93 XJ build

[NickMaul]

You need to brace that to the "frame" rail. There will be a ton of leverage on those welds and if the welds them self don't hold it'll tear the thin sheet metal they are welded too.

That defeats the purpose of all that work I did. Honestly the tube has nowhere to go but up or try to pivot. I think I will utilize the pinch seam some how to keep the tube from trying to tilt.

 

[NickMaul]

Gonna make some changes before the heat wave strikes. Got an 8.25 rear end with 4.56 gears. Going to try and do a disk brake conversion on it while it is sitting taking space. Also got 4.56 ring and pinion for the front.

next my bumper didnt find any other purpose but to stick out to far and not carry a winch I dont have money for so i traded it and will build a new one that is a little bit more low profile

 

[XJfreakHO]

Not a bad trade at all, those 4.56's will make a big difference pulling those 34's, but itll be a totally different animal on streeties... Stompin ricers out in a XJ lol

 

[Archdukeferdinand]

I think I will utilize the pinch seam some how to keep the tube from trying to tilt.

This.

I ended up folding the lip of the pinch seam that was hanging down with a hammer then burning it in, IIRC.

Nice welder, btw. That's the same one I've had for the past 2-3 years and lincoln customer service is pretty darn good.

 

[RenegadeT]

Gonna make some changes before the heat wave strikes. Got an 8.25 rear end with 4.56 gears. Going to try and do a disk brake conversion on it while it is sitting taking space. Also got 4.56 ring and pinion for the front.

Nice score, I was considering picking these up.

 

[NickMaul]

Not a bad trade at all, those 4.56's will make a big difference pulling those 34's, but itll be a totally different animal on streeties... Stompin ricers out in a XJ lol

yeah i have always disliked the axle ratio that come in cherokees. this will hopefully put that power to good use

 

[NickMaul]

tearing down the 8.25 with 4.56 gears and am installing disk brakes. taking the d35 dics from a grand cherokee. should have the gears installed before june!

 

[NickMaul]

chrysler 8.25 disc brakes

well went to the junk yard and found a grand cherokee with d35 disc brakes. thought the lock pin in the differential was a 8mm. got it all ready to pull shafts and was disturbed to see it was a different sized bolt. called it a day and went back out today with the correct sized socket and managed to pull it with a 1/4" socket! pulled the shafts and brackets in the pouring rain got everything paid for and had a wet drive home.

when i got home i broke everything down and used a die with a small grinding stone on it to open up the brackets so it will slide over the slightly larger axle tubes. perfect match and bolted the retaining bolts. slid the axles back in and hooked up the c clips. basically all i have to do is fit in the cross pin and close it up.

some pics for your viewing pleasure

I was just about to finish up with the cross pin but the visible shaft in the picture does not want to slide out far enough for me to easily let the cross pin slide through. I can get the pin through but I will have to use a lot of force. Also the pin would be contacting the shaft so I need to figure out why the shaft does not want to ride out further

 

[NickMaul]

Today I pulled the front axle for gear install. Got the rear out and swapped in the 8.25 with 4.56 gears and disc brakes. All of this took less than 3 hours. should have everything completed by the weekend. Will post pics when it is sunny outside!

 

[NickMaul]

Gear Swap Finished

After three days of hard work after school the gear swap and install is complete. JC and I did the gear install on my d30 and am very pleased with the pattern we saw on the ring. It was probably one 2* shim from being a perfect match to the stock ring and pinion set up that used to be in the axle. Oh and I forgot to mention we got that on the very first set up attempt. A giant success. However after that I failed to put my aussie locker back together the correct way. I kept on messing up the internal spacers. But I can now take apart and put together an aussie locker in under five minutes

No pictures of gears but I have the rear disc brakes which make my jeep seem a lot more sporty

 

[BigClay]

So when are you getting a cage? hahaha

 

[NickMaul]

So when are you getting a cage? hahaha

cherokees dont need cages. they like to be dented

 

[BigClay]

 

[NickMaul]

bumper build

started my bumper build today, got my hands on some 3/16 plate and 2"x2" 3/16 tube. going for the low profile look to keep my approach angle good. no winches her although i do plan on mounting some recovery points. more pictures as I progress

todays work
2"x2" work

bracket plate work

mounted

 

[BigClay]

You have exactly one week to get it done before we go to URE on the 31st haha

 

[spraypaintman]

cherokees dont need cages. they like to be dented

ditto...

 

[kf_chris]

nice build up so far. rear discs are a nice luxury to have.

 

[iluv_mud]

ditto...

Chicks dig body damage BTW nice build man good to see a younger wheeler doing things right & doing it themselves instead of having someone doing everything for them.

 

[family xj]

The way you are doing your front bumper is how I set mine up when I first started building it

 

[NickMaul]

Bumper Build

The way you are doing your front bumper is how I set mine up when I first started building it

thanks, it was a fairly textbook design. I do not plan on having a winch so I made it with a low profile theme. Didn't lose much of an approach angle so I achieved my main goal! This is no Mars Fab bumper, but it will have a little bit more plate when I have time to. I had a deadline to meet before going to URE.

Any ways I finished it this afternoon

Got to work quickly and had it done before the sun set.

some progression cell phone pics

Few welds that turned out good (flux core)

Bolted Up After a Hit with the Can of Primer

 

[XJfreakHO]

Lookin good, you ready to push down some trees and attempt the gulch this weekend haha? Hopefully we can start cutting and make a path down there early saturday, be aware though we have seen 4 snakes so far, fairly large black snake (Good to have around) and a few baby copperheads (Not good, hopefully the black snakes find them and eat them)

 

[NickMaul]

Well it has certainly been a while since I have done anything to my jeep and or spent money on it. With my tax money from the previous year I ordered a rear spartan locker after hearing about their growing reputation. I was not concerned with the install since all I knew was that I was basically just replacing the spider gears and closing it back up. So I did a little documentation as I progressed through the task!

Popin that cover and pull the bolt holding in the cross pin.

Get them tires off to pull the axles

Shafts, C-pins, and Center Pin gone. Start tearing it down!

What Spartan Sends You

And then the assembly begins! I am only used to assembling the Aussie that I have in my d30 and this was much more different. It is hard to explain writing down here but this is my image aid. The wire pins hold the pins into place since they are spring loaded from the inside. Pull them when it is assembled inside the carrier.

The instructions that spartan provided were pretty original and non specific to the chrysler 8.25. The instructions helped step by step but failed to mention anything about when or where to put int the c clip. It took about an hour of trial and error until I figured out how to wiggle in the c clips and get them to stay in their place.

When it is all said and done!

I got 85w 140 lucas oil to put in after the install, the heaviest oil at autozone, and I guess it seems pretty quiet when going around turns and corners. It was popping really bad during the first couple of miles but is now gone after it "settled in and got comfortable." Ready to see some results on the trail this summer.

 

[burrellsjeep]

Good write up, hope to see ya out on the trails soon!

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Forum Runner

 

[NickMaul]

Went to Uhwarrie last weekend in a long time. Glad to see not too much has changed. The front and rear locker works so nice with the super swamper LTBs and I walked everything with out spinning any tires. But when I returned my mom had smashed the front of my dad's discovery II and the bumper was wrecked. So for Father's Day I built him a bumper 3/16 all the way around and some A to Z Fabrication D Rings and their clevis mounts. Pretty damn heavy.

Land Rover had some really nice fog lamps made by hella that were placed in the stock bumper and they fit the geometry of my bumper so well that I grabbed them and mounted them in a fog lamp location without losing any approach angles. Added some protection to the sides and they are ready to go!

 

[NickMaul]

~*UPDATE*~


Got a pile of parts starting to form again. Ordered some Brown Dog Motor Mounts a while back and they finally showed up in all their yellow glory. My jeep has been hurting for some new motor mounts and now that I installed a 3row radiator l have very little room to spare incase the engine creeps forward so this will help hold it down for sure. Also I picked up a ax-15/231 combo today still connected to crossmember Won't have any time to get that installed before I leave for school in the next two weeks but be collecting all the right parts through the year so I can hopefully get it ready for install right as soon as I get out of this next year of school.