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New to me 97 xj

J

Jake97xj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Northwest Indiana
I am new to the forum and o the jeep world. And since 2005 I have wanted an xj.

The time has come and I have finally got her
As of now I have a 4.5 rustys short arm kit coming with upgraded upper and lower control arms to forged adjustable Johnny joints,

Upgraded monotube steering stabilizer as well as stainless brake lines and transfer case drop bushings and rear leaf wedges. This kit came with a spring pack and am looking forward to installing it this upcoming weekend I also purchased the hd tie rod and am planning for 15 x 8.5 trail masters wrapped in either general grabbers, or cooper discoverer ssts. Havnt decided yet

I just did the drivers side axle u joint and still have to do the pass side, along with wheel bearings and ball joints all the way around.

Then I am having Tim abner do my rock sliders, bumpers and tuck and fold read quarter. I am planning to cut my fenders myself, but as for anything that needs welded Tim is going to do all the leg work. I will also have Tim blast out my unibody stiffeners as well as skid plates to protect the under carriage

Also in the works is a slip yoke eliminator then removing the transfer case drop bushings and a rear disk conversion

I am going to try and get all of the above mentioned modifications in the next couple of weeks to a month, but after this summer of wheeling I am planning on Dana 44s. Hopefully I can keep pictures updated as the process goes
 
you need to use flickr or photobucket to host your pictures.
then pst links brackets by the [img ] tags to have them show up inline.

attaching directly is a member perk.

welcome to the midwest chapter.
 
Welcome. Where in the NWI are ya?
 
image.jpg
 
check your power distribution block and connector in the passenger side kick panel immediately.
 
Update.. Broke my rear leaf spring bolts loose today to prepare for the lift, along with a healty dise of pb blaster, and noticed my driver rear shackle bolt has pulled through the unibody and it looks like I'll be cutting the floor and trying to repair this. Hopefully it is within my range of skill.
 
Jake97xj said:
Just to make sure there is no corrosion?
Click to expand...
yes. Go ahead, take it apart and clean it out. Then pack the terminals with some dielectric grease and go about your life. It's an hour of PM that will potentially save your junk from burning to the ground.

Jake97xj said:
Update.. Broke my rear leaf spring bolts loose today to prepare for the lift, along with a healty dise of pb blaster, and noticed my driver rear shackle bolt has pulled through the unibody and it looks like I'll be cutting the floor and trying to repair this. Hopefully it is within my range of skill.
Click to expand...

you'll be alright. It's just a captive nut. Cut hole, bust nut off with a chisel and BFH, replace with regular grade 8 nut and washer.
if it's badly mangled or pulled through completely then you may need someone to weld something lie this in place
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/FIXIT.html
 
I cut into her last night and fount that it was not in fact pulled through, but a poorly drilled hole for the bolt to protude. On another note, this morning driving to work, she drove fine, stopped for coffee and as I left there she started to sputter. Then at random when I was giving it throttle. So I am suspecting throttle position sensor. But so far I am on track for lifting the jeep this weekend.
 
:huh:Buddy of mine was supposed to give me a hand as I've never lifted a jeep before but he had some side work to do so it looks like I am tackling this one alone. Now I know all the bolts are broke loose I think I can handle the rest I'll try and post pics of the process as I go. Gunna shoot to finish tomorrow evening but it may take Sunday as well
 
it's not hard.

There's some tricks to getting the front end in easy.
Install the arms in the frame side first. THen hook up the lower arms. You can trim the axle side mount back on the top to allow for better droop. You'll see what I mean.
Then put your coils in and jack the axle roughly into place.
Now use a ratchet strap attached to the trans crossmember to rotate the axle back until the upper arms match up with the axle side mounts. Install bolts. Then install your trackbar.
Don't torque anything to spec until it's sitting on the ground under it's own weight. You want those bushings in the middle of their flex before you pinch them in with bolts. You'll have to center up your trackbar and steering after you drop it to the ground as well.

The rear is just leaf springs. super simple. You'll have to extend your brake lines at 4.5" if you've not already considered that. 90's Dakota rear brake line works for the rear. YJ lines work for the front. Easily available at the parts store.
 
Well I started on her tonight. Ran into a snag with the driver side lower control arm, bolt is stuck inside the bushing sleeve and I soaked it with some pb.. Bfh didn't work and I couldn't turn it with my breaker bar or 1/2 in impact. Hopefully the pb works it's magic over night and I won't have to cut it. Headed to napa in the am to get my new shackles and drag link and then to griegers for new control arm bolts I'll snap a few pics and post them tomorrow



Also my advanced 4.5 kit comes with new brake lines so k think I have that covered as long as existing lines don't break
 
Well I have the entire front mocked up now, after about 4 hours of work.. Didn't get as much accomplished today as I would have liked to but, I did find a 2012 Jeep Liberty with 9000 miles when I was at the dealer and I told the wife about and and we pounced so now we have two jeeps. Tomorrow I will mount tires and lower it, then torque everything down and start on the rear
 
image.jpg
well I got the front done.. Alignment is way off but not too bad. Broke both brake lines and have to run new hard piping to the master cylinder. Then I started on the rear.
image.jpg



got the rear driver shackle bolt out, had to cut the front spring bolt because the weld on the nut broke... Bummer.
image.jpg


So this is what I'm thinking, possibly cutting enough out to get the nut out and patching it the size of the square down the curve and about 8 inches down the unibody with plug welds

I just hope I can get it done this week because I hate driving this "gas saver"
 
so that's the front spring hanger?

I'd cut out the floor above it and drop a new nut down in there.
 
Also the rear passenger shackle but broke loose too so I'm going to cut a hole in between the unibody and put a socket on there but I will have to use washers with the new nut because the hole is the size of the existing nut
 
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