GenPatTuck
New member
I am on here every so often looking at cool new ideas for expo and cargo storage. The Europeans really have some great ideas and cool ways to stay outdoors in an off-road vehicle for long periods of time. This Cherokee build is inspired by all the fun and creative ideas I have seen people do to their own xj's plus from other off-road vehicle's as well. Most of the work done to mine has been done by me so this thread may take a while and be a bit wordy, but its like my diary of what has been done to this new hobby of mine.
I bought my 1996 XJ SE with an np231, HO 4.0, HP D30 and 8.25, AW15, crank windows and reach across door locks in September of 2009 for $500 from on ad on craigslist. The owner just wanted it gone where it had been sitting for several months with transmission problems. It was drivable but the lower gears were causing it to have the problems. I loaded it onto a trailer and took it home where it needed a tune up badly.
For the engine and transmission I did the following.
The spark plugs didnt have any nubs on them anymore and the rotor was completely worn out. I got new plugs, wires, cap and rotor.
New oil and filter
I bought a '99+ intake manifold horse shoe style. Supposedly they are better for air flow and have more cc of air that can flow through them.
I replaced the air intake box with a cowl intake I made myself from 3" exhaust tubing I bought from Summit and silicone bends from silictaoneintakes.com. Although loud once its started, I can definitely feel the difference.
Replaced the cooling system with all new radiator, hoses, water pump and thermostat, fluid and electrical fan. Since I dont have the upgraded gauge cluster in, I cant say what temp it gets up to. I was able to raise the hood about an inch at the hinges with spacers to help the engine compartment release its hot air.
Got a new battery that kept going dead. I replaced 4 of them in just a couple of months. Never figured out the problem, but since it cycled its computer out after many starts and restarts I guess it fixed itself.
On the battery I put in a kill switch the ones with the red key you turn.
As for the problem with the transmission which turned out to be the shifting solenoids near the pan. New they were near a $1000, but found some online for $50. I replaced the trans fluid and filter put the pan back on and it runs great. Every so often it seems to slip but not enough to worry about.
Since the trans is kept cool with the radiator, I decided to install an external cooler that runs before the radiator. It seems to help it run better, but without a trans temp gauge I really cannot tell what the temp is.
New brown dog motor mounts as the OEM mount on the drivers side was completely missing its rubber.
As for the axles and transfer case, I upgraded them as well.
HP D 30 got new ball joints and lunch box locker with new diff fluid and new brake pads. I put in fully adjustable upper control arms from arcfab4x4.com (dont think they are in biz anymore).
The 8.25 got a lunch box locker as well with new diff fluid and new brake pads too.
The fuel tank got a new filter and I equipped it with a different vent tube from inside the tank to give it more gallons inside. Supposedly all the xj's have the same size tank, some of them came with the upgrade to make a completely full tank at 25 gallons. All that you need to do is follow this link http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoFuelTank.htm
As for the interior of it, the carpet was heavily worn (which I replaced a couple of years later), seats, headliner and dash were in good condition as well. I bought many items to make the interior more my own. All these items were bought from other people on forums unless new like the speakers.
1. complete gauge cluster
2. vented windows
3. sound bar
4. new carpet and dash mat from a guy whose son rolled their xj and was parting it out
5. arm rest for center console and driver door (these were missing)
6. pass window crank (missing)
7. new speakers for doors and sound bar
8. cb radio and stereo (it was missing as well, probably stolen from previous owner)
9. cup holder
10. amp and 10" subwoofer
11. overhead light cover and bulb
12. boot that fits over the end of the sun visor to keep it from rattling and making it stay in place
So there may be other items I bought and forgot to mention but these are most of them. Now I will let you know the reasons why I bought each of these items for my interior
1. currently has dummy gauges. I need to take the new one in and have it re-calibrated to match the miles I currently have
2. vented windows - I always wanted them and one day I came outside to find the Jeep broken into. They tried to steal it, but with a dummy switch that made it impossible. They broke the drivers side pass 1/4 window and couldnt get the door open (it sticks) so went to pass front 1/4 window and broke that. Got inside and couldnt start it. Found a guy online who had what I needed. I installed them and love 'em
3. sound bar. Didnt have one and bought it for cheap
4. new carpet and dash mat. bought from a guy whose son rolled their xj and was parting it out
5. arm rest for center console and driver door. These were missing, bought on forum
6. pass window crank (missing)
7. new speakers for doors and sound bar. door speakers were missing and sound bar didnt come with speakers
8. cb radio and stereo (it was missing as well, probably stolen from previous owner)
9. cup holder. it didnt have one and got a deal on it
10. amp and 10" subwoofer. got a deal on these two. I built a box and later tossed it for a cargo area storage panel one I made
11. overhead light cover and bulb. didnt have one and got a deal on them both
12. boot that fits over the end of the sun visor to keep it from rattling and making it stay in place. missing as well, found on a forum
As for the exterior. The clear coat is gone and the green under it is in good shape but cracking. There are a few dents on it plus the ones I added from rock crawling. It came with a 3" lift and 31's. I put in a two inch spacer, a block in the back with 2" new leafs. A drop pitman arm was put in for the size of my lift which turned out to be about 5".
I changed out the 31's for 33's with steel wheels. They had Goodyears on them that were just about worn out. I found a good price on some Falken "wild peaks", kept the older tires I had and sold them to a kid on CL. I wasnt really happy with the new shoes. They didnt do well on-road but off they were great. Turns out that only having them with about 250 miles on them that they were stolen. One morning, my birthday, I came outside to go play racquetball with some friends and see the Jeep on blocks. Not much I could do but call insurance and the police. I was really glad they were stolen as I wasnt happy with those tires. I was able to get some aluminum wheels with Goodyear Duratracs from Discount from the claim I had made. Although loud, they are way better on the road and do great off-road as well, havent crawled in them yet.
I bought a new front bumper from L and L fabrication and for the price its way worth it. Just dont expect to get it for 3 months. It has room for a winch as well. There were flimsy nerf bars that I replaced with my own rock slides made from dom 1/4 wall tubing, they hold up pretty well.
Now here are the items I have recently finished
Cargo storage drawers for axle storage, camping and other items needed.
Was in a car accident a few months back which left me with the front axle 3" to the left. I had to replace the lower control arm brackets as well as upper control arm brackets I bought from Artec Industries here in AZ.
A new track bar (bought online and got a good deal) and track bar mount from website up in Minnesota. Very happy with it, but they took too long to ship it.
New Pro comp shocks and new steering box that completely leaked out by the time I made it home.
Items I would like to do soon:
1. new paint. havent decided on camo colors or staying with original color
2. possibly hood vents and removing hood spacers
3. making cargo area speaker box
4. upgrading and making a newer style cargo box.
5. contemplating rear chop top or splitting the rear hatch with a fold down tail gate
6. installing new gauge cluster and air intake manifold
7. putting in new exhaust manifold and flow master exhaust
8. rear main seal with oil pan gasket install
9. under dash gun storage
10. either a hybrid or interior only roll cage
11. rear quarter panel armor complete with brake light cover protection
12. rear bumper
I will add pictures to each of the items I have done. This is a really fun build, it just takes time and money to get it done.
I bought my 1996 XJ SE with an np231, HO 4.0, HP D30 and 8.25, AW15, crank windows and reach across door locks in September of 2009 for $500 from on ad on craigslist. The owner just wanted it gone where it had been sitting for several months with transmission problems. It was drivable but the lower gears were causing it to have the problems. I loaded it onto a trailer and took it home where it needed a tune up badly.
For the engine and transmission I did the following.
The spark plugs didnt have any nubs on them anymore and the rotor was completely worn out. I got new plugs, wires, cap and rotor.
New oil and filter
I bought a '99+ intake manifold horse shoe style. Supposedly they are better for air flow and have more cc of air that can flow through them.
I replaced the air intake box with a cowl intake I made myself from 3" exhaust tubing I bought from Summit and silicone bends from silictaoneintakes.com. Although loud once its started, I can definitely feel the difference.
Replaced the cooling system with all new radiator, hoses, water pump and thermostat, fluid and electrical fan. Since I dont have the upgraded gauge cluster in, I cant say what temp it gets up to. I was able to raise the hood about an inch at the hinges with spacers to help the engine compartment release its hot air.
Got a new battery that kept going dead. I replaced 4 of them in just a couple of months. Never figured out the problem, but since it cycled its computer out after many starts and restarts I guess it fixed itself.
On the battery I put in a kill switch the ones with the red key you turn.
As for the problem with the transmission which turned out to be the shifting solenoids near the pan. New they were near a $1000, but found some online for $50. I replaced the trans fluid and filter put the pan back on and it runs great. Every so often it seems to slip but not enough to worry about.
Since the trans is kept cool with the radiator, I decided to install an external cooler that runs before the radiator. It seems to help it run better, but without a trans temp gauge I really cannot tell what the temp is.
New brown dog motor mounts as the OEM mount on the drivers side was completely missing its rubber.
As for the axles and transfer case, I upgraded them as well.
HP D 30 got new ball joints and lunch box locker with new diff fluid and new brake pads. I put in fully adjustable upper control arms from arcfab4x4.com (dont think they are in biz anymore).
The 8.25 got a lunch box locker as well with new diff fluid and new brake pads too.
The fuel tank got a new filter and I equipped it with a different vent tube from inside the tank to give it more gallons inside. Supposedly all the xj's have the same size tank, some of them came with the upgrade to make a completely full tank at 25 gallons. All that you need to do is follow this link http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoFuelTank.htm
As for the interior of it, the carpet was heavily worn (which I replaced a couple of years later), seats, headliner and dash were in good condition as well. I bought many items to make the interior more my own. All these items were bought from other people on forums unless new like the speakers.
1. complete gauge cluster
2. vented windows
3. sound bar
4. new carpet and dash mat from a guy whose son rolled their xj and was parting it out
5. arm rest for center console and driver door (these were missing)
6. pass window crank (missing)
7. new speakers for doors and sound bar
8. cb radio and stereo (it was missing as well, probably stolen from previous owner)
9. cup holder
10. amp and 10" subwoofer
11. overhead light cover and bulb
12. boot that fits over the end of the sun visor to keep it from rattling and making it stay in place
So there may be other items I bought and forgot to mention but these are most of them. Now I will let you know the reasons why I bought each of these items for my interior
1. currently has dummy gauges. I need to take the new one in and have it re-calibrated to match the miles I currently have
2. vented windows - I always wanted them and one day I came outside to find the Jeep broken into. They tried to steal it, but with a dummy switch that made it impossible. They broke the drivers side pass 1/4 window and couldnt get the door open (it sticks) so went to pass front 1/4 window and broke that. Got inside and couldnt start it. Found a guy online who had what I needed. I installed them and love 'em
3. sound bar. Didnt have one and bought it for cheap
4. new carpet and dash mat. bought from a guy whose son rolled their xj and was parting it out
5. arm rest for center console and driver door. These were missing, bought on forum
6. pass window crank (missing)
7. new speakers for doors and sound bar. door speakers were missing and sound bar didnt come with speakers
8. cb radio and stereo (it was missing as well, probably stolen from previous owner)
9. cup holder. it didnt have one and got a deal on it
10. amp and 10" subwoofer. got a deal on these two. I built a box and later tossed it for a cargo area storage panel one I made
11. overhead light cover and bulb. didnt have one and got a deal on them both
12. boot that fits over the end of the sun visor to keep it from rattling and making it stay in place. missing as well, found on a forum
As for the exterior. The clear coat is gone and the green under it is in good shape but cracking. There are a few dents on it plus the ones I added from rock crawling. It came with a 3" lift and 31's. I put in a two inch spacer, a block in the back with 2" new leafs. A drop pitman arm was put in for the size of my lift which turned out to be about 5".
I changed out the 31's for 33's with steel wheels. They had Goodyears on them that were just about worn out. I found a good price on some Falken "wild peaks", kept the older tires I had and sold them to a kid on CL. I wasnt really happy with the new shoes. They didnt do well on-road but off they were great. Turns out that only having them with about 250 miles on them that they were stolen. One morning, my birthday, I came outside to go play racquetball with some friends and see the Jeep on blocks. Not much I could do but call insurance and the police. I was really glad they were stolen as I wasnt happy with those tires. I was able to get some aluminum wheels with Goodyear Duratracs from Discount from the claim I had made. Although loud, they are way better on the road and do great off-road as well, havent crawled in them yet.
I bought a new front bumper from L and L fabrication and for the price its way worth it. Just dont expect to get it for 3 months. It has room for a winch as well. There were flimsy nerf bars that I replaced with my own rock slides made from dom 1/4 wall tubing, they hold up pretty well.
Now here are the items I have recently finished
Cargo storage drawers for axle storage, camping and other items needed.
Was in a car accident a few months back which left me with the front axle 3" to the left. I had to replace the lower control arm brackets as well as upper control arm brackets I bought from Artec Industries here in AZ.
A new track bar (bought online and got a good deal) and track bar mount from website up in Minnesota. Very happy with it, but they took too long to ship it.
New Pro comp shocks and new steering box that completely leaked out by the time I made it home.
Items I would like to do soon:
1. new paint. havent decided on camo colors or staying with original color
2. possibly hood vents and removing hood spacers
3. making cargo area speaker box
4. upgrading and making a newer style cargo box.
5. contemplating rear chop top or splitting the rear hatch with a fold down tail gate
6. installing new gauge cluster and air intake manifold
7. putting in new exhaust manifold and flow master exhaust
8. rear main seal with oil pan gasket install
9. under dash gun storage
10. either a hybrid or interior only roll cage
11. rear quarter panel armor complete with brake light cover protection
12. rear bumper
I will add pictures to each of the items I have done. This is a really fun build, it just takes time and money to get it done.
