[aircruiser]

well, since my old photobucket account stopped working, i figured itd be easier to have my old thread deleted and make a new one.

so back in 2006, i had my license for 2 months, my first car i bought off my parents was a 1996 chrysler sebring jx that i kept up for my mom..i bought it for $2,000. well, i realized that i needed something that can get me anywhere i want to especially in the winter (almost lost my job due to blizzards and not being able to leave the driveway in time.) so after alot of looking, i found a 99 2 door xj, bone stock, carfax for the entire life of the jeep. was owned by an older guy that lived in virginia, religous maintenance schedules, no accidents, very clean.

stock specs: 4.0, AX-15, NP231, D30HP and C8.25 29 spline no modifications what so ever.

the day i got it





a week after i got it, there was a blizzard, i was on probation for work for previous times when i couldnt make it due to the car. well, this day, half the workers couldnt show because they couldnt leave their driveway but almost getting stuck twice, i made it on time! already knew i made a great choice getting this rig!

so time for some mods, first thing was a cb, and when it was cool, the its a jeep thing sticker



then came some baja fog lights



then came herculined rockers



then came the surco roof rack



then came 4 hellas on the roof



then after realizing i need some rear recovery points, came a jcr offroad bumper



then came the lift, i was debating between a 3" or 4.5"..i decided i better go bigger then end up realizing i didnt go big enough the first time, glad i did! but i didnt have money for tires at the time so it stayed on 30s for awhile.



then one night, i was with my girlfriend and like an idiot, wheeling with my front tow hooks off while i was switching the hooks, i went into the last puddle but being spring and all the snow just melting, ended up being to deep. the water was up to about the headlights, the engine bogged and it hydrolocked before i could shut it off..my friend had her fullsize blazer down there but she had a loop tow point so there wasnt enough rope to reach me. then luckily, these big *** chevys came down one pulled me out and we tried roll starting it for some reason i dont remember why, and on one attempt, the trucks bumper slid up over mine and put a huge dent in the hatch. ended up towing it home with my friends blazer towing off the axle..i know i know, bad but its all we could do..never let any slack in the rope so all was good. here it is the day after..my custom alternator shield bent down



heres the oil after i changed it, ended up having about 7 quarts come out..whoops



then some more wheeling haha right before the soft 8s and 33s



then bought some nearly bald cooper stts off a friend for $100



well, in dresser, blew out a 33 and got my current set of 33x12.5 procomp mud terrain xtremes for $400 about 3/4 tread



and this was my graduation picture bwahahaha had the rack on for like 3 weeks and then the weight of the spare broke it. swing out in the works



and heres how she sits now as of 11/22/10




ill get some pictures of some wheeling up soon, still putting stuff on my new photobucket account

[geewally9]

This thing has come a long way from when you first joined up Looks awesome. How's the black liner do?

[aircruiser]

Originally Posted by geewally9

This thing has come a long way from when you first joined up Looks awesome. How's the black liner do?

ugh, i regret doing that...i thought it would hold up alot better than it does. when i get the mustang running enough to not have to worry about it overheating and get the suspension replaced (rides worse than the jeep), im gonna strip off the herculiner, take off the bumpers, paint the bumpers and either do a roll on or have maaco paint the jeep. the herculiner sitcks on perfectly flat surfaces, but on edges it chips real easy and i got down to bare metal and cleaned it the best i could.

[aircruiser]

heres some wheeling pics..been on 3 trips so far

Trollhaugen in dresser, WI

Apple Valley Farms in chetek, WI

Iron Range in gilbert, MN

Dresser













AVF











Iron Range















[IMG]http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad64/aircruiserxj/wheeling/378.jpg
[/IMG]



thats all ive done so far..still plan on going to dresser again over memorial day weekend and i hope to have long arms by then

next mods:

iron rock critical path long arms
new 35s (wrangler duratracs or km2s)
re-gear to 4.10s or 4.56s

[offroadnut36]

wow, I remember back when she was all one color on 5" and 30s that was quite a while ago. and DAMN she looks sexy now!

[aircruiser]

haha thanks bud yeah i like the black on red and im gonna keep it that way, just sick of dealing with herculiner. ill take scratches over chipping any day.

[offroadnut36]

no problem, and yeah id take scratches over chips any day too. Im about to go up to 33s pretty soon, i was wondering if you still have stock gears? and how much power loss did you feel?

[glo0my]

nice build, man!

[nameless]

looks good!!

what lift are you running?

[aircruiser]

Originally Posted by offroadnut36

no problem, and yeah id take scratches over chips any day too. Im about to go up to 33s pretty soon, i was wondering if you still have stock gears? and how much power loss did you feel?

yeah im running the stock 3.07s haha power loss was significant but not horrible..ill probably be going to 35s soon enough and in the future regear

Originally Posted by glo0my

nice build, man!

Originally Posted by nameless

looks good!!

what lift are you running?

thanks all, im running IROs 4.5" lift that netted me 6" in the front and its got 3.5" full packs with 1.5" lift shackles and BDS bottom leafs. IRO critical path is in the future.

[aircruiser]

so i might be getting these once the stang gets fixed up..i gotta put a rad in that, passengers seat and a shock. sooooo i dunno how long but i wanna have em on before i start school.

BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2

[offroadnut36]

Originally Posted by aircruiser

so i might be getting these once the stang gets fixed up..i gotta put a rad in that, passengers seat and a shock. sooooo i dunno how long but i wanna have em on before i start school.

BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2

Sweet! I have an 02 stang...just a v6 and I just had to rebuild the diff. carrier. lol Thanks for the reply!

[aircruiser]

oh nice man mines just a 4 banger..i think only mod will be 15s and wider tires. my 195/65/14 firestones blow big time..and they look like bicycle tires..

[backwoodz]

did u paint ur grill? i like!!

[aircruiser]

yup painted the slots silver..im diggin it too haha i gotta re-do it soon though.

ok heres the plan now..

over the summer

35x12.5 KM2s or bighorns
long arms
sye
2" coil spacers and 5.5" leafs to get me at 7" of lift
re-gear to 4.56s
then maybe OTK steering

AAAAHHHH the list never ends!!! how the hell do i get un-addicted to this??

girlfriend is starting to hate me now haha i cancelled a romantic dinner cause i wanna save for tires bwahaha

oh yeah, might install the fogs i got for xmas as rock lights this weekend..cant decide if i wanna do that or put em as reverse lights..probably will end up being rock lights..to big for reverse lights..