[wil badger]

Well it would seem I'm back into the Jeep world sooner then getting my XM/J finished.



Bought a 94 GC Laredo with the 318 V8.I know its not the 5.9 but we can't have it all.I bought this as my new work truck for installing satellites for Dish.It does need some work .At some point it hit a deer was totaled out and rebuilt on a salvage title.I looked it over pretty good every thing is straight on it.Though the shocks are wasted as well as the control arm bushings.It is also the 249 full time case.So sooner or later that will need to be replaced with a 242 or 231 when the viscose coupler goes.For the control arms maybe some adjustable control arms and some 3" springs to get it on 31's.The way I look at even if it gets the same gas mileage as my diesel it will be saving me money.Diesel is going for almost $4 a gallon now.

[Jeepernick]

This should be fun to watch





Ready GOOOO!!!!!

[Virmagicus]

Welcome to our forum.

[madrabbitt]

lol. he welcomed you.

guess he didnt see your post count.

and i got diesel at 4.01 yesterday, dammit.

[10achik]

Good to see you back in here. Enjoy the ZJ, sounds like you got a pretty good plan for it so far.

[mailforjon]

Originally Posted by madrabbitt

lol. he welcomed you.

guess he didnt see your post count.

and i got diesel at 4.01 yesterday, dammit.

i think he meant welcome to OUR forum, as in welcome to the ZJ/WJ forum as opposed to the cherokee forum

[FlipFlop425]

hey brittney. lol. glad you came back to jeeps

[RyanZJ]

wilbadger,

After seeing what you did to your XJ on Pirate I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the ZJ. That is all.

[wil badger]

I was told when I went to safety inspection that my stock bumper cap was loose.Well we can't have that can we!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Lol

Ripped the cap off

I have the factory tow hooks on it so thats a good thing.

The crappy bumper cap


The vehicle is on a rebuilt title since it was hit by a deer so the previous owner says.


I still have the Rigid bumper that was on the XJ.Guess were thats going?



The upper mounting plate for those factory tow hooks
Passenger side still in


Drivers side removed


Said mounting plate(nut strip)

[wil badger]

Cut the factory cross member/bumper.You can see the slot I cut on the drivers side for the mounting plate to slide into.Then the nut strip back in on top of that to bolt it in.


The charcoal canister will have to be moved inboard.I will try to find a smaller one that might be a bit better fit.


A quick test fit,yes it is sitting a bit crooked in the pic.




I still have to do a bit of work.I still have to remove the lower bumper supports on the sides .Move that charcoal canister.Fix the bumper leaning back.It would seem that the front cross member is 3* off 90*.The bumper has a bolt plate on the front receiver that is currently flush to the cross member and bolt to it.So that is what is throwing off the bumper.

I still have to permanently mount the bumper.When I do I'm going to cut the center plate and angle it to level the bumper off front to rear.Then weld the bumper to the mounting plates that slide into the frame rail slots I made.

[m1chjeep]

looks like youre going to need some new tires soon

[wil badger]

So what do you think?





I got 5 free JK 18" rims with 32" Bridgestone Duelers that have an easy 3/4 of tread left on them.Of course I will have to give it some lift to fit them.The second problem is they are the new bolt pattern 5x5.So I will get some adapters to go from 5x4.5 to the 5x5 I'll need.

The down is one rim has a chipped lip so I will either have it repaired or find another one.

[dcvance87]

How on earth did you get the rims for free?????? I'm sorry if I'm drooling too much. I want to replace my black cragars with those things so bad.

[wil badger]

Some local chick lifted her rig and these were taking up space in somebodys garage and they had to go.

[kentman]

State inspections suck, but that white cap was just begging to be called out. I would have opted for a stock swap, but your swap should work just fine.

It looks like the deer hit was front passenger corner. The fender got mashed, and the light below the headlight looks off. Not that it really matters, but I would swap the headlight housings. The prior owner probably could not see the deer coming at night with the little amount of light that those lenses are letting through.

I very rarely see someone opting for a ZJ of any flavor because they are looking to save money on gas. My 4.0L ZJ is almost as bad as my 4.7L HO WJ. When I bought the ZJ, gas was $1 per gallon. The ZJ got about 30K miles per year back then.

Gas was a non-issue back then. Now, it is not a non-issue. However, it would still take about $6 per gallon before I start worrying about what vehicle I drive. I am just glad that I do not have to drive high miles anymore.