High School/ College Student build

O

OwenSweet96

NAXJA Forum User
Location
New Hampshire
So Ive been working on this project for a few years now, and decided its time to go back and document the start of my jeep build and will continue to update as my jeep changes in the future.

Okay to start my Sophomore year of high school I got sick of driving my ford taurus and decided on something more exciting and something I could build off of. What better than a jeep XJ. So I got online checked out a bunch of jeeps and being from New England I couldn't find one without any rot. Conveniently enough on the way home from school one popped up about a mile down the road from my house for $1600. I went over that night and scooped it up.

Heres a picture of it pretty much exactly how I bought it



I then had a bit of good luck when I ran into a friend of a friend who had a 1998 xj with a blown motor that was off to the junk yard. It happened to have a 4.5 inch rubicon express short arm super flex kit that for $500 I couldn't pass up on.

Here it is, Yes it was pretty beat but for the money I could survive.

 
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So come summer before my junior year I finally had time to swap everything over. The blue xj was and abs auto with a lp dana 30 in the front and a dana 35 in the rear. I basically took the entire front and rear suspension (RE 4.5 inch Superflex) out of the red jeep in two pieces HP dana 30 and Chrysler 8.25 and put those into the blue Jeep. Along with a cheap set of 32x11.5 r15 BFG all terrains. In the process swapping out some axle seals and control arm bushings. after a front end alignment and a quick hack n tap with a front driveshaft in the rear she drove great, heres a few pics of her. I also threw on a few kc lights because I like that more old school less is more look.





 
So as time went by I experimented with a little fender trimming and rust repair. Then i decided i wanted new rims. Like I said, I like the old school look. Most people disagree with me here but I went out and bought a set of deep dish white wagon wheels. I Thought it looked pretty good.





 
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Everything was going well. Loved the way my jeep was turning out besides a few electrical issues that were holding me up, I was saving for new tires when one night I got rear ended. My rear bumper and tow hitch took the majority of the damage and everyone was fine, besides the jeep. the tow hitch bent down cracking the frame on both sides and twisting the body. obviously totaled because the jeep only had about $2200 into it at this time.



Like I said doesn't look like much damage until you get under it.
 
So surprisingly insurance treated me well, and yet again i lucked out with a pretty good deal scoring a 1997 xj rust free from colorado with around 128k on it and the two best parts, manual locks and windows (No more electrical problems) and an extra pedal (ax15 5 speed trans)



I bought the blue jeep back from insurance and took everything out of it like before. and got ready to install it all in the new red jeep. This time going up to 5.5 inches, 35x12.5 r15 BFG All Terrains and adding shackle relocations in the back

 
Some people were mad at me for taking apart such clean little jeep but I did it anyway. Here are a few pics along the way. Keep in mind this is the summer before college and I'm trying to work as much as possible to save up some serious money.



Here I've got the 35's on

And then a few bolt on accessories


 
Looks nice. It has been a while since I saw white wagon wheels. :looney:
 
So after all that this is where the Jeeps progress was left off after winter break.



Only difference being I put the old winch bumper back on it. (Hopefully a good deal on a decent 8000-12500lb winch comes my way on my local craigslist.)
 
I always looked to forums for advice but never thought to make my own build thread so i don't have many pictures of past work, I will try to document interesting projects from here on out.

Now for summer and future plans:
Necessities:
-do through the entire front axle just simple maintenance (This is the third jeep these axles have been in)
-Hub Assemblies
-Ball Joints
-Axle Seals
-Ujoints
-Rear Hack and Tap (been running the driveshaft for a little too long)
-Rubicon Express (SYE) its a hack and tap, was in my old jeep just didn't put it in yet due to driveshaft questions but now its ready to go.
-Windshield leaks (just gonna send it out because insurance covers it)
-miscellaneous bushings that have worn out over time
-Clearence fenders a bit, relocate stock flairs (I prefer the no flare trimmed fender look but can't really get away with it in my state)
-Trailer Hitch


Plans that will happen someday:
-2x6 square tubing rockers (my current rockers are starting to bubble in spots)
-Custom Long arms (Have a plan for this that i will go into some other time)
-Cut and fold rear fender
-Non dented hatch
-Rear bumper
-Some kind of snorkel
 
Really cool to see you going with a style you like and not following the masses. Build it the way you want and the way you like it, let the web wheelers whine about it if they want.
 
Sorry things have been slow. Life's been crazy Im in my second year at UNH now and moneys tight and unfortunately has been going towards books rather than the jeep.
Anyway, I have a few updates
Over the summer I completely redid my Dana 30
-New Ball Joints
-New U Joints
-Wheel bearings/ Hub assemblies
-Axle Seals
-Inner
-Outer tube caps
-Painted Axle and Knuckles



 
Didn't think to take pics at the time, ill get better ones next time I get the jeep up up on the lift. Anyway I got back from school for winter break and decided the 35s were just a little too big for me, I was sick of the fronts rubbing at full lock and decided to see what I could trade them for. I got a pretty decent deal on a set of 33x12.5r15 Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs. I don't know very much about them but so far I like the look of the 33s and tread looks pretty good too
Heres a little before and after:





The 33s are feel awesome, way lighter, steer better, brake faster, I'm happy. They don't look too much smaller either.
 
OwenSweet96 said:
I got a pretty decent deal on a set of 33x12.5r15 Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs. I don't know very much about them but so far I like the look of the 33s and tread looks pretty good too
Click to expand...

Duratracs are titties compared to BFG A/Ts. I went from BFGs to Duratracs and can confirm the performance gain ;)

Carry on
 
RoyalXJ said:
Try running the duracraps on the rocks compared to the bfgs. BFG takes the cake hands down. The goodyears are almost guaranteed to tear.
Click to expand...

I've been happy with the Duratracs so far, Great on the road and played in some deep stuff a little bit. We will see how they do in the summer when I get around to some real wheeling.
 
BmanXJ said:
Jeep looks great. I knowing the feeling of a totaled jeep. I shed a few tears as the wife WJ got towed away.
Click to expand...

I was pretty torn up at the time considering it was the first vehicle I had bought on my own. I worked 6 days a week my entire sophomore summer for that thing all to be thrown away because some guy decided not to pay attention and drove under me. It all worked out though couldn't be happier with my new jeep.
 
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