chedisme
NAXJA Member
- Location
- middletown, NY
Looks great.
BigNuge’s 99 XJ
- Thread starter BigNuge
- Start date
- Location
- NJ, U.S.A.
I edited a pic I took of my bench, the tie-ins were sitting on the bench in the pic. I painted them before bolting them up.
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Thanks for the pic - looks like you cut down a piece of box tube for a nut plate, and the bit that overlays in front of the factory bolt holes is a piece of bent plate that just bolts to the other piece?
- Location
- Seacoast NH
It was a kit I bought on eBay. How you see them in that pic is how I got them. They are super stout, made form 1/4” steel. Each tie-in grabs 5 bolt holes in the frame rails. Gonna be able to hang the truck from the rear bumper with this setup!
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- Location
- Seacoast NH
Got the IRO Hack-n-Tap in, installed it. Used the donor XJ’s front DS as the new rear DS, worked out fine.
Took the XJ for its first real ride since the motor swap and lift. Gassed it up with a full tank of fresh gas. Drove good, kinda steers all over the road. I expect it will drive a lot better after the alignment. Motor ran great, transmission shifted nice and smooth. I stepped on it several times, I was happy with how it sounded and how it pulled (for a 21 year old rig). I can say this, I’ll be looking to do some sort of LSD or locker in this thing. The one-wheel-wonder-peel is pretty useless in 2wd...lol.
Going to call and schedule the alignment for later this week. Hope to see this with the new wheels and tires on by the weekend!
My DIY rear bumper kit shows on Friday. I’d like to think I’ll be able to get started on it this weekend. I’m going to fab up my own swing-out spare carrier after the bumper is built.
Getting close!!
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Took the XJ for its first real ride since the motor swap and lift. Gassed it up with a full tank of fresh gas. Drove good, kinda steers all over the road. I expect it will drive a lot better after the alignment. Motor ran great, transmission shifted nice and smooth. I stepped on it several times, I was happy with how it sounded and how it pulled (for a 21 year old rig). I can say this, I’ll be looking to do some sort of LSD or locker in this thing. The one-wheel-wonder-peel is pretty useless in 2wd...lol.
Going to call and schedule the alignment for later this week. Hope to see this with the new wheels and tires on by the weekend!
My DIY rear bumper kit shows on Friday. I’d like to think I’ll be able to get started on it this weekend. I’m going to fab up my own swing-out spare carrier after the bumper is built.
Getting close!!
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- Location
- NJ, U.S.A.
Hm... Took a quick look, think I found it: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fits-1986-...598618?hash=item261cc7931a:g:NWoAAOSwA49c3J9i
Not bad at all - saved to my watchlist.
Thanks!
- Location
- Seacoast NH
That’s the exact ones! If you want to save $15 they will send it all pre-cut, and you weld it up. The time and effort was well worth the $15 to me...lol.
I’ll be spending some serious time welding up the DIY rear bumper as it is! I actually love fab work/welding. But I don’t mind buying small parts/brackets that are pre-fabbed to save a little time on simple parts.
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- Location
- Seacoast NH
Got the alignment scheduled for Thursday...totally stoked to see this thing come together!
Tomorrow I seam seal all cut parts/welds, prep for paint.
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Tomorrow I seam seal all cut parts/welds, prep for paint.
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- Location
- NJ, U.S.A.
Since I don't weld, the "bolt-on" option is more appealing to me. Thanks for confirming I found the right ones.
- Location
- Seacoast NH
Be aware, the factory bumper holes didn’t quite line up for me. Wasn’t a huge deal, I just opened the holes up with my drill. Other than that fit was great!
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- Location
- Seacoast NH
Got my DIY rear bumper today....
Can’t wait to get to welding this thing up!
Tomorrow the tires get mounted, alignment done, and the XJ will finally look the part! Maybe, juuuuust maybe I’ll take it on a short wheeling trip at a local spot.....
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Can’t wait to get to welding this thing up!
Tomorrow the tires get mounted, alignment done, and the XJ will finally look the part! Maybe, juuuuust maybe I’ll take it on a short wheeling trip at a local spot.....
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Empty_Pockets
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Jim Thorpe
Nice project, I would definitely consider some control arm drop brakets and a rear shackle relocation bracket if you weren't already. Will help improve the ride and flex offroad.
- Location
- Seacoast NH
Thanks. I’m definitely considering shackle boxes. I want to see where things end up once the rear bumper and tire carrier is on. If the angle still looks bad I’ll likely fab up my own relocation boxes.
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- Location
- Seacoast NH
Well, the day came and the new shoes are on. The XJ looks great, love the look and ride!
One thing though, I bought and installed a new driveshaft (complete) for the front. Obviously I’m using the same DS for both front and rear, so I decided to put the new one up front. This turned out to cause a binding problem, and I needed to pull the DS altogether. My question, has anyone with a 4.5” lift had issues using stock front DS for the front of their XJ?
I’ll be back home tomorrow, and will post pictures then. I will also be re-installing the original front DS to verify if this is just an issue with the new DS I bought.
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One thing though, I bought and installed a new driveshaft (complete) for the front. Obviously I’m using the same DS for both front and rear, so I decided to put the new one up front. This turned out to cause a binding problem, and I needed to pull the DS altogether. My question, has anyone with a 4.5” lift had issues using stock front DS for the front of their XJ?
I’ll be back home tomorrow, and will post pictures then. I will also be re-installing the original front DS to verify if this is just an issue with the new DS I bought.
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- Location
- Seacoast NH
Very happy with how it came out. It is exactly the way I was envisioning the build turning out.
I’ll be getting the old front DS back in and test drive it. If all is well then I’ll be getting a warranty replacement for the new DS I bought.
Now to get to the rear bumper and tire carrier.
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- Location
- Seacoast NH
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- Location
- Seacoast NH
Got the rockers finished up, quarters seam sealed and primed.
Just about ready for a sticker!
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Just about ready for a sticker!
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- Location
- Seacoast NH
Got the cut & fold painted (underside) with bed liner. I was planning on getting it inspected, but I can’t find the damn horns...lol. I’ll get something in there to get the sticker done.
Started on the rear bumper....got it fully welded inside, going to weld up the outside and the mounts/D-rings this week. Would like to get the bumper on those week, then I’m taking a breather on the project...gonna have fun with it for a while before moving onto the next “thing”...whatever that is.
Got to a good stopping point, got the family together and went for a little wheeling putt. Only out for an hour or so, but it was fun! The kids loved it!
There is something “clunking” in the suspension when I go over bumps at speed. Going to throw it up on the lift and check everything. Sounds like a loose shock or something...
Anyway, it was good to get it out on the trail!
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Started on the rear bumper....got it fully welded inside, going to weld up the outside and the mounts/D-rings this week. Would like to get the bumper on those week, then I’m taking a breather on the project...gonna have fun with it for a while before moving onto the next “thing”...whatever that is.
Got to a good stopping point, got the family together and went for a little wheeling putt. Only out for an hour or so, but it was fun! The kids loved it!
There is something “clunking” in the suspension when I go over bumps at speed. Going to throw it up on the lift and check everything. Sounds like a loose shock or something...
Anyway, it was good to get it out on the trail!
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- Location
- Seacoast NH
Got some more time into the bumper today....or as we say in New England, Bumpah...
Got the mounting brackets all prepped, D-Ring tabs prepped, have help coming tomorrow to help with fit up.
I should have this ready for paint tomorrow!
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Got the mounting brackets all prepped, D-Ring tabs prepped, have help coming tomorrow to help with fit up.
I should have this ready for paint tomorrow!
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- Location
- Seacoast NH
Took the XJ in for a sticker, failed on all 4 ball joints and the need for fender flares.
Got to the ball joints tonight....what a ball busting job.
Also got the bumper painted. I’m pretty happy with how it came out.
I messed up the paint a bit here and there, but overall I’m happy with it. Had to keep reminding myself that I’ll probably bang it all up on a tree/rock at some point anyway...lol.
In the end, it was a fun part of the project, but it was way more work than I was anticipating. I’m not sure I’ll do the mate to it on the front, or buy one and bolt it up....we shall see.
I’m kind of burning out on it as far as working on it. I’m ready to drive it/have fun with it some. I may be into building the DIY front bumper after a breather...
I’ll be getting the bumper mounted up tomorrow. I also for a set of Bushwacker flares to get mounted up.
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Got to the ball joints tonight....what a ball busting job.
Also got the bumper painted. I’m pretty happy with how it came out.
I messed up the paint a bit here and there, but overall I’m happy with it. Had to keep reminding myself that I’ll probably bang it all up on a tree/rock at some point anyway...lol.
In the end, it was a fun part of the project, but it was way more work than I was anticipating. I’m not sure I’ll do the mate to it on the front, or buy one and bolt it up....we shall see.
I’m kind of burning out on it as far as working on it. I’m ready to drive it/have fun with it some. I may be into building the DIY front bumper after a breather...
I’ll be getting the bumper mounted up tomorrow. I also for a set of Bushwacker flares to get mounted up.
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- Location
- Seacoast NH
Got out for some wheeling today. Found a bunch of Class VI roads locally....had a blast! The kids loved it, and the XJ did great. Got into a few frozen mud holes that I broke through. Got dicey a few times, but the XJ got us through.
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