jswift716
Adventurer
You could always cut and fold that part of the quarter too. I have greasable shackles and bolts because I live in the rust belt, it makes everything easier for me to get to back there just my .02,
Overland XJ Build. Not my first Rodeo.....(video included)
- Thread starter Overland History
- Start date
Overland History
Wanderluster
I'm not ignoring your questions fella's, I'll have them all answered by tomorrow evening! 
It was an insanely busy week at work, so I decided to do a little Overland trip of my own on Saturday/Sunday to get away from the stress!
I judged a Jeep Contest at Southern Dodge Jeep by the Norfolk Airport for my local club Tidewater Fourwheelers on Saturday. Our local Rock station FM99 is holding a "Rock Girl" competition, so they showed up and wanted pictures with a couple of the girls in the RTT. Well, I've never told a pretty girl no, except for my Ex-wife.
I didn't get any pics of the beautiful jeeps there, as I was busy judging, so I'll post some up when I find them from the event!
After the event was over, I B-lined it west toward the mountains.
It took me 3hrs to get out of the "Hampton Roads" area, which includes the 7 cities in the area, due to traffic. Unfortunately, for a Military and Vacation destination, which is what I live in the middle of, traffic is a constant nightmare!
Since it took me so long to get out of the area, I literally had to haul *** to get up to "Reddish Knob", which is on the Virginia/West Virginia state line. Once I got off of Route I-81 North, and snaked through a couple of back roads, I literally set State Fire Road 85 on fire trying to get up to the top of "Reddish Knob" in time to get a good sunset picture.
I have a bunch more pics, but I'm tired, so those will wait til tomorrow.
It was an insanely busy week at work, so I decided to do a little Overland trip of my own on Saturday/Sunday to get away from the stress!
I judged a Jeep Contest at Southern Dodge Jeep by the Norfolk Airport for my local club Tidewater Fourwheelers on Saturday. Our local Rock station FM99 is holding a "Rock Girl" competition, so they showed up and wanted pictures with a couple of the girls in the RTT. Well, I've never told a pretty girl no, except for my Ex-wife.
I didn't get any pics of the beautiful jeeps there, as I was busy judging, so I'll post some up when I find them from the event!
After the event was over, I B-lined it west toward the mountains.
It took me 3hrs to get out of the "Hampton Roads" area, which includes the 7 cities in the area, due to traffic. Unfortunately, for a Military and Vacation destination, which is what I live in the middle of, traffic is a constant nightmare!
Since it took me so long to get out of the area, I literally had to haul *** to get up to "Reddish Knob", which is on the Virginia/West Virginia state line. Once I got off of Route I-81 North, and snaked through a couple of back roads, I literally set State Fire Road 85 on fire trying to get up to the top of "Reddish Knob" in time to get a good sunset picture.
I have a bunch more pics, but I'm tired, so those will wait til tomorrow.
Overland History
Wanderluster
Continuing on, after watching the sunset on Reddish Knob, I made my way over to Flagpole Knob to make camp.
I got up to watch the sunrise and got a couple of good shots....
The only other people camping on Flagpole Knob were two young couples from NC in an XJ....
My view once it got a bit more light.....
Once the two young couples in the XJ left, it was time for a shower! Well, the system performed perfectly!
I decided to head over to Meadow Knob, which is just a few miles away from Flagpole Knob, since I had never been there before.
There's a lot more flatter and larger area on Meadow Knob than there is on Flagpole Knob....
A few more shots....
This was my fav of the trip....
Since it was getting late in the afternoon, I decided to head back home and snapped these on the way back....
I got up to watch the sunrise and got a couple of good shots....
The only other people camping on Flagpole Knob were two young couples from NC in an XJ....
My view once it got a bit more light.....
Once the two young couples in the XJ left, it was time for a shower! Well, the system performed perfectly!
I decided to head over to Meadow Knob, which is just a few miles away from Flagpole Knob, since I had never been there before.
There's a lot more flatter and larger area on Meadow Knob than there is on Flagpole Knob....
A few more shots....
This was my fav of the trip....
Since it was getting late in the afternoon, I decided to head back home and snapped these on the way back....
Overland History
Wanderluster
I do need to make an amendment to the On-Board Hot Water Shower project.
Before I left to go camping, the 1/2in to 5/8in barbed adapter for my coolant lines that plumb into the heat exchanger, ended up breaking. It appears they're just too thin of a plastic to be able to handle constant coolant flow with hose clamps on them.
To remedy this, I picked up some brass 1/2in to 5/8in barbed adapters at Lowe's to replace both of the plastic ones. These didn't give me one bit of trouble driving 500 miles round trip to go camping...
One ***VERY*** important aspect that I learned during the trip about the On-Board Camp Shower is that pressure will build in the hot water line that exits the Heat Exchanger and plugs into the back of the Shower Box after using the shower. The residual water that's left over in the Exchanger and the line can start to boil while driving without water circulating through the exchanger. Since the system doesn't have a pressure relief valve of some kind built in, I'll have to always remember to leave both of the water knobs cracked open and the shower head turned on(without the pump running), so that pressure doesn't build in the lines. Luckily I thought of this before having a catastrophic failure due to pressure build-up. The water simply drained itself out of the lines and ran out of the shower box.
Before I left to go camping, the 1/2in to 5/8in barbed adapter for my coolant lines that plumb into the heat exchanger, ended up breaking. It appears they're just too thin of a plastic to be able to handle constant coolant flow with hose clamps on them.
To remedy this, I picked up some brass 1/2in to 5/8in barbed adapters at Lowe's to replace both of the plastic ones. These didn't give me one bit of trouble driving 500 miles round trip to go camping...
One ***VERY*** important aspect that I learned during the trip about the On-Board Camp Shower is that pressure will build in the hot water line that exits the Heat Exchanger and plugs into the back of the Shower Box after using the shower. The residual water that's left over in the Exchanger and the line can start to boil while driving without water circulating through the exchanger. Since the system doesn't have a pressure relief valve of some kind built in, I'll have to always remember to leave both of the water knobs cracked open and the shower head turned on(without the pump running), so that pressure doesn't build in the lines. Luckily I thought of this before having a catastrophic failure due to pressure build-up. The water simply drained itself out of the lines and ran out of the shower box.
Overland History
Wanderluster
Thank you!
Thank you as well! I've got a couple more pretty wild ideas for the XJ coming soon!
Overland History
Wanderluster
As mentioned before, my flares are stock.
When it comes to reducing the coolant lines from 5/8in to 1/2in, it's such a small difference in size, that I highly doubt it will matter. The lines that I plugged in the Heat Exchanger don't effect Engine Cooling anyways. They're for running coolant into the heater core that's inside the firewall, which gives you heat into the cabin. Will it effect the amount of hot air in the cabin? Again, highly doubtful, as it's such a small difference in hose size. Besides, my heater gets hot enough already to cook a chicken in the cabin!
Overland History
Wanderluster
Just read through the whole thread. Nice work. Lots of good ideas to steal
I've really enjoyed reading yours also! You've got a ton of very creative work into your XJ also!
Steal away! I really like seeing something of mine that started as a vision in my head, made to work in reality, and then enjoyed by others as well!
Overland History
Wanderluster
Since my old XJ had the same license plates as my current XJ, I thought it needed something different and much more appropriate.
These came in today....
These came in today....
jswift716
Adventurer
How is that rear bumper holding up? I'm trying to piece somthing together my self, I have a decent scrap pile and alot of time on my handsSince my old XJ had the same license plates as my current XJ, I thought it needed something different and much more appropriate.
These came in today....
View attachment 364211
View attachment 364212
Thirty-Nine
Explorer
Really dig the build. Good stuff!
Overland History
Wanderluster
The rear bumper was actually built by a buddy of mine back sometime around '99, and used to carry a 36" spare tire. There wasn't one body panel on that XJ that wasn't bashed to hell!
With that said, it's getting some work cosmetically pretty soon. If I have time, possibly before Overland Expo East.
Overland History
Wanderluster
Thank you! I'm enjoying your new thread thus far. It looks like you understand the "sweet spot" that XJ's have, which is when they're around 3" on 31's. I don't think many people realize how capable a Locked XJ is with this setup, while still able to retain decent gas mileage! I get 16.5mpg around town and 19mpg on the Highway with my 4.10 gears and 31's.
Overland History
Wanderluster
Hey Tony, it was great meeting you at the event! I'm glad you're enjoying the thread and the ideas. Your XJ is extremely well built and I had a very hard time not choosing it as a winner while judging the event(I'm an XJ guy, so it's hard not to be biased). I really like the dual battery setup and rear hatch LED's!
Shoot me a message with your number, let's meet up and grab a beer!