What did you do to your XJ today

Let em both sit while i drove the unlimited around. Did get a new to me 2001 2 door yesterday though. Hope Errybody doing well. Cheers!
 
Looks great Cody. Hope mine turns out as nice as yours.

Did you drill through to weld the centers of the D-ring tabs?

I'm thinking of adding tube or angle on the receiver tube between the tie ins. My hope is to distribute any torsional forces I might run into. Anyone have thoughts on that? Needed or not?
 
Made some progress on the MJ,i got the AGR super pump mounted and supercharger mock up is done,i have a jig for the supercharger to manifold adapter and a template for the front support brace and idler pulley.

I worked a little on installing the wide band O2 and boost gauges.

Hopefully i can find time to build the parts during the week.
 
Today did not go as planned.
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That sucks. Do tell.
I've been pretty fortunate on all my Jeeps, I've never had an issue with broken bolts or nuts inside the frame. That was up until yesterday...

Swapping out leaf springs in my stocker, I go to remove the front bolt on the driver side. It laughed at my impact, I gave it hell with my 2ft breaker bar, and I finally ended up getting it to budge with a 4-5ft cheater pipe over the breaker bar. I started to work it loose, spraying it with penetrating oil

The bolt started to come out, until I noticed the bushing sleeve was coming with it, spreading the mount apart. Tried a few different things to try and free the sleeve, but no dice. My plan was to cut the bolt on both sides of the spring, but the hardened bolt killed my sawzall blade real quick.

At that point I was pissed, and torched the head of the bolt off. I then used a 1.25" hole saw to open up the mount to allow the sleeve to come out with the bolt. After hole sawing the mount, I welded a 5/8" nut to the bolt, and was able to remove the bolt/sleeve in one piece.

I then welded a .188 plate over the hole I made with a new properly sized hole drilled in it. Good as new. :thumbup:
 
I've been pretty fortunate on all my Jeeps, I've never had an issue with broken bolts or nuts inside the frame. That was up until yesterday...

Swapping out leaf springs in my stocker, I go to remove the front bolt on the driver side. It laughed at my impact, I gave it hell with my 2ft breaker bar, and I finally ended up getting it to budge with a 4-5ft cheater pipe over the breaker bar. I started to work it loose, spraying it with penetrating oil

The bolt started to come out, until I noticed the bushing sleeve was coming with it, spreading the mount apart. Tried a few different things to try and free the sleeve, but no dice. My plan was to cut the bolt on both sides of the spring, but the hardened bolt killed my sawzall blade real quick.

At that point I was pissed, and torched the head of the bolt off. I then used a 1.25" hole saw to open up the mount to allow the sleeve to come out with the bolt. After hole sawing the mount, I welded a 5/8" nut to the bolt, and was able to remove the bolt/sleeve in one piece.

I then welded a .188 plate over the hole I made with a new properly sized hole drilled in it. Good as new. :thumbup:



Good recovery.


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Finished welding the dirtbound front bumper. Still have to paint it.

Installed a new headlight harness replacing a home made harness I built a few years ago just for the low beams. I ran into a problem with the ground connection at the fender. As I was un-bolting it, the ground wire fell off. A few years back the steel slug broke off the inner fender. So I welded the slug back on and crimped a new terminal back on. Hopefully that will improve things as I have noticed a few electrical gremlins that could all be attributed to that ground wire.

Looking into replacing all my battery cables. I could buy an already made set but I think It would be nice to just make my own.
 
I was looking at whether to purchase some EMU leaf springs for the rear, one of the stock springs is busted, when I saw smoke coming from engine. Luckily it was a busted upper hose, so I guess I'll be working on that tonight instead!
 
Removed receiver hitch, rear anti sway bar, and the bolt on helper springs. I put the helper springs on 12 years ago when I beefed things up for towing. I don't know if it was the helpers or just age but my stock leafs definitely "S"-d out. Oh well OME's is going to take care of that.

Tried to remove the front leaf bolt on one side. Didn't have the balls to break it loose with my breaker bar so I put the jack under the breaker bar and that broke it loose. Problem is the bushing liner is frozen to the bolt. Can I weld something to the liner to keep it from turning with the bolt or is there an easy way to get it to separate? At least the nut didn't come off in the frame rail. Was running out of daylight so I just tightened it back up and put the tools away.

Took it for a short drive to feel the stock suspension again. much softer without those helpers.
 
You might have to cut the bolt on both sides to drop the leaf spring.

Like this?
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I think I got 7-1/2 hernias but the rear leafs are on. Those bolts were a mutha. The first one that came out was the front drivers side. it was clear much corrosion had eaten the bolt diameter so full replacement was necessary, and out came the cutoff wheel. Thankfully the welded nuts stayed in place.

Still have to put the rear shocks, DPG leaf bump stop plates, extended brake line, and TC drop to finish the rear. Goal for tomorrow is getting the front up in the air even if all the odds and ends are not finished. My junk pile is getting taller.
 
Rear shocks on, DPG bump stop plates painted and torqued down with added hockey pucks.

Tried to simply add a temporary TC drop which turned into a PITA. Both bolts snapped off and one stud broke the welded nut inside the frame. Fished out the weld nut with stud and opened the hole enough to fit a flange nut in place and weld it in. Hole sawed the broken bolt out and welded in another flange nut. Started to work on the passenger side stud/broken bolt but it got dark on me so called it a day. So I will be commuting on half a TC drop and one nut on the other side. I'm less than 3 miles from work and no HWY so it should be okay. Now back to my 12/hr days for awhile. I didn't reach my goal of getting the front up too but hey look on the bright side. I get to look all retro 70's hotrod style with the back all "jacked up". Oh and thank God the weather was beautiful the last two days. Missed working outside.

I leave you all this...
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Ordered the new T Case/belly skid, steering box brace and custom bumper brackets from IRO!

Also ordered 4* axle shims, a used zj front drive shaft that I'll need to get lengthened for the rear and a fuse box/relays to start getting some of my electrical projects underway.

Should be a fun next few weekends



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Front coils and spacers are in. Far easier than the rear leafs.

...but more jeep rusted bolt drama to come. Tomorrow is new lower control arm day.

One of the coil retainer bolts stripped the threads. What is the quick and dirty fix. Nut and bolt or tap it next size. It was dark by the time I discovered the threads were stripped.

My Jeep began it's life in Indiana and suffered through four salty winters before heading out here.
 
Installed JKS adj lower arms, track bar, and quick disconnects. OME shocks finished off the day. Buddy came over to hang and help wrench. The help was more than welcome. Clearly the front has been a piece of cake compared to the rear. All the control arm bolts came out without a fight.

Still need the extended brake lines installed and front bumpstops. Finish fixing my cross-member mounts. Tie in the passenger side bumper mount with frame sleeves. Then address the drive line vibes. Oh, and grease up all that new hardware. Align the new suspension before the new rubber goes on.

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Nice parts list, Greenz. What shoe size are you shooting for?

A Currie steering setup look like it would be icing on the cake. I ran the Currie steering with ~4" of lift, and it was like factory steering with no dead spot. It took some serious beatings too.
 
Nice parts list, Greenz. What shoe size are you shooting for?

A Currie steering setup look like it would be icing on the cake. I ran the Currie steering with ~4" of lift, and it was like factory steering with no dead spot. It took some serious beatings too.

Thank You! Been trying to decide between 33 X 10.5 or 12.5. Either will fit just fine without rubbing with the trimming and bump stops. Leaning more toward the 12.5 for the stance over the slight increase of mud/snow traction. I'm not into driving in deep mud and the once every other year snow we get around here is not really a concern. BFG KO2 A/T or?

Not familiar with steering upgrades although it will soon become a priority once I start wheeling. Is the Currie a OTK or UTK? I'm an info magnet right now so suggestions are always welcomed.

Today I opened the rear brake line to install the extensions and wouldn't you know it, so did the sky. It was nice having room to crawl under the Jeep using it as an umbrella. It rained hard for about 10 minutes the cleared up for the rest of the day. I call that winning in Oregon January! The front extended lines just felt weird the best way to route without rubbing the tires or shocks. A buddy of mine is coming over tomorrow to check it out. He worked for a couple of shops installing lifts for several years. He now drives a late model Camaro and Harleys. Pleasantly surprised me with his lift and wheeling knowledge.

Also got all the greasing done along with the installing the front bump stops.

Then the dreaded TC cross-member frame nuts. Passenger side stud broke the weld nut in the frame. It barley was tacked in as you can see in the pic. Drilled out the broken bolt with a hole saw and opened the diameter of both holes with a step drill to accept the diameter of the flare nuts. then welded them in, ground to the height of the frame, and prime/painted. I could not have done the lift without having the welder around. Dropped the TC about 3/4" and that took care of almost all the vibes. I have 110K miles on original u-joints so I'm sure the lift has exposed their age. Anyway will be ordering a hag-n-tap to go with my spare front drive shaft.

Test drive showed that she still drives straight as an arrow although the steering wheel is cocked to the right. Got it up to 60 without any signs of DW. Yeah! However, the front bangs pretty hard when I his a bump like those reflectors. Dips are not harsh at all. It might be normal with all lifts and short arms IDK. I also feel more road imperfections. It feels like the tires are over inflated but they are not. I still will get an alignment done before the new tires go on.

TC cross-member hardware.:rattle:
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