Project Brooke: 1999 XJ

[bldeagle10]

I recently replaced my front pads and rotors, I ran into a problem when purchasing the rotors that, from the sounds of it, is a common problem with XJ's. So I thought I would post up a little tip to avoid the problem, some of you may have heard of this problem, others haven't.

you may be sold a rotor that is to big, it says it is the rotor for your Jeep, and really, it is. but the quality is shotty and they range in diameter. so you will need to measure your rotors when you purchase them. this is the face you need to measure.

this is my old rotor, which I will eventually have turned/machined again. you will need to use a caliper to measure it, not the brake caliper, a digital measuring tool, I asked the kid at autozone to borrow a caliper to measure the rotor and he comes out with a brake caliper and says "idk how why you need this to measure it..." lol. the part you need to measure came out to be 50mm on my original rotors, I measured it in millimeters because I couldn't figure out how to change the calipers over to inches, it isn't exactly 50mm, there were a few tenths of a mm but I dont remember the exact measurement.
they gave me this valucraft rotors, one fit on the drivers side, the passenger side got hung up on the tie rod when the tire was bolted down, it happens when they are too big, it was 52mm wide

this rotor was 49mm so 1mm under the original size. worked perfect. so, when looking for rotors, I would say grab ones that are 50mm and below.

this is of course on a stock application and I don't know if it applies to lifted jeeps

 

[Black Dog]

When I did the rotors on my heap I had to know its manufacture date (on the tag on the drivers door), later in 1999 is a different rotor than earlier I guess.

 

[bldeagle10]

that probably would have helped knowing, apparently O'Rielley is much more help than Auto Zone when it comes to getting the right rotors. it is just odd that one of the valucrap ones fit perfectly on the drivers side but not the passenger side. same PN and everything.

 

[bldeagle10]

ran into a pickle of a situation. ran into some cash, around 1300, need to pay some bills, and the rest goes to the jeep. I was thinking motor work mostly. but I drove it for the first time in awhile last night and noticed a lot of popping and clicking from the front end. and the suspension is just completely shot now. also the motor sounds like it is missing. but it is odd, runs smooth for about 6 seconds then its like a cylinder has the miss then runs fine for a few seconds and miss etc...so I have to decide which is worth more attention. motor with lots of miles that may give out soon, or suspension that is starting to disintegrate on me which would leave it undrivable running or not...

looks like I may end up parking it till I can get it all torn out and rebuilt.

edit: found out today out of the 1370 I received, I will only have 370 to spend. after xmas shopping I have little to nothing for the Jeep...time to find a new job.

 

[bldeagle10]

slight documentation of me throwing the lift on the xj, 2" spacers up front with new coils and 1" blocks in the rear. rides 100x better

 

[bldeagle10]

I know they are all sorts of out of order...basically, did the front first, backed it out, took some pix, backed it in, did the rear and messed with the air shocks till it was all leveled out at 2" above stock front and rear.

 

[bldeagle10]

played in the snow up in prescott, got pretty cold up there, went up senator highway a bit and did some parking lot drifting at the college with some old dorm mates also sculpted some obscene objects on a few kids cars out of snow, wont post the pictures of that lol...good times




testing out the lights, one spot light works but lense is cracked and it got moisture in it so its dim, second doesn't work so need to replace both spots, search light handle is broken so I can't really use that, could use a new bulb as well but it is still pretty bright, fog lights on the rack work, housings are rusted and need to be painted and I wouldn't mind having spot lights up there instead of fogs, and the headlights could use some upgraded wiring harness and an H4/DDM HID conversion...

 

[alexfm]

About how long did it take you to install your lift? I'm getting the itch to throw mine on too, but I'm just wondering how long I should anticipate it being disabled. Granted, my XJ has a good bit more rust than yours too.

Also, a thought for your headlight upgrades: I got a set of generic H4 conversion housings and bulbs on Ebay for like $30 shipped, and they're great. Super bright, white light and no need for a harness upgrade, not to mention way cheaper than a Delta or similar conversion.

 

[marshal]

really enjoying your little build here

 

[bldeagle10]

About how long did it take you to install your lift? I'm getting the itch to throw mine on too, but I'm just wondering how long I should anticipate it being disabled. Granted, my XJ has a good bit more rust than yours too.

Also, a thought for your headlight upgrades: I got a set of generic H4 conversion housings and bulbs on Ebay for like $30 shipped, and they're great. Super bright, white light and no need for a harness upgrade, not to mention way cheaper than a Delta or similar conversion.

really it only took me like, 3 hours labor, with a few hours worth of breaks I used mostly air tools, I would suggest getting/using/borrowing a spring compressor to get the coil springs off though, easy enough to pull the stock ones out when the axle is dropped all the way, just need to lift up a bit on the spring, but getting it in with the spacer was a pain, ended up using a 4 foot crow bar to kinda wedge and slide it in place...the rear axle I would suggest dropping both sides completely, don't just jack up one side or have the other side on a ramp like I did, this caused the axle to shift when the leafs popped off the perch and i had to use a hand winch deal to pull it back in place. the other side I didn't use the ramp and just jacked up on the center of the diff, set the body on jack stands and dropped the axle enough to pull the shock off then dropped all the way. also, I torqued the u-bolts to 80 ft. lbs and you should re-torque after driving for a few days (which reminds me I need to do this...) if you have any questions hit me up. you know how to reach me...

also, thanks for the input on the lights, I will be putting in DDM H4 housings and running their HID's for a bit, if I don't like that I will switch back to regular H4 bulbs, sylvannia ultras or something of that sort, and although it is not needed as you said, I will most likely end up upgrading the wiring just because I feel it should be done. (OCD)

really enjoying your little build here

thank you! my goal with this is to not only document my story, but to somewhat entertain, and inform everyone of what I am learning as I go. nice to know people are interested.

so 2 things
1. found out I can fit every single possession my little sister owns in the back of my XJ (dad kicked her out, family drama not worth discussing on here) not sure if I should be proud of my packing skills (every single nook and cranny was packed) or be sad that her life fits in the back of a Jeep....

2. ordered up new spot lights for the front bumper, not sure If I mentioned this... they are 150w 13v bulbs, part number 4049, and they fit in a PAR46 housing. they are said to have only a 15 hour life span which sucks but for now it works cause they are cheap (15-20 a bulb depending on where you get it) as pointed out by csours on JF I should redo some of my wiring for the spots and fogs, they run through a starter solenoid from an older model ford pick up, you may be able to see it in a picture of the engine bay if I have one posted. it is on the passenger side firewall, it works, but I think i shorted it out (entirely my fault) and need to replace, which is no biggy, I have 3 spares..but I should probably think about running 70a relays..

 

[bldeagle10]

haggled a little bit and think I may have a custom exhaust set up from Billy Boat (ex indy driver) guess he dabbled with an XJ set up but there was no market here for it and he thinks he may have a few laying around in the shop. we will see. tomorrow I get to talk to the guy who builds their stock car motors (think it's Rick Waters Racing or something like that) and see what can be done about my head and how much it will set me back..

 

[bldeagle10]

I had an idea last night, i may even want to sell them on the side if people are interested. so basically, I am asking, would anyone be interested if I came up with a kit to remove the headlight, front marker lights and the headlight bezel and replace them with a plate to basically mimic land rover defender headlights? would keep the Jeep grille, I think it would look cool. may just go for it and see if it even looks okay.

 

[bldeagle10]

these are currently being shipped to me for xmas,
http://www.quadratec.com/products/16200_023.htm

I have an electrical question for yal, my drivers headlight wont go into highbeam mode, (idk why that was so difficult to word out for me) I figured the bulbs high beam was burnt out but I replaced it with two spares I have and none of them worked on high beam, so I am lead to believe that there is a wiring issue, but if so why only the drivers side highbeam that doesnt work? the only thing I can think of is a wire being screwed up unless there is something that controls each side seperately?

Edit:
it was a fuse.

 

[bldeagle10]

headlights fixed, it was a blown fuse,
new front shocks. they are super lift brand. rides pretty good. here are a few pix

 

[bldeagle10]

well, haven't been on here in forever, my laptop decided to commit suicide and I haven't had funding to get a new one. guess the only thing I have done is routine maintenance, yellow shock boots, trying to track down an A/C leak, think the condensor is plugged up though, the high side shoots up to 500psi when you rev the engine up a little.. other than all that loaded her up for a week long 4th of july trip to the middle of nowhere! happy trails and happy 4th!