Jeep Enthusiast Forums banner

Cactus Jack's NEW build thread!

18K views 129 replies 31 participants last post by  cactus_jack 
#1 ·
Woo hoo! I'm back in the driver's seat of an XJ! I had an old build thread for my old 00 xj but sadly the day came that I had to give it up. Ever since I got rid of it, I regretted every single day of it and vowed to get another XJ someday.


Just picked up a 98 DD from Craigslist. I have some cosmetic and mechanical issues to take care of before the mods start. This will be my work rig so I'll be keeping everything practical.
(In no specific order)
-Remove ugly chrome tint
-Passenger front window regulator
-Replace tie rod ends
-Fix "hard to start" issue (fuel pressure drops to 0 immediately after shutting off)
-Find replacement wheels ASAP! I absolutely HATE the gold wheels.
-Flip tires so white lettering isn't visible
-Get new passenger fender and front clip

Plans are to BB it about 3" like my last XJ. Who knows what else I'll get into with it.

Looking forward to being back on the forums :cheers2:
 
See less See more
1
#71 ·
Thanks guys. I'm very satisfied with the way it turned out. Especially with the bastard pack, seems like you never know how those things will turn out. I was worried about having to re-gear but as of right now I can't even tell a difference. Once I get my trans temp gauge installed, I'll determine if I want to re-gear based on how hot the tranny is getting on wheeling trips.

So next I'll be trimming those front fenders back a tad so I can actually steer. Then I'm taking that bent up front bumper off and will roll bumperless for a while.

Got some moderate vibes even with my 4 degree shims so I'm debating on a TC drop or full on SYE. While the vibes aren't horrible, they're bad enough to cause some damage later on down the road and I don't like buying u-joints (or anything else for that matter) so it needs fixed.
 
#73 ·
put a trans temp sensor in and replaced my crimped tranny line. Not too much else going on. Trying to decide on a decent SYE to go with a xj front driveshaft from the junkyard. Also about to herculine the floor. Oh, and a new cheapo cd player. Gotta have tunes man :thumbsup:
 
#77 ·
Haha, I will, but I'm going to try and keep it out of the deep water from now on. Too much crap to deal with afterwards, lol.

Shouldn't be too hard to get through it now though. Just need to do some more inner fender trimming before I'm ready to take it through the rough stuff. Work and college is kicking my *** so I haven't had time for much lately
 
#79 ·
So today I took the opportunity to fix some cosmetic issues that were bothering me.


New header panel painted and ready to go. ^^

Got it all done fairly easily. Also took off that old, bent up bumper. I've got an el cheapo bumper coming from eBay that I'll use for this upcoming winter.


Also took some time to trim the front fenders some more

Finished them up with some edge trim to make it look legit.


And here's my junk pile for the end of the day. I've got this adjustable track bar and bracket to install (was going to do that today) but somehow lost my damn pipe wrench so I'll take care of it this weekend.
 
#80 ·
Detours Knucklebone tire carrier installed today




Super high quality. Couldn't be more happy with it. Mark is a stand up dude and really puts his heart and soul into his products. Can't beat American made Jeep stuff!

Also primered my bumper today, probably shoot it with black and install it this weekend.

Also got some H4 conversion housings from Autopal. Might find some time for those this weekend too
 
#81 ·
Got my H4 housings installed today.


I obviously needed some new housings as these old sealed beams fell apart when I took them out.


Scored these Autopal housings on eBay.

I opted not to use the factory harness so I made my own using some 30 amp relays and 10 gauge wire. I used the diagram below courtesy of Slithering_Joe over on the TJ forum.


The difference is unreal. One of the smartest mods I've done so far. I highly recommend everyone to do it.

Also, got my bumper painted and installed today. Just an old cheapo from eBay to start off with. Going to make some relief cuts and bend it to conform with the curve of the grille.


Got some mounting brackets on the way so I can tie it into the unibody a little better as it currently mounts at the factory location only. I'll make it a winter weekend project.
 
#84 ·
It's not the best bumper in the world and lacks unibody tie-in brackets but its better than no bumper and actually looks pretty good imo.

Got it from an eBay seller by the name of "bumperbarn". It was a little over $200 shipped. Not a bad deal really if you don't plan on buying a winch anytime in the near future and don't plan on being pulled out of a huge mud hole, lol. Decent recovery point for mild pulls but nothing real heavy duty.

Only thing I don't like about it is the fact that it is one straight piece and doesn't conform with the front clip of the Jeep. A couple of relief cuts, bends and a weld would fix that right up.

I'll post some better pictures soon
 
#91 ·
It's been a weekend of wheeling for me. Yesterday went to Big Rock Offroad Park in Maysville and did some mild wheeling. Nothing too crazy. Still haven't gotten any crazy action shots (sorry). I'll make sure to bring a photographer next time!





Also, went and did some goofing off with sxysouthtx today. He's sorta new to the area and wanted me to show him where to go do some wheeling. Had a good time although the rain has made everything slick as ice.



He got some good pictures too. Post em up, Rob!
 
#96 ·
Adjustable track bar with a beefy drop bracket. Also installed some rc discos



Ground the head off and created my own puller to get these splined sway bar link bolts out


Also, fixed my "factory standard" oil leak today. Such a pain but glad I won't be seeing an oil puddle every morning
 
#97 ·
Looking good!! That the RC doublesheer? Looks like what I ran on my last '99. I had to run a drop pitman arm to get rid of bumpsteer from how much lower it dropped the mounting point. All good otherwise!
 
#98 ·
Yep it's the RC double shear. It actually puts the track bar less than an inch higher than the drag link so a drop pitman arm would be counter-productive in my case. (Bought one anyway, want to buy it? lol) I have very slight bump-steer but nothing to be concerned with so I'm happy. The rig drives very well now.
 
#99 ·
Lol ok just checkin. I was running RC 4.5" coils and has noticeable bumpsteer before the pitman swap. Didnt really bother me anyway, mainly did it so I wouldnt have to hear the wife complain when she drove it haha.

The rig has come a long way man, I remember when you first posted up pics of it sunk haha. What lift height are you at now? Ive been trying to stay at 3" and 31s but it looks like Im going to be giving in to a taller lift height yet again once warm weather gets here.
 
#100 ·
Lol ok just checkin. I was running RC 4.5" coils and has noticeable bumpsteer before the pitman swap. Didnt really bother me anyway, mainly did it so I wouldnt have to hear the wife complain when she drove it haha.

The rig has come a long way man, I remember when you first posted up pics of it sunk haha. What lift height are you at now? Ive been trying to stay at 3" and 31s but it looks like Im going to be giving in to a taller lift height yet again once warm weather gets here.
Haha yea that sucked. Sitting right about 4" with my budget boost. Been running those 33's with lots of trimming.

Sent from my MB865 using JeepForum
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top