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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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#303 ·
Had a half-dozen bouts with death wobble this morning. Got an alignment this afternoon. Unfortunately, nothing was out of spec or showing wear. I'm eyeing a Moog steering stabilizer and a RC adjustable track bar.
 
#307 ·
I think 3.55s would hate 33s and I am way, way not ready to do gears as I'm still suffering the results of the lift and pending 31s. Slow down, Ghandi, you're killin' me! :D
 
#310 ·
I installed a new steering stabilizer today to try and get some instant relief on the death wobble. I was going to order a nice Moog but driving has proven so hazardous, I wanted something on it NOW so I just went with a NAPA model. It's definitely an upgrade over the stock model, which had started leaking past the seals and had about 1/2" of play before it offered any resistance. I'm still going to order an adjustable track bar but everything feels MUCH better already. Once I add the new track bar, I should have a happy Jeep.
 
#311 ·
Reinstalled my 31s. They're officially in better shape than my 235s. When I bought my XJ, it had dry-rotted Michelins with good tread. July 20th, I will have owned it for 3 years exactly. I've put around 20,000 miles on it in that time. The Michelins are now even MORE dry-rotted and still have okay tread. No more than I drive now, I will never again pay a premium for longer-lasting tires. I can't wear down the tread before the sidewall is no longer safe! Guess I'll stick with TreadWrights and see how that goes.
 
#313 ·
Thanks man! I've really enjoyed doing these little write-ups and taking pictures. Learning these things has been fun. Nothing like being a greasy geek! :laugh:
 
#314 ·
3.55s with 33s isn't too bad. The worse part of it is big hills or having to accelerate very quickly. Oh and Kevin, are you keeping those rims on the two treadwrights? They look like they'd match my four rims and then I could paint them all and not have rusty rims! lol If you are that's fine too, I'd actually like to get totally different ones.
 
#315 ·
They are off an S-10 Blazer so they're the wrong bolt pattern for us. I have a set of chrome rims at Dad's house. I haven't checked them over yet to see how well they might clean up yet but I'd part with them.
 
#318 ·
Thanks man! One day I hope to build up the courage to make my doors like yours. It's harder to get them right and keep them from leaking with the new-style hinges though.

Kinda funny. It's never been reliable but I think of the old junk dad always drove so Ma could have something new, safe and reliable and where I am in life now, getting ready to get married and thinking about kids, this is what I see myself continually patching back together. Guess I better go ahead and finish getting it like I want it if I'm going to be stuck with it. :D

Another angle, just for fun.
 
#319 ·
Same for me. Kasey has had the mustang and her newto us SUV and even though I may give her a hard time about it I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll probably never geot a vehicle that we finance or at least finance much for. Thankfully though she has the jeep bug. Maybe a jku or a wj. :) she'll be the baddest mom around.
 
#321 ·
I don't go to them because Unos sucks. They know us by now, that we come every month and how big our group us. And every month they give us like 2 people to take care of all million of us and it just doesn't work. Food is wrong, refills never come, **** that place. :laugh:
 
#323 ·
She swallowed a spider to catch the fly...

The right rear wheel cylinder was leaking. It saturated the shoes on that wheel. Replaced wheel cylinders, shoes and springs on both sides but needed to bleed the fronts as well to trip the proportioning valve. The front bleed screws were seized. PB Blaster didn't touch them. I thought about just replacing the calipers but that seemed like a lot of trouble for something so simple. In the middle of that, I lost a week to going out of town for a wedding and having to work some crazy hours. Got back to it today. I've been wanting to try this stuff for a while. I'm sold!



I wired off the rust, applied anti-seize and reinstalled them. We then bled all 4 corners with no issues and the brakes on my XJ have never been better. I'd love to do a rear disc swap but I went what I thought was going to be the quick and easy route this time. Fail!
 
#326 ·
I get up that way every so often. Never done Crozet but I'm going to try to pull off an early fall trip to Shoe Creek for my bachelor party. My buddies have an Xterra, a Bronco and a FSJ Wagoneer.
 
#331 ·
I've had problems with my dash losing connection before and giving the NO BUS error. I've tried several methods but nothing seems to last for long. What one guy did was to eliminate the cartridge-style connectors and go to small spade connectors. I'm not against doing that but DAMN it's a lot of wires. I hit everything again with some contact cleaner and made some shims to force the connectors forward, hoping for a better connection. We'll see what happens.



*Update*

As of Dec 2012, I have removed these shims. If anything, they seemed to make things worse.
 
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