Project XJ

[Jeff]

Met a guy last night and picked up the following for the lift...
Pro Comp front coils from 3in lift kit - $75
Pro Comp drop pitman arm - $5
Rubicon Express rear brake line for YJ - $20
Pro Comp Trac-Bar drop bracket - $10

I also bought a set of 31X10.5X15 BFG-A/Ts off the MM board!

We are doing a custom lift, this is the front setup pretty much. We are using JK Wrangler (07+) X-S package OEM shocks all the way around. I am getting these for free from a good friend who is helping me do the lift. The rear lift will be a Chevy S-10 "Bastard Pack." This is built buy using the rear leaf springs from an S-10 and adding them to the bottom of the stock XJ top leaf. I am doing mine the best way possible and rebuilding and replacing all the bushings and hardware as we do it. It will result in a softer ride and better flex then an add-a-leaf kit would at roughly the same price. I'm getting a complete lift for a little less then a basic bolt-on kit. The basic kits do not include the drop bracket, the pitman arm, or the rear brake extension. I will post pics of all the parts and I will try to do a photo set when we actually install the kit, including before and after with the stock tires as well as the final after pic.

[Jeff]

Oh, I suppose I should post this weekend's projects.

- New tires on Anne's LHS. BFG Directional Traction T/A's
Jeep
- Install transmission cooler and service transmission
- Flush and replace coolant with red/long life coolant
- Tune-up with OEM parts, Mopar was the cheapest (for me) and OEM quality is FTW. It still has the original orange mopar wires on it...so I think its time for new ones. Someone put Bosch Platinum plugs in it, these are coming out in favor of OEM copper.

[ScottyB]

that's awesome. half the fun of projects sometimes is seeing how good of a deal you can hunt down using your resources. can't wait to see this bad boy.

[Jeff]

Well the weekend went well. Sunday was long, but I got everything I wanted to get done taken care of. I snapped a pic of the front lift bits and the brake line. Apparently the pitman arm I bought from the guy in Front Royal turned out to be a stock arm...not a drop arm as advertised. So I'm trying to get that figured out.


Anyway, I Seafoamed the thing on Saturday and I was worried someone was going to call the fire department. It looked like the shop was on fire. Even with the other problem discovered later it really made an improvement. Idle was better for sure, but still high (750).

Next up Sunday Morning was the tune-up. I used all OEM Mopar parts and original (Copper Champion) plugs. Someone had installed Bosch Platimums. During this operation I came upon my big fuel economy and high idle problem...

Something no look right!? So that was done. Idles smooth at 500 now and has TONS more pickup! No more stumble.

Trans cooler was the next project. I did a transmission service and installed a tube-fin aux cooler. Its 4 times larger then the aux cooler that came with the tow package...sized for a small RV.



Had to cut the hydraulic fittings off the trans lines, they were leaking anyway so this was two birds..one stone.


Easy project, if you ever do it just make sure to install the aux cooler on the return line to the transmission. It is more efficient and gets better cooling of the fluid. In testing my top line going in the cooler was warm, almost 'cold' coming out the bottom...trans is happy! Final pic...



The final project for the weekend was flushing the coolant. Someone had mixed red and green and the cooling system was very rusty. I flushed it twice with water and got it down to I was drawing off brown water. I just couldn't flush it any more. My hands are all cut up from getting into the dumbass place the bastards put the petcock. About killed me. Anyway, fresh green coolant in and we are on the road!



Minor projects...
Fixed windshield wiper flop, had to remove the wiper arms and motor. Tighten bolts on motor and tap c-clips into the bushings to tighten everything up...Mega win! No more jumping floppy wipers.

Installed new horns. Old horns were sorta fucked up and these were left over from the Daytona. Fiamm "El Grande"



One last pic, my friend's Jeep on the other lift. Hes been helping me with all the stuff for the lift.

[CaptainHenreh]

:thumbup: I love this project!

[ScottyB]

kick ass. looks like a tough one with that cooler peeking through the grille.

[V1GiLaNtE]

Sweet!! FYI if you're going to be home I can have those tires in your hands this up and coming sunday... :thumbup:

[Jake]

Verrrry nice job so far!! I'm a sucker for the Jeep look - before they got all soft and stuff - yours is looking awesome :thumbup:

[Jeff]

Sweet!! FYI if you're going to be home I can have those tires in your hands this up and coming sunday... :thumbup:

This puts a smile on my face. In my hands? Are you gonna run um' up here for me? :wink:

[Jeff]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW SHIIIIIII (Watch y0 mouth!)



From an 1989 S-10 long bed 2wd. Came out of a lime quarry I was told... These are soft, a huge advantage over an add-a-leaf system. It will ride like stock and still get the huge lift advantage as well as the addition of an overload leaf. They measure from the flat to the bottom of the arch 11in!



Had to wash them off.



So I have everything I need to the lift accept new u bolts and spring clamps and a transfer case drop kit.

[Feersty]

Great build Jeff. I love it. Keep up the good work. Are you gonna get sealed beam HIDs?

[Jeff]

Are you gonna get sealed beam HIDs?

[Mike]

gahaha i didn't want to have to do it. where does he get this shit from? one day he's gonna be like "haha gys, i got you so good, it was all an act! i'm the smartest mf'r you've ever met! watch me factor pi in my head!"

[ScottyB]

i was predicting a picard facepalm but you totally pulled a lolwut pear on me. nice move.

[.RJ]

[Jeff]

gahaha i didn't want to have to do it. where does he get this shit from? one day he's gonna be like "haha gys, i got you so good, it was all an act! i'm the smartest mf'r you've ever met! watch me factor pi in my head!"

Feersty and Deersty are the most epic trolls on MM....

[Goodspeed]

Holy f, Jeff with cool guy face out of nowhere!

This is my current favorite WTF-in-response-to-your-query pic:

Are you gonna get sealed beam HIDs?

Diabeetus cat is not amused.

[Jeff]

"coolface" Know your memes.

[Jeff]

So I made some quick moves and got most of my suspension prepped this weekend. I only had a few hours to spare so I was proud. I will likely re-post these same pics (remove them from this post) to build a more complete buildup. Basically the two projects underway are convert the JK shocks and build the "Bastard Packs"

JK shock mod:
Here are the stock JK shocks I got from my buddy Zach. They are from his wife's 2008 Wrangler X with the S-package (better springs and shocks, but not quite Rubicon status) They have 3000 miles on them.


Part one is simple, remove the dust covers. Why would I do that? Well, dust covers and boots trap more stuff then they keep out. This is evidenced by the fact that my OEM covers (metal) are all rusted apart while the rest of the shocks are ok. They hold in the road salts and mud. So f' um.



Easy enough! Screwdriver and they are gone. Next up is the only real mod you need to do to make them work. The rears will bolt right in. however the fronts require the installation of a bracket n the bottom of the shock where there is currently a bushing. So I must push out the metal bushing from the rubber and once I remove it from my old OEM shocks later, install the bracket. To give you an idea...


Left is obviously how they look now, I need to install a bar as shown on the right on the rear shock. Here are some pics of the pressing the bushing out.







So with that the shock project is done for now! See the poll, I think I want to paint them up while I have them out...lame I know but it does look neat. VOTE!

Anyway, next is the initial prep of the rear leaf packs. This, much like the shocks cannot really be completed until I have the oem stuff out, as I am using the top spring from the old XJ leaf pack. But prep is important and saves time later, much like cooking.

These springs are stock rear leafs from a 1989 S-10 pickup 2wd, 8ft bed. They have almost 11in of arch from the floor to the bottom of the overload leaf.



I am using the top leaf from the XJ pack so I will not need the eyes on each end of the spring. First step is to remove them with a cut-off wheel.





Next is to remove the spring clamps. I'm not sure if I am going to be re-using these or not so I just cut the bolt out of them for now.




The final step in disassembling the pack is to place it in a C-clamp of a vise and remove the center pin bolt. These are old so the answer is cutoff wheel.





Now the only thing holding the springs together is the vise...let it loose slowly...





The result of all that cutting and grinding!


Now all I need to do is clean up the leafs. I have a friend with a sandblaster, he is gonna make um purdy for me then its time for paint.

Both springs tore down. I then cleaned them with degreaser and a wire brush. I will do a better job posting the complete spring buildup once I get some parts and some more pics. Holla back!

[Jeff]

Thanks to Cabell for hooking me up with these tires at a decent price. I should have taken a pic of them next to the stockers. Right now it would almost touch the fender if I just tossed these on.