92 2 door XJ build

[adamk]

Well I'm new to this forum. Been all over cherokeeforum for about a year now sense I bought my rig back in August of 2010. So here's where the past year has taken me so far.
Back in August of 2010, I was driving down US 1 in Wake Forest and came across a dealership with this little rig parked out front. Here are the specs of it from the lot:

92 2 door Government owned from new to early 2010
72,000 original miles
D30/D35
Buyer from gov't sale added the following and only put 500 miles on it.
3.5" skyjacker kit
15x8 Cragar V5's
Powertrax locker rear
31x10.5R15 Maxxis Big Horns

Sense I'm a college student at UNC-Charlotte, I was on a limited budget after purchasing it. I found that the local Pull-A-Part was going to be a good friend. While at school I was able to do/add the following:

Center Console
Cup Holders
2"aal's because the leafs started to sag. Netted me 4.5" rear
Rear Sound bar
Kicker 5.25's front and 6.5's rear
JVC head unit
2 12" Boston Acoustic subs
Kenwood 1800w amp
Replaced passenger hub
Brushguard from jy
6" fogs

Pics of all the above:

Went home for my Christmas break and the following came together:

Trimmed fenders
Built a roof rack
Replaced Driver's side hub
Ball joints
Tre's
draglink
Sold brush guard

Pics of above:

Didn't do much work during my spring semester. Just took it out as much as I could. Got some great shots and some awesome videos. But, I haven't quite figured out how to post a video on here yet(the youtube thing just isn't working for me) so those will come later

Then got home for the summer. Lots of work happened...flooded the interior after getting stuck in 4ft of water, destroyed u-joints, shattered window, and more. So here's what was done:

Replaced rear pinion seal
Replaced u-joints in rear driveshaft
2" RC shackles
2" spacers
Rusty's 6" shocks
Rusty's TC skid
front end skid/stiffener
Gas tank skid
Removable doors
Half doors
Rear tinted vent windows (after shattering the ds on a tree branch)
Overhead console
Roof rack lights front and rear
Bedlined rockers, fenders, interior floor
New headliner
703 injectors
Another set of hubs
Repainted grill
Tinted Tail lights, turn signals, and markers
Installed WJ swaybar links
Replaced rear lower shock stud after snapping it
Painted diff covers

Thats all I can think of for now. Now on to some more pics:

So this is where it has left me for now...I've destroyed the front ds so that has to be replaced (there's lateral play in the splines causing vibs). Other than that, she's solid. Currently working on getting new brake lines, longer control arms, and new tires.

 

[adamk]

Ok, I was able to get 2 videos up on photobucket so we'll see if this works (Click the pic to get to the video)

 

[XJfreakHO]

Where are those trails?

 

[amajeepman]

They look like the trails by UNCC that your not supposed to be on.

 

[adamk]

Haha yes some of them are...but before the posted signs were in place. After they were put up, we havent been back. There are a few more around UNCC that we go to.

 

[farmerjohnson]

Rig looks good man! Clean!

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

looks like sway bar disconnects are in order... will help with that flex your missing out on...

also, i would stay off those trails near the school unless you know the owners.... seen too many people gets tickets and vehicles impounded while i was there.

 

[adamk]

And now its years later and the Jeep is still running. Graduated from college and built it when I could throughout the years. Here's a couple pics of the past few years. The last pic is how it sat up until last week with 5" lift, D44 rear, 3 Link front, 33's

 

[adamk]

Now it's going through some big upgrades. Over the past 3 months I've been collecting parts for an axle swap. I now have everything except a few misc small things. Here's a list of what's going on...

79 F150 HP44 front
-4.88's
-Spartan locker
-Chromos
-Yukon Super joints
-Converted to 8 lug using Chevy outters

73 Dodge W300 D60
-4.88's
-Welded
-Ruff Stuff 2+ perches
-Converted to disk brakes

Frame Stiffeners
Barnes brackets
Barnes heim steering
Skyjacker shocks
Heavily used 38s(just to get it rolling and then will buy new set of 37s)
Aluminum mag wheels

I will be using the stock radius arms but they will be cut and made of 2" .25 wall square tubing with Barnes Enduro joints. Once it is on it's own weight, I will address the driveshafts, shock mounts, steering stabilizer, and sway bar. Should be on its tires be the end of next week hopefully.

The axles and front suspension have already been removed. The D60 is in so now it's time to weld on the stiffeners and then start with the radius arms and steering. My target wheelbase is roughly 105-106"

 

[BigClay]

I recognize Chris' shop haha

Jeep is going to be nice.

 

[adamk]

That's where she sits until its moving again. I've got some high hopes for it and believe Chris will be able to do it all very well.

 

[JohnnyRocket]

That's a one tough Jeep. Great work on the build. By the way, any feedback on the Maxxis tires?

 

[adamk]

I won't buy them again. Couldn't keep them balanced so they wore terribly. I think I only got 25k miles out of them. I blew out 2 sidewalls and that was the final straw. They did well in mud but I hated them on the road

 

[adamk]

Got quite a bit of work done last night. Stiffeners are welded up, tacked the radius arm brackets to the frame, tacked up the radius arms, changed the rear brake calipers, made the correct length pushrod bolt for the 3500 master cylinder, welded up the rear diff, and sealed the cover. I'm still waiting on the 7/8" joints from Barnes so that I can do the steering. Hopefully Friday it will be sitting on its own weight. Big thanks to Will for helping out last night again. Pics are in no particular order.

 

[adamk]

She's now drivable. I'll have more detailed pics tomorrow. Still more work to do though

 

[adamk]

Here's some more pics. I still have some work to do. The tires are far from balanced causing major vibrations and some death wobble. The rear drive shaft is too short so I have stretched it far past what it was made for. It will go to a driveline shop to get lengthened. The rear quarters need to be cut and folded. I also need to weld on some shock mounts. After test driving, it also have been determined that a traction bar for the rear is very much needed. That will get done after everything above. The wheel base came out to be 106" and it has a belly height of 22". I'm very happy with how it has come out. Does anyone have any experience with trying to balance tires that have been cut and grooved?

 

[iwaxmyjimmy]

I've been using 10oz of copper coated BBs from Wally World balancing tires with chunks missing out of them lol. Works like a charm on my 37" SSRs. Track bar holes very close to the size of the bolts used to mount them?

 

[adamk]

I've got some BB's already so I'll have to take the tires somewhere and have them break the bead and I'll measure out some to put in all 4 tires. The track bar mount never changed on the frame side so its just the same bolt that comes with the RE bar. The axle end has the bushing drilled out and a sleeve put in. The sleeve is currently too big for the 3/4 bolt that is used but I will be machining a new sleeve that is correct this week.

 

[iwaxmyjimmy]

I've got some BB's already so I'll have to take the tires somewhere and have them break the bead and I'll measure out some to put in all 4 tires. The track bar mount never changed on the frame side so its just the same bolt that comes with the RE bar. The axle end has the bushing drilled out and a sleeve put in. The sleeve is currently too big for the 3/4 bolt that is used but I will be machining a new sleeve that is correct this week.

Is it full blown shit your pants death wobbler junta slight wobble? Just make sure the holes are oblonged. A way I normally diagnose it is, have someone in the jeep with it running steer from 9-3 position back and forth. While you're under the jeep grabbing the track bar, steering components, or links. The more you feel the clunk the closer you are to the area that's wore out.

 

[adamk]

Only full blown DW once. Every other time I have been able to control it to a minimum. I know the only thing loose is the axle side track bar mount(because of enlarged sleeve in bushing) and I also know the tires are out of balance and out of alignment. I will fix all 3 of these and then see what happens. I say most of the reason is the out of balance tires and alignment.

 

[77GreenMachine]

Get that rear traction bar on asap, and set before wheeling it even a little. If not you will warp the springs within half an hour.
Adding a traction bar will make it feel like you dropped a v8 in the jeep.

 

[adamk]

It wont be wheeled until everything is sorted out. I'm planning to order the traction bar stuff Friday so that should be going on in the next two weeks. I really need to get these tires balanced. The tire charts I've found online say that I need 10-12oz of beads. Anyone able to chime in with info on balancing beads? I haven't dug much into it yet.

 

[iwaxmyjimmy]

It wont be wheeled until everything is sorted out. I'm planning to order the traction bar stuff Friday so that should be going on in the next two weeks. I really need to get these tires balanced. The tire charts I've found online say that I need 10-12oz of beads. Anyone able to chime in with info on balancing beads? I haven't dug much into it yet.

Like I said I used 10oz in my 37s, I used the copper coated BBs because it doesn't take a whole lot and I've had mine up to 85-90 without a problem on the highway.

 

[adamk]

Like I said I used 10oz in my 37s, I used the copper coated BBs because it doesn't take a whole lot and I've had mine up to 85-90 without a problem on the highway.

Perfect. Now I just have to find a shop close to me that can handle a tire this size.

 

[iwaxmyjimmy]

Most tire shops shouldnt have a problem with it if they have a decent tire machine. And they dont need to spin it on a balancer