Hey guys I'm new here and to the xj. Honestly I'm not sure I've ever even driven one before this junker which made it 20 miles before I had to get a trailer to get it home. The rear end failed in Atlanta, on I-75, in the rain. Sweet.
The point of this project is really just something to do. I bought the jeep about two weeks ago and I bought a couple Mercedes om617 diesels. I'm gonna put one In (currently have a reman 4.0 if anyone can suggest where to sell it) I want to end up with a pretty serious truck. I'm gonna do ox front and rear cable lockers, lift obviously, big tires blah blah blah. I have substantial fab skills and tooling including a pneumatic tubing bender, so I may cage it as well.
Anyhow. It's a 96 4x4 manual 4.0 for now.I got it to the shop, the floor pans were trash so I cut them and the cargo area pan out. The frame rails were fairly solid except the pass rear and I cut out the factory support which was crumbly and replaced it with 1/8 plate. I bought the HD frame stiffeners and have the rears on middles tomorrow fronts after the engine is out and the front suspension is out of the way. Currently there is no rear end, rear suspension, tank, doors, or bumpers on this rig. So it's pretty close to being paint prepped. But I'd like to get it rolling before paint. So on to my first questions of the build.
I'm gonna do the 8.8 swap. But I'm not finding much info on shock mount locations and pinion angle. Can someone help with that.
I want to put the first Ox in while the rear end is out. I'm thinking a 4.56 given the rpm range of the om617. And I'm thinking 33s. Any gear ratio input?
I'm thinking of the RE 3.5 superflex with full leafs. Can I cut the fenders enough to clear 33s and is that enough lift on these for a fairly serious trail rig. I'd like to avoid the added expense of the taller lifts. But can do if necessary.
And my spring shackle mounts make me nervous because they are so thin. Do you plate those or is there a better way.
All of these have to be done to get it rolling I think. Anything I'm missing?
The point of this project is really just something to do. I bought the jeep about two weeks ago and I bought a couple Mercedes om617 diesels. I'm gonna put one In (currently have a reman 4.0 if anyone can suggest where to sell it) I want to end up with a pretty serious truck. I'm gonna do ox front and rear cable lockers, lift obviously, big tires blah blah blah. I have substantial fab skills and tooling including a pneumatic tubing bender, so I may cage it as well.
Anyhow. It's a 96 4x4 manual 4.0 for now.I got it to the shop, the floor pans were trash so I cut them and the cargo area pan out. The frame rails were fairly solid except the pass rear and I cut out the factory support which was crumbly and replaced it with 1/8 plate. I bought the HD frame stiffeners and have the rears on middles tomorrow fronts after the engine is out and the front suspension is out of the way. Currently there is no rear end, rear suspension, tank, doors, or bumpers on this rig. So it's pretty close to being paint prepped. But I'd like to get it rolling before paint. So on to my first questions of the build.
I'm gonna do the 8.8 swap. But I'm not finding much info on shock mount locations and pinion angle. Can someone help with that.
I want to put the first Ox in while the rear end is out. I'm thinking a 4.56 given the rpm range of the om617. And I'm thinking 33s. Any gear ratio input?
I'm thinking of the RE 3.5 superflex with full leafs. Can I cut the fenders enough to clear 33s and is that enough lift on these for a fairly serious trail rig. I'd like to avoid the added expense of the taller lifts. But can do if necessary.
And my spring shackle mounts make me nervous because they are so thin. Do you plate those or is there a better way.
All of these have to be done to get it rolling I think. Anything I'm missing?