Dino's 99XJ build thread... It begins!

[Dino's 99XJ]

Looks great man. Any plans to add aftermarket fender flares and armor or are you just going to leave it as is?

Thanks man! Gonna do some wheel well molding (cover up the old holes I plugged) and leave as is, never got into the flares on a XJ, too easy to rip off. As far as armor, not worried about it, too expensive and a little bit of damage now and then just gives character to the rig!

 

[Dino's 99XJ]

snuck into the garage on Christmas for a few hours of build time, did the extended brake lines first -

went on smoothly until it came time to get the pressure up, the ds kept leaking form the inner thrust washer, pulled it off aobut 6 times and cleaned it before I said the heck with that and put one of the old washers back in there and it sealed up instantly, bad washer I guess..

then the stock steering stabilizer went away for a hd one -

took off the old tierod to put on the hd one I got from RC, that was a pain to remove 13 years of rust and dirt on the tre's and get it off, bot I did and all was well until I went to put it back in and the tre on the ps wouldn't tighten back up, the nut is spinning the bolt so buying a new one today to finish that up..

put the wheels back on the finished rear area to check out the new look, I like it!

and -

the front is about to begin...

 

[Dino's 99XJ]

woke up WAY too early this morning so I decided to head to the garage and work on the Jeep for a little bit, picked up the new TRE at Autozone yesterday and go that put on and the Tie Rod installed and the toe set again -

LOVE this HD Tie Rod, way thicker -

had some time left befor getting ready for work so I started on the front fenders, made a ton of progress for only a few minutes to spare, I am liking where it is heading!

ended up with 3-4" throughout the cut, I think there is plenty of room for puttng some bigger tires when these are worn!

until next time...

 

[in4aride]

Starting to look real good man

 

[Dino's 99XJ]

Starting to look real good man

Thanks man, it's almost a real (capable) Jeep now!

 

[Kiefer316]

What are those wheels from? Those look awesome and different!

 

[in4aride]

New JK I believe.

 

[Dino's 99XJ]

What are those wheels from? Those look awesome and different!

2013 Rubi's are coming with those, I have seen a few people on craigslist parting with them already. I love the look..

 

[Dino's 99XJ]

UPS and FED-EX both showed up bearing gifts yesterday!
Got the front and rear covers from SOLID - love these!

now I can put in my front locker!
Got these to help me finish up the rear from RockAuto -

and finished up the drivers side front fender!! loving it!!

More to come..

 

[jdxj]

Did they send you the ubolt an steering stabilizer that they didn't ship with the kit? Looking good BTW

 

[proracedriver616]

ive been noticing those wheels on jk's a lot lately, i actually really like em on your truck!

 

[adrenalinepirate]

Where did you end up picking them up at?

 

[in4aride]

ive been noticing those wheels on jk's a lot lately, i actually really like em on your truck!

Ya they look really good on there. Great choice

 

[Dino's 99XJ]

Got them on Craigslist after looking around for about 4 weeks. These ones had 14 miles and were all 5 for $1000.00.. I have seen them offered on a few sites, but most idiots want like $2000 for them with 4-8k miles too.. I think I got a descent deal.

 

[in4aride]

I think 1k for brand new wheels and tires is a deal for sure.

 

[Dino's 99XJ]

finished cutting/prepping the last fender finally last night, the new years put me behind schedule..

plan on finishing the painting on the fender and then starting on the front locker and new diff covers.

might go up on the paint on the sides, I only did the rock rail but I might go about 5 inches up the doors to make it more pronounced, not sure yet though.

until then..

 

[Dino's 99XJ]

Finished the last fender yesterday, looks great all done finally..

rear SOLID diff cover wiht black silicon gasket and new 85/140

then onto the front diff for the new SOLID cover, fluid and the Spartan Locker.. Ran into an issue on that, the cross pin would not come out past the ring gear, only about a 1/16" in the way..

said the hell with it and just tightened everything back up and left it open for now, not enough time to take the axle shafts out and do the job correctly and we have 1-2 foot of snow coming this weekend, can't cruise in the Honda!

Put the wheels on to see the finished product, STILL can not drive it since the bleeder bolts on the front will NOT come out and I jsut put on the extended brake lines, NO pressure and the brake light on the dash is on.. Gonna press hard on them and if they break, ow well new caliper time!

Overall I like the look and will finish up the bumpers and end caps soon. Gotta figure out the brakes and get my baby rolling (and stopping) again..

until next time

 

[in4aride]

Light is.from low fluid.
to get.locker in you'll need to just grind that gear down a little bit unless you want to pull the carrier.

but it looks great. i notices subaru makes a wheel similar to those as well.

 

[Dino's 99XJ]

Can I grind that one gear a little without messing up the way it matches up to the pinion too bad? I was hoping it was that easy, but didn't know if I could mess with one tooth a little..

 

[Dino's 99XJ]

I have full fluid, just none in the calipers since the bleeder won't open up. Going to just vise on it and if it gets messed up put some new bleeder valves in or buy new calipers..