New Pics of My first JEEP PROJECT

[XJ Stryker]

Huge respects dude. I think its really cool that you bought the XJ in desperate need of someone who cares and are giving it the makeover.

Love the old school woody look to by the way!

Thanks man. :cheers:

 

[xjnerfo]

Just wanted to take a minute to let you know I enjoyed reading your thread. I used to wheel an old FS chevy 1/2 ton when I was in GA (still have it, never drive it) and I found an 01 Sport with 50K on it. It's a daily driver, and I bought it with the intention of leaving it alone... LOL... I can't believe I thought that!! Right now, "plans" involve a 3.5 inch RE superflex full spring lift (the oe leaves are some saggy things, dont wanna mess with them) with OME shocks, Tom Woods modified output shaft SYE with CV shaft, and I've been eyeballing Firestone Destination MT's. I have several other plans, but they're smaller. What's sad, is that I live in southern WI and there really isn't much for wheelin' around here... never thought I'd miss GA even a little bit, but I miss all the trails A LOT.

 

[XJ Stryker]

Thanks and welcome to . I really wanted to shell out the extra doe and get a rubicon express lift also. But my wife now has an XJ also and i could get 2 rough country lifts for the price of one RE lift. Well the one positive side to that is I will have to do ALOT of wheeling to break my lift in good so i can get some good flex.



Well for an update. I had some problems with the Waggie starting once it got warm. For EX: I could drive out to Autozone, stop at mcdonalds, grab a redbull at the gas station and go home starting it would be no problem on my trip. Then i get home turn it off walk, get bored, and deicide to work on the truck. Well i would hop in it would start fine then i would go to back up and it would die, and continue to do that. If i had my foot on the gas pedal as i am starting it, it would eventually crank but run RAGGED as hell like my TPS was out. Which was not the case. It wouldnt hold an idol and just die once i took my foot off the pedal. I would have to let it sit for more than and hour then I could hop in a drive everywhere no problem again. I called the PO and he did say that it was happening prior to me purchasing it. He had purchased an Ignition Switch for it and left it in the truck. I just had never had problems starting it I forgot about it. Well once i removed the old one it was fused, burnt melted and what not. Replaced it and vehicle had no problems today so far. Even feel a lil more power out of it... Go figure!!! Well she is running good now and Ready for the trails.

arty:

 

[in2fords]

Glad to hear you've been able to iron out most of the bugs(never say all!)
I know on the Lincoln Mark VII's the ignition switch was notorious for burning out, and alot of time catching things on fire! Now I replace them as soon as I buy a vehicle, the one in my current XJ worked just fine but when I pulled it out to replace it looked like it had been in a serious fire! I am a firm beleiver that everyone should atleast go out and look at theirs if they havent allready replaced it. It is also one of those things I allways forget to think about when people ask what to look for on a new XJ.
Jeremy

 

[XJ Stryker]

Starter went out this week so I had to make a good ole junk yard replacement.

But the real reason I typed on this thread is I finally did anoter flush on my engine from back when i had the nasty valve cover off and what not. I used the diesel that alot of people recommended. 1 qrt with 4 qrt of oil.

Still not getting any higher than 20 PSI so I am kicking around dropping the pan on this one also just not looking forward to it as the other one was a real PIA. May pick up a mech guage just to verify oil pressure before i drop the pan.

Lift going on soon I have it just trying to get my wifes rig running good now then i will concentrate on mine again.

 

[dudeinanxj]

Good Luck the Rigs Rob. Hope to see ya at Hillz N Hollarz next month.

 

[lancey3]

progress?

 

[XJ Stryker]

Been Busy with the wifes rig. I started buying some of the stuff for mine yesterday. So I will begin on it soon need a few more tools since mine is a rust buckett. I will keep this updated with some pics. Hopefully I will have something by Sunday.

 

[XJ Stryker]

Ok heading to Indiana this morning. Brianho has got some rockers ready for my jeep. Starting to have a lot of holes from rust in that area and the more I mess with it the worse it gets. I cut out alot more this weekend and grinded alot more down. Then converted and painted on it. But most of the rust is on the side of the rockers that I can't get too so it is only a matter of time before It is back.

 

[XJ Stryker]

Ok went out to BrianHo's house and he has a great new Idea for replacing Rockers. They are not Rock Rails. But they arn't bulky and maintain a stock appearance which I like.

My Jeeps before I left

Rockers Before
Drivers side

Lots of Rust

Passenger side

 

[XJ Stryker]

I cut a little more out and grinded some more rust. It is mainly rusting from the inside out so there is not much I could do about the interior.

Pinch Weld

My new Replacements

Took about 4 hours cuase had to get down to bare metal to weld and most of the time was spent prepping

1/4 Inch steel bent to fit. And it fits great

At Brian Ho's place Finished up

 

[XJ Stryker]

So I made it back from Indiana. About 90 miles round trip 1/4 tank of gas and the Jeep drove great for it longest trip since i Bought it.

Took a few more pics of my new Rockers.

They seem great I can't wait to test them... I plan on slapping some primer on there soon and the Rhino-Lining to the wood. Do yall think the Black would look good on it... Make it a Tri color waggie lol.

 

[in2fords]

I like those rockers, I would still make some rockrails but those do look strong

 

[FlexdXJ]

hmm...... might be needing new rockers now. Looks good stryker. Looks like Brianho does some great work

 

[XJ Stryker]

Back from our Missourri. So its back to work on the waggie. I have started tearing the tan waggie apart. Disconnecting the Brake line and stuff.

Both rear leaf spring bolts and drivers side came out no problem. The Front Drivers side. Is just sitting and spinning in there. I started cutting a access hole last night but needed more wheels for my dremel so i Took a break.

Got Tess working on removing the sway bar.

And on this waggie I snapped all four shock bolts. So that will be fun to do. Was thinking on this. Can i just drill a pilot hole through them and then run some 3/8 self tapping screws in it. I don't have anything to retapp the weld nuts with so it is just an Idea.

Today I am gonne finish getting the Leafs out of the way. Is it hard to disconnect the drvie shaft from the diff to get it out the way also. With this being a rust bucket would i probably just snap something else. Ideas.

Thanks

 

[XJ Stryker]

Ok I need a lil Help

So here we go.

As I was saying in the previous post The Weld Nut Broke on the Pass front Leaf Spring Bolt. So I cut a hole to put a Wrench on it.

Easy no prob now I can Access the Weld nut. FYI it is NOT a 21mm on the other side. I was able to put a 15/16 on it pretty snug so it is close to that.

Ok the problem comes after I loosen it up. Seems that the bolt will not start coming out of the sleeve AT ALL. I mean it is backed up all the way against the housing. from the pic.

I cut a hole in the Frame to get a look from the other side of it.

I have turned it about 10 more threads since i took those pics and it hasnt changed any so I can safely say that the nut is no longer holding the bolt on.

I can't get a hammer or punch in there to tap it from the side with the last pic. So I cut a notch in the head of the bolt to try and PRY on it. No luck

I am thinking about cutting it here.

I have no clue WHY or what to do to get this out. I cant get anything in there to cut the WELD NUT side off. If i cut it there I am thinking PRY the HELL out of the top of the spring back till I can slide it off the bolt then maybe cut it again and pull it out of the hole i cut. I dont know.

I need help.


All Idea's are welcome

NOTE: I HAVE NO WELDER

 

[bgwyllys61]

looks like its got a groove worn in it, which would be why it wont come out, if it were me, i think i would cut it on each side of the spring, that way you can get the spring out, and then just replace it with a 9/16 grade 8 bolt......i had one of my front lca bolt get stuck like that on mine, so i just cut it on each side of the lca and replaced it

 

[XJ Stryker]

looks like its got a groove worn in it, which would be why it wont come out, if it were me, i think i would cut it on each side of the spring, that way you can get the spring out, and then just replace it with a 9/16 grade 8 bolt......i had one of my front lca bolt get stuck like that on mine, so i just cut it on each side of the lca and replaced it

That really makes ALOT of sense. Why didn't I think of that before coming to post here. I am thinking about only Cutting one side of it when. I guess that is what you get with a fresh set of EYES thanks man. Maybe had one too many miller lites also...

 

[lesslimited]

OK, this is totally normal for a rust belt XJ. What's happened is the metal sleeve in the spring bushing is rusted to the bolt, so once you got it turning you pushed the nut off. The proper procedure is to just turn the bolt enough to loosen it in the nut, then cut the bolt on both sides of the spring, trying to leave enough left on the frame side to get a vice grips on. Good quality sawzall blades are the best bet for cutting. Or take the grinder to the spring and cut it away from the bolt, then cut the bolt.

 

[dudeinanxj]

I would drill them out a size bigger and re-tap. That's what I did and used some bar pin eliminators while I was there. You can get some good quality tap sets at Lowes.