The Jeep That Is Keeping Me From Working On Jeeps.....

Just sharing a little bit of my buddy Carl's project that I have been helping with.
2000 Jeep Cherokee, 136K on the clock, 4.0, auto.
The plan is to build the ultimate XJ for daily driving, hunting, family wheeling and camping.
Build Specs:
BDS 6.5" long arm lift.
D30 with ARB.
Ford 8.8 disc brakes with ARB.
4.56 gears.
34" metric tires.
Ruff Stuff full length frame stiffener kit.
Ruff Stuff winch bumper.
Ruff Stuff 1 ton steering.
Ruff Stuff diff covers.
Terra Flex high steer knuckle.
Cross over steering with tie rod flip.
The list goes on forever.........

Day one.......
After a lengthy search, we found the appropriate....non tweakerized.....XJ
With only 136k miles this one was is great shape and bone stock, other than some bad repair attempts to one door.








First up and trip to pick n pull for a replacement door.
Old door.




Much much better!!!
The replacement door matched perfectly.





Next up, Ruff Stuff winch bumper.




More to come.......

 

Mine is a boat.. Literally, swapping some parts to get it sale ready. Then gonna let my 98 XJ go.. which is sad, but then I can get back to the CJ..

 

Great choice! XJs are an awesome platform to start with. Mine was a ‘98 that was built very similar to your recipe and was nearly a point and shoot type rig for everything I wanted to do with it. I’ve got nothing but love for these little station wagons!

 

Mine was an '85 with the terrible GM sourced 2.8. It did go places stock that i should not have taken it.
Wife's car but it did Three Feathers.

 

Now to get it ready for this years rubicon trip.

 

Once Uncle Mac's jeep was out of the work bay it was time to tear Carl's XJ down.
After removing all of the suspension we had a clean slate to start.
Carl stripped off the undercoating in preparation to install the frame stiffeners.
The underbody was coated with weld through primer prior to installing the frame stiffeners.






The frame stiffener installation took longer than I expected..... but it is a very worthwhile upgrade to a rig that will see real wheeling!
The backside of the stiffeners was coated with a weld through primer as well.





The frame stiffeners are 3/16" plate that is semi formed to fit to the XJ.
Lots of clamping and tacking to get a good tight fit!











Fairly early on in the frame stiffener installation it was necessary to remove the interior to prevent burning the carpet.
The stiffeners are welded on the entire length of the vehicle; top, bottom and in the bazillion round plug weld holes.
A good majority of a 33lb spool of welding wire went in to the installation of the stiffeners.






Once the frame stiffeners were completed we overlay plated the leaf spring hangers and gusseted them.
Its shocking how flimsy these rigs came from the factory.
The 3/8" forward gusset has a 3/4" hole punched in it to attach a D shackle.
Both sides beefed up the same way.

 

With the frame stiffeners fully welded and painted it was time to give the engine some attention.
The engine and transmission mounts were replaced with "bomb proof" units.




The engine had a pretty good oil leak from the pan/rear main area.
In addition to the oil leak, the engine suffered from low oil pressure on 100+ degree days. Thicker oil helped, but after consulting my favorite local engine builder it was determined that the fix was to install a high volume/high pressure oil pump.
The oil pump, rear main and bearing inspection went well. Before installing the oil pan, a weld on skid plate was installed from trail forged.
Aside from having to massage the skid plate a bit, it has a nice fit and finish.

 

Finally it was time for the BDS lift kit and axles.
Carl brought over the freshly rebuilt 8.8 pulled from a 2001 Ford Explorer. 4.56 gears, ARB and ruff stuff cover all ready to go.





The rear axle spring perches and hardware are from Ruff Stuff. U bolts will get cut off eventually.





The replacement long arm cross member.
I did not care for BDS's way of sleeving the frame for the crossmember bolts the go into the side of the frame. BDS designed their kit around a XJ without frame stiffeners, so it it no fault of their own. We drilled and tapped holes into the frame stiffener for the crossmember bolts.
This pic really shows the magnitude of the frame stiffener install. All of the clamping and tack welding that is necessary to make the stiffener tight to the unibody.
I stitch welded the stiffeners to the entire length of the floor pan. Only one door will need to be adjusted post welding.
While the job was fun, I would never volunteer to do it again.

 

I fabbed similar "bomb proof" mounts mounts for the Cherokee I owned as it ate motor mounts. The noise and vibration was too annoying
and went back to stock. Different application but relevant.

 

Carl says these are called "Trail Proof" they are softer than standard aftermarket poly bushings.

 

It was long ago and used whatever poly bushings I had available. The vibrations went through the entire jeep.
Did I even know what durometer ratings meant at that time?

 

Man, you work fast kyle. i would have rage quit a dozen times from doing that much overhead mig welding in one day. Ngl, im envious of all that storage and passenger space in that xj. Im getting tempted to cut my cj in half and stretch it 3ft now. Btw i love the mods you and carl have planned for it. It should be a very capable rig when you're done.

 

I like this idea...
Same wheelbase as a JKU.

 

I have the MORE bomb proof engine mounts, and combined with the poly body mounts, it’s a regular task doing bolt checks on my cj5. Everything from bumper mount to carb base. That said, the motor mounts hold the engine in position very well. I never ran an anti rock bracket on the transfer case on my cj5, and it pulled the mount bolt out of the adapter plate mount hole a few times. After a helicoil and those motor mounts no more problems.

 

Moving forward to the front suspension.
Carl picked up a complete TJ front axle already geared at 4.56 and equipped with an air locker.
While it wasn't the greatest buy in the world, it was a cost savings over building his factory axle. We replaced the ball joints, axle u joints and unit wheel bearings.




Not long into the front axle install we dove headfirst into a case of project creep.
Carl produced the new drop pitman arm provided by BDS.....
Now I'm not faulting BDS for using a drop pitman arm, but that clown crap is never going on a rig that rolls out of my shop.




The link suspension on XJ's causes allot of steering headaches when you are looking to have a lifted rig that drives as good as a stock rig.
Carl's plan for running 1 ton steering complicated things a bit as well.
After some head scratching and playing with PVC tube we decided that Carl needed to order a Terra Flex high steer knuckle for the passenger side.

 

While waiting for the new high steer knuckle to arrive we installed new ball joints, axle U joints, outer axle seals and unit bearings.
The knuckle was outfitted with tie rod flip inserts from Ruff stuff to improve steering geometry and tie rod safety.
Offset 1 ton knuckles help with clearance.




With the knuckle and steering attached, we began working on sorting out the steering and track bar geometry.
We eventually decided that we should get the alignment done before proceeding with the track bar axle bracket. Without allot of space it is critical that we know where the final axle placement and caster will be before fabricating the bracket.





Moving outback, I buttoned up the rear brake lines.
I am very happy with how the lines came out.
The rubber lines are stock 8.8 RR lines. They bolt to studs welded to the axle tubes.

 

Carl has an alignment appointment this Friday!
Once the alignment is complete we should be able to finalize the front track bar axle tube mount.
There is allot to do, but the project does feel like things are beginning to wrap up. Tonight should result in a jeep with working 4 wheel disc brakes that moves under its own power again.

Drive shaft slip yoke eliminator and double cardan drive shaft from Adams Drive shaft.
I cannot say enough good things about Adams Drive shaft! This is the 5th shaft that I have used from Adams. Super helpful, fast next day turn around and no Tom Woods "superiority attitude".
The transfer case looked great inside and the leaks were addressed upon reassembly.

 

Couple of flex test shots of the day it went to the alignment shop.

 

Those offset tie rod ends are pretty sweet.. I may have to look at some of those for my CJ.. I am running a pretty unusual setup, my PS box is behind the crossmember and facing forward, it's pretty close to the axle, that would gain me a little space..

 

What's the tire size?