[imperialexpress]

Hello enthusiasts!

Within the past couple of years, I developed an interest in building out my WJ and taking it as far north as the roads go into Alaska. With this in mind, I decided to begin work on the WJ. I aim to consolidate significant progress within this thread and eventually, a photo of the WJ reaching the Article Circle in Alaska.

 

[imperialexpress]

Initially picked up this 02 WJ Limited with 76k miles a few years ago. It came with the 4.7/Quadradrive and was stock aside from the initial set of wheels I installed.

 

[imperialexpress]

Within the first 10k miles, I addressed some routine and regular maintenance. The first significant improvement was in January this year with a 242HD transfer case and the necessary rear driveshaft, which I sourced from these forums. I had never done a swap like this but it went rather well with a couple of friends and about 3-4 hours. The color comes from a CRC corrosion inhibitor, which I use extensively to combat the rust on the east coast.

 

[imperialexpress]

February 2022 and it was time to install the IRO 3" lift. I purchased the components from Kolak and opted for the Bilstein shocks this go around, Addco rear sway bar, and MOOG steering stabilizer. I managed to pick up a complete set of the exact tires I needed from a friend for free, which cut down on costs.

The top hats of the spring perches in the front were completely rusted off, which is a concern.

After two days of work, the lift and tire install was completed.

The fitment of the wheel, tire, and rear shock setup was too close for comfort. I decided to order Spidertrax 1.5" black spacers for both front and rear.

Nonetheless, the job was pretty much complete and looked solid.

Any WJ owner knows that we can't have nice things. Predictably, within 20 minutes of completing the job, I went to fill up my tank. Came outside to a new surprise.

It appeared that the water pump had enough of my shenanigans and understandably, decided to cease proper function. I know it looks bad but the coolant was some red/orange mixture, more on that later.

 

[imperialexpress]

The water pump was leaking pretty bad, not from the weep hole which was odd. I ordered a new pump, thermostat, and some radiator hoses from Rockauto to fix the latest problem.

Much easier to do without the clutch fan, though I loved that setup on my old 2000 WJ. It appeared that the water pump failure was due to corrosion around the seal. I cleaned that up and installed the new setup. Everything else was going according to plan, which is always concerning. Have you ever found yourself about to break a bolt free and you get that sense of "What if this shears off?"? Well, here is what happens when you disregard that gut feeling:

So, as I mentioned earlier, as WJ owners, really just Jeep owners in general we can't have nice things. Murphy's law decided to remind me of its existence and the lower thermostat bolt sheared off. I began drilling the bolt as straight and centered as I could.

Well, straight and centered turned out to not be so straight and centered. Normally I advocate for a proper repair but unfortunately, this would require a substantial amount of time and effort to replace this entire cover. I ran a bolt through and it's held up ever since. I absolutely refuse to remove this bolt. In hindsight, I should have used the thermostat housing to guide the drill bit and keep it centered. Oh well. It took me an absurd amount of time to reach the end of this.

 

[imperialexpress]

If you're following the timeline, the WJ was lifted in mid-February and the water pump was repaired at the beginning of March. I still hadn't taken the Jeep onto the highway or more than a few miles due to the coolant leak. Now that the Jeep was capable, it was time to hit the highway and see how the lift, tires, wheel spacers, etc were holding up. I hit the highway and it was loud. I had run this setup before and knew something was wrong, my gut told me the driver's rear wheel bearing was gone based on the location and type of sound.

This job went surprisingly smooth, replaced with USA standard gear kits on both sides and new axle retainer plates from Mopar. Time to hit the highway again.

 

[imperialexpress]

I hit the highway and no surprise still heard some wheel-bearing noise from the front. I had an old Timken hub from a few years ago and ordered a second one.

Can't tell from this but in the video, I took there was a decent bit of play that seemed to be causing the noise. At the end of March, I replaced both front wheel bearing/hub assy's with Timken's. Time to hit the highway again.

That Timken from the shelf? Well, go figure, it was defective or something. Still had bearing noise coming from that wheel at highway speeds. I replaced it again and finally, the Jeep was considerably quiet at 65-70 mph. Goal accomplished.

Not pictured here but at this point, all brake calipers, rotors, and pads had been replaced. The front steering linkage was replaced. This was something I deemed necessary simply as preparation for cross-country driving. With that being said, I'm sure these wheel bearings will take a brutal beating on some of the roads as I make my way north/west.

 

[imperialexpress]

Oxidized headlights suck and I prefer the black/amber housings vs the chrome/clear. With that said, in May of 2022, the next job was more or less cosmetic but I wanted fresh headlights for the road. I also had a set of tow hooks that had been on my shelf for years and installed those.

When I replaced my rear calipers, the fluid looked like coca-cola. Not good. I had the brake system flushed and was extremely impressed with the results. The flush used Dot 4.

 

[imperialexpress]

Now that most of the maintenance had been completed, I felt it was time for the roof rack and to add sound deadener under the carpet. It's June of 2022 and the clock is ticking down until my projected departure. I had already installed Kilmat into the doors, which made a noticeable improvement. I gutted a good bit of the interior and installed Kilmat. I noticed standing water which I recently traced out to the A/C drain, a future fix.

I was going to do the rear but it appeared to be more work than it was worth after I drilled out one of the tie-down rivets. I opted out to only finish the spare tire well.

(No fuel in the gas can right now)

 

[imperialexpress]

Have you ever had one of those jobs you get sucked into with unrealistic expectations? What happens when you push past your own logic and meet those expectations?

For me, that was cycling approximately 20 gallons of distilled water and a few quarts of Prestone coolant flush through the 4.7 cooling system. Was this necessary? Absolutely not. Did I achieve almost completely clear water in the entire cooling system? Yes.

To be honest my 4.7 distillery was pretty easy to manage. I did this while I was installing sound deadener. I would drain the radiator from the draincock, refill the radiator/reservoir with water, idle and cycle for twenty minutes, let it cool for a few, drain and repeat. Each time I checked the clarity of the drained fluid until I achieved my absurd expectations. The best part is that by using this method I never had to bleed the cooling system.

Far right was the beginning, middle was the end before I began adding concentrate, far left is what I drained initially after adding concentrate. I had to further dilute the mixture slightly but overall the madness was complete. When I drained these at the dump each gallon had some black sludge or grime at the bottom, presumably from the Prestone flush. This was mid-June and concluded fluid maintenance. Differentials, transfer case, brake, power steering (I did this very lazy and used a turkey baster to remove and refill fluid with a few quarts, not perfect), and coolant fluids had been replaced or flushed to some capacity. Leaving the transmission alone.

 

[imperialexpress]

Over that same weekend, I installed a Curt roof rack and its center extension. Originally my plan was to carry my spare tire, reserve fuel (10 gal total), and other misc supplies up there. Unfortunately, due to the WJ roof capacity constraint of 150lb weight limit, I have revised my plan for this space. In the meantime, the spare will reside here.

The Jeep's finally looking ready for the Arctic.

 

[JonMopar]

Looks awesome so far. Very clean

 

[imperialexpress]

Looks awesome so far. Very clean

Thank you!

 

[NaturalState4x4]

This is a great build! Well worded, also. I have an '02 about 10 years ago and enjoyed it thoroughly. I can't wait to see how it does on your trip!

 

[imperialexpress]

I've had this fairly clean and already painted skid plate laying around for about five years, it was time to get this out of the shed.

But first, goodbye to old crusty.

Shoutout to D&E Garage from youtube for this excellent trick. Flossed the ratchet straps between the fuel tank and skid, and did this with about 1/8 of a tank.

Cleaned up the hitch receiver as best as I could with the angle grinder. Painted with POR15 and topped with CRC corrosion inhibitor. Also cleaned up the EVAP platform since that was rather rusty. Nothing says a jeep project like a warm beer, hands black from the job, and a home depot run for new bolts.

I grew tired of the passenger jacuzzi feature and decided to follow the advice within the forum. A 6-8" piece of heater hose and a worm gear clamp ended the interior water jets. For anyone else's reference, I had water draining along the underside of the A/C drain, back through the firewall, and into the passenger footwell. This seems to have corrected the problem.

Over the next few days, I will begin building the interior. The bed arrived from Amazon and it's time to get the interior framework in place. I plan to depart at the beginning of September.

 

[imperialexpress]

This is a great build! Well worded, also. I have an '02 about 10 years ago and enjoyed it thoroughly. I can't wait to see how it does on your trip!

Thank you! I have enjoyed my WJs immensely. Hoping to hold onto this one for a while. Only 90k miles.

Hoping for the best, I think all the effort will pay off!

 

[2001_Cherokee_4door]

Can't wait to see more, the WJ was always my favorite Grand Cherokee!

 

[garry green]

looks great ! keep it up buddy

192.168.100.1 192.168.1.1​

 

[imperialexpress]

The interior of the WJ is somewhat small, with this in mind, maximizing usable space was a priority for the first phase of the interior build. The bed frame is built around two parts, the mattress which is 5" x 24" x72", and accessible storage under the bed for a hijack and other gear. Unfortunately, due to the height of the platform and mattress, I can't really sit upright while on the platform.

There are two hinged access points to allow for what will be covered in the spare tire well and storage space in the rear passenger footwell. The drawer can be removed completely which, with the lid open, will provide plenty of access to the tire well. I plan to store emergency food and tools in this compartment.

To the left of the bed platform will be shelving which will go nearly to the roof of the cargo area and extend up to the ridge where the rear seats used to be.

The platform has supports that rest on this hump from the rear seating area, Additionally, there are two braces (one seen in the picture above) which are secured using the seat hardware and mounting holes. Driving around, the setup is very quiet and sturdy.

Keeping with the theme of space maximization, it made sense for there to be access here. More updates to follow in the coming weeks.!

 

[imperialexpress]

With the top hates rusted off, I could push the coil spring out and remove it without disconnecting the sway bar links. Over the past few weeks, I noticed that both front springs were offset and pushing out against the brake lines/ABS. It became apparent that this repair was necessary.

IRO sells this kit for about $60.

WJ Front Lower Coil Spring Tower Replacement - Iron Rock Off Road

I ordered the kit and today I unearthed the remnants of the coil perches. This was after I began grinding away the remains, but there wasn't much more than this when I pushed the spring out.

Once the surface was cleaned up, the new piece was welded in.

I don't know how long this will last, but it's much better than the before state.

Fortunately, my buddy had some rust paint I was able to borrow. The other side went about the same. I can feel a difference driving and am confident this will hold up for some time. Tomorrow is the A-arm and ball joint, among other small projects.