Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Figured I'd make a build thread for my jeep, it's pretty far along altough no where near done. I don't have pictures of the whole proces's in many of the mods but will grab pictures of finished products I mention. Starting at the beginning - 1998 Jeep Cherokee XJ 4.0l I6 Automatic Purchased from a fella who drove it here from Ontario (originally purchased in Alberta) This was about June 2014 Cost - $500 (^man that looks weird) To pass safety inspection it needed a steering dampener and u joints in the front axle. It also needed a patch in the floor about 2" around. Not too bad considering. I replaced front wheel bearings we doing the u joints (just cause) Cost - $350 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 So now I have my first jeep and it's all legal. Obviously it's time to start mod ding! A fella who often comes into my work (and knew about my old ram) approached me about some rims he wanted to get rid of. Originally thinking they would be for the ram I accepted. $60 I had some rims that didn't fit my ram at all but would work for the new jeep! The tires were no good and I had a set of fairly aggressive tires in the factory size behind the garage. So swapped those on and sprayed the rims flat black. I didn't clean any corrosion off since I'm so impatient and I figured they would always be dirty anyway (I was right) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Since I was running such small tires I wanted to give myself the best odds possible of making it over obsticles. So I cut a bunch of plastic off the front bumper area and then shortened the bumper by 6? Inches a side and capped it. Cost - $20 now I could hit obsticles without ripping off a ton of plastic or getting all hung up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Added some goodies in the cab Clinometer in the centre heating vent. Cleaned the center divider and edges up with a dremel and painted the panel with bed liner. Lights up with park lights. Cost - $35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Added some OE look switches. One runs my light bar (at the time it was 2x 4.5" flood lights on the cowl) the other is a cooling fan manual override. Cost - $40 Mounted my mag light on the drivers side a pillar Cost - $20 Mounted a fire extinguisher on the passenger a pillar Cost - $25 (comes with the bracket) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Swapped all the gauge and instrument lights over to red led's Cost - $5 Cobra CB radio from big stop Cost - $75 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 I removed the rear sway bar and added some front tow hooks ($15) no pictures of either. So it sat this way until I had some extra cash for bigger tires. I was really impressed with the capability of this little jeep in near stock form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sar4x4 Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Very well done! Gives me some ideas! Good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82Yota Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Looks good. Where did you get your maglight mounts? I've been wanting to do the same thing. Good job on the fire extinguisher, that should be a requirement in ALL vehicles on the road imho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 @82YotaI got the mounts for the mag light from ebay and lined the inside of the clamps with felt to keep the rattle down. The fire extinguisher if from Canadian tire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82Yota Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Nice, thanks! I too have a fire extinguisher and a mount for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 So I guess what came next was tires. 31" Goodyear wrangler Territories. I wanted to make sure I had these before my lift so I didn't look like I skipped leg day. Cost - $800 I had the lift kit in the backseat of the jeep already and I'm glad I did. I needed to install the leaf spring shackles to clear the 31''s for the drive home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Then came the lift. I was incredible Un prepared with no sway bar links or brake hoses. Ebay 3/2" lift and an extra 2" add a leaf Cost - $150 coil spacer and shackle - $50 pair of leafs - $250 3" Skyjacker shocks even with more rear lift the front sits a bit taller since a leaf on both sides was broken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sar4x4 Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 That sits her up just nice! XJs have flexy leafs in the rear, and flexy coils up front, and those tires, that is all you need to have fun and with the size of the rig, you can go places! I got my mag lite holders at the dollar store I think, they were for holding shovel/mop handles or whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 I eventually picked up some brake hoses and extended links. Brake hoses for the front are from a 1994 Chevy 2wd truck Replaced the calipers while I was at it. Cost - $50 hoses - $75 calipers Rear hose is from a 1996 dodge 4wd truck. IIRC it's 8 inches longer than stock. Cost - $45 Sway bar links are from ebay. They also allowed me to make homebrew disconnects. Cost - $90 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Cut rear quarter panels. Mostly due to rust! Cost - $free (maybe $5 for some paint) P.s. they leak like crazy! Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 At some point a buddy called me to come resuce him out by grand daddy hill. It was probably 11:30 at night and I was in bed and almost didn't even answer the phone. So off I go, I get there and pull out his Yukon xl and on out way out I was trying to show off and hydrolocked the engine. It's damn near pitch black out and my unimpressed girlfriend is with me. After another 45 minutes pulling plugs in the dark it was running enough to limp home. Soo I bought a parts jeep. Time for a new motor and trans.. woo (read sarcastically) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 I definitely recommend labeling connectors and taking lots of pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Took about a weekend to complete. And when all was said and done it worked great for a day or two. Then wouldn't start. Soo off I go to canadian tire. I bought new wires, plugs, cap, rotor and ignition coil. (It wasn't getting spark) Cost - $175 for everything installed all the parks and you guessed it. Still no spark. Checked codes and found the cam position sensor wasn't working. (Built into the distributor) swapped that out with the one from the original motor and she fired right up! Second picture shows the sensor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Speaking of the parts jeep, I bought it for $550 which hurt seeing as how my dd jeep was cheaper and in way better shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 After hydrolocking the engine I ordered a snorkel. Just a cheap Chinese ARB knockoff. Install wasn't too bad, it's not 100% water tight but it definitely slows it down. Cost $150 Stock washer fluid tank must be removed to run this snorkel. Since it's designed for a 96 and down xj. It was a few hundred dollars cheaper than the 97+ so I figured I could live with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sar4x4 Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Nice build! And stories! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawritch Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Stuff I missed / have no pics of: 46" LED light bar - $150 Tomken gas tank skid - $300 Class 3 receiver - $0 Carpet removal - $0 ($100 in bedliner) H4 bulb conversion headlights - $100 1ga battery cables - $100 Plus lots of maintanence and repairs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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