My XJ seems to be an expedition vehicle

[BKCowGod]

Probably not what you think

Definitely not what I was expecting, but waaay more awesome... Love it.

 

[bldeagle10]

hey nice xj.
would it be possible to post up some pix of the gutter mounts and exactly how they work? and if you bought them from anywhere the link to that?

i kind of want to make my own rack but the mounting has kept me stumped on this. ive never seen a rack in person that mounts to the gutters so...

thanks

 

[Steve F]

I got the gutter mounts locally so it might not help, the site is Powerful4x4 they don't have them listed on the site but an email to them confirmed they sell them without the racks, they may ship international if need be. Anyway, checkout their racks for pictures.

Here are a couple of mine if it helps. This was before I mounted them to the main rack. Under the outer clamp there is a raised section so as it is tightened it pulls up on the gutter as well as in.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Frank]

Very nice XJ! Looks like you have some sort of comm system going on...I see a nice antenna.

 

[bldeagle10]

thanks for the photos and the link, ill deffinetly check them out and see if they would ship out here.

 

[Steve F]

Very nice XJ! Looks like you have some sort of comm system going on...I see a nice antenna.

Just a UHF radio, the standard for CB over here Great for convoys and depending on the dB of the aerial you can get good range on flat or hilly terrain. Range is around 5km to 20km dependent on the terrain but there are repeaters on hill tops etc around the place and can boost the range to 100km.

This pic shows the licensed repeaters around the country

Cheers
Steve

 

[CaliMobber]

Thats awesome, Wish our cb was a higher freq. current low freq(28mhz am) forces people to get some huge ridiculous antenna to try and get a decent signal.

I upgraded to Ham radio and got my licence which allows me a huge number of freq to choose from but most avg joe's dont wana go through the trouble.


Sweet rig though, Im trying to decide on a cherokee or a trooper for a expedition rig at the moment.

 

[Black Dog]

I'll bet that the one place you get stranded and need your radio is that spot out west square in the middle of the big blank area with no repeaters. :sombrero:

 

[Steve F]

I'll bet that the one place you get stranded and need your radio is that spot out west square in the middle of the big blank area with no repeaters. :sombrero:

If you end up out that way on your own and you breakdown a SAT phone is really your only real option, in fact any desert trip its a good idea, go look on google maps and zoom in a bit Luckily we can get sat phones from hire places pretty cheap In reality the UHF is for convoy and short distances.

Cheers
Steve

 

[bldeagle10]

heck yes. uhf/cb radios/walkie talkies make convoys, road trips and expeditions so much easier. no calling people on cell phones or stopping so you can say hey. we have to pee so were going to stop soon lol

 

[cico7]

heck yes. uhf/cb radios/walkie talkies make convoys, road trips and expeditions so much easier. no calling people on cell phones or stopping so you can say hey. we have to pee so were going to stop soon lol

Don't you hate stopping to tell someone you're stopping? Get a radio!!

 

[shogun]

I got the gutter mounts locally so it might not help, the site is Powerful4x4 they don't have them listed on the site but an email to them confirmed they sell them without the racks, they may ship international if need be. Anyway, checkout their racks for pictures.

Here are a couple of mine if it helps. This was before I mounted them to the main rack. Under the outer clamp there is a raised section so as it is tightened it pulls up on the gutter as well as in.

Cheers
Steve

Good to see you planned for the typical shortcoming of many racks, the inadequate weight distribution of factory, four mount design.

The roof on the XJ is not very load friendly, the factory rack only rated for 150# I think. The gutter and A, B, C, D pillars are also not very load friendly and you may see the welds cracking due to both rack load and unibody flex.

Using more than 4 mounts is a step in the right direction, hopefully over each pillar. But just a step. Why not do it right and distribute the load over the entire length of the rack?

Aesthetics usually wins out over function (put those gutter mounts over the pillars, not evenly distributed), but nice functional mods.

 

[Black Dog]

My factory rack seems like it is pretty much maxed out with only my canoe and kayak on top and that is only about 70 pounds, the thing is useless.

 

[Topgun514]

I love the Jeep but I am wondering if you are/ have done any upgraded steering?

 

[Steve F]

I love the Jeep but I am wondering if you are/ have done any upgraded steering?

At the moment the steering is pretty much stock other than relocating the steering damper bracket to stop it rubbing on compression. It's not so easy to upgrade the steering here, most of the components are different than the US and are not easy to get as the market is a LOT smaller for RHD. In saying that I've had no issues with the steering but then most of my trips include the family and I don't go smacking it into rocks etc and slowly pick my way through.

I do plan on an upgrade when I find something that works, failing that I'll sleeve the tierod and raise the swaybar mounts to give some more clearance between them and the tierod ends. I'd also like to find an angled tierod end for the draglink (pitman arm end) to reduce the angle the tierod end is on at the moment without having to have a drop pitman arm (more leverage on the steering box). Oh and my front bar mount does brace the steering box bolts.

I did upgrade the brakes though and run a 300mm rotor with much larger calipers.

Cheers
Steve