An unremarkable XJ

[mightyhare]

Alright. Suspension’s together and I’m friggin stoked on it. Crown coils and General KC leafs (both Up Country), Bilstein 4600 shocks. For tires, I had some requirements:
1. Road biased all terrain
2. Three peak mountain snow rates
3. Under 35lbs per tire
4. Readily available because I want it now (I’m a millennial)

The Toyo Open Country III passenger car tire fit the bill. I’m willing to sacrifice some durability to have a more pleasant tire on the highway since this is likely to be my commuter for awhile. I opted for 225/75r16 to get a bit more height and keep weight down. Initial impressions are great. The Jeep handles better, looks cooler, and carries the weight of my dual sport well. Absolutely chuffed. Gonna take the Jeep out for a day trip tomorrow to run some gravel roads in the mountains.

Side note: I need a lift like that buried in concrete in front of my motorbike shed.

 

[Zeep]

That's coming along very well!
What are your plans for your trailer? I would like one like that for behind LJR.

 

[mightyhare]

That's coming along very well!
What are your plans for your trailer? I would like one like that for behind LJR.

I’ll probably sell it. I’ve got a larger one that I plan to fix up and modify a bit.

 

[Boatmonkey]

Everything went back together easy and the windows are now working as intended! I went ahead and fixed a few other small things as well (door catches, center console latch, blower motor resistor, and floorboard courtesy lights). It’s wild how fixing small stuff can make an old ride feel so much nicer.

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Any parts numbers for the door repair hinge parts? Did you happen to document how to do the repair to the hinges? That's next on my list. Thanks.

 

[mightyhare]

Any parts numbers for the door repair hinge parts? Did you happen to document how to do the repair to the hinges? That's next on my list. Thanks.

I just used cheap parts from Amazon. As far as the repair procedure goes, it's pretty straight forward. Remove the door panel, drive the tapered pin out, replace the parts (two bolts, two nuts), drive the pin back in, replace door panel.

 

[mightyhare]

A couple neat goodies to make life a bit easier: I ordered a RAM suction mount so I could use my quickgrip and NAV phone in the Jeep (been using an old Kyocera and OSMAND for motorbike trips for years). Also grabbed a Viair 88p since my little 12v compressor that I used to carry on the bike would take FOREVER to air up four larger tires.

 

[mightyhare]

With the little Jeep mostly sorted, I set out for an afternoon cruise on some gravel roads here in the Uwharrie NF. That went well enough, so I headed up to the Linville Gorge the following day. I've ridden these roads dozens of times on various motorbikes, so it was neat to see them from a different perspective.

I'm itching to head down to the sandhills of NC for some exploring, but I reckon it's probably smart to have some recovery gear (and maybe a buddy) for that. Sand gets DEEP down there in places. Curious to see how those relatively narrow tires do...

Falls Reservoir, Uwharrie NF




Area around the Linville Gorge






Picture of my buddy getting a taste of what it's like to ride big bikes on the sand. Can't wait to get the Jeep on some of those roads.

 

[Zeep]

Air your pizza cutters down to about 15 psi, and you should be fine.
I'm running 255/85/16's without issues in the sand.