Jeep Enthusiast Forums banner

jedired's '98 XJ Build

10K views 50 replies 12 participants last post by  jedired 
#1 ·
Back in March of 2007 I bought my first Jeep. It's a '98 XJ with 96k miles on the clock.

I'm having trouble finding pictures of the car when I first purchased it, but here are pictures from my first project...

Krylon Fusion of the Side Moldings:











Followed by a little flexing...



And then some sort of wiring short behind the dash that I can't remember now...





 
See less See more
9
#27 ·
I had to replace my starter last month. Some guy helped me Try and jump it. Luckliy i was parked right next to a Napa. I was at jack in the box. So i grabbed my Tool Box out of the back of the XJ and When to town on removing the starter. But to make that experience better it was snowing like crazy and WET! it sucked lol
 
#28 ·
Nice Jeep. Tip for next time, if your start is "going," you may be able to "shock it" back to life for one or two more starts by hitting the starter with a wrench, hammer, or something like that. Mine also went in front of an autoparts store, but I smacked it a few times and was able to get it home to my garage instead of trying to do that job in the parking lot.
 
#29 ·
Tire carrier looks sick! You have some awesome places to camp and wheel I'm pretty jealous. I'm with you on those u-joints, I thought it wouldn't take long but took the whole damn day.
 
#36 ·
Funny how someone interested in purchasing the vehicle, but offering short of the asking price, gets me motivated to fix a few things.

The parking brake equalizer was all jacked up.



Nothing a little hammering can't fix though.



And then I was actually really bummed I waited so long to fix the steering wheel being out of alignment. I ended up just needing to loosen the two bolts on the JCR drag link, then twist the drag link to adjust the length. I wasn't able to find a friend to keep an eye on the steering wheel, so I tied a towel to it so that I could see how far the adjustment went.



Still on deck:
  • Install the adjustable RE trac bar
  • Wire up the bumper lights
 
#37 ·
Turning the steering wheel from left to right, there's a little pop sound and a distinct feel in the wheel. I had a friend turn the wheel back and forth for me while I took a look at the steering. Notice how the tie rod ends rotate.

Is this normal?

I have the JCR 1-ton steering installed and never put the steering stabilizer back.

Would putting the stabilizer back help this issue?

http://img829.imageshack.us/flvplayer.swf?f=Plzlcvqxypnqjmxrcjmuawq

http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/5403/lzlcvqxypnqjmxrcjmuawq.mp4
 
#38 ·
I finally got around to creating a switch box and wiring up the bumper lights. I don't know how many different switch box wiring threads I read over countless nights, but I'm pretty sure I ended up following the FitchVA model. Here's the diagram I worked from.



Then I drew out a switch box template and cut it on an Epilog laser cutter at TechShop.







All glued up, added a little paint, some switches, and wiring leads...





Ultimately the box was just too big to fit anywhere in the cab.
 
#49 ·
JCR didn't have anything to offer produced by them, but suggested a rubber cap/plug to fit over the spindle. A quick search on McMaster hasn't turned anything up, but I'm pretty sure I could find something there. Another alternative would be to get a second bearing housing and tighten it down on the spindle when the tire carrier is not on the bumper.

I'll probably still try to sell the current bumper though and get a standard one when afterwards.
 
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