- Location
- Henderson, NV
X2^
2000 XJ - Daily Driver/Expedition Build
- Thread starter Tony_SS
- Start date
Tony_SS
NAXJA Supporting Vendor
- Location
- Washington MO
Fair enough... I will have to reassess when I get closer that phase.
I did a bunch of stuff and am just now getting a chance to take and post pics.
Cowl hood was painted... surprisingly the silver matches pretty darn good. Better than what I was expecting.
I kept the vent black
major flecs
I painted the grille and headlight buckets the same satin charcoal grey as the side and rear trim. And painted the inset satin black. When I get a front bumper it will be done in the same bedliner and my lower rockers.
Rear JKS boomerang shackles and 3.4-4.5" Bilsteins installed - the ride is SOOOOO much nicer! It lifted the rear an 1" higher so I'm putting ACOS up front so I can fine tune the adjustment when I add the front bumper.
A better shot of the Curt tube hitch.. I like how it tucks under fairly well.
I figure at this point I can trim and add 32's or 33's.
I did a bunch of stuff and am just now getting a chance to take and post pics.
Cowl hood was painted... surprisingly the silver matches pretty darn good. Better than what I was expecting.
I kept the vent black
major flecs
I painted the grille and headlight buckets the same satin charcoal grey as the side and rear trim. And painted the inset satin black. When I get a front bumper it will be done in the same bedliner and my lower rockers.
Rear JKS boomerang shackles and 3.4-4.5" Bilsteins installed - the ride is SOOOOO much nicer! It lifted the rear an 1" higher so I'm putting ACOS up front so I can fine tune the adjustment when I add the front bumper.
A better shot of the Curt tube hitch.. I like how it tucks under fairly well.
I figure at this point I can trim and add 32's or 33's.
- Location
- Henderson, NV
Seriously clean, gives me the chills. That hood is a major sexy factor.
Tony_SS
NAXJA Supporting Vendor
- Location
- Washington MO
A word of advice - when installing a trans cooler, never use unidentified hose. Mine started to "weep" and leak mystery oil. It turns out I used heater hose on the return line. Big mistake. I replaced it with specific trans oil hose and all is good.
Thanks! Only issue with the hood is it hits the wiper arm when I raise it up... so I lost a little clearance but I'm ok with that. I have to redo my hood struts for that setup on the new hood now.
Thanks! Only issue with the hood is it hits the wiper arm when I raise it up... so I lost a little clearance but I'm ok with that. I have to redo my hood struts for that setup on the new hood now.
iluv83vettes
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Houston
I'll take it off your hands and give you one that won't have that problem.
CAJJ93XJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Roseville, CA
your jeep is absolutely gorgeous man. you may have mentioned earlier, but where did you get the cowl hood?
Tony_SS
NAXJA Supporting Vendor
- Location
- Washington MO
Thank you, I got if off of craigslist... some guy had it new in box for sale.. lucky day for me.
clean4drxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- CT.
there is no problem with dropping the trans pan, no interrferrence..
BTW is that a Reflexxions Hood? I have had one on my jeep for about 7 years, it works awsome for cooling but sucks in the rain when it cold, you'll need to keep the blower on cause it tends to fog up the windshield quick!
BTW is that a Reflexxions Hood? I have had one on my jeep for about 7 years, it works awsome for cooling but sucks in the rain when it cold, you'll need to keep the blower on cause it tends to fog up the windshield quick!
- Location
- Wasatch Range
A strip of flexible magnetic sign material, cut to match the contour of the cowl vent will solve this issue. Slap it on in the winter, peel it off when the weather warms.
BTW, sharp looking Jeep. Makes me want a cowl hood on my Silver 2000........
Talyn
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Radford, Communistwealth of Virginia
If you get the chance could you take a pic of the underside of the hood? I would like to see there the hood release bell crank falls in relation to the raised cowl.
Tony_SS
NAXJA Supporting Vendor
- Location
- Washington MO
Thanks, that is a great idea.
Sure. I need to take some new pics anyway.. I've added a few small things upfront.
In other news I was proud of the Jeep yesterday. We took it down to the river.. the wife suggested I drive it down on the sand and gravel banks. So foolishly I did only to get it stuck on a bank.. halfway freaking out because I storm was coming and the river can be prone to flash flooding, I'm thinking to myself WTF!!! I reverse it and was able to come back down the way I came in. Crisis averted. Then I remembered why I go no where in 4WD. I took my front driveshaft out! DUH. Thankfully I was able to break loose and get back up the bank . However, one thing that's odd to me, is I've done all the external tests and there's no sign I have an LSD, but both of my rear wheels were making ruts in the sand as I was trying to break loose. Not sure how that happened.
Note to self: Apply yellow tape on the transfer case gear shift ASAP before I do something stupid again.
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Talyn
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Radford, Communistwealth of Virginia
LOL.. Don't forget to air down the tires too.
MagicNelson
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- New Jersey
Ha! I did the same thing a few weeks back. I was driving around a sand pit and forgot I had my front driveshaft out. Couldn't make it up the hill to get out without some good speed. It's such a helpless feeling!
clean4drxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- CT.
this was quite a while ago but this is the hood, my jeep no longer looks that clean(paints aged)
Demonoid369
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Salem, OR
Sounds like you need to crack that axle open and see, give ya a good reason to change the diff oil any how
Tony_SS
NAXJA Supporting Vendor
- Location
- Washington MO
So it turns out I DO have the factory trac-lok in there which is pretty cool except I bought a new unit already! I will just sell this old one if anyone is interested...
I'm also doing a rear ZJ brake swap and have been taking my time. So far it's going well. I bought new wheel studs since the existing ones would be too short. I just got another set of front studs and put them in the back. Worked perfect, but you have to get the front studs from an 00-01. I now have 1.25 to mount the wheel on instead of 7/8 I had with the drums. I mixed up the axles so I'm not sure if they went back in the right spot or not.. hope that doesn't cause an issue.
I also added the long rear brake hose from a YJ. Right now I'm working on retrofitting the factory XJ e-brake cables to the ZJ levers... its going good so far and I'll post a pic when done. I'm an e-brake stickler so I want to make sure these babies are adjusted well and tight. When I"m done with that I'll route the brake lines and mount the calipers. I ditched the rear sway bar and am using those brackets already on the leaf pack to mount the brake hoses. I'll post up final pics when it's complete. I can't wait to see the improvement because the stock set up SUCKS. I do have the proportional valve from a ZJ but was going to wait to put that in, since I would have to bleed the fronts too. So I'll just do the back and give it a go for now.
The other issue is getting the rear diff filled up with fluid... i have the back end raised but the angle still makes it hard to get it all in there... any tricks to that?
I'm also doing a rear ZJ brake swap and have been taking my time. So far it's going well. I bought new wheel studs since the existing ones would be too short. I just got another set of front studs and put them in the back. Worked perfect, but you have to get the front studs from an 00-01. I now have 1.25 to mount the wheel on instead of 7/8 I had with the drums. I mixed up the axles so I'm not sure if they went back in the right spot or not.. hope that doesn't cause an issue.
I also added the long rear brake hose from a YJ. Right now I'm working on retrofitting the factory XJ e-brake cables to the ZJ levers... its going good so far and I'll post a pic when done. I'm an e-brake stickler so I want to make sure these babies are adjusted well and tight. When I"m done with that I'll route the brake lines and mount the calipers. I ditched the rear sway bar and am using those brackets already on the leaf pack to mount the brake hoses. I'll post up final pics when it's complete. I can't wait to see the improvement because the stock set up SUCKS. I do have the proportional valve from a ZJ but was going to wait to put that in, since I would have to bleed the fronts too. So I'll just do the back and give it a go for now.
The other issue is getting the rear diff filled up with fluid... i have the back end raised but the angle still makes it hard to get it all in there... any tricks to that?
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- Location
- Henderson, NV
O Reilly's ( or napa, autozone) sell an attachment that screws on to the oil bottle and it gives you a hose so you don't have to try and pour it in with a funnel.
This one is actually from Walmart, you get the idea.
Click here for cool flotool oil pourer thing...
This one is actually from Walmart, you get the idea.
Click here for cool flotool oil pourer thing...
Tony_SS
NAXJA Supporting Vendor
- Location
- Washington MO
ZJ Brakes Installed with Working Parking Brakes - wahooo
I picked up a kit from user BigDavid off of cherokeeforum and it was perfect.. everything included that I needed to make the swap. Great kit if anyone is looking.
It's all pretty straight forward, just time consuming. You will have to open up the axle mounting hole and one other thing I didn't know is the bolt holes don't perfect line up. So I used the mounting studs from the ZJ (supplied with kit) on one side and dremeled open the other holes a bit and used some grade 8 bolts, nuts and lock washers.
Install new parking brake pads while you're at it.
Here's the fun part... I used my existing XJ parking brake cables. Drilled a 1/4" hole and used a ubolt bracket. You do have to cut off about 1" of the spring. On the bracket, cut off the tips as shown in the vice pic.
Do all of the parking brake work FIRST, BEFORE you mount the calipers.. its SO much easier.
Notice the hose clamp used too. Make sure you cut enough spring so that when you pull the p.brake all the way, it has room to compress all the way without binding. Final mounting should look like this:
Calipers on, hard lines bolted up. Ziptie used to secure the bracket to the u-bolt.
You need longer wheel studs!!! I bought a new set of FRONT studs from a 2000 xj and just used those in the rear axles. I now have 1.25" of stud instead of the 7/8" I had with my drums. You must the fronts from an 00-01 as they are the correct length.
I also installed a new YJ rear hose that's about 3" longer... all done, time to bleed!
Conclusion... A lot better stopping power for sure. Worth the time and effort esp if you're running bigger tires and/or towing.
I need to install the prop valve from a ZJ. I have it and it came with the kit, but I didn't feel like bleeding the fronts. So I'll do that later... I was anxious to shake down the rears and see how much that improved things. I hear with the ZJ prop valve its gives the rears a bit more pressure they deserve and makes it all that much better.
I picked up a kit from user BigDavid off of cherokeeforum and it was perfect.. everything included that I needed to make the swap. Great kit if anyone is looking.
It's all pretty straight forward, just time consuming. You will have to open up the axle mounting hole and one other thing I didn't know is the bolt holes don't perfect line up. So I used the mounting studs from the ZJ (supplied with kit) on one side and dremeled open the other holes a bit and used some grade 8 bolts, nuts and lock washers.
Install new parking brake pads while you're at it.
Here's the fun part... I used my existing XJ parking brake cables. Drilled a 1/4" hole and used a ubolt bracket. You do have to cut off about 1" of the spring. On the bracket, cut off the tips as shown in the vice pic.
Do all of the parking brake work FIRST, BEFORE you mount the calipers.. its SO much easier.
Notice the hose clamp used too. Make sure you cut enough spring so that when you pull the p.brake all the way, it has room to compress all the way without binding. Final mounting should look like this:
Calipers on, hard lines bolted up. Ziptie used to secure the bracket to the u-bolt.
You need longer wheel studs!!! I bought a new set of FRONT studs from a 2000 xj and just used those in the rear axles. I now have 1.25" of stud instead of the 7/8" I had with my drums. You must the fronts from an 00-01 as they are the correct length.
I also installed a new YJ rear hose that's about 3" longer... all done, time to bleed!
Conclusion... A lot better stopping power for sure. Worth the time and effort esp if you're running bigger tires and/or towing.
I need to install the prop valve from a ZJ. I have it and it came with the kit, but I didn't feel like bleeding the fronts. So I'll do that later... I was anxious to shake down the rears and see how much that improved things. I hear with the ZJ prop valve its gives the rears a bit more pressure they deserve and makes it all that much better.
Very Nice! I installed the same kit f/the same person. 
I still have the ZJ prop valve sitting on my work bench but have yet to install it going on ~ 1 year. If you install the ZJ prop valve and notice a big difference let me know.
I LOVE this mod and it has some of the best results of any other mods I've done to an XJ.
I still have the ZJ prop valve sitting on my work bench but have yet to install it going on ~ 1 year. If you install the ZJ prop valve and notice a big difference let me know.I LOVE this mod and it has some of the best results of any other mods I've done to an XJ.
Tony_SS
NAXJA Supporting Vendor
- Location
- Washington MO
O Reilly's ( or napa, autozone) sell an attachment that screws on to the oil bottle and it gives you a hose so you don't have to try and pour it in with a funnel.
This one is actually from Walmart, you get the idea.
Click here for cool flotool oil pourer thing...
Thanks.. I jacked the rear end sky high and was able to get 2 quarts in there before it started overflowing.. I hope that's enough.. I'll have to check capacity. I will have to pick one of those up though.
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