XJ Build, again.

[Jeepedo129]

Hey all, been awhile. After about 5 years gone, I am back in the Jeep world after my ADHD has decided to re-focus on building a Cherokee again. For some context, this will be my 4th XJ (89, 97,99 and now 01) and Second build thread.

I initially wanted to name this thread "XJ build, a tail of bad choices" but I don't want that Mojo with me forever....... hopefully. Being out of the game for a hot minute has allowed my to day dream about what rig I'd want to build as an "ideal XJ" and I've really always liked the look of the JCR Real Hawk. Specifically the Notch Customs fender flares with 35-37s and some mild overland bling. Also really like the elusive Baja Fiber "Rubicon Hood" that seems to be popping up randomly on social media.



So, I set out to find a Jeep. I had my budget set and began looking in my local area - (Vegas). However most rigs that were on Facebook or KSL/Craigslist were either beat, had a crap load of "Modifications" or wanted 15k for a clean one. I expanded my search and found one that I liked up in SLC area and decided to go up there and pick it up. AS I mentioned before I made some choices that, if given the option to re-do, I would NOT have bought this particular Jeep. But Hindsight is 20/20, and I can't change that. The Jeep that I ended up buying was a 2001 Cherokee Classic with 160k on the Odometer. Originally what drew me to this XJ was the fact that it had the Notch Customs flares like i wanted already done and painted, which is expensive. It also had SmittyBuilt front and rear bumpers, with the rear one being a tire carrier and the front one being a winch bumper with a Smitty XD winch, which is also expensive. It wasn't the cleanest Jeep since it was from SLC it had some rust on it, more than I realized when i bought it (more on that later) but decided that it wasn't anything that i couldn't clean up. So, I flew up to SLC, drove the jeep, and paid Cash for it on the spot. I was in a hurry to drive it back down to Vegas so i didnt spend as much time looking it over as i should have.

It drove..... OK. Previous Owner had pieced together some kind of 4" lift but still was running the stock track bar, upper control arms and some after market lowers that had worn bushings. Rear had some RE 4" springs and an adjustable shackle, Not bad. None of this was a big deal to me, since i knew I was going to replace the suspension with a long arm kit and WJ steering. My Original plan was to beef up the D30 in the front with 4.88s, Elocker, Chromoly 30splines and truss it with an Artec truss. And give the rear Axle the same treatment. However, I completely forgot that 00-01 XJs have LP dana 30s in the front, and can have the Super Turd Dana35 in the back, which this one has. So for sure the rear axle is out and will need an swap to something better....... More on that later. Also in my forgetfulness, I forgot the 2001s have the crappy 0331 head, and the crappy precats and O2 sensors. Ooops. guess we'll deal with those later.

So i set off on a new adventure and drove it back to Vegas without incident. Jeep has 32ish inch tires and 3.55 gears, so getting above 65-70 miles an hour on the freeway was a struggle. With 160k miles on it, the jeep runs ok, but i believe the engine will need a refresh of some kind in the future. Again, this wasn't a huge deal because I was planning on doing a stroker build on this one so I just need this to last me for a little while.





Once I got it home, I deep cleaned it. And she desperately needed it. Seats and carpet were full of dirt. Interior had some kind of smell from sitting and almost all the plastic pieces on the dash were loose, cracked, or broken entirely. I pulled out all the interior. Washed it, and replaced it.
I power washed the carpets and followed up with a deep shampooing. I'm very happy with how they came out. Almost look new.

Before.....




After





I went through the interior and replaced what plastic pieces that needed to. The upper dash bezel was cracked, so that got replaced. I also purchased JCR's console bracket to fix the weird contraption that the previous owner had built...... not sure what all the black goo is.....



Front power seat needed a new motor for the front vertical adjustment. Found a replacement on Ebay and now the seat work perfectly.

And also did my first upgrade.
Installed a Double Din radio. With Carplay



Grabbed a new center bezel from JeepCables.com which looks super clean. To install a Double Din radio in the cherokee, you need to modify the mounting locations for the new larger head unit. This requires you to clearance out the lower mounting stud for the old radio, and cut into the lower side supports. Just an FYI, This is the ducting for your HVAC, so you need to tape the holes back up. I used some metal speed tape to seal it all back up. Other than that, Its a plug and play type mod and really looks clean in its new home. Eventually I plan on upgrading the speakers and adding a small Kicker sub under the seat, but for now, this works well and the sound is ok.




I also found a guy on Etsy that sells a 3D printed lower switch panel that allows for 6 factory style rocker switches down below. The plan is to use these for my onboard air compressor and Front and rear lockers. There are several shops on Ebay that sell factory switches with different labels on them. So I picked up a couple.

 

[Jeepedo129]

With the interior all cleaned up and smelling new. I set out on working on the outside.

I found that the rear right signal light wasn't working and set out to figure out what was going on. When i removed the rear tail light, It was very apparent what the issue was.



Previous Owner mentioned that when he installed the rear bumper the exhaust was heating up the bumper and he had to have an exhaust shop bend the tail pipe down. I didn't think much of it at the time, but i came to discover that the rear taillight harness was melted, plastic interior pieces were melted, and the sheet metal around the hatch and rear bumper were covered in soot. So, I'm guessing he had the exhaust pointed right into the back of the SmittyBuilt bumper :SMH: That picture above showing the tail light area is not supposed to be black........ this a silver heep.

Went to pick a part and grabbed a new harness, Luckily it was a quick plug and play and was simple enough while i had the interior out. I also grabbed the plastic plugs that go in that hole by the light as well as new hatch bumpers since those were missing as well. I assume they melted away.



Next I turned my attention to a rust spot I noticed during my first walkaround on the jeep. I thought that it was going to be something that I could grind away and repaint the door. But to my dismay the rust had totally eaten through the lower front corner. A slight pull in the right direction and this whole corner will break off. So now I'm on the search for a new door that is clean.






I continued on working on the out side of the Jeep. Now I started working on upgrades. First I bought RuffStuff's full frame stiffener kit. This thing is pure beef. 3/16 steel that wraps around the lower and side areas all way from the front bumper to the rear bumper. It also includes a steering box brace support.



This took me almost 2 weeks to get done. It is a lot of welding. A LOT. and I'm not the greatest welder for sure. I was completely wore out after getting this all done. (I still haven't done the rear stiffener). I completely removed the front suspension and front bumper and clip. Gave me plenty of room to work with.



I cut off the lower control arm brackets, and had to clearance some of the pinch seam out a little to make room for the 4 link long arm kit that I'm installing. Once I had the front section all done, I had to get creative on how to support the jeep with no front suspension.

Sketch Mode Activated......



Got the center section all welded in, so i moved on to installing the 4 Link kit.



I purchased this 4link kit from Core 4x4 that is up in Utah. I had not heard of them previous to this build, but when researching long arm kits, this one came up and based on reviews, and when I called to talk to them, they seem like a great company to work with. So I picked up their kit. Install is easy enough. The only real pain is the forward bolt that goes through the mounting bracket on the frame. They can't have a bolt that goes all the way through the frame like they do on the rear bolt because the bolt head will hit the upper control arm. So, they have a nut welded to a tab that you insert through the front frame tiedown hole. On fortunately for me, on the passenger side, I welded up the frame stiffener right over this hole before I realized i needed that hole. So i had to use a grinder and cut the stiffener out in that spot. Oh well.





Also you'll notice i did a SYE kit on the transfer case. I picked up an Advanced Adapters 231 Kit from Rusty's. This also comes with a Tom Woods driveline, but you have to install the SYE, then measure from yoke to yoke and call them with the size of DL you want. So I'm currently waiting on that since I wanted to get the new rear axle installed before I ordered the DL. So currently I'm running a stock front drive line in the rear just so the jeep can be moved out of the driveway.



I went ahead and reinstalled the original front axle and got her back on her feet.

Now comes the fun I've been having for the last couple months with Axles........ More to come.

 

[Evan03]

Looking forward to more of your build

 

[XJEEPER]

Of all people, why am I just hearing about this build on ?

I'm liking what I'm seeing so far, looking forward to wheeling with you again......its been far too long!

 

[Goose_XJ88]

You should be able to do the high 2x6 rocker replacement and cut off the bottom of the door.

Basically you take the 2x6 to the bottom of the door sill vs to the bottom of the door.

I know I have a late model door shell in silver but I dont recall if it is Driver or passenger side.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

Looking forward to more of your build

Me too - looking good!

 

[Jeepedo129]

You should be able to do the high 2x6 rocker replacement and cut off the bottom of the door.

Basically you take the 2x6 to the bottom of the door sill vs to the bottom of the door.

I know I have a late model door shell in silver but I dont recall if it is Driver or passenger side.

I have seen others do the 2x6 rockers and have considered it. I haven’t fully decided what I want to do with the door or rocker yet. The rockers seem to be in good shape and I’m reluctant to jump into another big welding and cutting project, especially with Temps here in Vegas in the 115-120 range haha.


let me know about the door you have though. If it’s a passenger side I’d definitely be interested.

 

[Jeepedo129]

Of all people, why am I just hearing about this build on ?

I'm liking what I'm seeing so far, looking forward to wheeling with you again......its been far too long!

lol sorry Jeff, I thought this was the customary way of coming out? Haha

Yes it’s been far too long since I’ve been out on the trails. I’m chomping at the bit to get this rig good enough to take it somewhere. Really want to hit up Sand Hallow as a first trail run.

 

[Goose_XJ88]

let me know about the door you have though. If it’s a passenger side I’d definitely be interested.

Shoot, when I was looking at the pics, I assumed it was a front door that had the rust. I unfortunately don't have a rear door, mine is a front Passenger.

 

[XJEEPER]

lol sorry Jeff, I thought this was the customary way of coming out? Haha

Yes it’s been far too long since I’ve been out on the trails. I’m chomping at the bit to get this rig good enough to take it somewhere. Really want to hit up Sand Hallow as a first trail run.

I'd love to meet you in Sand Hollow for your shakedown run! Mason can bring his XJ too.

BTW, what axles are you planning on running? With you already having Notch flares, your rig is prepped for JK width axles, which fit nicely. On Mason's 99, we installed a JK D30 with an Artec truss/link brackets and an SFR 4link, with a JK D44 in the rear. Both axles had already been set up with 4:88's by the previous owner. It's been a great combo. With 5" of lift, you could easily fit 315/70/15 tires (35" equivalent)

 

[Jeepedo129]

Jeff, funny you should ask. My next rant is about axles.


This is the second big decision that i wish that I could take back. But, we're here. So gotta roll with it.
When I first got the jeep, I was actually planning on keeping the 8.25 and D30 and just upgrading both of them. Chromolly shafts, 4.88 gears, Elocker and trusses for days.
But then I realized I didn't have the 8.25 and instead had the D35 . Also, the front axle is a low pinion which isn't the most ideal axle to dump money into either but figured I could make it work.
I initially contemplated doing the JK axle swap, since i saw a whole bunch of them all over Marketplace, but I had preconceived notions that the JK axles were too wide for the XJ. Back years ago when the JK swap started being a thing that XJ guys were doing, All of them looked like they were riding with full width axles. Too wide for my taste. But I regret not going this direction, especially since there are many D44s to be had out there for cheap. It wasn't until after I purchased the axles that I have now that I realized, with the Notch flares, the JK axles are the perfect fit. OH well.

The route I chose to go was to source a D44 out of something XJ width. I considered purchasing a new Currie D44 that was set with 4.88s and an Eaton E locker, but that was going to end up being 5,300$. And at the time, I didn't want to spend that much on a single axle. So I started searching the used market and found out quick that D44 axles for XJs are basically worth their weight in gold.

I stumbled upon a guy in Cali that parts out jeeps, and he had a set of TJ Rubicon axles that he'd sell to me for 4,300. I was told axles were both D44s with ARBs, Chromolly shafts, 4.88 gears, Sleeved and trussed. Also the front Axle was set up for crossover steering. I agreed to the price and about a week later I made the 3 Hour drive out to Mojave, California. I spent the afternoon helping pull the axles from the rig. The TJ that we were pulling it from was rolled, but apparently it was in the mud when it happened. So initially I wasn't worried about the axles considering that they were so beefy.



Previous Owner had set them up for Coilovers, so the coil buckets were already cut off and removed. I pulled the cover on both axles and confirmed that they were 4.88 gears, and had a locker in them. So I loaded them up and also grabbed a set of 17" Fuel wheels with some crappy tires that he had there as well.




When I got the axles home, I started cleaning them up and started ordering parts to do the swap. I knew that I wanted to run better steering and brakes with the WJ steering, and that would require a new trackbar set up. I also needed coil buckets and shock mounts for the front as well. So I purchased StinkyFab Racing's Axle conversion kit that came with coil buckets, Lower control arm mounts and shock mounts. I don't need the lower arm mounts, but it was cheaper as a kit. I also ordered Ruffstuff's rear axle kit with leaf perches and also grabbed Stinky Fab's rear shock mounts. Front Axle already had a Artec truss on it, C gussets, and beefy lower control arm mounts. I also found out that it was sleeved. Rear axle has a IRO truss, Ten Factory chromolly 35 spline axles and came with all the emergency brake cables.





At this point I was getting excited to get these things under the jeep. I knew it was going to be a little bit of work, but figured that it was pretty straight forward........

 

[Jeepedo129]

A keen eye will see what the issue is with the front axle from the previous picture.

I did not know anything about the TJ Rubicon D44s before I got these axles. I knew that the 44 and the 30 were only marginally different in size and share many of the steering geometry and brackets but is overall a "stronger" axle. I did not know that the TJ's had a factory air locker, I do now......... Also didn't know that they were Low pinon. I do now...... I didn't know that the factory gears are "thick" rings and require a different p/n ARB than a standard D44.

I'm so much more learnded now .

The factory Air locker in this axle is broken. It kind of works, but the flex plate that the diaphragm presses on to engage the locking teeth is broken


Not my picture, but only thing I have. The plate is that gray colored plate. You can see it has 4 tangs that hold it in place on the carrier. Those are sheered off on mine. Not sure how that happened, but that's what it is. It looks like previous owner just drove around with this like that and didn't use the locker since the air line was plugged with a cap.
So now i have to decide what to do with this. For now, I think i can leave it and save up for an ARB later down the track, and continue driving with it as it is. Or Source this elusive plate and replace it.

I also have concerns that the axle housing or the Cs may be bent. not sure how much is too much, and no real good way to find out with the tools that I have. My plan currently is to install the axle and get it aligned and see if this will be a problem.
The reason I'm concerned is on the driver side, The axle shaft is not centered in the housing. Its almost touching the sleeve.
From what i've read on the internet, these axles are prone to bending the Cs, So unfortunately I think that is my case. I've read some How-to's on DIY axle straightening with a bottle jack and a chain. However before I jump into doing that, I want to see how the jeep drives, and align it. If its bad enough, then I'll go from there.





More to come on this.


The rear axle is much more straight forward.

I cut off the coilover bracket and the control arm brackets and cleaned up the rest of the axle. I checked the ARB and it works great. So I moved on with the install of the Rear axle.

I started off by installing all new calipers, brake shoes, pads, and all new emergency brake hardware. I then cleaned up and painted the axle to make it look good. I left areas where the Leaf perches and shock mounts bare so i could set the pinion angle and tack them in.







I must say, these shock mounts welded up nicely.




I continued with the install of the rear axle. All went smoothly and got the pinion angle set and welded in the shock mounts.

The Shock mounts are similar to the factory style, but are quite a bit more beefy.




The yoke on the Rubicon D44 is a Spicer 1330 instead of the XJ drivelines that are 1310 so I had Tom woods make me a Driveline with a 1330 U joint on the yoke end and keep the 1310 double cardian joint at the transfer case. (still waiting for that to show up. Should be here tomorrow.)

I was able to repurpose the Tj emergency brake cables and bracketry. I mounted the main bracket to the transmission tunnel by running some bolts through the body. The heads poke up under the carpet under the rear seat. I sealed them with some RTV and paint just to make sure there was no rust. Otherwise it works great. It looks like it belongs there.
Don't mid the picture, it was hard to get it at a good angle.





But the Axle is now In and ready to go. I drove it around town a little bit ( I used my front driveline with a 1330/1310 conversion joint) and it drives nice. even with the 32" tires the 4.88s bring back a good amount of low end and dont seem to put the RPMs unreasonably high. I'm really looking forward to having the 35s on it.
Planning on doing the Patagonia MT2s in the 315/75/17 flavor.



More to come.

also, any advice on this front axle?

 

[Jeepedo129]

Also, it looks like I didn't really mention that I was told the front axle was SUPPOSED to be an ARB locker............ Not the factory airlocker. What an absolute disappointment. I've tried to work with the guy I bought these axles from, but so far he's not being real helpful. He said he was going to send me another factory rubicon locker for parts to make mine work, but I have yet to see them. Lesson learned, don't take peoples word on junk from marketplace. I'm starting to feel like I bought an expensive boat anchor........ but we'll make it work. Or part these axles out for whatever I can make and go to JK axles.

 

[XJEEPER]

That's a bummer to hear about the axles. FWIW, there's a pair of complete JK axles (D44 and D30) with 3:73's in American Fork for $2200 OBO. Bet you could pick the pair up for under $2k. I picked up this same combo for Mason's Jeep for $900 (4 years ago) with 4:88 gears.

Curious about the motivation on running Patagonia MT2's?

 

[Ol Blue]

Dang man, you got f*#%ed on this one. I also used those shock mounts on my 9", they are pretty beefy and high quality. I welded the nut on the backside too so all you have to do it turn the bolt.

 

[Jeepedo129]

Yeah its a bummer for sure. I've had a lot of frustrating sits in the garage staring at the axles wondering what i was goin g to do.
The rear Axle seems to be good, It drives nice and doesn't have any gear noise, so I think it will be good to run. Those shock mounts are nice haha. And I did the same thing you did. I welded a nut to the back side to make things easy.

As for the front axle, I have everything to install the axle in the Jeep, so I might as well install it and see how it performs. And if worse comes to worse, I'll either part it out, or search for a cheap 44 housing to swap the good stuff over to.
I have a long weekend this week so I'm going to be spending time in the garage with the Jeep. My plan is to get the axle in place to get the coil buckets tacked in and figure out the track bar placement.

Jeff, the main thing that points me towards the Patagonia's was the price point and, according to a lot of reviews, they are fairly quiet on the road if you have them aired up correctly and perform really well in the sand. Also, The MT2s seems to have the whole sidewall issue that plagued the MT1s all figured out. So currently I'm just waiting for a deal at Discount to pop up so i can buy them. Right now for 5 tires its gonna put me right about 1400$.

 

[Jeepedo129]

Hey look, I've got a woody

 

[XJEEPER]

Hey look, I've got a woody

Nice Woody......wonder where the factory exhaust heatshield wandered of to......?

 

[Jeepedo129]

Why Pictures no work?

 

[Jeepedo129]

Alright, Looks like pictures are back up, so I guess now is a good time to update the build.

I got a bunch of projects done on the jeep over the last couple months and I'm really starting to like how this rig is coming together. Still a long way to go, but progress feels good.

First project I got done after I installed the rear axle was installing Ruffstuff's rear shackle relocation brackets to fix the horrible shackle angle on the rear leafs.
This kit is a very beefy upgrade over the factory shackle boxes and gives you the ability to adjust your shackle mounting location. On my previous jeep I used their bolt on kit that bolts into the existing shackle box, but that ends up raising the rear end of the jeep slightly. On my old jeep, that wasn't a problem, but on this one, I like the stance of it currently and don't want to have any more rake than I already do. Plus, it doesn't look like Ruffstuff makes that kit anymore anyways.





I dropped the gas tank to give better clearance for welding, especially since I'll be welding right next to the filler neck. As mentioned before, this Jeep has a little bit of rust. It's nothing that's overly concerning, but definitely some places that need to be addressed. The rear frame on the driver side has some rust that I wanted to clean up. The passthrough for the gas tank filler neck is the typical place for the frame to rust out, and it seems like mine was on its way to that. So, I spent some time with an assortment of grinder flap wheels and dremel tools trying to clean it up.





After i was cleanish, I mounted up the Ruffstuff kit and started welding. The shackle kit requires you to cut out the factory box completely. It's not too bad with a grinder and drilling out the spot welds that hold it in place. Once you have the old box out, you place the new box in and there are several holes that need to be drilled for supporting bolts. 2 go up through the floor and a backing plate is installed there. Then there are 4 bolts that go through the rear frame cap. 2 that use the rear bumper bracket bolts and 2 that need to be drilled out. All in all, a very sturdy upgrade. On the frame side of the bracket, I chose to weld it into place, So, it's not going anywhere. One thing to note if you're going to do this upgrade, I had to buy longer bolts for my rear bumper mounts. The SmittyBilt bumper has a tow hitch in it so it has the same mounting points as a rear hitch. So if you have a rear hitch, or a bumper that uses those same mounting bolts that go up into the frame, you'll probably need longer bolts, especially if you have a gas tank skid. I also needed to clearance the holes on the bumper brackets to accommodate the 3/16" frame stiffener



I also started working on the rear stiffeners, also from Ruffstuff, since I had been putting that project off for some time. These fit right up to the Shackle Relocation brackets for a seamless transition. So a bunch of flap wheelin and welding later, everything was installed. Before I put the gas tank back in place, I brushed on a coat of POR 15 on the under belly and frame rails. I ran out of paint to get everything done, So I still need to go a paint the outside of the frame rails and around the transmission tunnel, but that's a project for another day. It's still averaging 95-100 degrees here in vegas, and paint doesn't like to brush in that heat haha.









After everything was back together, I checked the shackle angle and took it out for a ride. And Man, what an improvement. The rear suspension is soooooo much better. It actually absorbs bumps and it far less jarring driving down the road. This had to be the single biggest improvement to the ride. I ended up backing the shackle out one spot since this picture. The shackle was bottoming out on dirt roads, but now it's all good.