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

[thatxjguy]

How's the air flow with those vent switch pods? Been eyeing them for a while but can't deal with losing air flow during the summer.

No need to worry about airflow because you've got two good vents on either side of you, and a bunch of air flowing straight back .

Unfortunately, you just can't adjust the direction anymore.

 

[thatxjguy]

UPS came today and dropped off some goodies.

Stainless steel braided extended front brake lines, and rear shock bushings:

Those shock bushings are going to come in handy for my free rear bar pin eliminators that I'm making out of the brackets from my rear sway bar that I removed:

 

[thatxjguy]

Today I got some more goodies.

My LED rock light kits came today:

And so did my 4-AWG wiring kit from 5-90 for my 136-amp alternator:

And I just finished installing them tonight:

For those that don't know Jon Kelley (5-90) he's an amazing guy with great electrical knowledge. I talked to him about all of my concerns and he answered all of my questions thoroughly..

The quality of his cables is top-notch and better than what you'll find at the store. I highly recommend his wiring kits if you ever do a Dodge Durango alternator like I did.

 

[thatxjguy]

BDS extended brake lines:

Converted to red LED switches:

And TJ BPEs in the rear:

 

[thatxjguy]

Converted driver seat from power to manual today:

Also, installed the Hooligan 50-inch light bar brackets to replace the Inspired Engineering ones. They sit lower for a lower-profile on the Jeep. I also removed teh roof rack:

 

[Jeepedo129]

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.

I know this is from forever ago, just wanted to chime in on the HVAC box for anyone that is reading. After doing about 5 of these on different jeeps and twice on my own (bad day) I found its much easier to leave the steering colum in and just remove the steering wheel. This and for the most part, you can leave a lot of the plastic on the dash as well.

You're jeep looks sweet. I love that gun metal color :thumbup:

 

[thatxjguy]

I know this is from forever ago, just wanted to chime in on the HVAC box for anyone that is reading. After doing about 5 of these on different jeeps and twice on my own (bad day) I found its much easier to leave the steering colum in and just remove the steering wheel. This and for the most part, you can leave a lot of the plastic on the dash as well.

You're jeep looks sweet. I love that gun metal color :thumbup:

Thanks

 

[thatxjguy]

Removed the crappy Rough Country anti-sway bar quick disconnects and installed some beefy new JKS anti-sway bar quicker disconnects today:

 

[thatxjguy]

I got the braided stainless steel brake lines from BDS installed today:

 

[thatxjguy]

Scored a neoprene winch cover from tractor supply for just $16:

 

[thatxjguy]

New Bilsteins!

 

[a1racer]

Lots of redundant money spending going on with this jeep. Give it a while and all them light bars hours spent on switch panels and replacing parts with parts with parts will seem funny.

Clean jeep though looks like a solid daily driver that anybody would love. But in time the bug will bite and the grinders will come flying.

 

[thatxjguy]

Lots of redundant money spending going on with this jeep. Give it a while and all them light bars hours spent on switch panels and replacing parts with parts with parts will seem funny.

Clean jeep though looks like a solid daily driver that anybody would love. But in time the bug will bite and the grinders will come flying.

Yup, when I got the Jeep I was on a high school graduate budget. I couldn't afford quality. I ended up with Rough Country crap.

Now I have a job and I can start making some stuff happen.

I am now planning BDS 4-link long arms & Clayton springs.

But no I'm not going to buzz-saw anything. I'd buy a beater before I started trimming things on this.

 

[thatxjguy]

A complete coolant power flush seems to have fixed my temperature woes permanently. I finally have alien blood instead of mud:

Also, a new Moog tie rod end for the pitman arm and drag link to fix some slop in my steering:

And to top everything off, a set of four Cadillac horns to replace the dinky factory horns:

 

[thatxjguy]

And the Bilsteins are in.

 

[Jeepedo129]

how do you like the Bilsteins on the road? I have the FOX 2.0s and they're a little stiff for my liking.

 

[thatxjguy]

how do you like the Bilsteins on the road? I have the FOX 2.0s and they're a little stiff for my liking.

I am happy with the Bilsteins, but supposedly, Fox are better.

Anything is an improvement over the Rough Country crap I had.

 

[thatxjguy]

Did a good ol' coolant flush:

Replaced a tie rod at the pitman arm to tighten up the steering:

New leaf springs:

I also removed the shackle relocation kit temporarily until I find a decent sized shackle that won't add 1.5 inches of lift in the rear and will still clear the brackets.

These fixed a problem where the bushing was sliding out of one of the eyes:

New valve cover gasket went in:

New valve cover grommets and valves:

And also just did new front axle U joints. I went with Spicer 760X joints:

 

[thatxjguy]

New Timken hub bearings are in on both sides:

New flex joint bushings on all the control arms:

And to top it all off, new axle upper control arm bushings:

 

[PhotoJared]

Rustys shackles are .75" lift and pretty beefy. I have them installed with the HD no lift shackle brackets.