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Little Jeep Build
- Thread starter Mach2nh
- Start date
mcguyver_xj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Grandby, MA
freakin sweet build so far wish i could wheel with adam havent had the chance yet
Well that sticks first forum i have been on that wont let you go back and edit a post after a period of time. :/ So much for adding text to each pic.
Well its a 97 Sport 4.0 auto. has 106k miles and i'm the 2nd owner. The old man i got it from took very good care of it as you can see. It sat in his driveway for 3 yrs because he got something a little better on gas. Worked 40 miles from home. The carpet hid some nasty that i knew about when i was under it poking around before i picked it up. It ended up being a little more work then i wanted it to be but it was not hard and i think it came out nice.
I call it my Little Jeep due to the fact it will only have 33s and a small lift. It must stay a road/wheeling rig. Unlike my Wrangler that is for the most part trailer only. I found that the Wrangler was to easy and boring on all but hard trails and such trails are not close so i built something small to fill a gap.
I went with a 4.5" Long Arm Rough Country lift. AHHHH Not Rough Country! I knew all about the problems many people seem to have with the lift but after looking at the parts i got it anyway. Other then the junk shocks i really dont know what peoples problems are. People say the joints are junk and going to JJ's is much better. Well its a similar setup to johnny joints but for one part i like the most. It has an adjustable preload. The other aspects to the joint are the same so... :dunno: Will always have things some people like and some people hate its just a fact of life.
After installing the lift i have put about 3k miles on her with 800 being trail miles. All is well and working great. Even my leaking shocks still work.
This will not be a hard wheeling rig and i would like to keep the body nice looking. But with that said i wanted to fix some of the problems i know of and some that may come up over time. Like Stiffs front to back and HD shackle box to replace that sheet metal one and fix my shackle angle. JCR front and rear kit bumpers and gas tank skid.
I wanted to keep the D30 but swap out the rear for a 8.8. The 30 is fine for what i will be doing with it but that didnt stop me from using up some steel kicking around. I was having fun with it and it would help keep the thing alive anyway. I didnt feel like dealing with welding to the case so i just trussed over that and did a cover tie in to keep it strong. Every part of the truss is 3/8".
WJ knuckles with 1ton over the knuckle steering. And a new track-bar setup. 4.56s and prob a aussie locker next spring. The rear is a 8.25 and i know thats a good axle for what im doing but i got the 8.8 for cheap and its an upgrade in every way.
So F it. The motor work was just to fix an oil pan gasket and i did the rear main and pump at the same time. The front cover was leaking as well so at that point i put a new chain and sprocket set in. The old one was in spec but it was on the high end so again F it.
The Jeep came with the super simple cluster and it was killing me to see it every time i drove it. So i found a TJ unit that has 190k on it. I couldnt stand seeing that many miles when i knew it had way less so i opened it up and got to work re-flashing the prom. Very simple problem to fix.
Right now come winter or spring im going to strip and sell off my Wrangler. And some parts will move over to the XJ. Most of my OBA and my NVG241OR as well. Maybe a few other small things but the rest will be sold off.
The rockers are in good shape but for one little spot. I need sliders to so im just going to cut them of and replace with 2x6 box with Uni tie ins. That will kill 2 birds and be the end of that problem for the life of the Jeep.
After the axles and rockers are done i will end up back under the hood. I have a HD radiator but i still need to add a stand alone trans and steering coolers. as well as take out some stuff that's not needed any longer.
Im prob missing some stuff but that should get you all up to speed for the most part. Next time i will add text to the pics as i post. :/
Well its a 97 Sport 4.0 auto. has 106k miles and i'm the 2nd owner. The old man i got it from took very good care of it as you can see. It sat in his driveway for 3 yrs because he got something a little better on gas. Worked 40 miles from home. The carpet hid some nasty that i knew about when i was under it poking around before i picked it up. It ended up being a little more work then i wanted it to be but it was not hard and i think it came out nice.
I call it my Little Jeep due to the fact it will only have 33s and a small lift. It must stay a road/wheeling rig. Unlike my Wrangler that is for the most part trailer only. I found that the Wrangler was to easy and boring on all but hard trails and such trails are not close so i built something small to fill a gap.
I went with a 4.5" Long Arm Rough Country lift. AHHHH Not Rough Country! I knew all about the problems many people seem to have with the lift but after looking at the parts i got it anyway. Other then the junk shocks i really dont know what peoples problems are. People say the joints are junk and going to JJ's is much better. Well its a similar setup to johnny joints but for one part i like the most. It has an adjustable preload. The other aspects to the joint are the same so... :dunno: Will always have things some people like and some people hate its just a fact of life.
After installing the lift i have put about 3k miles on her with 800 being trail miles. All is well and working great. Even my leaking shocks still work.
This will not be a hard wheeling rig and i would like to keep the body nice looking. But with that said i wanted to fix some of the problems i know of and some that may come up over time. Like Stiffs front to back and HD shackle box to replace that sheet metal one and fix my shackle angle. JCR front and rear kit bumpers and gas tank skid.
I wanted to keep the D30 but swap out the rear for a 8.8. The 30 is fine for what i will be doing with it but that didnt stop me from using up some steel kicking around. I was having fun with it and it would help keep the thing alive anyway. I didnt feel like dealing with welding to the case so i just trussed over that and did a cover tie in to keep it strong. Every part of the truss is 3/8".
WJ knuckles with 1ton over the knuckle steering. And a new track-bar setup. 4.56s and prob a aussie locker next spring. The rear is a 8.25 and i know thats a good axle for what im doing but i got the 8.8 for cheap and its an upgrade in every way.
So F it. The motor work was just to fix an oil pan gasket and i did the rear main and pump at the same time. The front cover was leaking as well so at that point i put a new chain and sprocket set in. The old one was in spec but it was on the high end so again F it.
The Jeep came with the super simple cluster and it was killing me to see it every time i drove it. So i found a TJ unit that has 190k on it. I couldnt stand seeing that many miles when i knew it had way less so i opened it up and got to work re-flashing the prom. Very simple problem to fix.
Right now come winter or spring im going to strip and sell off my Wrangler. And some parts will move over to the XJ. Most of my OBA and my NVG241OR as well. Maybe a few other small things but the rest will be sold off.
The rockers are in good shape but for one little spot. I need sliders to so im just going to cut them of and replace with 2x6 box with Uni tie ins. That will kill 2 birds and be the end of that problem for the life of the Jeep.
After the axles and rockers are done i will end up back under the hood. I have a HD radiator but i still need to add a stand alone trans and steering coolers. as well as take out some stuff that's not needed any longer.
Im prob missing some stuff but that should get you all up to speed for the most part. Next time i will add text to the pics as i post. :/
Last edited:
Hillbilly XJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Missouri Ozarks
Very nice build so far and nice work.
5-Speed XJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Sunapee, NH
nice job
831_xj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Santa Cruz
Sweet build. How and what size steel did you use on the upper passenger ca mount?
If your talking about full boxing the front its 1/8" and i used thin cardboard to make a temp. I started at the bottom and worked my way up. It has a funny bend so mid way you will need to hammer a twist to it. But its very short work. I did leave the low side open so water wouldn't sit in that spot. Just done on a mig. The side plate is just to cover the holes i made when i slid the truss through. Side plate is just 1/8 as well.
Have not updated this much in the past few months. But i did get some things done.
Pulled the little 231 and got ready to swap in the 241OR. Just a fun pic to show the size difference.
Next was to get the beast up a little higher so i could make a flat skid for in. Clocked the Tcase a good bit and it came out just the way i wanted it.
Higher than the crossmember.
Pulled the little 231 and got ready to swap in the 241OR. Just a fun pic to show the size difference.
Next was to get the beast up a little higher so i could make a flat skid for in. Clocked the Tcase a good bit and it came out just the way i wanted it.
Higher than the crossmember.
Then a ran into a problem that stopped me in mu tracks. It was at the top of the list and had to be fixed before i was going to do anything else to it.
DEATH Wobble!!!!!!
Link to the fight ----> http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1121326&highlight=death+wabble
Never did i think a pitman arm spline area would ware out when the nut was torqued. Oh well problem taken care of and i got to finish the rest of the steering and install the damper that i was holding of on. Didnt want it to be a cover up i HAD to fix the steering problem first.
I made a steering box brace and track bar mount brace as well. Both items i had on the to do list but hunting for problems i ended up making them sooner than i was planing. Oh well its off the list now.
With no more steering and track bar bind at flex the thing works WAY better. I wont need anymore flex than this. Im 6' 2"
DEATH Wobble!!!!!!
Link to the fight ----> http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1121326&highlight=death+wabble
Never did i think a pitman arm spline area would ware out when the nut was torqued. Oh well problem taken care of and i got to finish the rest of the steering and install the damper that i was holding of on. Didnt want it to be a cover up i HAD to fix the steering problem first.
I made a steering box brace and track bar mount brace as well. Both items i had on the to do list but hunting for problems i ended up making them sooner than i was planing. Oh well its off the list now.
With no more steering and track bar bind at flex the thing works WAY better. I wont need anymore flex than this. Im 6' 2"
Last edited:
- Location
- Southern Maryland
That's an interesting bracket design, why so much kick out?
Build looks good
Build looks good
We all know about trac bars and drag links needing to be parallel with each other. And ideally you want the two to be as close to the same length as possible. Only way i could pull that off with the coil mounts i had was to out board the frame side mount. Im with in 3/4".
ftwelder
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Rockinham, Vermont
Really nice work. It's a pretty truck and it's good to see you are treating it right.
N20Jeep
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- J-Ville,FL
i like it, nice build so far
