Stock till now... An XJ's story

[Overdriven]

I've had a few people ask for pictures of my XJ. I don't take alot of pictures so I dug through my computer and put this together.

I bought this XJ (my 5th one) off of EBAY for $350 back in 2004. It didn't come with tires, leaked like crazy, had a hole in the muffler.

I took some spare rims and tires two hour drive away to put them on the Jeep and drive it home. It's an 88, 4.0, AW4, NP231, power windows and locks. I repaired all the leaks, put in a thrush glasspack in place of the muffler, lifted it 3" with Dodge Dakota rear leaf springs and a welded up steel spacer for the front using steam pipe and washers. I found some 31's someone had thrown away because of holes in the sidewalls. Fixed 'em, mounted 'em and ran them for thousands of miles before trading them for a D44 rear axle.

Before the D44 I welded up the D35 and ran it that way for about a year and a half. I wheeled the crap out of it, beat up the bottom of the XJ a whole bunch but had a blast wheelin a $750 Jeep.

Then the mods started to happen. I got a Clarke welder for Christmas back in 2003 so I started making bumpers, roof rack, and anything else I could think of. Not all of it looked the best but it was functional and I made it myself.

We did a car crush to raise money and toys for "Toys for Tots". It was a blast wheelin right along main street in town.

When I took the doors off I still wanted to be able to control the back doors windows so I moved the control on the drivers door below my steering column. You can also see the "lawn mower lever" that I used with a bicycle cable to control my axle dissconnect. I also used 3" PVC pipe and sewer hose to make my snorkle.
Dont' have a lot of money to build my XJ so I made most of my parts.

 

[Overdriven]

This is my first "roll". I dumped the XJ on it's side in a good mud hole. A good tug from the rear and I was back on the trail.

Living in North Texas and never running my doors... I finally decided to chop the roof but at the same time I chopped my rocker panels (what was left of them) and added rock sliders. This is one of my favorite mods. I ran without doors and roof for almost two years.

Went ahead and caged it at the same time. The only thing I didn't like about the cage was that I couldn't fold my rear seat up. I had to take out the bottom for the back to fold down flat. Outside of that, having a cage is a very beautiful thing.

Here is a few wheelin shots and some angles at the other mods I've done.

When I chopped the fenders I moved the stock fenders up and gave them that bushwhacker look.
I used motorcycle mirrors when I didn't have my doors on.

 

[Overdriven]

Then... While in Iraq last summer I got orders to leave Texas and move to Alaska. I had about a month after I got home from Iraq to get ready to move to Alaska. Part of that included closing in the back of my XJ and finding some doors for it. I'm not a good body guy so I covered the imperfections with bed liner.... The whole thing. All the Yellow is Grizzley Grip. It's a roll on bedliner that comes in different collors. I've impressed with it. It's held up strong for a year now and hasn't lost it's color.
I've put a few dents in the jeep and the bedliner is holding up strong.

Since moving to Alaska, I've upped my lift to 6", run 35" Truxus, bought and then sold a milemarker winch (too slow) and I'm now putting on a Warn M8000. The roof rack was made out of electrical conduit. it was easy to shape and cut, but it sucks to weld it. It's holding up strong and I've very happy that it only cost $11 and weighs less than 10 lbs.

Here is about where it is now. Projects planned are a tailgate, cap for the rear area, and doing some work to make it all around run better.
Thanks for reading. Here are a couple of wheelin' pics from up here in AK.

 

[Overdriven]

As far as mods.... The list is endless. Swapped the engine twice, (water damage to one, heat damage to the other, open cooling system, HO intake, pacesetter header, alternator upgraded to GM 140amp, custom brackets mounted in place of the AC, swapped in wide chain and gears to xfer case, PORC SYE, D44 rear, 4.56's Detroit, D30 front out of a 98 XJ, 4.56's lockrite, superflex uca and lca's, rough country drop brackets, dual exahust, and much more I'm sure.

 

[mucovich]

very cool!

 

[Steve_Moore]

Looks nice, man! I like the way you did everything yourself. atriot:

 

[billyjp2]

awsome progress, great looking jeep

 

[xjtrailrider]

Nice work!

 

[ehall]

Nice work you've done, thanks for posting

 

[Supermanxj]

That is one of the greatest DIY success stories i have seen/heard.

Great job on the jeep and looks like a great wheeler.

Do you have a grand total of how much you have into it?


Josh

 

[Overdriven]

Most of the "upgrade" parts I purchased were used. The rear D44 I traded those "free" tires and the 3" lift I made for it. bought the locker and 4.56 gears off of ebay for about $100.

I traded the 33's I was running for the 35's I have now 'cuz the guy who had the 35's wanted to go down in tire size. We swapped even for them.

Right now for my Warn... I'm mounting the control box under the hood. I fabbed up bumper mounts for a buddy of mine and mounted the old bumper I was running to his rig. In trade he is making me custom 2 guage battery cables and cables to go to the winch... and he is making me a 100' synthetic rope for my winch.

I've done alot of my work this way. I used alot of patience and thought when I did an upgrade. I also spent alot of time wheelin' near stock just to get a good feel for what needed to be upgraded.

I bet I have about $4k total in it. I've also been given or come accross cherokees for very cheep. I part them out to help pay for my habbit. I'd also keep key parts out of them for spares.

It's possible to wheel and build cheap if you are willing to learn and tackle stuff within your ability.

One big this is I've spent alot of time reading what all of y'all have done here at . I've learned alot from these pages and I've really enjoyed my membership.

 

[buzzbombxj]

:05of5:

 

[Timmy2XJS]

Most of the "upgrade" parts I purchased were used. The rear D44 I traded those "free" tires and the 3" lift I made for it. bought the locker and 4.56 gears off of ebay for about $100.

I traded the 33's I was running for the 35's I have now 'cuz the guy who had the 35's wanted to go down in tire size. We swapped even for them.

Right now for my Warn... I'm mounting the control box under the hood. I fabbed up bumper mounts for a buddy of mine and mounted the old bumper I was running to his rig. In trade he is making me custom 2 guage battery cables and cables to go to the winch... and he is making me a 100' synthetic rope for my winch.

I've done alot of my work this way. I used alot of patience and thought when I did an upgrade. I also spent alot of time wheelin' near stock just to get a good feel for what needed to be upgraded.

I bet I have about $4k total in it. I've also been given or come accross cherokees for very cheep. I part them out to help pay for my habbit. I'd also keep key parts out of them for spares.

It's possible to wheel and build cheap if you are willing to learn and tackle stuff within your ability.

One big this is I've spent alot of time reading what all of y'all have done here at . I've learned alot from these pages and I've really enjoyed my membership.

bro i spent months roaming here and JU reading and becoming less jeep dumb before i went and got crazy. its nice to see im not the only one who uses this tactic :roll:

 

[pb_beaker]

nice to see the changes along the way!

 

[n1ywb]

Great thread! Thanks for sharing.

 

[kf_chris]

That's great man!
It's nice to see a short story and pics about the evolution of a jeep. Looks good man...and functional!!!

 

[gbyrnes]

Wowo. Great job and a great evolution.

 

[Lowrange2]

Looks great! I love the finished off chop tops! They look great! I can't wait to find a reason to chop the back off of mine.

On another note. Your kid has some crazy ass hair! lol

 

[adventurr]

Really Nice all around toy!

 

[Overdriven]

On another note. Your kid has some crazy ass hair! lol

yeah, that was his "Snake hair". I've been cutting thier hair since they were born. For the most part, they always have cleancut fades with about an inch on the top. For the summer we let them do whatever they want with thier hair. Mohawks, stripes, snakes, X's, whatever. They have fun with it.

Thanks for all the compliments y'all. I sometimes wonder if I have more fun fabricating or wheelin'.... I drive it every day, wheel it on the weekend, cuss it, praise it, and repeat.

Thanks again. Glad y'all liked the thread.