Thatxjguy's 1999 Jeep Cherokee Build 'Hole in the Pocket'

[thatxjguy]

Thanks for the pics... I need to replace my AC evaporator as it has a very slight leak. So far I've been able to get away w/adding 1 can of coolant the past 2 Summers and get by. However, this would be on my list of 'to-do' things.

Do the heater core while you're there already.

 

[thatxjguy]

I'm lucky I didn't have a vehicle fire yesterday. I guess I accidentally switched the positive and relay wires for the 12-inch light bar when putting the dash back together, and suddenly there was a bunch of smoke in the cabin when I turned it on.

I quickly ran to the garage and got the 13mm to disconnect the battery and then let it cool off, and then removed the melted wire:

I have a replacement harness on the way already!

Also, my Hi-lift jack and Lift mate came today:

The River Raider brackets to mount it behind my rear seat should be here tomorrow.

 

[thatxjguy]

My new River Raider XJ rear-seat mounts for the Hi-Lift jack came via UPS today. Here they are:

Installed them one-by-one in the factory rear seat bracket locations:

And bolted up the Hi-Lift jack (it's held on by wing nuts for finger-tight holding):

I wasn't thinking my spare tire would fit... but I'll be damned... it did...

 

[Hardkor]

Re: Re: Thatxjguy's 1999 Jeep Cherokee Build 'Hole in the Pocket'

Yeah, it's a huge pain the ass. The big thing is that you need to have a lot of time. I split this up between two days – although labor-wise, we spent 6 hours total actually doing it.

The most annoying part was probably the steering column. There are so many plugs there, and I had to be careful not to spin the wheel to prevent damage to the clock spring.

Did mine two years ago and have had a squeak ever since that drives me nuts. Wish I knew the friction tape trick and where to apply it. I will probably pull it again before winter as it squeaks a lot more when it's cold out.

Tip: you don't have to pull the steering column, just remove the two nuts under the dash and let it drop down on the seat.

Took about 5 hours the first time I did it. Pretty sure I could do it in half the time now.

 

[whitexj98]

I'm lucky I didn't have a vehicle fire yesterday. I guess I accidentally switched the positive and relay wires for the 12-inch light bar when putting the dash back together, and suddenly there was a bunch of smoke in the cabin when I turned it on.

I quickly ran to the garage and got the 13mm to disconnect the battery and then let it cool off, and then removed the melted wire:

Is that circuit not fused?

 

[thatxjguy]

Is that circuit not fused?

There is a fuse, yes, in the engine compartment. The fuse did not blow.

The smoking wires were in my cabin.

 

[whitexj98]

Not knowing how exactly its wired you either shorted to ground the main + wire for the lights or the trigger wire for the realy. Either way if they had the correct size fuse it would have blown, so you may want to check that out....

 

[thatxjguy]

Not knowing how exactly its wired you either shorted to ground the main + wire for the lights or the trigger wire for the realy. Either way if they had the correct size fuse it would have blown, so you may want to check that out....

I think I put the positive to the trigger wire. The relay kept clicking.

It was late after getting the dash put back in, so I made the booboo. At least my 50-incher wiring turned out to be A-OK.

I have a replacement wiring harness coming for the 12-incher and I'll make sure it goes together right this time.

 

[thatxjguy]

Replacement 12-inch LED light bar wiring harness came today, as well as the Hi-lift jack handle isolator:

Also, an ATP exhaust manifold replacement to fix my cracked one:

 

[thatxjguy]

Some 1.5-inch coil spacers to fix the "rake" my front end has:

 

[thatxjguy]

Today I installed the new exhaust manifold:

 

[thatxjguy]

Got my new forged track bar installed:

 

[thatxjguy]

The foam grommets that I put in with my new heater core are holding up really nicely.

Also, to prevent rust damage from the steel light bar mounts on my gutter rails, I put a nice layer of marine grade vinyl in between the bracket and the automotive paint:

 

[thatxjguy]

I got the coil spring spacers in:

It has made a difference and got the Jeep nice and leveled out:

On a side note, I think this is the lowest my oil pressure has ever been. It's never came close to this at a warm idle before. It's always been above 25.

 

[thatxjguy]

Today at the junk yard I picked up a 136 amp alternator for the Jeep. It'll be a direct swap with a little grinding:

 

[thatxjguy]

These came today:

 

[kickice24]

looks nice! Where do you stay? I recognize most of those spots. I'm near 52&19N.

 

[thatxjguy]

looks nice! Where do you stay? I recognize most of those spots. I'm near 52&19N.

You're only about 5 miles from me then

I'm closer to the mall a little south on 19.

 

[thatxjguy]

Complete brake job today front and rear. Yay shiny new rotors:

 

[thatxjguy]

Inspired Engineering's bolt-on A-pillar brackets installed today for the LED pods:

The LED pods all mounted and wired up:

All done: