[89warwagon]

Gotta love the harbor freight $50 special auto helmet....have had mine for a few years now and don't see how I managed without an auto darkening helmet before.

Are you worried about corrosion inside the frame rails and other places on the inside where the welds for the stiffeners burned through paint/galvanizing?

I've been thinking about doing stiffeners all the way to the front but am worried that my rig will turn into a pile a dust after four or five winters.
I guess you could always get one of those ziebart-inside panel- corrosion proofing wands and shoot paint in the inside of the frame.

So are the stiffeners really noticable while driving?

[n20jeep]

awesome build....defenitly giving me some ideas

[scatcat]

Originally Posted by 89warwagon

Gotta love the harbor freight $50 special auto helmet....have had mine for a few years now and don't see how I managed without an auto darkening helmet before.

Are you worried about corrosion inside the frame rails and other places on the inside where the welds for the stiffeners burned through paint/galvanizing?

I've been thinking about doing stiffeners all the way to the front but am worried that my rig will turn into a pile a dust after four or five winters.
I guess you could always get one of those ziebart-inside panel- corrosion proofing wands and shoot paint in the inside of the frame.

So are the stiffeners really noticable while driving?

Corrosion can be addressed by a block of Zinc tied to the frame rail. they use this on sea freighters, those big steel tubs soaking in salt water. Anyway, zink is more reactive than steel so all you need to do is tie a grounding strap to a small block of zink.

[conrasm]

Originally Posted by scatcat

Corrosion can be addressed by a block of Zinc tied to the frame rail. they use this on sea freighters, those big steel tubs soaking in salt water. Anyway, zink is more reactive than steel so all you need to do is tie a grounding strap to a small block of zink.

Same idea with outboard motors. The have small zinc anodes to collect the oxidation.

[EricsXJ]

Originally Posted by MGrobe

Let me know how the sound is different on your new exhaust. I am not much for loud droning exhausts, but I could tolerate a touch louder than what the Dynomax was.

I agree the Dynomax was not loud at all and honestly it didn't sound any louder than stock IMO. And I'm with you on the loud obnoxious exhaust also. But this one might be louder than I like. I fired it up tonight and in the garage it was louder than I thought it would be. I have not driven it on the road yet so I don't know how that will be. I'm posting pics of the exhaust tonight - I think you'll enjoy. I got this one because of its compact size and cheap price. I think the Magnaflow muffler was $50 or $60 at Summit. I figured if I really hate it, I didn't waste a bunch of money on something more expensive. But I think I'll end up liking it even if it is louder than I initially wanted.

Originally Posted by Jason

Dang you Eric, guess I'll be one of the last guys around still rockin' the RE drop brackets for a while longer.

I know. Honestly I did think of you and the select drop bracket club membership I am giving up. But they were pretty good I must admit.

Originally Posted by RWKXJ

Maybe when I do the WJ swap in a week or two then you have something to be envious of on my Jeep. I have been able to keep up with you on trail so far, I guess we will see how that goes this season! Anyway, looks good when are we hitting the trail?

Good to hear from you B. I think I will be envious of your setup and am looking forward to seeing it. Let me know if you need any help. I definitely want to get out and wheel this year. That's why I'm pushing hard to get this done now. But there is quite a bit of work left for me to do.... Keep in touch!

[EricsXJ]

Originally Posted by 89warwagon

Gotta love the harbor freight $50 special auto helmet....have had mine for a few years now and don't see how I managed without an auto darkening helmet before.

For a cheap helmet it is very good I think!

Are you worried about corrosion inside the frame rails and other places on the inside where the welds for the stiffeners burned through paint/galvanizing?

I haven't thought about that particular issue actually. I am lucky because I live in such a dry climate, rust is not much of an issue here. I try and keep the road salt off it the best I can in the winter... So to answer your question, no I am not really worried about that.

So are the stiffeners really noticable while driving?

So far I've only driven it with the T&T stiffeners and yes I could already tell the difference.

[EricsXJ]

Originally Posted by scatcat

Corrosion can be addressed by a block of Zinc tied to the frame rail. they use this on sea freighters, those big steel tubs soaking in salt water. Anyway, zink is more reactive than steel so all you need to do is tie a grounding strap to a small block of zink.

I believe that is called a sacrificial anode, which is what conrasm is describing also.

[scatcat]

Originally Posted by EricsXJ

I believe that is called a sacrificial anode, which is what conrasm is describing also.

Yes. It surprising this isn't used more widely on the east coast where weather and salt are more of an issue. In fact I think I'll use it when I do the T&T stiffeners...

[EricsXJ]

So remember when I showed how my exhaust hanger was bent? Well silly me didn't realize how much that actually jacked up my exhaust! I go to install my long arms and what do I see?

Anyone else see a problem here?


After comtemplating a few different courses of action, I determined that this would be the only realistic solution:


So the next day I took a trip down to Summit Racing (they have a warehouse / retail store about 30 minutes from where I live...) to pick up a mandrel bent elbow.


That night I spent welding the exhaust. I was so sick of all the out-of-position welding on everything else that this was a welcome treat. It was very relaxing and even theraputic to sit comfortably and weld.


And to make up for all the ugly welds in this thread, I'll show one of my better ones.

[funinmud]

looks good! i cannot wait to see the finished product. Were you by any chance out and about near the freeway last saturday, i think i may have seen your xj as my father and i were comign home from oregon driving through reno!

[EricsXJ]

I don't have a clearance problem any more...


I then figured I should do something about the hangers. I cut off and ghetto-fabbed the bushing eye:


And got it attached. We'll see if it holds and I think it will do the job.


And a couple pics of the finished exhaust:




I hope the turndown right before the gas tank is okay. My gas tank skid should also act as a heat shield. Comments / advice welcome as usual.

[Cherokeekid88]

Looks awesome man! Any chance we can get a clip of how the new exhaust sounds?

[EricsXJ]

Originally Posted by funinmud

Were you by any chance out and about near the freeway last saturday, i think i may have seen your xj as my father and i were comign home from oregon driving through reno!

I drive 395 every day but my XJ has been on jackstands for a couple weeks, so I don't think that was me you saw.

[funinmud]

alrighty jsut checkin cuz i saw another dark blue one with what loked like 35s, then i saw this post and realized well i guess that wasnt his cuz its out of service. lol

[firefighter1c57]

Originally Posted by Jason, aka: Jeepin.com

Dang you Eric, guess I'll be one of the last guys around still rockin' the RE drop brackets for a while longer.

Uhm, actually, I've been using the RE's for a couple years now.