98 XJ New Adventurer Build

[vonguido]

I have been lurking on Expo Portal for a little while now and I figured now would be a good time to start a build thread since its starting to progress a little faster.
Here she is the day I brought her home

1998 Jeep Cherokee Limited
140,000 miles
4.0 and the AW4
NP242 w/ hack n tap
5-5.5" lift made up of 3.5" AAL RE lift and 2" Teraflex BB
31x10.50x15 MTZ's
HP dana30 and Dana44 out of a late 80s XJ that the previous owner put in.
3.55 gears

I'm not into rock crawling or bashing my rig and abusing it, over landing and exploring is what I really enjoy now. I have had her for just about 2 years and really I have been able to do is replace worn out parts and fixing the previous owners crap.

First snow fall after I got her

 

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There was a local Jeep meet at one of the Jeep shops here in town last summer.




A restored WW2 Jeep up against an AEV JKU in the crawl challenge.

 

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RTI ramp and then night wheeling and the morning after.

 

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Took my little Jeeper out to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and giant checkers.

Noticed that my rear driveshaft was a little off and pulled it. Glad I did. Replaced u-joints

 

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Heiney Farm ride fall 13'

A group of Jeeps got together to head out to Heiney Farm for the day.

 

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Heiney Farm ride fall 13' cont.



Had a blast at Heiney Farms. Didn't get stuck so that was a good thing, thought I was gonna tip over on the off camber portio. Jeep did great with the old shocks and sagging suspension.

 

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winter 2013 into 2014

Hit 200,000 miles and still running great.

Had to have the rear drum brakes done and outer seals and bearings replaced on the dana 44, changed the gear oil while we were there.

I remember buying these with my allowance money whenever I could, saw them at a small mom and pop shop. Any one else ever get these as a kid?

Got to help work with these guys for a bit taking care of a patient

Finally got the shocks replaced w/ some Fox 2.0 shocks and upgraded the steering to Curries Currectlync HD Steering. It is pure beef and handles amazingly.
Old shocks

New

New steering

 

[vonguido]

Just a general warning. If you are gonna do any wiring, go the extra mile and do it correctly because this is what happens when you don't.



Saw this custom CJ at the Muddy Buddies event at Quaker Steak and Lube

Couldn't stay long because I had to work EMS for the Columbus Crew soccer game.


^^that is my view for all the games I work. Not bad at all lol.
Finally got a jack

Got the wheel hubs changed out with the Moog brand, I got a killer deal on them and couldn't pass them up, when they get changed next time I'll go timken

 

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cooling system

Finally got around to changing out my whole cooling system. I just had a flush done the week before. Spent a good chunk of my Sunday in 90° heat doing this.

The other pictures won't load for some reason. Anyway now the temps stay below 210 and the only time electric fan kicks on is when I have the ac on so I'm very happy, because its starting to get stupid hot and muggy out.

 

[xjman88]

I love the xj. I had 2 in a 10 year period. Cant beat em for wheeling in hardcore terrain. Both of mine were built for crawlin. But my zj is an expo rig w all the comforts of home.

 

[vonguido]

I love the xj. I had 2 in a 10 year period. Cant beat em for wheeling in hardcore terrain. Both of mine were built for crawlin. But my zj is an expo rig w all the comforts of home.

I love XJ's this is my 2nd one. The first one was a late 80's when I was in high school and I beat the piss out of that thing and it kept running like a champ

 

[vonguido]

Update and Agenda

Wanted to give an update about whats to come. I just ordered a winch bumper from JCR Offroad http://www.jcroffroad.com/product/XJB/XJFW.html

I will be purchasing a winch in the next week or two, its down to either the new Smittybilt Gen 2 model either a 9500lb or 10,000lb or a Warn 8000lb winch....just depends on funds.

My girlfriend and I will be taking a trip down to Overland Expo East the first weekend in October, I'm super pumped about it because I've never been and hopefully I will get to purchase the package so I can do the classes. So I'm trying to get everything done I can to make sure the XJ is in tip top shape for the drive. So below is my check list of things I want to get/do before then.
*Immediate*
-JCR winch bumper (on order)
-Winch 8000lb-10000lb (on order)
-Rock sliders, either JCR/Rigidco. (Just ordered AJ's Offroad super sliders)
-New AGM Battery and new larger gauge wires.
-Fender Flares, either Napier or Notch Customs (I love the look of the Notch Customs but I can't add a snorkel if I were to go that route)
-Fix my E-brake so that it will work with the drums on the Dana44
-New adjustable Track bar, Currie or JKS (on order)
-New 4.5'' RE Springs and 3.5" leafs with new shackles.
-ACOS Spacers for the front to level it out
-Napier Hood Vents to help keep the engine compartment as cool as it can be.
-30 spline Alloy shafts for the Dana 30
-Solid diff covers front/rear
-Tablet mounted onto the Dash for GPS/Nav/OBD2/Music/Movies -I have a 2013 Nexus 7 I plan to use for this. I have taken inspiration from TheKSmiths build
-Onboard Air compressor, probably ARB (on order)
-Build a drawer system as well as a portable kitchen box.
-Other General maintenance items oil,diffs,coolant,seals at the yoke ends of axles.

*Hopefuls*
-A Fridge Freezer of some kind.
-Dual Battery setup by National Luna
-Spod or D-box for running all the wiring for other items to make it safe and simple
-33'' General Grabber tires
-Regear to 4.10/4.56 if I can get the tires
-Lockers for atleast the Dana44 rear if I can swing it.
-JCR Rear Tire Carrier to get the spare out of the back.
-LED Light Bar (40'' LED Light bar ordered for the roof)
-Daul Band Ham Radio for coms to go with my CB thats already installed.

 

[jscusmcvet]

When you changed out the cooling system, did you do everything? Did you replace with stock or upgrade on certain items? Just asking because this is the only weak point in the 4.0 platform in my opinion. I see upgrades in my future, hopefully before there is an issue. In any regard any further information you can provide on your cooling system rebuild would be great.

John

 

[vonguido]

When you changed out the cooling system, did you do everything? Did you replace with stock or upgrade on certain items? Just asking because this is the only weak point in the 4.0 platform in my opinion. I see upgrades in my future, hopefully before there is an issue. In any regard any further information you can provide on your cooling system rebuild would be great.

John

John I replaced the radiator, thermostat, thermostat housing, waterpump, upper/lower hose, and fan clutch. I got everything from advance auto parts because a friend works there and I got a stupid good discount. So all factory equivalent or better parts. The thermostat is a 195°.

I did a complete coolant flush the week before I did the parts change and will do another coolant flush next week.

The heater hose and heater core are the only things I did not replace because they were replaced by the previous owner 15k miles before I purchased the XJ.

I intend on buying Napier Precision hood vents next week to help with the engine bay temps. I have been told they help keep the engine compartment about 20-30° cooler then just the factory setup.

I would love to do a flex-a-lite 3fan electric setup but I have other things to upgrade before that ever becomes reality.

 

[GenPatTuck]

Mine is very similar to yours. Bought it cheap at 136000 (had it for 5 years and only put 9000 on it) and did all the work myself. Its a bit rough on the outside and inside as it wasnt taken care of very well. I bought new carpet, put in a sound bar, getting ready to put in an "all the gauges" gauge cluster (right now I only have the dummy lights), getting ready to put in the '99 + intake manifold. I built a cargo storage compartment recently that holds everything I need, plus storage for extra axles. I even have room for my 33" spare. Here's a few pics.

That Flexilite 3 fan radiator is what I really want to. I did the same cooling change out on mine a couple of years ago. I replaced everything except for the fan clutch (I guess I should have since I had it all apart). I did a cheap way of keeping the engine compartment cooler with tilting the hood up and the hinges instead of buying hood vents. It works pretty good, you can see the hot air escaping from time to time. Dont get me wrong the hood vents look awesome but from time to time there is a budget.
What more do you plan on doing to this rig? Plans for camping, rear cargo storage, expo trailer with all the extras?