A couple of weeks ago I decided that to get the most enjoyment out of this XJ I was going to have to focus on making it more street friendly. Now that I have addressed most of the handling quirks, I'll focus on comfort & reliability. Since I had decided to forgo the build on that '91 I bought a while back, I figured I'd use it for parts for this '96. Started in the back by installing the carpet and rear seat. My interior is tan, the '91 is grey. No biggie to me. I'll figure out the dash later on but for now it's already riding a bit quieter down the road which is nice since this thing has always been like riding in a steel drum!
Pulled the rear seat and cleaned the dirt off the floor
Small parts pile that I pulled out lol
New look!
I still need to figure out what I'm going to do for the roof. Pretty certain I can't get the headliner to slip in there with the cage in the way so I'll have to come up with some creative (read: CHEAP) way of deadening the sound. Maybe I'll use some of that roof repair patch tape. Heard good stories about that stuff. I will also be ditching the 4 point harnesses I put in up front. I hate those things. They may be a bit safer, but they severely limit my field of view offroad so I rarely use the shoulder straps (which isn't that safe), and driving with them on the street is a total nightmare!
And now to the less fun stuff....
Finally got around to doing something about what I called "the elephant in the room" with this XJ. The driver's side rear frame rail had been damaged by the PO. He said his son "backed it into a tree" when I asked him about the bent rear bumper, but I'd hazard a guess that something a bit more extreme happened that he wasn't willing to divulge to me. The frame rail had a couple of buckled spots that extended from right under the fuel hose access hole, all the way to the forward leaf spring mount. I had pounded them straight as best I could in the past, but until now I made no real attempt to "fix" the issue.
Being as it's a unibody with a bent "frame rail", the body was doing all sorts of funky things back there. Most noticeable is the wrinkled quarter panel. This was caused by the body flexing from having little support due to the damaged rail. The floor is also bent down next to the outer rail which also allows the quarter to move up and down. Pictures don't do the wrinkles justice but most of that damage was caused before I installed the cage, which strengthened it a lot but the quarter panel still flexes more than I'd like since it seems to be moving independently of the rail.
So I got to work doing the best I could to repair the damage. Got the Jeep on the trailer and chained the frame down close to the most forward damaged area. Chained the other side of the frame down like I do when I tow it to keep it from moving around. I went ahead and pulled the fuel tank for easier access and to keep the risk of fire to a minimum while I weld. I slipped the High Lift under the rear bumper to jack the frame rail back into position, which didn't work as well as I was hoping. I had to jack it way high to get the frame rail to move. It wasn't the optimal setup for sure, but it did the best that I'm going to be able to get it on my own, and I'm certain it will be better than before.
In the end, I wound up with this contraption that doesn't look sketchy at all, right? :looser:
I think the PO may have waited too long to put the tank skid on. It's a little hard to see in the pic, but there's a huge dent right in the middle of the tank lol
This was the worst spot on the frame. Glad I pulled the tank so I could get at it!
Drilled a hole so I could slip a 1/2" bolt and a large fender washer through, then used that with a combination of brackets to allow me to pull the rail back into position.
Not perfect, but it's much better than before!
To finish it off I'll add some plating to the inside frame rail to strengthen that previously buckled area, then finally install the rear frame rail stiffeners on the outer rail. I may even plate the lower rail on this side to add more strength to the repair. I'll post another update when that all gets done.