92 2 Door Build

[akendal4]

I've had this jeep for almost 6 years now. I've been mostly on Cherokeeforum with little use of until recently when I wheeled with a few members. So, let me get you up to speed with this rig.

In 2010 I bought it with the following specs:
4.0L/AW4/231
D30/ Locked D35
3" Skyjacker lift
Cragar V5 wheels
31" Maxxas Bighorns
71k original miles

Right after buying it I found that the junk yards were awesome and snagged some parts here and there for it. I also replaced all of the original audio seeing how only 1 speaker worked and I wanted a CD player.

I then wheeled it like most people do with their first 4x4...in the mud. I then quickly learned that mud sucks.

I made the doors removable and scored factory skids at a junkyard for $50




Then, one day at the junk yard I stumbled across an XJ D44 and immediately snagged it. Cost me a whole $75. I stripped it down, rebuilt and painted it. Cost me a whole $250 to do all the work myself. Then came time to swap out the locked 35. I knew I couldnt keep it laying around so I put it up for sale and sold it the next day for exactly what I had in the rebuilt 44. Pretty good deal to me.





Right after that I ordered a bumper from L&L fab and, unlike most, I went and picked up the bumper from his shop in Mt. Airy. I had it in less than a week while others were waiting for months? I also got a brand new 9k winch for $50 through my work.

 

[akendal4]

Next down the line was new tires. Went to 33" BFG A/T. I loved those tires. I went everywhere open/open with little issues. Around the same time I also swapped in seats and center console from a 97, new carpet, RE track bar/bracket, built a rear tire carrier and some sliders.




Then scored a deal on a rock krawler 3 link. Arms were used and I ordered new brackets. All came out to less than half the cost of new. At the same time I installed an SYE, and SS brake lines.



I then wheeled it like that for a while.

 

[akendal4]

After wheeling it like that for some time, I decided I wanted more. I wanted bigger tires, I wanted lockers, I wanted full widths. I found a deal on a D60 with disk brakes, 4.88s, welded, and already set up for an XJ. Bought that the morning of the URE spring jamboree last April. Right after buying that I headed to jamboree and started walking around the swap meet. There I scored a D44 front, 38s and aluminum wheels. I have a ton of pictures of this swap but I'm gonna skip to the end and just give you a list of the parts used. If there is anything specific you want to see/know, I'll be happy to post that for you.




Parts list:
73 Dodge D300 D60
-Ruff stuff +2 perches
-Weld on disk brake conversion
-Barnes anti wrap kit
79 Ford F150 D44
-Spartan locker
-Chromo Shafts
-Chevy knuckles out to convert to 8 lug
-HD diff cover
-Custom spring cups
-Warn hubs
-Modified Ford radius arms
-Barnes 7/8 Heim steering kit
38/15.5 TSLs
16.5 x 9 Alcoa mag wheels
2000 Dodge 3500 master cylinder
96 XJ brake booster
Skyjacker nitro shocks
HD offroad frame stiffeners.

 

[akendal4]

So that pretty much brings you up to speed. Current projects are a hybrid cage, new radius arms, and hydro assist. I also need to get some new tires but unsure of what I want just yet. The last picture shows how bad the binding is in the current radius arms. I pretty much always lift a tire long before the other side is stuff and the shock is fully extended.

 

[Ghost]

Welcome aboard! Was good to meet you out there. You need to come to Harlan with us this summer! It's a blast!!!!

 

[akendal4]

Welcome aboard! Was good to meet you out there. You need to come to Harlan with us this summer! It's a blast!!!!

I'm definitely going to try but I'll trailer it out there. Just the drive from Greensboro to URE is bad enough so I can't imagine a 4 hour drive.

 

[BlurpleXJ]

Looks like a capable rig. Welcome!

 

[PacificEd]

Great build thread. It's fun watching rigs evolve.

 

[akendal4]

Looks like a capable rig. Welcome!

Thanks. It is but still has some suspension tweeks to make it better.

Great build thread. It's fun watching rigs evolve.

Thanks. I hope to remember to update this one as I build haha

 

[JRT1393]

Welcome aboard! Was good to meet you out there. You need to come to Harlan with us this summer! It's a blast!!!!

I'm definitely going to try but I'll trailer it out there. Just the drive from Greensboro to URE is bad enough so I can't imagine a 4 hour drive.

Definitely come to Harlan man, when I say it's the most fun I've had on 4 wheels I mean it! You'll definitely find plenty stuff there that'll challenge you like URE can't.

Glad to finally see you on buddy!!!

 

[akendal4]

Definitely come to Harlan man, when I say it's the most fun I've had on 4 wheels I mean it! You'll definitely find plenty stuff there that'll challenge you like URE can't.

Glad to finally see you on buddy!!!

I'm gonna go ahead and get it on my calendar. I've been lurking on here for years but never really been active. I figure it's time to change that.

Also, I'm happy to see your rig back up and running man! It was down for way too long.

 

[JRT1393]

I'm gonna go ahead and get it on my calendar. I've been lurking on here for years but never really been active. I figure it's time to change that.

Also, I'm happy to see your rig back up and running man! It was down for way too long.

Awesome. And yeah man me too!! Most painful year and a half to date lol

 

[akendal4]

I picked up a set of radius arms from a Ford guy who has already wristed them. The plan is to modify those for my rig. I have also struck a few trades to get my cage finished as I don't have a tubing bender readily available to me. Also spoke with one of my buddies who manages a Firestone and hes gonna give me a deal on new tires and wheels. I'm looking at Yokohama Geolander MT+ in the 38/13.5/17 flavor and just some cheap black steel wheels. Anyone have any experience with these tires? I can get them for $301/ea which is the cheapest 38 I've been able to find.

 

[akendal4]

I'm also looking to order a set of TNT inner fender replacements.

 

[Ghost]

I picked up a set of radius arms from a Ford guy who has already wristed them. The plan is to modify those for my rig. I have also struck a few trades to get my cage finished as I don't have a tubing bender readily available to me. Also spoke with one of my buddies who manages a Firestone and hes gonna give me a deal on new tires and wheels. I'm looking at Yokohama Geolander MT+ in the 38/13.5/17 flavor and just some cheap black steel wheels. Anyone have any experience with these tires? I can get them for $301/ea which is the cheapest 38 I've been able to find.

Are you wanting a street-able tire? If not SS sell's blems on their site fro good deals. What were the H1 tires and rims? Why you change your mind from them?

 

[akendal4]

Are you wanting a street-able tire? If not SS sell's blems on their site fro good deals. What were the H1 tires and rims? Why you change your mind from them?

Yea I'm looking for something that is somewhat tolerable on the road. The XJ is my only extra vehicle so if my car should go down, I need to have that ready to go. I have looked at the SS blems but nothing in the size I want, or not enough of them I should say. I had BFG Baja T/As and stock 12 bolts. Long story short, I got had on that deal because 2 tires were trash. I then got tired of trying to get the wheels to seal. Even with new orings and trying RTV, I had a very hard time and was only able to get 2 of the 4 to hold air for any amount of time. I also didnt like how SS was my only real choice for tires besides military. Going to a 17" rim allows me to have much more options and I can still do weld on beadlocks down the road.

Also, each wheel/tire/insert combo weighed in at 133 pounds. Those tires were 37/12.5's. My current wheel and tire barely breaks 100 pounds and the tires are 38/15.5's. With the Yokohama's weighing in at 80 pounds per tire, I should net somewhere near the 100 pound mark with wheels. Saving 30 pounds per corner over the H1's makes my drive line and axles stay happy.

 

[Ghost]

Yea I can understand all that very clearly. I would love 17" rims but I also love the double bead lock.

 

[akendal4]

Yea I can understand all that very clearly. I would love 17" rims but I also love the double bead lock.

Yea the double bead lock would have been nice. But, 17" tires have a safety bead on them and are less prone to coming off the wheel like a 16.5" is notorious for. I've already had one go and it was a royal pain trying to get it to reseat. Took a good number of tries with starter fluid to get it back on.

 

[akendal4]

After months of no work to the jeep, I finally picked up a wrench over the past two days. I've had leaking axle flanges from day one and just babied them by added diff fluid every so often(not really that often as I only put about 2000 miles on it in the past 6 months). I started by changing the oil and then drained the rear diff. I installed 2" spacers so I could bring the track width of the rear to match the front. I like the look much more now and it will add extra stability being 4" wider overall.

 

[Ghost]

Is that a rear 60? I have leaky outer axle flanges for a while and tried to fix it for a while. I found out the bolts were toast and kept working there way loose after every ride. I replaced all 16 with grade 8 bolts and washers and RVT'd them and they are currently holding. You going to be at URE Saturday?