I'm not sure if this belongs in OEM or modified, but I figure it's more appopriate here.
My 91 XJ was my daily for quite a while until I bought my truck, and now the XJ has been sitting in my driveway for probably about a year. Tried to start it, my NeverStart was dead. Went big and replaced with an Optima and now she fires up like a champ. Now that it's not my primary vehicle anymore though, I can take my time replacing things that need attention, and upgrading things along the way. I was hoping for some opinions on what I should be replacing/upgrading while I have the time. My ultimate goal is to have it be as reliable as possible given her age, driving to offroad parks and surf fishing. Any offroading done far away I would trailer it just in case I break something.
Just as a starting point, it's a 1991 with 175k, auto, NP242, D35, 4.5 Zone AAL, 32x10.50x15 Super Swamper TSL radials on stock rims. I've got a decent hole in the driver floor pan I'm in the middle of cutting out and patching, and planned to do a cut-and-fold of the rear quarters since my passenger side is half rotted out.
I'm going to try to organize my questions as best as possible.
- My leaf packs are definitely flat, with the extra leaf keeping them from being horizontal. Of course I regret not doing full packs at the start, but money was tight and I was impatient. They're separating ever so slightly as a result. Would it be better to buy new, full, lifted leaf packs for my lift height? Or can I buy OEM replacements and stick my AAL in the new pack? I've probably only put 10-15k on them over the course of 5 years or so. Also should I be looking to invest in an 8.25 axle before messing with the leaf packs since I'll need new u-bolts at the same time? What is a reasonable price for a decent shape 8.25?
- My cooling system has been a gremlin like a lot of XJs, with increasing temps at idle in summer traffic, or low speed driving on the beach in 4HI. I've already replaced my fan clutch with an OEM unit which helped a bit, but I was going to just tear out the radiator, water pump, and thermostat and replace just to be safe at my mileage. Depending on how crazy I feel I might do the heater core as well since I can faintly smell coolant when my thermostat opens up. I've read that this might be from the weep hole in the water pump, so I'd rather do the "easy" stuff first before I go doing the heater core for shits and giggles. Is there anything else that should be replaced as a preventative measure at this point?
- I was going to do a proper tune up also, but was going to include a 4-hole injector swap while I was in there. Can I just go with the 5.0 Mustang OEMs, or is it worth springing for the K Suspension 4 or 12 hole set? Is there any particular brand/upgrade I can do to my ignition system while I've got it apart?
- My steering components look like hell, so I was considering just going with a new setup, specifically the IRO or CavFab setup and an upgraded track bar. Do these improve steering feel or are they just better at taking abuse?
Is there anything I'm not thinking of that I really SHOULD do since it's been sitting and is at 175k?
If you've gotten this far, thanks. I've meant to get to these things, just never wanted to rush through them since it was my daily. I've got a lot of ideas, just need a starting point!
TL;DR: XJ's been sitting a long time. What do I replace/upgrade?
My 91 XJ was my daily for quite a while until I bought my truck, and now the XJ has been sitting in my driveway for probably about a year. Tried to start it, my NeverStart was dead. Went big and replaced with an Optima and now she fires up like a champ. Now that it's not my primary vehicle anymore though, I can take my time replacing things that need attention, and upgrading things along the way. I was hoping for some opinions on what I should be replacing/upgrading while I have the time. My ultimate goal is to have it be as reliable as possible given her age, driving to offroad parks and surf fishing. Any offroading done far away I would trailer it just in case I break something.
Just as a starting point, it's a 1991 with 175k, auto, NP242, D35, 4.5 Zone AAL, 32x10.50x15 Super Swamper TSL radials on stock rims. I've got a decent hole in the driver floor pan I'm in the middle of cutting out and patching, and planned to do a cut-and-fold of the rear quarters since my passenger side is half rotted out.
I'm going to try to organize my questions as best as possible.
- My leaf packs are definitely flat, with the extra leaf keeping them from being horizontal. Of course I regret not doing full packs at the start, but money was tight and I was impatient. They're separating ever so slightly as a result. Would it be better to buy new, full, lifted leaf packs for my lift height? Or can I buy OEM replacements and stick my AAL in the new pack? I've probably only put 10-15k on them over the course of 5 years or so. Also should I be looking to invest in an 8.25 axle before messing with the leaf packs since I'll need new u-bolts at the same time? What is a reasonable price for a decent shape 8.25?
- My cooling system has been a gremlin like a lot of XJs, with increasing temps at idle in summer traffic, or low speed driving on the beach in 4HI. I've already replaced my fan clutch with an OEM unit which helped a bit, but I was going to just tear out the radiator, water pump, and thermostat and replace just to be safe at my mileage. Depending on how crazy I feel I might do the heater core as well since I can faintly smell coolant when my thermostat opens up. I've read that this might be from the weep hole in the water pump, so I'd rather do the "easy" stuff first before I go doing the heater core for shits and giggles. Is there anything else that should be replaced as a preventative measure at this point?
- I was going to do a proper tune up also, but was going to include a 4-hole injector swap while I was in there. Can I just go with the 5.0 Mustang OEMs, or is it worth springing for the K Suspension 4 or 12 hole set? Is there any particular brand/upgrade I can do to my ignition system while I've got it apart?
- My steering components look like hell, so I was considering just going with a new setup, specifically the IRO or CavFab setup and an upgraded track bar. Do these improve steering feel or are they just better at taking abuse?
Is there anything I'm not thinking of that I really SHOULD do since it's been sitting and is at 175k?
If you've gotten this far, thanks. I've meant to get to these things, just never wanted to rush through them since it was my daily. I've got a lot of ideas, just need a starting point!
TL;DR: XJ's been sitting a long time. What do I replace/upgrade?