My 01 XJ build. Pics inside :D

01MonsterXJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Hudson, WI
Hello all, most of my lift parts have come in the last few days so I decided to get started with lifting my 01 Cherokee. What I'm putting on it:

4.5 inch RE Coils
RC Control Arm drop brackets
RE Adj. Track Bar
RC 4.5 Full Leafs
1 inch Shackle
3/4 inch spacer in front
JKS Quicker Disconnects
RE HnT SYE
4.56 gears
BGF A/T 33x12.5R15's
Xtreme Steel Soft 8 15x8's w/3.75 Backspacing
Bushman Kilamanjaro Aluminum Safari Rack
Hella 500's
Custom Rock Sliders that I build 2x3 steel tubing etc
Custom Built front winch bumper, also built by me
Custom built rear bumper 3x5 steel tubing-D-ring tabs
Dynomax muffler and custom bent exhuast again made by me :D

I guess that is it for parts. So far I just got the suspension on in the back, I haven't ordered shocks yet so no shocks as of yet, but thats ok cause it'll be sitting for a few more weeks before I get everything done to it. This weekend or next weekend for sure I'll have the HnT done along with the front suspension and hopefully my rims will have come in by then too.

Here's a few pics of my progress so far:
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Rims aren't in yet so I'm just mocking it up to see what it will look like. All the weight is on the suspension so this is the height it should be at in the back
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The hitch looks like crap so I'll be taking that off and sandblasting it and painting it before this is all over
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Looking good! did you brake your top shock bolts in the Rear?
 
thanks. And I managed to get the shock bolts on the top out with no problem, I just took my time and used lots of penetrating oil. I was very relieved to get them out without breaking them lol.
 
Well I didn't get to work on it all day today, just a few hours after I got back from racing. I started on the front suspension. First thing I did was measure from the spring pad to the bump stop so I could have a baseline to get an accurate measurement of how much lift I actually put in.

I got the passenger side control arms off, RE track bar put in, passenger side RE coil and poly spacer in. Overall I have a 5.5 inch lift in the front, oh and my lift in the back is 5 inches so now the jeep actually sits level :D. The nice thing is my springs weren't new so they are already settled so it should stay at the heights its at. My drop brackets arrive tomorrow so I by tuesday I should have those in as well as the other coil in on the otherside. Then I just need to put the sye on and brake lines and shocks and I should be all set to go.

Oh and my rims come in on tuesday so I'll be going to get those mounted on tuesday as well.

Question for ya all, white letters in or out? Its a DD so its not going to be going hardcore offroading too much. Opinions on the white letters?
 
need pics of rock sliders


those will be going on soon, I'm waiting until I get my drop brackets on before I make the final brackets for the frame mount part on mine. I wanna make sure there is no clearance issues. I'll make sure I get lots of pics once they are on :D
 
White in, I think black out looks cool especially with a darker color paintjob. But sometimes opposites are nice too. Dunno. I'd do black out, as I have myself :)

That shackle angle doesn't look good, looks as if the leafs are too short or something or at full droop, although you said the weight was on the suspension?
 
White letters in. I regretted mounting some 31" ProComp MTs white letters on my Samurai out a while back. The specs look good so far Dan, you're building pretty much exactly what I was planning to do for my '99 XJ (minus the tire choice). I love that color!
 
If you're going to wheel it, white letters in. They will get scuffed up quickly and look like crap if you mount them out. Usually I prefer letters out, but on the XJ they're turned in for that reason.
 
Build is looking nice. You gonna be able to get it out of the garage when you are done?

Haha just barely, I was kinda worried about that after I got the rear lifted.

White letters in. I regretted mounting some 31" ProComp MTs white letters on my Samurai out a while back. The specs look good so far Dan, you're building pretty much exactly what I was planning to do for my '99 XJ (minus the tire choice). I love that color!

Thanks for the advice, yeah I'm really on the fence about the white letters. thursday I'm getting them mounted so I've got until then to decide hehe.

If you're going to wheel it, white letters in. They will get scuffed up quickly and look like crap if you mount them out. Usually I prefer letters out, but on the XJ they're turned in for that reason.

This xj I probably wont do much wheeling with because I dont wanna break my daily driver, but if I build a 2nd one you can bet for sure the white letters will be turned in no matter what lol.
 
My rims came in today, I'll post pics of them once I get the tires mounted on them which should be this thursday if everything goes to plan :D
 
Is it sick that I'm already wishing I had bushwackers and 35's lol. I haven't even got these tires and rims on yet lol.... sigh the inch itch
 
Alright well I finally got it finished... sort of. I dont have any shocks on it and I dont have the extended brake lines but those are supposed to arrive on monday, so I'll just throw those on and get an allignment. Here are some pics of it once it was done, I noticed the passanger side front looks to be lower then the the other side so I may see about putting the factory isolator back in on that side, Also I will be trimming the black plastic corner pieces of the bumper so I dont rub when I turn.
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And a picture of me lol
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Tomorrow or sunday I'll take some pictures with a real camera and not my crappy cell phone.
 
Looking good, you will probably want to get those 4.56s installed pretty soon once you start driving it again! Let us know how it does on the street/trail with the new setup.
 
thanks! I'll definitely keep ya posted as I start driving it. Haha I'm starting to save up for gears already. I know its gunna probably really suck right now :(

Oh and for reference, the picture that has the girl in it, she is 5'10'' just to give you an idea how high up the jeep is sitting :D
 
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