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.

View attachment 904392View attachment 904393View attachment 904394View attachment 904395

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.

 

[mightyhare]

I took a ride down to the sandhills of North Carolina yesterday to see how the Jeep handles sand and just build some confidence in general. It was FANTASTIC. My buddy tagged along and we spent the whole day driving around down there. Much slower going than the motorbike and I was again pleased to see the area from a different perspective. I didn’t get any hero pics in the sand, but here’s a few from the day.

A couple observations: The Jeep was point and shoot in the sand; absolutely no issues. The little Viair was much quicker than expected.

Also noteworthy was my last fill-up. 19.7 mpg (GPS confirmed). That’s good enough for this thing to be on commuter duty for awhile.

 

[Winterhawk]

Very nice! I had the ICON 16 inch wheels on my XJ with the same tires and it was great. I also have the aftermarket Upcountry suspension and it works great as well. Recently went back to stock steelies with 30x9.5 15's and BFG A/T's for now. Same diameter as 225/75r16's basically, but prefer the look and added side wall height. It's absolutely amazing what you can do with an XJ on 29.3-29.5 inch tires. Anything taller and your looking at regearing.

 

[mightyhare]

Very nice! I had the ICON 16 inch wheels on my XJ with the same tires and it was great. I also have the aftermarket Upcountry suspension and it works great as well. Recently went back to stock steelies with 30x9.5 15's and BFG A/T's for now. Same diameter as 225/75r16's basically, but prefer the look and added side wall height. It's absolutely amazing what you can do with an XJ on 29.3-29.5 inch tires. Anything taller and your looking at regearing.

Killer rig! Those bumpers look fantastic.