3" Rubicon Express

[Ben824]

Yeah I hear ya. Luckily up here we have a little of everything to wheel. Mud isn't the funnest thing but when its in the middle of the trail you gotta got through it if there isn't a bypass!

Thats about how it is back in North GA where my parents live. I miss living up there. And yah I know when you encounter a mud puddle in a trail you gotta hit it and might as well have some fun doing it haha but I hate just straight goin out muddin. I blew too many sensors and spent way too much money cleaning my Jeep to care to do that again.

 

[FlexdXJ]

Thats about how it is back in North GA where my parents live. I miss living up there. And yah I know when you encounter a mud puddle in a trail you gotta hit it and might as well have some fun doing it haha but I hate just straight goin out muddin. I blew too many sensors and spent way too much money cleaning my Jeep to care to do that again.

Yeah its not too good on alternators either!

 

[Ben824]

Yeah its not too good on alternators either!

I was fortunate enough not to have a problem with that. I am guessing my factory front skid helped with keeping too much water from getting to it.

 

[FlexdXJ]

I was fortunate enough not to have a problem with that. I am guessing my factory front skid helped with keeping too much water from getting to it.

Yeah, i did that before I put an OEM skid on!

 

[kendrick]

I'm on the fence again. Do I need a new drive shaft for the SYE. It seems like I will at least need the SYE. I also need new exhaust. It looks like at least 2500 in parts. Do I do it or buy a new Jeep? If I do this I'm keeping mine for a while obviously. I just think if I start this is going to be a lot of money. New tires, speedo gear, SYE and drive shaft. Im spending 3k on a 3k Jeep if I go down this road, but it will be an awesome Jeep.

 

[kendrick]

Oh, and the details. 4.0 auto 107k, front shocks shot, exhaust shot (origenal). steering stabilizer shot, A/C shot, 2" budget boost saging, dents a plenty, AE rims 15X8 looking pretty coroded. Why did they stop making the XJ?

 

[kendrick]

His name is Rocky III, not the boxer the squirell, Rocky I died at 200K, it was an 86 pioneer.

 

[Ben824]

I'm on the fence again. Do I need a new drive shaft for the SYE. It seems like I will at least need the SYE. I also need new exhaust. It looks like at least 2500 in parts. Do I do it or buy a new Jeep? If I do this I'm keeping mine for a while obviously. I just think if I start this is going to be a lot of money. New tires, speedo gear, SYE and drive shaft. Im spending 3k on a 3k Jeep if I go down this road, but it will be an awesome Jeep.

Every Jeep is different when it comes to whether or not it will need a SYE but more often is it the 96+ models that tend to suffer from bad driveline vibs at even 3" of lift but still it is hit or miss. Most likely you will be fine and have minimal vibs that you could live with or cure with just some shims to turn the rear pinion angle up some.

YES!!! you will need a new drive shaft if you do a rear SYE because you will then no longer have any slip in the driveline and have to get a CV slip driveshaft to have slip in the driveline again. If you would like to see an example of what the two different driveshafts look like then crawl under your jeep and look at the front drive shaft and compare it to the rear. The front has the the slip shaft and the Double Cardian joint at the t-case end and this is essentially what a replacement rear CV driveshaft will be like. if you are on a really tight budget and NEED a SYE then you may be able to get away with using a junkyard front driveshaft to get by for street driving until you can afford to get a quality aftermarket rear driveshaft.

Rusty's Off-Road sells a very affordable cat-back exhaust system that gives you a Flowmaster 50 series (yes 50 not 40 series) muffler and replacement exhaust pipe for I believe $150 and you can put it on in your driveway. The 50 series is a great muffler for these 4.0Ls because it is just like the 40 series but it has a special tuning chamber in it that helps cut back on the higher pitched noises from the exhaust note and gives you a more aggressive grunty sound so it doesn't sound too much like those little rice burner hondas with the nasty coffee can mufflers on them. The 50 series isn't quite as loud as the 40 series but I think it sounds better.

The thing is these jeeps are basically not worth anything anymore so what you put into it you will not get back in return other than improved performance. I bought my Jeep when I was 16 (I am 24 now) and it had 75,xxx miles on it and I paid $9100 for it (it is a 97 Country model loaded with everything but leather seats, power driver seat, and it even has the rare UpCountry suspension package with skids and limited slip rear) I have since bumped the mileage up to 184,xxx and have atleast $8500 just in parts on it and have spent that same amount or more just in maintenance and repairs. If you are afraid of putting money into low to no value vehicle then you bought the wrong vehicle but if you want a project that will bring you lots of fun a good times then what are you really losing. These are awesome and reliable vehicles that will give you lots of pride and joy to drive around. In my opinion I wouldn't invest too much in a vehicle that I wanted to keep nice and not be a beater but thats me and we are all different in a opinion on that one. Sounds like yours is in half decent shape so I say go for it.