"super-stock" builds

[xjtrailrider]

My DD could be a "super stock" build but I have always called it a "resto-mod" since i brought this XJ back from the dead. It was my Dads Jeep until he died in 2003. It was sold after his death and I found it in 2005 with a blown 4.0 and a homeless person living in it.

I don't wheel this one, it means too much to me to tear up! It is built to go where ever I need it to though.

Engine; 4.0 RENIX, bored/decked/milled
Tranny; the AW4 is still all original
T-case; rebuilt with a P.O.R.C. SYE/Tom Woods shaft
Axles; HP non-disco D-30 geared 4.10, 8.25 29 spline with Detroit Tru-Trac geared 4.10
Suspension; 2" RE spacers(front) XJ 2.5 " "bastard pack" rear
Interior; Uniden 510 CB, Pioneer stereo, IPod, Bazooka 8" sub, TomTom Nav. New carpet and many replaced panels.
Exterior; New paint, all top shelf PPG($1700 for the paint alone!) TJ "Canyon" 15x8 wheels and BFG AT KO 30x9.5 tires

Other mods; Upgraded to 96 XJ steering box. Upgraded to 96 XJ master cylinder/brake booster. Upgraded to 96 XJ wiper motor/transmission. Upgraded to Ford 5.0 fuel injectors

 

[4WDlifeform]

I think you should boost in the 2-3 inch range.... Then your jeep will surprise you with its capabilities

When I was stock the biggest issue that I had was that I was running out of ground clearance. That can only be fixed with larger tires... for larger tires you need a bit of lift. The lift also helps with some more flex.

X2. I put a 1 3/4" buget lift and brand new AT tires. I still can't get over how capable it is!! I even left stock shocks, and connected front swaybar. I cant wait to get out now that I have disconnects! Good luck with your build!

 

[american_zero]

Suspension; 2" RE spacers(front) XJ 2.5 " "bastard pack" rear
[

Nice Jeep! Just curious. What combination of leafs did you use to get the 2.5" of lift in the rear? I am considering about that same exact build and it would save me some time if I don't have to build the packs more than once to get the height right.

Thanks!

 

[SanDiegoOverland]

I took your all's advice and have sourced two stock, low mile sets of XJ springs for an XJ/XJ bastard pack in the rear. I have a possible source for a 1" spacer and hope to be in the 2.25-3" range when I'm done.

plans up front are simply a spacer, or if can get them cheap, a set of 3" springs. I'm going to install some BPE in the rear for the upper mounts, too.

I've already begun dousing everything with PB blaster.

I'm going to install either 30x9.5's or 31-10.5's likely, then, as well as the 8.25 that I almost have my hands on.

It's my goal to install the rear springs, shocks and axle at the same time, cuz I can assemble the leaf packs, and attach them to the axle and then just roll it all under
there.

cool.

 

[nelson7172]

I would suggest LSD in the rear and Aussie up front for better street manners. The Aussie in the rear clunks bangs and ratchets but in front its invisable in 2wd.

 

[casm]

I'm thinking:

Just a few thoughts on this, but overall your plan seems pretty sound.

-8.25 to replace d35

Depending on how you want to build the axle out, a D44 may be a better choice. Having said that, aftermarket options for 8.25s have improved greatly in the last couple of years, and it's going to be easier to dig up than a D44. Your call; I'd just a D44 bigot

-aussie/detroit rear

I don't know if you're considering selectables in this, but ECTEDs have worked out very nicely for me over the past three years or so. I wouldn't do one in the front, however; more on that:

-LSD or aussie front

I'm not as keen on my front ECTED as the rear one. They act as LSDs when unlocked, and while they're not a partiuclarly aggressive LSD, you can get the occasional bout of steering tug from the front. It's also probably not helping fuel economy. If the option had been there when the lockers went in, I probably would have gone with the Eaton ELocker as it's fully-open when unlocked.

As a general comment, having what's effectively two LSDs when unlocked defintely does help with traction - not as much as being fully-locked, but there are a few times it's saved me from either using 4LO or fully-engaging a locker. The best description I can give is that there's a small set of circumstances it'll help you out in, but does come with a few small tradeoffs.

-Adj. HD control arms/mounts(mostly for strength and flex)

JKS adjustable upper & lower control arms for this one. I'm still running stock mounts, so someone else can comment on those.

-rear sway bar delete

Go rip it out now if you haven't already. Probably the best zero-buck mod you can do.

-JKS quickers up front

Again, wouldn't run anything else. Very happy with mine.

-maybe stock spline alloy axles

I'd file this one under 'maybe'. For the build you're looking at doing, you may be better off directing this cash elsewhere since you're not looking at running huge tyres. I've been running stock shafts with 31s on both my D30 and D44 without issue for 4 years now, but carry stock spares. The caveat to that:

-Tera-low 4:1 gears

If you do go this route, definitely beef up the axle shafts and diff gears.

I know others mentioned this as well, but I'd tend to go with the NV241OR ahead of the Tera-Low kit. The main reason for this is that it's more of a drop-in and you've still got dealer parts availability with the same overall result. IIRC, the case housing on the NV241OR is also a little beefier than the NP231/242 case, but could be wrong on that. You'll still want to do axle shafts & gears, though.

-hood vents

LeBaron vents, especially if you're planning on using this XJ in hot environments.

-dual battery

The export-model diesel XJ battery tray and airbox elimination route is probably the best bet. Downside: US dealers typically won't order export-model parts. If you've got someone somewhere that got the 2.5-litre turbodiesel XJs who can pull these for you and ship them in that might be best. I haven't shopped around on these lately, but the nearly $400 Quadratec wants for their kit is just nuts. Mean Green did one, but it's discontinued; you might be able to find one on closeout.

-low-pro/removable roofrack (I have 3 kids, need the space)

Can't help with low-profile, but I really liked my Surco rack. It was the non-gutter-mount type (attached to the sliders for the stock roof rails) and held up beautifully. The trick with it is to get the extra flooring kit (it's fairly useless without it) which stiffens it substantially and to Loctite everything at assembly. Tyre, axe & shovel, and Hi-Lift carriers are well worth the money. Never had the light tabs.

-HD springs to keep the truck near stock ride height (or around 1-2" over stock) after all equipment is attached.

OME or RE.

-longer shocks that allow more droop and uptravel?

OME.

 

[SanDiegoOverland]

awesome, thanks for the feedback, casm!

I'll have to do some reading on the ected.

I have to say taking a road trip on friday, as well as our snow run a couple weeks ago, was a real eye-opener as to how functional the rig already is.

 

[codyyy]

Have you taken a look at Danwho's rig? He has 31s on his with 4.10s and locked front and rear, it looks extremely nice and very capable. He can do stuff much more built XJs can do, just takes him a little longer haha. I kinda wish I would go back down to 31s and do what he did, I felt invincible when I had 3.5" of lift on 31s. The COG was perfect for me. Plus it was a heck of a lot simpler.

 

[casm]

awesome, thanks for the feedback, casm!

No worries - glad it helped.

I'll have to do some reading on the ected.

Definitely, and be sure to compare it to the ELocker as well. They're functionally-similar in that they're electric lockers, but the Elocker is fully-open when unlocked as opposed to an LSD (can't recall if I made that distinction or not in the original post). Both are available for D30s, so you've got some front-end options in electric selectables.

Just to explain my reasoning behind going with the ECTEDs rather than a pneumatically-actuated locker: I figured that if I break an electric line on the trail it can probably be spliced back together well enough to get me out of whatever I needed it for in the first place. If I break an airline, I might not be able to keep the locker engaged after an air line repair. While I understand that it doesn't take a whole lot of air pressure to engage, say, an ARB, it was the ability to maintain that air pressure after a breakage that concerned me.

I have to say taking a road trip on friday, as well as our snow run a couple weeks ago, was a real eye-opener as to how functional the rig already is.

They are pretty good out of the box, aren't they?

 

[xjtrailrider]

Nice Jeep! Just curious. What combination of leafs did you use to get the 2.5" of lift in the rear? I am considering about that same exact build and it would save me some time if I don't have to build the packs more than once to get the height right.

Thanks!

I left the main leafs in and added a Quadratec HD leaf pack under it with the main leaf in tack, just cut the eyes off.

 

[TRCM]

Mine has after market rims, and I am not sure of the backspacing, but 31's don't hit the control arm, but do hit the sway bar. I know cuz the mistakenly put 1 31" tire on it uo front when I got the 30's I have now. I didn't realize it till I had done some minor wheeling on some hunting trails. Had I known they cleared that well, I'd have went with 31's to begin with.

I do have a 2" budget lift on it to give the clearance.

 

[srmitchell]

I consider mine a "super stock".

I've tried to make it look like a factory off road package. Im going to 33's soon, and the flares will get modified, but they will stay. I like the look.

It's hardly just looks though, it has a locker, frame stiffeners, upgraded steering, driveshafts, skids, and really good tires. It's also insanely quiet.

 

[MrShaft696]

I would start with 31" tires or you going to have all the equipment to wheel, with the fancy t-case and lockers & not be able to get anywhere worth utilizing it becaue your tires are too small & your not ready to take the damage. I kick myself for putting 235's on when I first got my jeep because I was scared, so dont puss out, you can probably get 31s cheaper as well, especially second hand they are extremly common.

 

[Darky]

I'd look into OME stuff. They make some very good springs and are centered around the expedition type stuff and keeping close to stock being that they are based in Australia.

 

[casm]

I'd look into OME stuff. They make some very good springs and are centered around the expedition type stuff and keeping close to stock being that they are based in Australia.

I'll second this. I'm at about 54,000 miles on mine and they're about 4,000 miles overdue for replacement. Given that my XJ is in the daily driver / weekend warrior category, they've held up remarkably well. Same goes for their shocks. Replacement's coming later this year, and I fully intend to go with the same setup again.

Since you're talking about carrying heavy loads, I would recommend using ZJ V8 springs up front and getting an AAL along with the full spring pack for the rear. This is the route that I went largely due to having to semi-regularly tow a car with my XJ, and have not regretted it. The AAL did make the rear pack somewhat stiffer than it would have been otherwise, but the tradeoff was worth it.

 

[jeepindavis]

yeah - I'm running 265/75/15's now with RE 3.5 and a budget 2" for a total of 5+ of lift. the new LCA's with the lift helps the rubbing. I've also run both stock steelies and stock aluminums - all rubbed the LCA. even with a cheap spacer in the front, I still have a tiny bit of rubbing at full lock.

So those of you with aftermarket wheels and tires that don't rub, what backspacing to order?

if you don't mind my piggybacking on the thread...

 

[xj_mike]

You have seen my rig and it works great for everything we do. 3" lift, 245/75-16 (~31x9.5) and it just rocks. Still fairly stock looking. Recent Airlift helper air bags made a big difference in towing the trailer offroad. No real limits to articulation and adjustable for whatever load I have at the time.

Here are a couple pics from this past weekend

 

[Krazors001]

I would look into the Old Man Emu kits. I bought my 3" from Jeepinoutfitters.com and have been very pleased with it. I only have 2", but it sits pretty level with the rear so I never bothered up front because I left the coil spacers out. I have been very happy with the ride quality of it and the only thing that make it not all that great are my tires being load range e and giving it a stiffer ride. When these STTs wear out, I'm going to probably get a set of Goodyear Duratracs instead. I think it would looks pretty stock but the wheels do stick out more since I have the 1" spacers on there. I never tried without them but don't imagine I'd have much issue.
I had originally planned on wheeling this more, but realized after only 3 off road trips in 5 years of owning it this was going to be a dd for life. I ended up selling the stock gas tank skid, Appalachian armor t-case skid, and rubicon express lcas I was going to put on it. I did keep the Jcr stage II sliders, front tow hooks, and detours rear bumper so I still had a pretty good setup.

 

[SanDiegoOverland]

I'll second this. I'm at about 54,000 miles on mine and they're about 4,000 miles overdue for replacement. Given that my XJ is in the daily driver / weekend warrior category, they've held up remarkably well. Same goes for their shocks. Replacement's coming later this year, and I fully intend to go with the same setup again.

Since you're talking about carrying heavy loads, I would recommend using ZJ V8 springs up front and getting an AAL along with the full spring pack for the rear. This is the route that I went largely due to having to semi-regularly tow a car with my XJ, and have not regretted it. The AAL did make the rear pack somewhat stiffer than it would have been otherwise, but the tradeoff was worth it.

yup, thanks again, dude. zj v8's are exactly what I'll look for. still planning on the xj/xj bastard pack in the rear, but I'll check out OME's AAL.

Should I still be planning on a spacer up front with my pack plans of around 2.5-3" or will the v8 be enough you think?

 

[Brad M.]

yup, thanks again, dude. zj v8's are exactly what I'll look for. still planning on the xj/xj bastard pack in the rear, but I'll check out OME's AAL.

Should I still be planning on a spacer up front with my pack plans of around 2.5-3" or will the v8 be enough you think?

I don't think the ZJ V8 coils will give you enough to match the rear, especially if you've got an aftermarket bumper. You'll probably still need the spacers.