[99Greenmachine]

After 2 years...it's finally time that I do the deed...

BUILD THREAD

But before I start, I want to thank some special people on here. First off...I want to thank EricsXJ and Jason West for being my *first* inspiration in going with an XJ...you guys don't know how special your rigs are to me...

Steve Fitch aka "FitchVA"---dude, you're rig is my ultimate dream...and you live in my favorite city and are a VT fan thanks...

CJ7-Tim, xjfever, justanthrjpr...you guys are my inner-tech PM circle. If I have a question, you guys get PM'd haha. Sorry if I've been a nuisance in the past.

And to ALL the other guys who I've over the past two years, bmyohn, HeavyMetal, sierradrifter, mecompco XJLI, millhouse, and the others cause there's a bunch more.

When I started 2 years ago...I knew how to change the oil and do simple things like changing fuses/bulbs tightening things lol...total NOOB lol but I seriously believe that this forum has taught me more than I would have ever learned on my own. The reason I've never joined is because I want to buy a Lifetime membership when I do...I still recommend and talk up JF to all my friends though so to the good stuff now


Background:

I bought this Jeep in July of 2007. I took these pics the day I brought it home





Probably a better description would be to say I "rescued" this thing which was stuck at this ghetto dealer called EZ Auto lol. I had spent all summer hunting for a VW Jetta TDI...a Jeep was my fallback. I also want to say that originally I wanted a TJ Wrangler, but at that time, they were still holding their value well ($10k-ish for a 1999 was common here in NC). I was also REALLY close to buying a WJ which I could've had a killer deal on. I'm glad I didn't though.

I didn't know much about Jeeps but we were driving down Capital Blvd in Raleigh NC when I saw this awesome looking Jeep sitting on the lot...at the time it was pretty sweet and I was desperate for a car so we took the plunge and I paid $7k for it. KBB and NADA value was $6950 so I figured with the roof rack, ARB bull bar, winch, and Hellas it was prob worth 7k.

So, we took it to the Jeep dealer (Leith Jeep) which was right down the road and had them inspect it. The techs that looked at it told me that it had never been offroad and that the left hub might need replacing soon but was a good looking, SOLID Jeep. So we went back and told the guys that they were going to have to fix the hub and the A/C that was broken or we were walkin. Well they claimed they fixed it, but needless to say, they never fixed anything.

It but it was such a hassle dealing with these clowns that we just wanted to get the Jeep and go ASAP. BTW they never sent me my real license plate and my dad had to report them to the NC DMV to get them to send me a tag...talk about a bunch of bozos

I ended up with a great Jeep still, and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Since then, I honestly haven't done too many things to it. In about a year and a half, saved ~$2600 from my high school job (scanned a lot of groceries lol) to spend on the jeep. HOWEVER we had (and still have) TWO mortgage payments and my XJ is on a loan...guess who had to pay for my jeep my freshman year of college: me. So all that money I saved basically went towards a $185 a month payment and gas which was high up until January. When I got home for the summer, I had ~$500 left that's depressing.

BUT, I have done some mods which I will highlight trying to remember the order.

-My XJ didn't come with covers for the Hellas...that was the first mod I did next to pulling the spare off the top. Also relocated the two front Hellas


-Added a CB and Firestik ANT...only pic that shows ANT


-Added PowerAid TB spacer...don't hate it was $75

-added home brew discos



-Sound deadening (pic/writeup to come )
-Sport to Limited conversion (in progress)
-Put front fogs on stock foglamp switch (pics to come along with writeup)

That's about it for the mods. I bought a Rusty's TC skid, but after a while (and an EPIC FAIL installation attempt), I decided I wanted the Treks (T&T) belly LA system in the future and never put it on. I sold it last week on here.

BTW before I forget, here are the specs as she sits now:

Year: 1999 Cherokee XJ Sport 4 door 4WD
Engine: 4.0L 242ci
Tranny: AW4
TC: NP 242J
Axles: HP D30 3.55 Open/ C8.25 3.55 Open
Suspension: ProComp 3" lift 3" in front/2" AAL in the rear ---OFFICIALLY SUCKS
Mods: ARB bumper, Tabor 9k (has never worked...am fixing see below), ARB snorkel, Yakima Roofrack, (4) Hella, CB and Firestik ANT, Poweraid TB Spacer, box K&N filter, homebrew discos.

[99Greenmachine]

PLANS:

So, what are my plans???? Well after sitting around gathering info, I have been up and down on what I want to do...Here is the official FINAL plan

-RE 6130 4.5" w/ OME shocks
-Treks Bellypan/LA upgrade
-33x12.5x15 BFG KM2
-4.56 gears
-Aussie (or equivalent) in D30
-AJs rock rails
-JCR Steering
-Riddler Diff Covers
-D44 Swap

Should be ~$3000 not too bad IMO

That should get me on the trail...or at least the REAL trails...not little swamp paths like I'm used to.

Here is the CURRENT state of what needs immediate attention on my Jeep...these are issues that need fixing or a deep diagnostic.

-first are leaf springs



hands down. When I bought the Jeep in 2007, the ProComp 3" AAL was still doing "OK"

2 years later, especially since "actually" wheeling it, they are sagging REALLY badly.

My plan is to go ahead and just buy the RE 3.5" packs now and when I get the RE 6130 kit to just sell those separately. I gotta do something though soon.

-Driver-side Hub in D30...guess what? Two years later I still haven't fixed it but it needs to be done. Just going down the 2 lane roads, I'm getting a "shimmy" which is really prevalent now more than ever.\

- Fender trim...yes it needs to be done and soon. At least the rear becaue last wheeling trip the rear passenger tire flexed up into the rear quarter and bent it as well as scraped off the paint enough to cause it to rust

-replace EVAPORATOR. Yes, that's why my A/C doesn't work but I don't have the $$$ to fix the problem or the patience to tear out the whole dash. It would be nice to have some defrost again though...it's hard for me to justify fixing it when this will most likely become a trail rig when I get out of college in 3 years. I don't know, but I'll throw it in here haha.

-SYE ASAP. I have a Front DS with all new u joints...problem is i need to take it to have a Hack and Tap with the CV yoke SYE. It will happen soon. promise. I only have vibes b/w 30-40 mph...with the RE leaves it will get worse though :/

-Fix Winch...Already torn down but I am in need of a Warn M8000 donor, but I also need to get a new motor ($100 shipped) and put it back together. Nothing was worn out mechanically which is good news.

-Rebuild D44...Yes I finally found one in the JY but with 248,000 miles on the donor XJ, it's in need of some serious overhaul. I'm actually surprised though, the rust is very little

That's pretty much the plans right now...hoping to get the other house sold so I can get some more goodies.

[99Greenmachine]

Some wheelin pics!!!

First outing: September '07 some fun and SCARY memories...what a bunch of NOOBS

AFTERMATH...didn't take any on the trail




Why I Hate mud:

Here's some more random ones









My FAV!:


EDIT: Both trips were to the same place FWIW.

Also, for those of you wondering how BFG ATs do in mud, look in my pics hehe

[ajxj9197]

looks good and all the plans look good! "My plan is to go ahead and just buy the RE 3.5" packs now and when I get the RE 6130 kit to just sell those separately. I gotta do something though soon." when you said that. How long do you think till you purchase the RE 6130 kit cause it seems like that is a waste to buy the 3.5 packs when u wont beable to sell them back that close to the original price. Unless it will be a while till you buy the RE 6130 kit then i see how that makes sense.

[99Greenmachine]

Originally Posted by ajxj9197

looks good and all the plans look good! "My plan is to go ahead and just buy the RE 3.5" packs now and when I get the RE 6130 kit to just sell those separately. I gotta do something though soon." when you said that. How long do you think till you purchase the RE 6130 kit cause it seems like that is a waste to buy the 3.5 packs when u wont beable to sell them back that close to the original price. Unless it will be a while till you buy the RE 6130 kit then i see how that makes sense.

It's all in how fast we can sell our house...or till I get ~$1200 for the lift/shocks

I would rather just get the kit and run it on 31s for the time being, but I don't have the $$$ to fork down for the kit...it's a tough decision to make.

FWIW I've also considered doing a bastard pack until then but we'll see. That actually may be the route I go. I just thought that if I ran the RE 3.5 packs, that they'd be good and broken in when I put on the 4.5" lift kit (all your adding is a shackle).

[ajxj9197]

ahh i see. Depending on the way you put your bastard pack together i think that might be a better route. Only thing i see is wouldnt the rear sag quicker with the shackles so you would in the long run be where you are now with saggin rear to the front. I think a bastard pack now and get the RE 6130 kit later would be the way to go.

[4wheeler4LIFE]

Dude, if i took my jeep home with the interior as muddy as your's was in that pic, my parents would FREAK! haha

Nice jeep though.

P.S.- i'm jelous of the snorkle

[99Greenmachine]

So the one thing I'm actually working on right now other than my winch and DS/SYE combo is the D44.

Here's a pic of it when I got it home:




The rig it came off of late 80s Pioneer: **note this was taken after I pulled the axle**


Been cleaning it up and trying to strip it down so I can sandblast it. Ran into some issues last night and discovered that I need some deep sockets for this job so that's what's holding me back right now...need a deep 9/16th socket.

Look what came in the mail today thanks to Jennifer West @ JeepinOutfitters



Going to get the disk brakes for it this week hopefully. My friend has a wrecked ZJ at his house I *hope* will let me have his disk brakes. Stay tuned for updates

[99Greenmachine]

Originally Posted by 4wheeler4LIFE

Dude, if i took my jeep home with the interior as muddy as your's was in that pic, my parents would FREAK! haha

Nice jeep though.

P.S.- i'm jelous of the snorkle

I was semi-stuck/high centered in this mud hole and I was frustrated. My friend said my wheel wasn't turning...(remember, we were NOOBS and still thought 4x4 was all wheels turning at the same time )

I had the Jeep in reverse and I threw mud everywhere...that was a bad trip. It had rained the night before, but we went anyway. We ended up using our firewood logs to put under the tires. Of course it didn't help that we had a huge log get stuck under my pinion yoke .......good times... you always learn so much about your rig when you go wheeling.

[ajxj9197]

i just realized these are the first pics ive seen of your rig i swear. we have both been on the forum for abit now and i find that amusing that how much u get the d44 for?

[99Greenmachine]

Originally Posted by ajxj9197

i just realized these are the first pics ive seen of your rig i swear. we have both been on the forum for abit now and i find that amusing that how much u get the d44 for?

Well, for the past two years I've been browsing, I haven't really put any pics up but thanks haha.

It was $200 which some would consider high...that is cheap around here in NC. I know out in CO and NV you can get axles for $50-75 and that JYs have 50% off days but around here, most JYs want $300-$400 for a Dana 35

[ajxj9197]

wow rip off. ya i feel ya there are plenty off sour deals where im at. Probably has to deal with the demand of those in your area seeing as there are so many caroline jeepers

[99Greenmachine]

well, I was just so thrilled to find one...idk how to describe it. There's this mysticism surrounding the D44...I've been scouring every JY in the piedmont of NC and I finally found one. This place had like 30 of the "old style" xjs...no 97+ it's a gold mine

[ajxj9197]

i bet! all the salvage?pick n pulls here are full of dirty guys that rip ya off. they dont even let you personally look at the jeeps! they ask what you want and then go look. I think thats gay.

[99Greenmachine]

Originally Posted by ajxj9197

i bet! all the salvage?pick n pulls here are full of dirty guys that rip ya off. they dont even let you personally look at the jeeps! they ask what you want and then go look. I think thats gay.

Yes...most of the JYs I've been to are pretty open to letting you look around as long as you're not hispanic NO JOKE . Also it helps if you go with NO tools. I know the kind of JYs you're talking about though.

The best ones are the ones that AREN'T on the car part interchange and just quote off the top of their head. These crooks also deal cash $$$ so they don't have to pay taxes. You can usually negotiate with em though.