, $400CAD! They're Micky Thompson Baja Claws in a 35x12.50x15 on JK rims (dunno if I'll run adapters or just swap rims).. Also since Photobucket sucks how do I attach pictures?
 
Welcome! Sounds like a great start for a build. We’d love to see pics. I think a lot of people are using Flickr for posting. That’s who I’m using.

Get that thing built by the end of September and drive it down to Moab UT for the 35th Anniversary event!
 
Welcome! Everyone loves a good build thread!

I've been using Tapatalk for pictures since . . . the incident. It works fine for me.
 
Welcome! Sounds like a great start for a build. We’d love to see pics. I think a lot of people are using Flickr for posting. That’s who I’m using.

Get that thing built by the end of September and drive it down to Moab UT for the 35th Anniversary event!
I would absolutely LOVE to come down to Moab but it's kinda far for me. One day.. One day I'll be down there for sure!

And thanks I'll look into Flickr or Tapatalk

I've got more replies on here than I hsve on Cherokee Forum already hahah
 
Sounds like a great deal! Do some research on fitting 35s, it takes a good bit of work. If you aren’t ready to go that far you can probably sell the 35s for a profit and buy smaller. Welcome!!
 
I should also mention, this XJ doesn't not need to serve me as a daily driver. I have a 2006 Ford Escape for that, it gets me 650-700km a tank! Lol so fitting 35s I'm looking at getting a 4.5 inch lift, doing some bump stopping and I am not afraid to trim at all!

BTW thanks for suggesting tapatalk.. So much nicer using this haha

Like I said she needs a bit of work. It ain't pretty but it'll definitely serve me well for what I am going to do with it!
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Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
 
Well i learned what "its a Jeep thing" means lol it means every friggin bolt is gonna fight you to come off.. Went to work on my rear breaks, or so I thought, got 1 lug nut off, went to get the other off and I think "holy crap that's tight" busy out my air tools, nothing. But out my 3' breaker bar, nothing. Bust out some perpetrating oil, nothing. Bust out some heat, nothing. WTF who ever put these on last must have torqued them down to billion foot pounds!!

Well hour an a half later 1 tire off, 3 broken lug nuts, 1 broken tire iron, and 0 break pads hahaha thought they were just being nice by including a full drum break rebuild, no they included it because there is no breaks in the back*

Chiseled off the aluminum sleeve of the lug nut, hammered on a smaller socket, put my ratchet in a pipe (breaker bar haha) and slowly applied pressure and it broke free with a loud snap
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Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
 
Yeah, an older Jeep doesn't like to surrender its bolts without a fight - rear upper shock mounts particularly, but really almost any bolt or screw. And then there's the leaf spring bolts...

Not trying to discourage you though - looking forward to seeing the build progress.

Oh, if you haven't already done so, do yourself a favor - throw those OEM lugnuts away and get some solid ones. The two-piece ones the factory used come apart, and then it doesn't fit the wrench right. I stripped out the factory (read: crappy) lug wrench on OEM lugs that lost their caps...
 
Yeah, an older Jeep doesn't like to surrender its bolts without a fight - rear upper shock mounts particularly, but really almost any bolt or screw. And then there's the leaf spring bolts...

Not trying to discourage you though - looking forward to seeing the build progress.

Oh, if you haven't already done so, do yourself a favor - throw those OEM lugnuts away and get some solid ones. The two-piece ones the factory used come apart, and then it doesn't fit the wrench right. I stripped out the factory (read: crappy) lug wrench on OEM lugs that lost their caps...
Yeah i did my fair share of creeping other threads so since that issue with the lug nuts I've been soaking every bolt on it everyday with PB Blaster before I go to work. Thanks for the heads up, it's not discouraging me, like I said it's not my DF so if it doesn't go back together for a week or so doesn't bother me none :) my main plan is to have it driveable by winter so I can go blast some nice powder that I get up in northern British Columbia

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
 
Been awhile since I updated anything in here. Been busy working 18+ hrs a day for a couple months straight.

Made my first big purchase for the Jeep.. Finally went and picked up my 35" Baja Claws!

They were a tight fit in the wife's JKU lol. Also gonna need to get a lift and some cut off wheels for my diegrinder to get these to fit

Oh and not really related to this Jeep. My wife bought me a little something to give me some motivation to work on this thing lol.. Its a XJ grille keychain
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Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
 
Man, you've had it rough with this thing but it's really straight for what you gave for it.

Just means you get to put all the inaugural dents in it yourself.
Indeed, I knew when I was paying that cheap for it, it was gonna fight me every bit of the way 😂 oh well. It'll be a dedicated trail rig once it's all said and done

By the way my wife's JKU is a Willy's so that's become its nickname and my wife gave my XJ a nickname, Willis lol so I guess the whole "he who shall not be named" doesn't fit anymore

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
 
Well since this is a budget build it all depends on what I can afford at the time lol. Ideally I'd like a 4.5" RE Super Flex with the adjustable track bar and a hack an tap SYE. However being the main income, owning a house, vehicle payments (all the fun grown up stuff lol) I might need to just start off with a Rough Country 4.5" lift and upgrade it as I go? I dunno, know I don't wanna go too much higher than a 4.5" lift. I'm not afraid to trim and bumpstop appropriately, and eventually id like some long arms to go with my lift

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
 
Soo I know this is no where near a fast build lol bare with me. I'm on a tight budget and work on it when I can. I just purchased a used 4.5" lift kit this past weekend. It's a rough country leaf pack and a Rubicon Express 4.5" coils and Rubicon Express control arm drop brackets. Should help clear my Claws 😊 next on the list is adjustable track bar and adjustable control arms
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Except those are not RE springs!
 
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