The Frog Blog

[rocknxj]

Behold the Frog, my beloved 1999 Cherokee Classic. I purchased this XJ with 130,000 miles on 28 March 2009 from a guy in Grass Valley, Ca. for $5,000. The name "Frog" came from a sign next to the guys house that we saw on the way home from picking it up. The name seemed appropriate and it sort of stuck.

The Frog, by the way, was equipped with a 1.5" OME lift, 30" BFG A/T's, an electric override switch to keep the tranny locked in first gear, and a plethora of small upgrades to engine, body, and interior. In other words, when the guy told me he wanted 5k for the vehicle, I could not get my money out fast enough and paid him promptly and eagerly. The Jeep has been extremely reliable since March 2009 and is in perfect shape. Later I may add a complete list of upgrades I have made since purchase date.

This was my second Cherokee, the other being Old Blue, a 1999 Cherokee Sport. MY kid and I modified that rig to sit on a Rubicon Express 3.5" lift and 31" tires. We wheeled it in several locations in Northern California and he is now the proud owner of that Jeep. Photos of Old Blue may appear throughout this blog. Take care of her, dude.

Although a Cherokee on 31's is a great setup, I wanted something more with this second XJ. I debated for nearly a year whether to keep the Frog stock, sell it and buy a 2010 JK, or modify the Frog for something that will be as capable on the trail as possible, yet keep as much money in the bank. I made the decision to keep the Frog and install a 5.5" Rubicon Express 6200 Extreme Duty short arm lift and 33" BFGs.

This blog is designed to record the major decisions, upgrades, and problems I have, and will encounter, along the lifespan of the Frog. I hope some of it will be of interest of value to you, my brethren.

Here is a shot of the Frog as she sits today, complete with 5.5" RE lift, 33" BFG A/T KM2's on Cragar Soft 8's, Advance Adpaters SYE and driveshaft, 4.56 gears and a front Spartan locker hidden behind some beefy diff covers from Ruff Stuff Specialties, and an assortment of other goodies.

This blog is designed to record the major decisions, upgrades, and problems I have, and will encounter, along the lifespan of the Frog. I hope some of it will be of interest of value to you, my brethren.

 

[Phil]

Too many words, not enough pictures.

 

[rocknxj]

Too many words, not enough pictures.

Oh, I've got pics.

 

[rocknxj]

One of the earliest upgrades was a set of Super Rails from AJ's Armor. I have a pair on the other Jeep and I swear by them. One nice thing about AJ's rails, besides the outstanding welds and craftsmanship, is the added bracket that bolts to the spring hangar.

Here's what was waiting for me when I arrived home from work.

Here they are after a coat of primer. Yeah, it was cold and rainy, but I was not about to wait for Spring weather to get these bad boys on the rig.

Here's a shot during installation. Find a helper to make it easier. My kid was busy playing X-box so I had to be creative with the floor jack.

And finally, here's a shot of the rail installed. I did this in January and it got dark quicker than expected. Install time is about an hour and a half, but that is with dull drill bits. For some reason, I always have dull drill bits. I hate that.

 

[bcmaxx]

Im so happy with mine, I only went through one bit on the unibody even going through some hd stiffeners, but killed 3 bits tryin to chew a hole in the hangers :doh: dont know why. I Had the jeep up on the hoist with the arm just touching the stiffeners and one bolt head shot off and slightly injured our mechanic so you may want to run a high strength bolt through the uni rail if you really want strength

 

[rocknxj]

I ended up doing a lot this weekend. I started off by changing the 0-rings o my oil filter adapter after work Friday night. That is a fairly easy job and was done in about 30 minutes.

Next, I removed the stock bumper caps from the front bumper. I have a new bumper on order and I needed to free up some space for the 33" tires. Here's a few shots of before and after.

Not much clearance with the stock bumper, especially during tight turns.

Removal is easy and frees up some necessary space until the new bumper arrives.

Here's a front shot. Hey, there's Old Blue in the background. I also started my JCR Offroad transfer case skid plate install. I was able to prime it, drill the holes (further dulling my drill bits), and prep it for a full install tomorrow morning. Ran out of time again.

I've got to say. The install is a PITA but the skid will rock once I get it on tomorrow morning. I had a problem with the nutzerts, but I'll get them finished up.

 

[srmitchell]

Looks really good.

Hows the wear on those km2's?

The km2 is the only tire that comes in the size I want.

 

[rocknxj]

I've only got a couple hundred miles on the tires. So far so good. They sound good on the highway, but I will need to test them out on the trail...Any day now.

 

[rocknxj]

I may have mentioned that I have more miles under my Jeep than in it. Here is a list of the upgrades I have added to the Frog since I purchased it 11 months ago (listed in sequence of maintenance):

Purchased 3/28/09 with 129,300 miles (equipped with 1.5” OME lift and 30” BFGs)
Fire extinguisher, CB radio, trailer wiring and electric brake controller, and Mag Lites (self) 4/09
Bosch O2 sensors (before/after cat) 4/09
Napa front brake rotors and brake inspection (self) 4/09
Goodyear serpentine belt 4/09
Napa rear seat belts (self) 8/09
Optima Red Top battery 8/09
Autolite Starter/solenoid (self) 8/09
K&N drop-in air filter 8/09
Sylvania Silverstar headlights 10/09
Bosch Extreme wipers (all) 10/09
Polk Audio 6.5” speakers (front and rear) 12/09
AJ’s Offroad super rails 1/10
Advance Adapters HD SYE and CV driveshaft/TC fluid (self) 1/10
Conn Ferr cargo rack and OffRoadUnlimited rack brackets 1/10
Yukon 4.56 ring and pinion for D30 and Chy8.25 (IH Only –North) 1/10
Spartan locker for Dana 30 (IH Only-North) 1/10
Ruff Stuff Specialties diff covers for D30 and Chy8.25 (IH Only-North) 1/10
Rubicon Express 6200 Extreme Duty 5.5” SA lift and RE mono-tube shocks (self) 2/10
BFG AT M/T KM2 33x10.50x15 tires and Cragar Soft 8 rims with center caps (Big-O) 2/10
Front end alignment (Big-O) 2/10
Mopar 39-tooth speed-o correction gear and o-ring (self) 2/10
Rear Main Seal installation (self) 2/10
Crankcase vent/grommet and rear crankcase vent/grommet 2/10
Mopar oil filter adapter o-ring replacement (self) 2/10
Poly Performance sway bar brackets 2/10
JCR Offroad NP231 transfer case skid plate 2/10
JCR Offroad Stage IV front non-winch bumper with 2” receiver, d-rings, hoop, and side protection 2/10

 

[srmitchell]

Oh you're going jcr in front now?

 

[rocknxj]

Oh you're going jcr in front now?

I did not want to, but the price was lower than AJ's and I will get the bumper sent to me very soon. AJ put his orders on hold due to a house fire. although I want to support AJ, I have a need for the front bumper and need to get that rolling.

 

[srmitchell]

Ah. Cool. I like aj's rails, but I don't like his bumpers.

 

[rocknxj]

I finished up the JCR Offroad NP231 TC skid plate yesterday. Once again, it was dark by the time I finished.

I had problems getting the nutzerts installed that came with the hardware kit, so I opted for six 4.5" long 3/8" bolts and nuts. Instead of the weaker nut plates, I drilled holes through the uni-body channels and and secured the sides of the skid with the bolts. If you opt for this method, be careful to prevent crushing the weak sheet metal channels by over torquing the nuts. Use fiber locks to prevent the the nuts from coming loose.

Notice how the RE drop brackets lie on top of the cross member, yet the TC skid is tall enough to accommodate the additional drop. I'm sure the skid is tall enough to handle a 1" TC drop easily.

Oh, and did I mention this beast is one well manufactured piece of quarter inch steel? It wraps fully across the cross member and is secured by 11 bolts. Although I did not weigh it, I bet it comes in close to 45 lbs of raw, rock smashing steel. It blows my Warn TC skid away that I used on Old Blue, and the cost was not much more.

 

[rocknxj]

Ah. Cool. I like aj's rails, but I don't like his bumpers.

He was going to build me a sweet one with diamond plate on top and a low hoop with light brackets. The best thing is his 2" receiver sticks out farther for ease of pinning utilities.

The JCR bumper on my kid's Jeep is nice, but it is a real pain to reach under it to pin the front equipment. I usually end up on my back and I'm getting too old for that....well, for some things that is.

 

[rocknxj]

Sunday was a busy day for the Frog. In addition to the TC skid, I also solicited welding help from Jeff and Stuart from my club (Boonie Bouncers) and got the new sway bar brackets welded in place. After installing the RE 6200 Extreme Duty lift, I noticed rubbing on my right sway bar during right turns. This is something I failed to notice after the lift install, and I feel dumb and foolish for not spotting it right off. Before you ask about locating the end link to the outside of the bracket, I did that but the bracket protuberance still interfered with the drag link. Besides, the end link did not want to extend to the outward side of the bracket. So there.

Because the sway bar end link was making contact with my drag link, I disconnected if for the time being. Apparently, this is common with the 5.5" lift due to castor angle. My castor seemed perfectly fine, so I opted to purchase some taller sway bar brackets from Poly Performance. The following photos outline some key steps with the install.

This photo (above) clearly shows the sway bar bracket and proximity to the drag link ball joint. Imagine the end link hooked up and making a right turn. Not a pleasant sound.

Here's the same bracket at a different angle. Take a look at yours and you will find an outward facing bevel pressed into the bracket. I'm assuming this is for strength, and not appearance.

A few minutes with my Makita grinder flattened out the bevel. A cutoff blade took the top couple of inches off the bracket in no time. This was done to prepare for the new bracket from Poly Performance.

Yes, I changed both sides for symmetry. Here's a shot of the driver's side. I'm thinking you could save 13 bucks and only do the passenger side, but who would do such a thing and risk upsetting the fine balanced nature of the Cherokee?

Now that the original bracket was ground smooth and cut to proper height, I clamped the taller bracket to it and prepped it for welding. I have not welded metal since high school a mete 28 years ago, so I solicited the help from some off-road buds. These guys don't even drink beer, so I don't know how to repay them.

Thanks to Jeff and Stuart, I am now a proud recipient of taller sway bar brackets and the freedom to steer left and right, during normal ride height or max flex. Oh, if you are looking for a final photo of the job, I'll need to post that at a later time. I totally forgot to take a pic of the brackets after I primed and painted them. Take my word on it...they are glorious!

 

[rocknxj]

I was asked if I had any tips for installing the JCR Offroad TC skid, so I thought I would post an answer to that question. In addition to some info regarding nutzert installation, I have 18 simple steps that outline easy skid installation. Here goes...

------

Nutzert installation: The tool JCR Offorad sent with the install package is functional, but fairly lame, consisting of a bolt, a large nut, a star washer, and the nutzert. If you can get a real nutzert tool, I'd say rent or buy it. When I was turning wrenches for a living, the nutzert tool was a tad more sophisticated and I NEVER had a hard time installing them. The real tool allows you to hold the bolt head steady while turning a nut to "squash" the aluminum nutzert to fit securely into the drilled hole.

Essentially, the included JCR tool is difficult to work with because you need to find a way of inserting the nutzert into the hole of EXACT diameter. That allows the aluminum nutzert to bite into the hole with minimal compression through the use of the cheapy tool. I did not have the exact drill bit and may have screwed myself by not buying the right bit. (I ALWAYS have dull bits...) My holes ended up a tad larger than the nutzert, rendering the tool worthless.

I digress. Here is some step-by-step info for the TC skid install:

1. Clean and prime the skid.

2. Use a floor jack and position the skid under the cross member. Jack to appropriate location and fit the leading edge of skid along front edge of cross member.

3. Apply required force to fit sides of skid along uni-body rails. Utilization of BFH is encouraged and possibly necessary on some applications.

4. Drill all necessary holes with appropriate drill bits. Use oil to prevent the dulling of drill bits.

5. Lower floor jack to remove skid.

6. Encourage neighbor kid to paint skid with your choice of color from rattle can. Extra points given for creativity.

7. Install self-tapping bolts along front edge of cross member (loosely) and remove. Do this to create threads for ease of final installation.

8. Install nutzerts into side rails. Option: Drill through uni-body and opt for 4.5" long 3/8" bolts and fiber locks. Use care to avoid drilling into fuel lines.

9. Grab freshly painted skid plate and prepare to install under vehicle.

10. Wipe hands with fresh paint on wife's curtains, new kitchen towels, or your pants.

11. Allow skid to dry fully. Enjoy a beer or your favorite cocktail.

12. Grab freshly painted, yet dry, skid plate and prepare to install under vehicle. Use floor jack as done in step 2.

13. Install front self-tapping screws. Do not fully tighten. Use thread lock.

14. Install the two countersunk bolts and tighten fully.

15. Install the six bolts along the uni-body rails.

16. Tighten all hardware.

17. Lower jack. Leave tools, metal shavings, and unused hardware on ground for another day.

18. Wheel.

 

[rocknxj]

I miss summer. Damn the February rain!

 

[knucklehead 61]

the frog looks great.
very similar to my junk, only i'm on 35's & 4.88's with arb's on both ends.
i use the jcr t-case skid & gas tank skid. they are both pure beef!
i bought logan bumpers off of ebay. cheap, strong, tons of ground clearance & fast shipping.

 

[rocknxj]

the frog looks great.
very similar to my junk, only i'm on 35's & 4.88's with arb's on both ends.
i use the jcr t-case skid & gas tank skid. they are both pure beef!
i bought logan bumpers off of ebay. cheap, strong, tons of ground clearance & fast shipping.

I like the JCR fuel skid as well. If I cannot find one for the blue jeep, I will move the OE fuel skid from the Frog to Old Blue and buy a fuel skid from JCR. Front Stage IV bumper is on order so now I just have to wait...

 

[rocknxj]

Poser shot at Prairie City 2/28/10.

The Frog and Old Blue together again.