New here, my "All around" 2001 xj.
- Thread starter srmitchell
- Start date
bldeagle10
Explorer
I agree with Aero, your XJ is pretty much where I want mine to be with the exception of bumper choice (detours in my future)
few questions:
what is the upside of an older HP D30?
how did you wire up your second fan?
how did you mount it?
how hard was the shifter deal to set up?
does it allow you to manually select between 1st and 2nd?
did you paint the moabs?
if so with what?
think that is all for now
I'm sure I will have a lot more since as I said, your rig is right where I want mine to be.
few questions:
what is the upside of an older HP D30?
how did you wire up your second fan?
how did you mount it?
how hard was the shifter deal to set up?
does it allow you to manually select between 1st and 2nd?
did you paint the moabs?
if so with what?
think that is all for now
I'm sure I will have a lot more since as I said, your rig is right where I want mine to be.
Harmgrissom
Observer
Love the extent of this build - and yet how stock it looks. Inspiration struck.
LawnDart-XJ
Observer
Real Nice rig. I know your rig from NAXJA your rig is very much like mine. Will be post ing some pics of my 2000 soon.
WELCOME
WELCOME
bldeagle10
Explorer
LawnDart-XJ, you should do a build thread! we need more build threads on EXPO..
srmitchell
Observer
I agree with Aero, your XJ is pretty much where I want mine to be with the exception of bumper choice (detours in my future)
few questions:
what is the upside of an older HP D30?
how did you wire up your second fan?
how did you mount it?
how hard was the shifter deal to set up?
does it allow you to manually select between 1st and 2nd?
did you paint the moabs?
if so with what?
think that is all for now
Thanks guys. To answer your questions-
-I was using an old HP d30 with the disconnect cause I got it with 4.56 gears and a lockrite for free. There's no advantage. It was leaking horribly. So I got a "new", 95' axle. New gears, bearings, seals, ball joints, hubs, u joints, lca skids, and i swapped the locker in. The new axle is just as strong, and lighter. And it's of course a high pinion, more clearance, more strength, and less driveline angle than the 2000-01 low pinion my jeep came with.
The fan
-I wired the second fan on a hayden fan switch, it has a temp probe which cycles it on and off with a relay. It works great, and in my cold climate, rarely runs. The other fan works like stock.
It's adjustable.
The fan is mounted using angle aluminum, and a ghetto bracket up top. It's very solid, and works well. I had to remove the water pump studs, and replace them with bolts.
I even used the factory pigtail from the donor xj, so it looks stock.
The shifter
The rail shifter allows TOTAL control of gears. It's like video game controller for your tcu. If you are in "1-2" in the gear shifter, you can use the rail to decide between 1st and second. In drive you get control of all 4 gears.
I also wired a "on-off" switch for the shifter. That way I can be like stock, or use the ril. And, there's a separate switch for the torque converter. You have to have this because the tcu doesn't work when shifting manually.
My "harness". I'm proud of how clean it is.
And yes, the Moabs were painted with duplicolor graphite wheels paint.
bldeagle10
Explorer
thanks for the info! the fan info will end up saving me quite a bit of money.
srmitchell
Observer
Yeah. I got the fan for maybe 20 bucks?
The controller was like 35. Add in all the parts, and it was maybe 75 bucks.
The controller was like 35. Add in all the parts, and it was maybe 75 bucks.
bldeagle10
Explorer
they look better on an XJ then they do on a wrangler imo
reece146
Automotive Artist
rims are kinda played out :sport_box
This may be the silliest thing ever posted on this Jeep forum.
This isn't a ricer site... wheel selection is about function and maybe making it look decent at the same time. No one cares whether something is "played out" or not when building a Jeep if it meets the objectives.
Sorry, see this all the time when the ricers try to "act cool" on the car racing forums. It gets under my skin.
bob91yj
Resident **************
The roll cage is the best mod on the whole rig IMO. Not as critical on a rig with a full roof, but I still think one of the first mods on any vehicle that is going to be used offroad is a cage. Not as flashy at the mall, but it can be a lifesaver.
You XJ guys should take a look at what some of the Jeepspeed guys are doing, especially in regards to suspensions and uniframe reinforcement. www.jeepspeed.com
You XJ guys should take a look at what some of the Jeepspeed guys are doing, especially in regards to suspensions and uniframe reinforcement. www.jeepspeed.com
reece146
Automotive Artist
Tend to agree. However, depending on jurisdiction you may be refused insurance with a cage in your Jeep. Why? None of the safety systems have been designed to work with a cage inside the Jeep. Get a hit from an angle and your head gets sent directly into the roll bar over your door.
Because it is an XJ there is not much space inside the Jeep to begin with and there is no roll bar padding and then because it is non-stock the insurance company gets all pissy when you make a claim.
Insurance companies are getting more and more anal about what they will cover and refuse. Up here the insurance companies don't like proper racing harnesses either. Too afraid of basal skull fractures I guess and who wants to run a HANS device in a road going car even if the insurance company knew what it was?
As much as I absolutely hate exo-cages I figure it is the only way to do a proper cage in an XJ because of how small they are inside. Run the tubes up the A-pillar and then back to the C-pillar where the tube can go into the roof to connect to a roll hoop behind the rear seats. If you put rear headrests on the rear bench then there should be no issue hitting heads on a bar in whiplash situations. Say good-bye to 2-3 mpg though. With that kind of setup road mileage is probably not much of a concern anyway.
For a daily driver, road going XJ I'd just do the cargo area cage and stiffen the unibody up as much as possible. If you roll off-road in a daily driver type XJ chances are it is a low speed roll (Sweeping generalization) and the rear cage will help a little. Stiffening the unibody might help keep the front bush bar and engine in place to act as a landing point for the front of the vehicle. My theory is that at least the entire greenhouse won't pancake and the most precious cargo (kids on the rear bench) have some decent protection. After that it is all up to luck.
2¢
bldeagle10
Explorer
I've seen that when cageless XJ's roll, they tend to crush at the A pillar, pancaking that area. that is the first place id cage, at least if the back pancakes you can chop it off and convert to some kind of truggy jeepspeed rig, or something like the AEV Africana deal and have it still look decent with a bit of body work elsewhere...