...sorry...another build thread...

[blondejoncherokee]

yah i did some research, ended up finding loaded centric premium calipers with pads and the caliper brackets and all hardware for like 50$ each + core, whereas napa wanted like 50$ a caliper, 25$ on the brackets, 30+ on the pads... and they werent centric premium. and got 5% off. love rockauto.

 

[Rammin97]

X3, sweet dude!!

 

[blondejoncherokee]

just wondering when the knuckles will come in the mail now...

 

[blondejoncherokee]

welded up flanges and OTK on the driver side the other day onto the WJ knuckles, then cleaned them up and slapped a few coats of hi temp caliper paint on them.

in the middle of cleaning them, the bottom one looked like the top one, then I went and finished it up for paint until it was all shiny metal and no rust:

bolting up an old hub for welding the flanges:

swapped in new WJ ball joints and slapped the knuckles on.
probably going to put new U joints in the chromos tomorrow before i finish it all up

 

[Alboy97XJ]

Holy orange!!!

 

[blondejoncherokee]

I looked for orange, its actually bright red. Plus I wanted to cover some of the crappy welds on the flanges, they are fully welded all around, pre heated, and just let them cool down. Welded them with a junk unit bearing bolted up, to make sure it stayed aligned.

gonna take the shafts over to west sac driveline tomorrow and have them slap new U joints in while its all apart. the driver side joint moves free in one direction of the U joint, and in the other, barely moves, by guess is that it got low on grease and started to toast the needle bearings on one or both of those caps.

 

[Mike1331]

it'll be sweet to have more beef in that area. How much does WCD charge to put in ujoints? I hate doing thaose.

 

[GordoSmasho]

That red adds 13hp. Nice work Jon.

 

[CAJJ93XJ]

gonna take the shafts over to west sac driveline tomorrow and have them slap new U joints in while its all apart.

why not do them yourself? so damn easy. ball joints I'd understand..

 

[blondejoncherokee]

why not do them yourself? so damn easy. ball joints I'd understand..

i had a bad u joint experience when i was 17. I ended up going to the hospital to get a bunch of stitches and put a big hole through my chin into my mouth. Plus west sac driveline is damn cheap, and they have to deal with it. the dude there even said he hates doing 760s himself. I mean , ive done them on the trail, middle of the slabs at 2am sorta thing to get the rig going, but I also had to finish the ball joints and stuff, so it was way nice to not have to f with u joints for hours.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

it'll be sweet to have more beef in that area. How much does WCD charge to put in ujoints? I hate doing thaose.

for 2 760 joints installed and a third , spare, brand new spicer 760 in the box for a trail spare, it was like 110$ after tax. not too bad in my book for all the time i saved and spend putting ball joints into the Cs.


quadratech wants 40$ for each 760$, not including tax, install, etc.

http://www.quadratec.com/products/5...oglemerchant&gclid=CK77_KOovrQCFad_QgodnisA6A

IRO wants 25$ each plus whatever is left:
http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merc...en=PROD&Store_Code=IROR&Product_Code=IR-X760X

 

[CAJJ93XJ]

what the hell man that's messed up. $110 really is pretty good for 3 ujoints and install though

 

[blondejoncherokee]

yah just pull shafts and drop em off. I was right in the middle of doing the ball joints and WJ swap when i noticed the u joints in the shafts barely moved it all. took alot of effort to move em. now they are great. new u joints, ball joints, and unit bearings is pretty nice, not to mention bigger brakes and all new brakes.

 

[Mike1331]

wow so your only paying like 25 to install 2 joints. I'd do that in a heartbeat.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

ya it was pretty cheap. I think they said labor is 15$ a joint, but their U joint prices where cheaper than most places online, so it ended up being really cheap.

re bled the WJ calipers today, and also had to grind down the outside of the caliper brackets to clear the rims, only an 1/8" or so, no more weird grinding noise when I drive.

next is the beadlocked rims that I originally planned on running, swap them on, then the brown dog engine side motor mounts and long tube header thats sitting in my garage.

 

[rocknxj]

Hey Jon, do you know of anyone wanting to get rid of an XJ in really good/decent condition? I'm dying to start my next project and will drive up to Sac to buy. Almost bought an LJ in Carmichael before ultimately deciding on another XJ. Let me know, as you have good connections.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

The one that comes to mind is Jeepmes (jeff) moms XJ that he posted on here a while back, its a late model with only 50k, but he wanted alot (5000$ or more?)
Id try to talk him down to 4k$ and see what happens

Yah I see them all the time on CL. watch all the CLs like a hawk.

What year range? What sorta condition? milage? axles, lift , gears you are looking for?

do you want to start with a nice stocker , but something cheap that is already built that you can keep some parts, sell others ?


http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1092056

 

[rocknxj]

I want to start with a stocker and the lower miles the better because this will be a long term project. Price is not much of a concern, but I know values and what a good Cherokee is worth. 1998-2001 is my preference. I plan to put my current axles and SA lift on the new XJ and keep it clean and mild for minor trail use and towing behind the motor home.

My current XJ (Frog) will be upgraded with stronger axles and LA lift. I plan to continue beating the hell out of that one and will it to Moab in October.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

sounds good ill keep ya posted,, you should consider keeping your jeep the way it is, and buy a wrecked JK from co-part and throw axles/tires under that so that 97 with crazy low miles is out?


by the way ive officially polished the 30:
wj brakes , wj ball joints, wj knuckles, tj hubs, IRO drilled rotors for wj/xj, paint etc, -850
new u joints-100
RS cover- 0$ (off a part out rig)
4.88s new this year and master install-230
lockright and carrier- 0$ (off a part out rig)
tube sleeves and knuckle gussets -170$ shipped IRO
chromo shafts -200$ used
truss (and plate pass side UCA- free in trade value sorta
LCA skids ( leaf plates) -0$
UCA bushings -0$ (off a part out rig in the box)
OTK insert - 15$
currie steering -0$ free off a part out rig


total 1565$ -ish

 

[blondejoncherokee]

test drove it earlier tonight after centering steering wheel and setting toe.
I think some of the wondering i had before was from the fact that i was way toed in for some reason.

thing drives straight as heck, for what it is.
bled brakes some more, got more air out of the system.
but even better, the thing stops the 36s just great. the new brakes rock. I really like it. you can run the stock style steering with the WJ swap if you dont want to go all the way right away, ill go to full OTK later down the road.
rotors:
WJ rotors : 12" XJ rotors :11"
pads:
almost the same, WJ are a few thousands wider and longer, measured with dial calipers
calipers:
better design for the calipers to slide, and of course, the dual caliper pistons versus single caliper pistons, I can definely notice the increased clamping force.

also, I already had the WJ booster and master cylinder installed before this, and a ZJ proportioning valve, and all new 8.8 rear discs, so that helped alot.