99 Jeep XJ Intro and expedition "build" attempt! Plus some restoration.

HercDriver

Adventurer
Go slow and use wd40 or engine oil to slick the teeth up on the blade. It tended to get hot if you didnt keep applying lubrication.
 

HercDriver

Adventurer
Picked up a 90's MJ windshield washer tank. Had to modify it slightly with the double pumps of the 97+. Drilled two extra holes (one for the level sender and another for the rear washer pump).

Pretty tight fit but I think it will work for now.

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HercDriver

Adventurer
Sorry its been a while. Been working a bunch (holiday season). I haven't installed a bunch of stuff but I have been accumulating it lol.

Went to a local JY and snagged some Liberty rear brake brackets and backing plates. I also took the calipers as cores. Turned them in to Advance Auto for some new remans. The backing plates I hit with a rust changer as a recommendation from another member on here who did his whole axle assembly and it came out wicked good.

Snagged some "up country/heavy duty" springs/leafs from Quadratec. Its the crown automotive heavy duty springs/leaf combo. I paired it with some of their nitrocharger 8.0s since they were on sale. I wasn't looking for a "lift" per say I just wanted the jeeps ass to stop looking like it was being drug around like a dog on carpet.

Also snagged a spare 231J and got a 6 planetary gearset and an SYE. Going to open it up and install everything along with a new oil pump and filter.

I searched around for a new set up nut-strips and found that crown and JCR make new strips. They looked stock-ish and I wanted something a little beefier. So I came across these nut-strips that have nuts welded on them and its like 3/16th steel. Paired with Grade 8 bolts I should be able to put my hitch and gas tank skid on.

Last but not least I came across a set of JW Speaker Heated LED lenses to replace the stock whale oil ones. They were far under what other sites were charging so I took the risk and sure enough they showed up as advertised.

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HercDriver

Adventurer
Thanks for the heads up on the xpel. Ill see what they're about. I definitely don't want to ruin these headlights with road debris.
 

HercDriver

Adventurer
I did order an H4 harness for the lights. Might as well give them as much juice as possible. Im happy to hear about the beam pattern.

I put a proportioning valve on my last jeep. "Seemed" to work well. Ill probably do one again. Good to hear that it works fine without one.
 

ExplorerTom

Explorer
Speaking of “full juice” to the headlights, this guy sells headlight wiring kits that use relays from the battery to provide power instead of getting power through your headlight switch in the cabin.

I installed the kit on my Expedition and did notice a change in brightness- no other changes done at the time.
 

HercDriver

Adventurer
Yep! The harness I have uses the battery as the main power source and uses a relay that is kicked on when the headlight switch is pulled out.

Speaking of “full juice” to the headlights, this guy sells headlight wiring kits that use relays from the battery to provide power instead of getting power through your headlight switch in the cabin.

I installed the kit on my Expedition and did notice a change in brightness- no other changes done at the time.
 

HercDriver

Adventurer
Got some progress done over the last month or so.

Snagged an SYE kit for my extra transfer case. I also picked up a 6 planetary gearset and a wide chain. After months of looking for a decently priced 241OR I figured this would handle my needs just fine minus the 4:1. When I popped open the donor transfer case I realized that someone had already gone through it recently and replaced a majority of the parts inside like the oild pump, the gear selector lever, the shift fork plus the pads, the chain and the bearings. Finally a good JY score!

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For the headlights I snagged a set of JW Speaker heated lenses. I know that sometimes the XJ has a problem with running aftermarket headlights so I got a harness to run relays to the lights.
 

HercDriver

Adventurer
Anyway, I decided that my current doors were too damaged to repair. I kept a lookout for a set in the junkyard that were decent and cleaned up easily. I did find some from a sport. Theyll work for now.

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I also picked up a 23 gallon tank from a ZJ (1998 model). I removed my tank, threw some bedliner on the ZJ tank and threw her in.
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I also used grade 8 bolts on the hitch/skid mounting plates that are pictured above that I got off ebay. So far so great.
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New bumpstops. The others were literally gone. I had to drill out one bolt on each side and re-tap it.
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Small progress on the Liberty rear disc brake swap. I have everything parts wise and painted ready to go. Just have to find some time to throw them on.
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New front swaybar endlinks. Pretty big improvement driving wise.
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HercDriver

Adventurer
For the headlights I snagged a set of JW Speaker heated lenses. I know that sometimes the XJ has a problem with running aftermarket headlights so I got a harness to run relays to the lights.
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For people wiring in a relay harness and have FOG LIGHTS stock, make sure you make a "jumper" wire from the harness into the old driver side plug. If you don't when you select your brights they will remain "ON" even though you have turned them off. The fog lights are tied into the stock harness in a way that they will cause the brights to remain on unless you "jump" the harnesses together.
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I ordered a pair of clear laminate lens protectors and threw them on. Even they only last a year (they were $10 bucks) then Ive saved the headlights from a years worth of road debris and Ill buy another set and throw them on.
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The picture doesnt do the light beams justice. If I get a chance Ill snag a pic of them on with normal driving and brights in a dark road somewhere. Also weve had a couple days of snow here in Kentucky and the heated lenses did great. When I stop after driving in below 32* weather you can feel that the lenses are warm. Pretty cool feature.
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