Narrowed the XJ front clip

marvilusone

marvilusone

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2007
Location
Charleston, SC
Here's what I did on my Thanksgiving. Still have to get the sheet to plate the insides(it's just cardboard now) and make some protection for the radiator.
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HP D44 front, 5.13's, spool
8.8 rear, 5.13's, spool

Front double triangulated 4 link
Rear leafs flipped with raised shackle hangers
overall 4.5" lift

36" TSL's beadlocked

So far the gas tank has been raised, the interior gutted, the wiring harness stripped to just the essentials for the engine, trans and gauges. Full dash but no heat :D. I'm trying to get all the body, cage and interior work done while it's still low to the ground and mobile. Swing by and check it out sometime. I'm just having fun with the new Millermatic 175.
 
It's not really all that hard. The worst part is untaping everything. Once you do it you'll be suprised at how easy it is. The best way I've found to do it is cut all the plugs off that you don't need then untape everything and start following wires bact to the bulkhead. On my 95 the only fuse I have in the passenger compartment is the 7.5 amp one for the gauges. I put it in an inline fuse holder an did away with the factory fuse block. The fuse/relay block is still under the hood but alot has been eliminated on it as well. You would be suprised at how few wires it actually takes to run a 4.0L. I keep all the extra wire. I'll be running a seperate block for all my lights, CB, stereo and whatever else. I've done this a number of times on different year XJ's. I've often thought about going to the junkyard and pulling some harnesses and making standalone setups for those wanting to swap in a 4.0L. If anyone's interested in one PM me and we can talk.
 
I'm going to run c-clip elims and the 8.8 is 90lbs lighter. The weakest point on an 8.8 is the carrier but with a full spool that is no longer a factor. Also factory axle shaft diameter is only .02" smaller on the 8.8(1.31 vs. 1.33). My last XJ was really light and I loved it. I'm trying to stay just as light with this one but stronger.
 
Yep that's a '68 Camaro. You've got some damn good eyes to spot that. I'm haven't decided if I'm going to put the fenders back on it or not. Once I get it plated in I'll see hoe it looks and decide then.
 
marvilusone said:
It's not really all that hard. The worst part is untaping everything. Once you do it you'll be suprised at how easy it is. The best way I've found to do it is cut all the plugs off that you don't need then untape everything and start following wires bact to the bulkhead. On my 95 the only fuse I have in the passenger compartment is the 7.5 amp one for the gauges. I put it in an inline fuse holder an did away with the factory fuse block. The fuse/relay block is still under the hood but alot has been eliminated on it as well. You would be suprised at how few wires it actually takes to run a 4.0L. I keep all the extra wire. I'll be running a seperate block for all my lights, CB, stereo and whatever else. I've done this a number of times on different year XJ's. I've often thought about going to the junkyard and pulling some harnesses and making standalone setups for those wanting to swap in a 4.0L. If anyone's interested in one PM me and we can talk.
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dude. that looks like a big bird nest to me.i have no clue what i would and wouldnt need.i do have some real wiring issues though.
 
I say leave the cardboard.

1.Its lighter, adds like 8HP
2.All the new cars are doing it
3.Its already done, no re-work
4.Cheap replacement if it gets damaged (highly possible)
5.The cardboard is already better than the factory parts you removed.


I say you already improved it, no need to fawk that up.


Oh yeah, I'd go with the 9" rear versus the 8.8.
 
I already have 4.5" full leaf packs and 2" lift shackles that flex great together from my old XJ buggy. I want to use them on the new XJ but together they net 6.5" of lift. I'm going to remove all the factory shackle hangers and build new ones 2" higher than the factory ones to keep it down to 4.5" lift. I also need to move the mounts slightly forward for optimal shackle angle. As far as the flipped leafs go, XJ springs have the center pin offset by 6" if you turn them around backwards it will move your rear axle 6" to the rear. One issue most people run into while doing this is some axle wrap as there is more leaf to the front of the axle than the rear. You have two choices to solve this problem. One, you can run an anti wrap bar. Two, you can use longer than normal perches. I'm going to use 8" long perches instead of a wrap bar. Also the gas tank will need to be raised or moved as the axle will now be underneath it and will hit at comperssion. The last obvious issue is you have to trim the fenders and build new fenderwells if you want to keep a fully enclosed interior. There is a real easy way to do this and I'll be doing it on my XJ in the next week or so. Once I get a little more done I'll start a build thread on it.
 
why not just use stock shackles with the 4.5" leafs? they would be easy to stretch open to accept the wider front eye of the leafs too.
 
Why does everyone favor the 9 so much more than the 8.8? The 9 only has a .2" larger ring gear and .02" larger shafts. The downside to me is the pinion being so low and the extra weight.
 
99ncxj said:
why not just use stock shackles with the 4.5" leafs? they would be easy to stretch open to accept the wider front eye of the leafs too.
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The stock shackles don't give me enough length for the travel of my leafs. I tried the stockers on my old XJ and it killed the flex of the springs.
 
Sounds like a good build, but I am betting the longer spring perches will not solve the axle wrap issue.
 
I've ran them flipped before and axle wrap wasn't that bad but they were lifted springs. Most of the complaints I hear about axle wrap on flipped leafs is when people use stock XJ leafs or use them with add a leafs. I'll try the perches and if they don't work then I'll add a wrap bar.
 
if you already have 8.8 id use it. If you have it apart look into Rayetec has solid pinion spacers in stead of using a crush sleve, ive seen lots of high hp cars that run 8.8s but the only thing stock are the housings,every thing else is aftermarket$$$
 
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