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Kevin108's 2000 XJ Build

249K views 648 replies 93 participants last post by  soapy 
#1 · (Edited)
Kevin108's 2000 XJ Build, "Outsider"



I have really enjoyed reading others' build threads here. I didn't think I'd ever write one since I planned to leave my XJ more or less stock, but I keep doing things to it and my original plans are continually altered. With that in mind and a cold Yuengling at hand, I guess I'll start telling my story.

I started thinking about a new daily driver in May of 2009. I'd sold my 05 Corolla in December the previous year and after almost 6 months back in my 87 Silverado, I was realizing that I needed something more practical as a daily driver though I wanted a something somewhat capable as well.

I really didn't have any clue what I might wind up with, so I started a post at GlockTalk. Those guys know everything!

I have an 87 Silverado on 35s that started life as an offroad rig and wound up as a work truck for side jobs and a tow rig for hauling the ATVs. It's also been a daily driver for the last 6 months. As gas continues to creep back towards $3 a gallon, it's around-town 8 mpg has me eyeing something smaller for regular driving duties. I had an 05 Corolla that was a great car, just not at all what I needed for the places I go and the things I like to do.

My shopping specs:

$10,000 or less
Must be 4x4
At least 15 mpg
Auto tranny preferred substantially but a manual is acceptable on a sweet deal

My current train of thought is a small 4-door SUV like a Liberty, RAV4 or CRV. I don't know anything about them though, if some years were better than others, etc. Any suggestions?
The 8th reply suggested an XJ. I eyed some TJs as well but I quickly realized that they were priced about 2½ times more than an XJ of the same year even though they had essentially the same drive train and other components!

The XJ was it. Good engine, solid front axle, able to tow the ATVs, available with 4 doors, and a fantastic platform should I ever decide to build another offroad rig. Then I couldn't find one to save my life! There was nothing out there! Dealers had everything and wanted $2,000 more than their junk was worth.

Finally, after giving up and 2 months, I happened to find a CraigsList add for my XJ. After a couple of test drives, inspecting every square inch of it and a weekend of waiting on the bank to do their thing, I got to bring home my new XJ.



After a couple of days, the AC started acting up and after a couple of weeks or so, the blower quit completely. I was really aggravated that these problems hadn't surfaced during the test drives but such is life with a 10-year-old rig. I rode around for days with a multimeter in the passenger seat and after pulling the blower out all together, I found the problem to be the plug going into the blower motor resistor.

At some point the blower had gone bad overheating the resistor. Both of those had been replaced. When the resistor overheated, it ruined the plug as well but that didn't stop a previous owner, which was not the guy I bought it from, from faking a fix.



I'm yet to find the proper plug but the insulated spade connectors I added that fit tightly on the resistor contacts are working great.

Around the same time, I installed a Curt Class III receiver on the rear along with a wiring harness for the trailer. The hitch installation was easy save for one bolt on the heat shield between the muffler and the gas tank. I managed to strip the guts of a cheap ratchet and even with Snap-On stuff, a 2' breaker bar and an impact wrench, it was still hard to get that bolt out. The wiring made up for the hitch's difficulty by being plug and play.



After I got the hitch installed, I made a test run towing my ATVs at highway speeds on the interstate on a 105° day. I got my transmission temps up to 191° so I started shopping transmission coolers. I bought a 25,000 lb-rated unit and set it up in front of the mechanical fan so that it always had some amount of air moving over it.


Mounting location


I sleeved the upper hose. I felt that wind could make it make contact with the condenser. I also split a section of hose and wrapped around the opening of the hole to protect the active hoses.


The view from underneath


Where the hoses meet the hard lines

Around the same time, I mounted a 3-D-cell Mag-Lite to the passenger side A-pillar.



A week or so after that I painted the trim.





I gave it a good wash last week and painted the wiper arms.

 
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#614 ·
Kevin,

I was doing some maintenance work on my XJ this past week and stumbled onto one of your posts. I ended up reading from start to finish! Great stuff dude....although I am a little sad at the ending. Nothing like having a spare 'fun' vehicle around. I am jealous of your rig to say the least and am very inspired by all your work and creativity.
 
#615 ·
I'm glad my thread was of use to you. Without a doubt, I have had fun installing and inventing mods and, on occasion, actually wheeling this thing. It's just the rest of the ownership that has been so troublesome.

I'm slowly prepping the XJ for Craigslist. I'm going to repaint the side molding and bumper end caps, tighten the serp belt, reinstall the front drive shaft, clean inside and out, and maybe get the tires rebalanced.

I will say, despite my years of disappointment with my XJ, this forum and NAXJA have provided no shortage of awesome, knowledgeable people. CJ7-Tim, CCKen, srmitchell, FairlanePhil, VegasGT, V1GiLaNtE, Motorcharge, ibjeepin95, and DNFJ: your builds have all been a source of inspiration and your words are taken as friendship. Thank you guys for everything!
 
#617 ·
I will say, despite my years of disappointment with my XJ, this forum and NAXJA have provided no shortage of awesome, knowledgeable people. CJ7-Tim, CCKen, srmitchell, FairlanePhil, VegasGT, V1GiLaNtE, Motorcharge, ibjeepin95, and DNFJ: your builds have all been a source of inspiration and your words are taken as friendship. Thank you guys for everything!


If you're ever passing through the Northern Virginia area adventuring, holla!
 
#618 ·
If you ever took any inspiration from my posts it's no wonder your Jeep was so troublesome. You'll be back.

This forum is like the Hotel California. You can check out any time you like but you can never leave.
 
#625 ·
I've parted out the roof basket and all the armor. $3,750 OBO.

Issues: rust on passenger side rocker panel, passenger side window is disconnected from the regulator, heat/AC only blows through defrost, tires need to be balanced, and the wiper arms are sitting on the workbench in the garage lol.

153,000 miles, 4.0, AW4, NP231, stock 3.55 gears, 3" RC lift, 31" TreadWright Guard Dogs, Hanma LEDs up front, Grote reverse lights, cowl snorkel, 2013 Optima red top, Aussie rear locker, IRO adjustable track bar, IRO H&T slip yoke eliminator, BDS shims, Rancho RS9000 shocks, new headliner, Brown Dog poly motor mounts, new Dynomax Super Turbo muffler, Quadratec molded floormats, Uniden 40 channel CB with Firestick coax and antenna.




 
#633 ·
It's a fair price to jeep people. Imo its a good price.
But to the general public none of the after market means much, so its just a jeep with rusted rockers and 153,000 for $3500.

Just be patient the right person will find it soon enough I'm sure.
 
#634 ·
Use the time till it sells to mildly remedy some of the downfalls, like the rockers. Is it surface rust or eaten through? If its surface rust, grind down both sides, buy a can of Duplicolor bedliner (eliminates the needs for color match or perfect finish), and fix the problem.
 
#635 ·
I agree that the mods add zero value for the average person. Age, miles, and rust definitely hurt the value. It's paid for, of course, but I'm throwing away money on insurance and property tax accrument to have it sit in the yard. On the rocker panel, very little of it is not surface rust. Before I had rails, I scratched the paint up a little there. It was rusty for a long time but last winter grew the spot significantly. The magnesium chloride they've started using is awful stuff. I guess I could wire brush it, POR-15 it, bondo the hole, and repaint, but I'd rather knock $500 off the price and let somebody else do it.
 
#638 ·
Sorry, gave them to a buddy.

I've got a 1" t-case drop, gauges from a 97, a rear bumper for 97-01s, a computer from a 99, an AW4 from a 99, a used Sanden AC compressor, a used camshaft position sensor for 00-01s, and maybe the upholstered stock tire cover.
 
#639 ·
Sold the AW4 tonight.

Gave dad $50 for storing it and all the times he'd helped me wrench on it.

Gave mom $50 for all the days she made me lunch and dinner as I worked to get stuff fixed on it.

$50 left to take my wife to dinner tomorrow night for all the times she picked me up when I couldn't fix it in a day and dropped me off to tackle it again.

Selling off the goodies, I've made as much off it as I'd planned.

If that ain't a happy ending to a Jeep story, I don't know what is.

 
#641 ·
Closing out our second year in the FJ, I thought I'd pop in for an update. Life has been hard, but the FJ has been amazing. I had arm surgery in 2015 and heart surgery in 2016. I'm about to close out 2017 back up to 100% and in good health.

We found some great spots along the VA/WV line in George Washington National Forest where we've explored, camped, hiked, swam, and shared many memories around a cold beer and a warm fire. Overland Expo East, Red Top Mountain State Park, Disney World, etc. This year I went to the beach and to the mountains so many times this year that I actually lost count.

My point is: the heart issue last year really put life in perspective for me and I've spent most of the year doing whatever I wanted when I wasn't at work, and I've kept work to the minimum possible.

I definitely wanted to share some pics, but the forum seems more borked than ever and isn't letting me add anything to this post. If you guys want to see what I'm up to, look me up through http://ovrlxnd.com I'm just getting started with the site, but I've got a couple years' worth of product reviews and pics to post, so I'll be dumping new stuff there regularly.

As for this build thread, I'm not going to bother fixing the pics AGAIN, but you can use a computer and make them work. It's as easy as installing the Photobucket Hotlink Fix by BridgeTroll in your favorite browser.

Firefox
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/photobucket-fix/?src=api

Chrome
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kegnjbncdcliihbemealioapbifiaedg

Opera
https://addons.opera.com/es/extensions/details/photobucket-hotlink-fix

 
#643 ·
I just read through my whole build thread because Braxton from Trailspin.TV just bought an XJ. Referenced some of my own info to throw a few tips his way. I think it's 97-98, given the full-length roof rack?



Updates since my last check-in:

Bad news - I lost my dad in December of 2018. I spaced out most of last year between working through my grief, and actually working some insane hours. Not a day goes by that I don't miss him. This year was going to be better...until COVID-19. Well, not even really the virus, mostly the paranoia and government overreach surrounding the virus.

Good news - I have been on the trail way more in any one year than I ever did the entire time I owned the XJ. I got new tires late last year. The FJ continues to ask for very little. The most work it has needed has been a $4 alternator fuse. It "died" in the driveway while I was on a 4-day weekend with temps in the low 70s. The fuse box was modified to make this a simple trail repair, and a spare is living in the glove box. My nephew is turning 6 next month. He LOVES everything offroad, already blasting all over creation on his own ATV.

If you're ever interested in what I'm up to now, check out https://ovrlxnd.com or its related social media.







 
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