Project MixNMatch aka MallCrawler

[IllianaXJ]

Spent the day at PMain's shop, we got a lot done between my Jeep, Gene's and Pat's.

Big Hank welding on HD Offroad mid-stiffeners...

AJ's SuperRails from ExTankerGuy installed...

Didn't get to the winch, left my bag of hardware at home. Will be done in the next few days.

Thanks again to Gene for the welding and Pat for the use of the shop.

 

[Big Hank]

Pics of your rig...

Don't forget the roof flashing caulk or seam sealer.

And congrats for owning the cleanest XJ I have ever seen... Underside is cleaner than the roof...

Big 'happy with the work' Hank

 

[BRIANHO13]

Did pat give you guys my message? My house next weekend for you guys.

 

[macgyvr]

Did pat give you guys my message? My house next weekend for you guys.

LOL

I talked to Pat last night and it sounded like he's got his work cut out in getting his rig ready for winterfest...

mac 'preparty' gyvr

 

[BRIANHO13]

LOL

I talked to Pat last night and it sounded like he's got his work cut out in getting his rig ready for winterfest...

mac 'preparty' gyvr

I have a list a mile long to do and not enough time at all.....

 

[IllianaXJ]

Don't forget the roof flashing caulk or seam sealer.

And congrats for owning the cleanest XJ I have ever seen... Underside is cleaner than the roof...

Big 'happy with the work' Hank

It felt much stiffer on the drive home, less random noises also.

Roof flashing caulk is purchased, waiting for it to warm up again so I can apply it.

Thanks, it is rather nice to be able to turn bolts without holding my breath waiting for them to break. Alabama for the win


Threw the winch on the bumper last night, ended up having to trim the grille and header panel a bit. Still trying to figure out where I want to put the solenoid box. I'm not going to do anything superfly right now, the winch will be coming off after WF to get blasted and repainted.

 

[macgyvr]

I was gonna say the floor boards look amazing...

mac 'rust locktite' gyvr

 

[Big Hank]

LOL



I talked to Pat last night and it sounded like he's got his work cut out in getting his rig ready for winterfest...



mac 'preparty' gyvr

Thread hijack... This is basically a picture of pats to-do list...

And this caused it....

IlianaXJ AND Big Hank, spotting for pleasure.

 

[IllianaXJ]

That was working really good until it went a little too far.


Had to do a little maintenance work today. Noticed at Pat's I was dripping coolant. Tracked it to the heater control valve, decided to eliminate it.

Old and busted:

New lines:

Plugged the vacuum line with a redneck vacuum cap aka sheetmetal screw and topped off the coolant. Hopefully this eliminated a future failure point in the cooling system.

 

[IllianaXJ]

Haven't updated this in a long time, but I have actually been working on this thing to get it ready for the Crawl.

Wheeled it at WF and Redbird, worked pretty good for a rig on 31s. I kept having issues with the rear shackles hitting the frame, so I ordered up a set of shackles relocation brackets from HD Offroad Engineering.

After several texts back and forth with Brian (excellent customer service BTW) I ended up with a better shackle angle that should clear the frame when flexing.

I leveled out the front a bit with another coil isolator and added WJ LCAs for a better ride and tire clearance.

Since in tends to be hot in July in Kentucky, I eliminated the hood liner and Kim helped me install a set of hood vents.

Hopefully that will help keep temps in check. I will also be wiring in an e-fan override switch so I can run the fan whenever I need extra cooling.

 

[PacificEd]

What hood vents did you use? Do you have drip pans under them?

Looks great. See you in a week.

 

[IllianaXJ]

What hood vents did you use? Do you have drip pans under them?

Looks great. See you in a week.

I found them on JeepForum (I know I know). I think the guy makes them. No drip pans, we'll see how that goes.

Thanks! Can't wait!


Finally got my $150 winch to work, after putting another $150 in it 4 new solenoids and triple-checking the wiring diagram and it works like a champ. It spools really fast; I knew it was geared higher than a M8000, but wow it's fast.

Also installed a pair of 97+ mirrors today. The driver side went on in 5 min, the passenger side required a bit more time massaging the door after the run-in with a tree at Redbird. Found out that there is a reason 96/down have small mirrors, the wing window split is right in the middle of the 97+ mirror. Oh well, at least they fold now. Pics hopefully tomorrow.

 

[Fore Wheeler]

Those vents look a lot like the 5.9 zj vents.

 

[IllianaXJ]

Cleaned up, new mirrors and my helper.

Dropped some coin at the shop, now it has working A/C. Worth every penny.

 

[87manche]

late model mirrors on old style doors?

do tell.

 

[IllianaXJ]

They pretty much bolt on. I had cable mirrors so I didn't care if the new ones were power or not, but I'm sure you could get power ones to work with the old plug with some electrical trickery.

Only real issue, this is my driver seat view.

Not too bad, your eyes kinda blur it out. Biggest improvement is the ability to fold them in.

 

[87manche]

yeah, I have cable mirrors and crank windows.

of course both of my mirrors have broken bases. Care to hazard how?

yeah, the plastic bits that hold the front pin, like every other one ever.
I'm not terribly fond of the late model mirror shape, but they are certainly a better design, and larger.

 

[IllianaXJ]

Started from the bottom...



And now we here




Pic courtesy of UNCC_99XJ


Overall I'm really happy with how this Jeep works. A rear bumper/tire carrier and a rear traction device will come in the future, but I had no big issues this past weekend at Harlan.

I will, however, need to address the steering heims that are getting loose and the coil springs that are sagging bad. The shackle relocation boxes took care of my shackles beating the body on every bump, thanks again Brian for the tech support via text

 

[PacificEd]

Your Cherokee looks and works great! You have built a nice ride.

 

[IllianaXJ]

Ok, so a year and a half later I'm updating this thread.

Did some work at WF15 in the snow and ice...



Ended up smashing a LCA and pinching a brake line after sliding down one of the spoil banks into a stump. Replaced the LCAs and brake line and parked it for a while.

Added a OEM tire carrier...



Used the winch at Redbird Spring Cleanup to fix Sean's oops...




3 weeks before the Crawl I did this:



Which resulted in my Crawl trip being co-pilot for Tim (UNCC_99XJ). Had a great time even with my limited mobility and cleaned up at the raffle


Fast forward to Fall Redbird Cleanup. Wheeled a bit, posed on some rocks, paid tribute to one of my best friends.





And now we're here. Winterfest 16 prep is in full swing. Front axle is out and waiting to be replaced with a beefed up HPD30. Parts are piling up for a 3 Link setup from HD Offroad Engineering. Heims and whatnot from Barnes4WD and HDOR brackets courtesy of the Crawl raffle.





Oh yeah, my most important mod to date...