NC919.4x4_XJ
Member
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2011
- Location
- Holly Springs
"RUT WHORE" - 1997 Jeep XJ DD/RIG
This is my third jeep cherokee, and i couldn't wait to start messing around with it! It was a clean, 1997 Jeep Cherokee sport.. but that all got ruined! lol
Bought her, looking like this.. didn't stay stock for long.
I went with the Series II 3' Lift kit from Rough Country.
Very basic, and straight to the point.
had some troubles with the rear shocks, I am almost positive every XJ driver
has to deal with the broken rear shock bolts.. and going through the hastle
of putting new ones in. We got that done & Got it all put together..
she turned out great.
decent amount of clearance.. Smooth ride, nice articulation,
i'm satisfied!
After she got the lift, i was able to snag her some free shoes
Pro-Comp Xterrian MT's - 33x12.50x15's (40% Tread left) with american racing wheels which i picked up for awesome deal. 25.00 FOR ALL 4!! Couldn't believe the deal and got right on it... they have some surface rust, and some scratches.. but hey.. it's for offroading & also got a Flowmaster super 44 for some 55w hella Lights Fair trade.. i'd say!
Soon after she got those gifts, i hooked her up with a basic Cobra 19 CB Radio & a old Peterbilt fiberglass
antenna from one of my grandfathers old 18 wheelers. Works great!
Those free Pro-Comps.. didn't work out so well.. ended up blowing 2 front ones on the trail!
Wasn't too happy with that.. Couldn't find a picture of the old Mt's
but, i had to go ahead and break the bank. Got all new 33x12.50x15's Mickey Thompson MTZ's
They work great off-road, aren't very loud, and clean up really well in the mud.
They proved me good at Uwharrie, and took some nice chunks of rubber out from
the rocks.. but they are still chuggin along!
Things went well, until i went on a little offroad adventure one night
with a few buddies from our 4 wheelin' club. We went down to a
classic trail we all offroad on called Friendship..
I had hit the mud hole a few weeks earlier and made it without
problems.. this time. she didn't work out so well.
Stuck for a good 7-8 hours.. snapped a winch line off a
buddies nissan xterra, and a wrangler didn't have enough strap to pull me.
Finally got a TJ Rubicon to pull me out with the broken winch cable Lol.
After all that. i had to rip up some wet nasty, muddy carpet!
seats out..
carpets up..
Following that.. i couldn't leave it the nasty green/muddy/sandy etc
floor like that. so i cleaned it up and gave her some bedliner
Added some new lights to the bumper..
bought them from a user on here.
The stock TJ/LJ fog lamps
I had a buddy selling or parting out a old XJ that he had
bought from someone. he couldn't get it running but i was
luck to snag custom built rock rails for $95.00 beats retail for
some name brand rails!
i swore i had a pic of them before i bolted/welded them on
the jeep but i couldn't find it. This is them
mounted/painted on the jeep later that day.
also picked up another piece of armor from a
NC4x4 user for $40.00
Got lucky with this one.. I attended one of the 4 wheel parts customer
appreciation days and won my self a free SmittyBily XRC8!
So with that on the line, i needed a bumper.
I did quite a bit of research for xj bumpers because i heard mixed opinions
on some bumpers being bolted to the unibody, the strength of the jeep,
and how much force the winch will be applying. Along with that
it took a few weeks to set aside some money for a bumper being a fresh out of high school
kid!
the winch fresh out of the box.
After the saving & research I found a awesome company in Mt.Airy North Carolina
called L&LFabrication on Cherokeeforum.com (I'm sure alot of XJ drivers have seen him online)
Anyways, he got me a great deal for $225.00 With hardware. I saved myself some money
not having it shipped and rode up there to pick it up!
A Spray can of 3M bedliner & mounted the bumper up.
View attachment ai39.tinypic.com_30krn94.jpg
Following that was mounting the winch.... Now The only difficulties i had
with mounting the winch was it didn't fit snug on the bumper & against the grill.
I wasn't going to cut up my O|||||O so..
I went to 4 Wheel Parts and bought a Smitty bilt Winch Plate. I set that into place..
drilled holes through the bumper and bolted the back of the winch plate & winch on.
Following the bolts i welded the Actual plate to the bumper.
Welded each side of the plate and the bottom of the front..
Following that, I mounted those TJ/LJ lights to the fairlead..
The next add the old jeep got was some slightly new fender Flares..
In order to fit those 33's back in the day.. i needed to cut a little bit.
And oh did i hate those cuts. Not sure what i was thinking.. but i had to cover them up.
So i went to the junkyard and pulled 4 Flares..
Lightly sanded them down, put some primer & used that awesome
3M bedliner.
I predrilled holes into the flare and into the fender & used some long sturdy
self-tapping screws.. EVERYONE told me they wouldn't hold on and that
they would break. Well, i proved that wrong. They aren't going anywhere!
So far so good, until the old Chrysler 8.25 gave out!
Luckily, i was able to find a cheap 8.25 with low miles,
Just needed the drum brakes to be touched up! I know what everyone is thinking..
"why not go with a stronger, better axle" - - Well at this time i moved into a house with
2 room mates so i was tight on money. Not at bad axle for $80.00!
but here is the BIG DEAL. she went out in the wal-mart parking lot
where we have our 919.4x4 Club meets..
Oh well. why not swap it in the parking lot! hahaha
Got some tools to go! and went to work!
We got work to do...
Got her out!
No AXLE!
Old 8.25
After a few hours in the Wal-Mart parking lot..
we got the new axle in, Brakes bled, and tires on..
she was ready to go!
Decided to get a little fancy while looking around on the forums..
so i went to the autopart store and bought some basic
driving lights, small, 55w and RTV sealant.. I sealed around the lights
that way water didn't get in them. and mount them up.
I placed the above the area where the axle is bolted to the leaf package
and in the front i placed them beside the coils, on the unibody.
I used the brackets that came with the lights and drilled small holes.
I took small self-taping screws and screwed them into the frame.
these were very sturdy and have took a beating in the past few months.
I have currently moved the front lights to the lip of the bumper that way they
light up the entire under side, axle, coils,steering etc.
Front
'
Rear
Entire Body
Also, to match the rear windows.. i had the front windows
tinted with some 20% Tint
Now getting bored with 3'', i decided to go up a little higher
I called up rough country, and got 4.5'' Coils shipped for $130.00
and Daystar 1.5'' Shackles to add to my 3'' Add-a-leaf
4.5'' compared to the 3''
and the 1.5'' Shackles
What she looks like after the lift..
It did the job for now, i wasn't happy with the rear end.
has a slight sag to it. It could be sitting a little higher
and look even with the front.. Next thing is Full 4.5'' Leaves.
For some lighting, I added a light bar.
I took a stock roof rack bar and drilled 2 large holes for
KC Daylights, cheap and easy way to make a home made light bar.
It came out with a clean and even look.
I was really satisfied with it, and it got the job done!
(Not a very good picture)
Shortly after the light bar, i got lucky & removed a D30 for
a buddy and installed it after he got work to it.
My payment was either some cash or this awesome Roof Basket..
Couldn't pass this deal up for a $200.00 Basket..
Roof Basket & a better picture of the Light Bar!
A little off-roading.. putting that basket to use!
This is my third jeep cherokee, and i couldn't wait to start messing around with it! It was a clean, 1997 Jeep Cherokee sport.. but that all got ruined! lol
Bought her, looking like this.. didn't stay stock for long.
I went with the Series II 3' Lift kit from Rough Country.
Very basic, and straight to the point.
had some troubles with the rear shocks, I am almost positive every XJ driver
has to deal with the broken rear shock bolts.. and going through the hastle
of putting new ones in. We got that done & Got it all put together..
she turned out great.
decent amount of clearance.. Smooth ride, nice articulation,
i'm satisfied!
After she got the lift, i was able to snag her some free shoes
Pro-Comp Xterrian MT's - 33x12.50x15's (40% Tread left) with american racing wheels which i picked up for awesome deal. 25.00 FOR ALL 4!! Couldn't believe the deal and got right on it... they have some surface rust, and some scratches.. but hey.. it's for offroading & also got a Flowmaster super 44 for some 55w hella Lights Fair trade.. i'd say!
Soon after she got those gifts, i hooked her up with a basic Cobra 19 CB Radio & a old Peterbilt fiberglass
antenna from one of my grandfathers old 18 wheelers. Works great!
Those free Pro-Comps.. didn't work out so well.. ended up blowing 2 front ones on the trail!
Wasn't too happy with that.. Couldn't find a picture of the old Mt's
but, i had to go ahead and break the bank. Got all new 33x12.50x15's Mickey Thompson MTZ's
They work great off-road, aren't very loud, and clean up really well in the mud.
They proved me good at Uwharrie, and took some nice chunks of rubber out from
the rocks.. but they are still chuggin along!
Things went well, until i went on a little offroad adventure one night
with a few buddies from our 4 wheelin' club. We went down to a
classic trail we all offroad on called Friendship..
I had hit the mud hole a few weeks earlier and made it without
problems.. this time. she didn't work out so well.
Stuck for a good 7-8 hours.. snapped a winch line off a
buddies nissan xterra, and a wrangler didn't have enough strap to pull me.
Finally got a TJ Rubicon to pull me out with the broken winch cable Lol.
After all that. i had to rip up some wet nasty, muddy carpet!
seats out..
carpets up..
Following that.. i couldn't leave it the nasty green/muddy/sandy etc
floor like that. so i cleaned it up and gave her some bedliner
Added some new lights to the bumper..
bought them from a user on here.
The stock TJ/LJ fog lamps
I had a buddy selling or parting out a old XJ that he had
bought from someone. he couldn't get it running but i was
luck to snag custom built rock rails for $95.00 beats retail for
some name brand rails!
i swore i had a pic of them before i bolted/welded them on
the jeep but i couldn't find it. This is them
mounted/painted on the jeep later that day.
also picked up another piece of armor from a
NC4x4 user for $40.00
Got lucky with this one.. I attended one of the 4 wheel parts customer
appreciation days and won my self a free SmittyBily XRC8!
So with that on the line, i needed a bumper.
I did quite a bit of research for xj bumpers because i heard mixed opinions
on some bumpers being bolted to the unibody, the strength of the jeep,
and how much force the winch will be applying. Along with that
it took a few weeks to set aside some money for a bumper being a fresh out of high school
kid!
the winch fresh out of the box.
After the saving & research I found a awesome company in Mt.Airy North Carolina
called L&LFabrication on Cherokeeforum.com (I'm sure alot of XJ drivers have seen him online)
Anyways, he got me a great deal for $225.00 With hardware. I saved myself some money
not having it shipped and rode up there to pick it up!
A Spray can of 3M bedliner & mounted the bumper up.
View attachment ai39.tinypic.com_30krn94.jpg
Following that was mounting the winch.... Now The only difficulties i had
with mounting the winch was it didn't fit snug on the bumper & against the grill.
I wasn't going to cut up my O|||||O so..
I went to 4 Wheel Parts and bought a Smitty bilt Winch Plate. I set that into place..
drilled holes through the bumper and bolted the back of the winch plate & winch on.
Following the bolts i welded the Actual plate to the bumper.
Welded each side of the plate and the bottom of the front..
Following that, I mounted those TJ/LJ lights to the fairlead..
The next add the old jeep got was some slightly new fender Flares..
In order to fit those 33's back in the day.. i needed to cut a little bit.
And oh did i hate those cuts. Not sure what i was thinking.. but i had to cover them up.
So i went to the junkyard and pulled 4 Flares..
Lightly sanded them down, put some primer & used that awesome
3M bedliner.
I predrilled holes into the flare and into the fender & used some long sturdy
self-tapping screws.. EVERYONE told me they wouldn't hold on and that
they would break. Well, i proved that wrong. They aren't going anywhere!
So far so good, until the old Chrysler 8.25 gave out!
Luckily, i was able to find a cheap 8.25 with low miles,
Just needed the drum brakes to be touched up! I know what everyone is thinking..
"why not go with a stronger, better axle" - - Well at this time i moved into a house with
2 room mates so i was tight on money. Not at bad axle for $80.00!
but here is the BIG DEAL. she went out in the wal-mart parking lot
where we have our 919.4x4 Club meets..
Oh well. why not swap it in the parking lot! hahaha
Got some tools to go! and went to work!
We got work to do...
Got her out!
No AXLE!
Old 8.25
After a few hours in the Wal-Mart parking lot..
we got the new axle in, Brakes bled, and tires on..
she was ready to go!
Decided to get a little fancy while looking around on the forums..
so i went to the autopart store and bought some basic
driving lights, small, 55w and RTV sealant.. I sealed around the lights
that way water didn't get in them. and mount them up.
I placed the above the area where the axle is bolted to the leaf package
and in the front i placed them beside the coils, on the unibody.
I used the brackets that came with the lights and drilled small holes.
I took small self-taping screws and screwed them into the frame.
these were very sturdy and have took a beating in the past few months.
I have currently moved the front lights to the lip of the bumper that way they
light up the entire under side, axle, coils,steering etc.
Front
Rear
Entire Body
Also, to match the rear windows.. i had the front windows
tinted with some 20% Tint
Now getting bored with 3'', i decided to go up a little higher
I called up rough country, and got 4.5'' Coils shipped for $130.00
and Daystar 1.5'' Shackles to add to my 3'' Add-a-leaf
4.5'' compared to the 3''
and the 1.5'' Shackles
What she looks like after the lift..
It did the job for now, i wasn't happy with the rear end.
has a slight sag to it. It could be sitting a little higher
and look even with the front.. Next thing is Full 4.5'' Leaves.
For some lighting, I added a light bar.
I took a stock roof rack bar and drilled 2 large holes for
KC Daylights, cheap and easy way to make a home made light bar.
It came out with a clean and even look.
I was really satisfied with it, and it got the job done!
(Not a very good picture)
Shortly after the light bar, i got lucky & removed a D30 for
a buddy and installed it after he got work to it.
My payment was either some cash or this awesome Roof Basket..
Couldn't pass this deal up for a $200.00 Basket..
Roof Basket & a better picture of the Light Bar!
A little off-roading.. putting that basket to use!
-------------- 
<(travis)