Well Ive been on
for awhile and Ive posted here and there but tend to just read and follow the build threads but i figured it was my turn to share my story and build.
My name is Matt and I'm currently in the military and stationed out in AZ. I joined the military right out of high school and went from Ca to to TX for training and then was told to report to the AZ desert. Ive been in the desert for a few years when i felt like i was missing a greater side of what AZ had to offer as my Mazda6 at the time stayed on the black top. So i bought a used Cherokee off of CL for about 2100 and told the wife it was to get me out in the desert for shooting and what not. The XJ has the 4.0 with auto trans and had the HP D30 and D35 combo with the NP231 which i had no clue what all that was then. It had a budget boost and 31" BFG mud's. It did great for taking me off the black top but it all spiraled out of control once i found some rocks. Now they showed me what the XJ could do with proper tire placement and a good line. So from there i wanted more and started doing more trial runs and so forth. I had sliders built, front bumper and a roof rack to fit the picture of what i thought it should look like. Well shortly after i deployed for my second time where i began to make extra money and started "investing" it in my XJ. I wanted to run 35s and that's all i knew so i talked to Andrew and LETZROLL OFFROAD in Mesa AZ and we started talking about the 8.8 swap and upgrading the front. After that i started looking for lift kits and ended up going with Rough Country because it was the most complete kit and it was what i could afford at the time. if i could have don't it over i would have waited a tad bit longer but it worked. I went with the 6.5" Xflex kit. Shortly after my Dad got a samurai and started taking it out to JV to mess around at our neighbors property across the street from Boone road. We saw this huge off road race called "King of the Hammers" and went to it and were in aw at the cars and the event that took place that day. We started to attend them and one day my Brother said Matt were going to run these race one day. Shortly after that while i was in TX for training my Brother called me and said "Matt Ultra4 added two new classes and we can race in KOH". So i hung up and called Andrew as he was building me my cage for trail use when i asked him to switch size of tube to 1.75 to meet tech so i can race one day. He guided me in to the W.E. Rock Dirt Riot race as it was smaller and local and would allow me to get my feet wet with the racing scene with easier tech. So once i got back i picked the jeep up added new seats and five points and picked up a helmet and. So my family and I (dad, brother, mom and wife) loaded the jeep and headed to Tucson and did our first race in the Stock Trail class and won after finishing 6 laps in a hour. I was planning on race all three events in the series but was pulled away on another deployment which I'm still on. So since Ive been gone my dad, brother and Andrew have been planning the next stage in the build to step out of the trail class to the 4600 class in race in the 2013 KOH EMC along with the Dirt Riot races.
Plans for upgrades include plating the frame, adding more cage, installing HP D60 front axle, new shocks and front bump stops (which i have and posted on here already), longer Currie anti rock links, PSC ram assist kit with cooler, Race line RT233 monster bead locks, spool chromolly shafts and spacers to match front axle lug pattern in the 8.8, remove windows and rear hatch, add window nets, fuel cell with shut off valves, and many other odds and ends but those are the big items. The front axle, 8.8 parts and wheels are paid and waiting for me. Working on saving to get the PSC kit with custom steering.
Pictures of the stages it has gone through.
when i first got it and added sliders, bumper, rack and lights. Trip in JV for KOH 2010
After i got back from my 2nd deployment we installed the lift, new motor mount brackets, currie steering, 8.8 and upgraded the front HP D30 and sold the roof rack.
Next came the cage..Andrew and the guys had the cage half way done in 1.5 and scrapped it when i said 1.75 for racing. We will be adding more tube, side impact bars and triangulation to meet tech.
Next was ditching the Rough Country X-flex short arms and modifying the Rock Krawler first generation long arms.
another view
After that we had to modify my flat bumper to accept a winch per Dirt Riot rules plus i figured it was needed. so we came up with this.
After that we had to swap out the seats for a seat that accepted five pts so went to 4 wheelparts (they offer military discount) and got these. Old seats right new seats left, So much more supportive and comfortable.
another view of them in the jeep
picture of the RJS 5pts
Then it was time to race in the Dirt Riot South West Series held by W.E. Rock
So that's my story of Team MAD (Matt, Adam, Dad) dreams to reality. We still have a long way to go and a lot to learn but ill continue to build and prep the XJ and will update the thread as we go and hope we have a great time along the way.
Id like to say thank you to Andrew and the guys at LEZROLL OFFROAD, Kevin with Randy's Ring and pinon, 4wheel parts for military discounts, Brian with H.D. Offroad engineering and most importantly my family and friends for the help and support. And to my Wife thanks for not leaving me and allowing me to pursue my crazy obsession of going fast in the desert then crawling over rocks the size of small cars. This wouldn't be possible with out them.
Oh we won our series with our one race. Our first place finish and the 212 points we got was enough to secure us the title of 1st place for Stock Trail.
Congratulations to the Dirt Riot Southwest Series Winners!! Mike Klensin won the first ever 4400 Dirt Riot Southwest Series!
4500 Class: Alan Johnson
4600 Class: Shawn Passmore
UTV Class Winner: Rob Usnick
Stock Class Winner: Ryan Miller
Stock Trail Winner: Matthew Salyers
and of course my you tube channel of videos from the race and other trail runs.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TeamMAD2410/videos
Sorry it was so long, future post shouldn't be this long. And always advice, input and criticism is welcomed.

My name is Matt and I'm currently in the military and stationed out in AZ. I joined the military right out of high school and went from Ca to to TX for training and then was told to report to the AZ desert. Ive been in the desert for a few years when i felt like i was missing a greater side of what AZ had to offer as my Mazda6 at the time stayed on the black top. So i bought a used Cherokee off of CL for about 2100 and told the wife it was to get me out in the desert for shooting and what not. The XJ has the 4.0 with auto trans and had the HP D30 and D35 combo with the NP231 which i had no clue what all that was then. It had a budget boost and 31" BFG mud's. It did great for taking me off the black top but it all spiraled out of control once i found some rocks. Now they showed me what the XJ could do with proper tire placement and a good line. So from there i wanted more and started doing more trial runs and so forth. I had sliders built, front bumper and a roof rack to fit the picture of what i thought it should look like. Well shortly after i deployed for my second time where i began to make extra money and started "investing" it in my XJ. I wanted to run 35s and that's all i knew so i talked to Andrew and LETZROLL OFFROAD in Mesa AZ and we started talking about the 8.8 swap and upgrading the front. After that i started looking for lift kits and ended up going with Rough Country because it was the most complete kit and it was what i could afford at the time. if i could have don't it over i would have waited a tad bit longer but it worked. I went with the 6.5" Xflex kit. Shortly after my Dad got a samurai and started taking it out to JV to mess around at our neighbors property across the street from Boone road. We saw this huge off road race called "King of the Hammers" and went to it and were in aw at the cars and the event that took place that day. We started to attend them and one day my Brother said Matt were going to run these race one day. Shortly after that while i was in TX for training my Brother called me and said "Matt Ultra4 added two new classes and we can race in KOH". So i hung up and called Andrew as he was building me my cage for trail use when i asked him to switch size of tube to 1.75 to meet tech so i can race one day. He guided me in to the W.E. Rock Dirt Riot race as it was smaller and local and would allow me to get my feet wet with the racing scene with easier tech. So once i got back i picked the jeep up added new seats and five points and picked up a helmet and. So my family and I (dad, brother, mom and wife) loaded the jeep and headed to Tucson and did our first race in the Stock Trail class and won after finishing 6 laps in a hour. I was planning on race all three events in the series but was pulled away on another deployment which I'm still on. So since Ive been gone my dad, brother and Andrew have been planning the next stage in the build to step out of the trail class to the 4600 class in race in the 2013 KOH EMC along with the Dirt Riot races.
Plans for upgrades include plating the frame, adding more cage, installing HP D60 front axle, new shocks and front bump stops (which i have and posted on here already), longer Currie anti rock links, PSC ram assist kit with cooler, Race line RT233 monster bead locks, spool chromolly shafts and spacers to match front axle lug pattern in the 8.8, remove windows and rear hatch, add window nets, fuel cell with shut off valves, and many other odds and ends but those are the big items. The front axle, 8.8 parts and wheels are paid and waiting for me. Working on saving to get the PSC kit with custom steering.
Pictures of the stages it has gone through.
when i first got it and added sliders, bumper, rack and lights. Trip in JV for KOH 2010

After i got back from my 2nd deployment we installed the lift, new motor mount brackets, currie steering, 8.8 and upgraded the front HP D30 and sold the roof rack.

Next came the cage..Andrew and the guys had the cage half way done in 1.5 and scrapped it when i said 1.75 for racing. We will be adding more tube, side impact bars and triangulation to meet tech.

Next was ditching the Rough Country X-flex short arms and modifying the Rock Krawler first generation long arms.

another view

After that we had to modify my flat bumper to accept a winch per Dirt Riot rules plus i figured it was needed. so we came up with this.

After that we had to swap out the seats for a seat that accepted five pts so went to 4 wheelparts (they offer military discount) and got these. Old seats right new seats left, So much more supportive and comfortable.

another view of them in the jeep

picture of the RJS 5pts

Then it was time to race in the Dirt Riot South West Series held by W.E. Rock



So that's my story of Team MAD (Matt, Adam, Dad) dreams to reality. We still have a long way to go and a lot to learn but ill continue to build and prep the XJ and will update the thread as we go and hope we have a great time along the way.
Id like to say thank you to Andrew and the guys at LEZROLL OFFROAD, Kevin with Randy's Ring and pinon, 4wheel parts for military discounts, Brian with H.D. Offroad engineering and most importantly my family and friends for the help and support. And to my Wife thanks for not leaving me and allowing me to pursue my crazy obsession of going fast in the desert then crawling over rocks the size of small cars. This wouldn't be possible with out them.
Oh we won our series with our one race. Our first place finish and the 212 points we got was enough to secure us the title of 1st place for Stock Trail.
Congratulations to the Dirt Riot Southwest Series Winners!! Mike Klensin won the first ever 4400 Dirt Riot Southwest Series!
4500 Class: Alan Johnson
4600 Class: Shawn Passmore
UTV Class Winner: Rob Usnick
Stock Class Winner: Ryan Miller
Stock Trail Winner: Matthew Salyers
and of course my you tube channel of videos from the race and other trail runs.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TeamMAD2410/videos
Sorry it was so long, future post shouldn't be this long. And always advice, input and criticism is welcomed.