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[DutchVDub]

I've been into wheeling since I tried turning my 84 S-10 2wd longbed into a pre-runner back when I was 16yo. I've since owned wheeled 2 Zuki Samurai's and loved the hell out of them.

I sold my second Zuki when I shipped for Iraq back in 06 and upon my return I decided that with the family starting a Zuki would be a bit on the small side unless I were to make it a trailered trail rig (something I'm very against). I was originally going to go back to the way of the bowtie but I was also lazy and didn't feel like dealing with a SAS. Thus the Jeep Cherokee XJ was purchased. I purchased my 99 XJ Sport for 5000$ and added some 32x11.5 BFG M/T's and a Rusty's 4.5" SA lift. Loved the Jeep and while I was able to wheel it quite a bit stock i never made it out to the trail with the lift. Some 17yo kid decided to run light in a Bronco and total it for me.

Thats when I decided to go cheap and found my current 92 XJ Laredo. Bought it for 800$ off some hippy in Boulder, added a 4.5" RC SA lift, the 32's from the 99 XJ, an 8.25 w/ 3.55 gears from an auto, welded the spiders on the 8.25, and regeared the front D30 w/ used 3.55's. Well now that I've wheeled the piss out of it in cheap Jeep mode its time for a serious revision. thus the build thread.


So the plan is this:

Drivetrain:
Waggy D44 w/ TNT Truss, 4.56 gears, PowerTrax No-Slip locker, late 70's F150 hubs and brakes, 5x5.5 bolt pattern

Explorer 8.8 w/ TNT Ubolt eliminators, 4.56 gears, PowerTrax No-Slip locker, SpiderTrax 5x4.5 to 5x5.5 adapter/1.5" spacers

Np231 w/ Teraflex 4:1 kit, Advance adapters SYE

Tom Wood's custom rear CV driveshaft

Stock 4.0 and AX-15

Suspension:
Front: 6.5" Rusty's Springs, TNT Belly pan and Y-Link LA's

Rear: 4" BOR super flex leaf springs, 1.5" shackles (already have on, plus 1.5" TNT Ubolt eliminators equal 7" of lift)

Exterior/chassis:
painted w/ rustoleum flat green, TNT uni-frame stiffners, custom rocker guards, Rusty's flexible cutout flares (already installed), Detours XJ Backbone for front bumper

Interior:
CB radio, Herculined floor, new head unit (damaged mine while washing the interior)

Additional repair items to be done:
new fuel pump, new water pump, new rear main seal, replace all ujoints in front driveshaft

I'm hoping to get done in time for Novemeber to Remember. Wish me luck.

I have almost all the parts I need either here or enroute, just need to source a few odds and ends.

[DutchVDub]

Now for pics.

Wheeling my 1st Zuki (88 Samurai w/ no mods) at Spring Creek:






My 99 XJ w/ lift and tires:


My 99 XJ wrecked :mad: :

[DutchVDub]

My 1992 XJ stock:



My 92 XJ as of last week:



The build thus far:

Had to remove a few bits:










A few bits waiting to go in:








Old rims/tires:


New rims/tires:




Welded 27spline 8.25 after a summer of really hard wheeling and abuse:




















Waggy D44:


The parts hauler:


Tera 4:1, TNT belly pan, and SYE awaiting install

[DutchVDub]

Herculiner for the floorpan and Rustoleum for the exterior, axles, and New LA's:


To clean the floor with afterwards:


New 8.8 on top, old 8.25 on bottom:




No more axle:


The Waggy D44 being inspected:

[Smokestack]

Nice build. Makes me wish you were in the springs so I could drop in and distract you from working by helping you.  What made you decide on Waggy and Exploder axles vs something like a D44 and 9" out of a Bronco?

Your build is a lot more entertaining than the one I have going on in my rig.

[DutchVDub]

Ok so yesterday I got some more work done.



First the wife helped me remove the front bumper in prep. for the Detours Backbone that is on the way.













Then I removed my faulty leaf spring that was causing my XJ to lean.  RC had actually sent me a replacement no questions asked a few months ago but I never put it on.









(notched the pinch weld because it annoys me how it gets in the way of that bolt)

















Then I had to take a break for some nourishment.

[DutchVDub]

After the mourishment my son wanted some love, and to steal my hat.





My buddy Matt after helping me pull the T-Case.





The T-Case and TeraLow kit side by side.





And the AA SYE





Test painted some of the Jeep because I was bored.

[DutchVDub]

I also received my 4.56 gears for both the D44 and 8.8, along with my RE HD Trac Bar w/ brace and RE GENII sway bar disco's











Old Rusty's HD T-Case crossmember









Random pics

[Smokestack]

Look'n good

[LOS]

what the hell did you do?  normally when people get married and have kids the projects fall off and or slow down....

[Barry]

normally when people get married and have kids the projects fall off and or slow down....

Really.... I didnt notice that 


Looks good Rich.... maybe you can take a break this weekend and bring one  of your S4's (I hate you BTW) to the GTG
 

[DutchVDub]

Unfortunately I have drill this weekend so I won't be able to do anything.

what the hell did you do?  normally when people get married and have kids the projects fall off and or slow down....

I tell you the secret, don't be stupid and think your kid actually cares if his clothes/toys are hand-me-downs or brand new.  Oh yeah, and the Target brand formula that is 10$+ cheaper works just as good as that name brand shite.

[Jesus]

what the hell did you do?  normally when people get married and have kids the projects fall off and or slow down....

That's what I was thinking too 

[LOS]

That still dont explain suping up 2 s4s and dropping a couple grand into a jeep... lol

[DutchVDub]

oh don't worry, the s4's are getting plenty neglected because of the jeep.  i've only put an exhaust on mine and w/ the chip and exhaust on the wife's i am done.  i'm not upgrading anything on those until something breaks.  i'm tired of dropping untold amounts of money modifying cars for no reason but to rack up more tickets.  when i drop money into my jeep i can take it out on the trail and enjoy the benefits of my work/money.  you can't do that with the cars, not unless you actually go across the world to shows or take it on the track.  a weekend of wheeling is cheaper than a weekend at the track, and there is less potential for damage for me as i've never really driven on the track but do knowhow to wheel.  i'm confident in my ability to drive a car hard and fast w/o getting into trouble (well maybe not legally speaking) but i know i'm not the next mario andretti.  on the other hand i've always been able to go out to the trail and show up people in much more expensive and built up rigs with a combination of skill and guts.  the thing i've actually been starting to find most difficult about wheeling is learning how do wheel a built rig with finesse.  i'm so used to taking up stock underpowered rigs that i always had to learn to find the line w/o letting the vehicle come to a complete stop.

[Smokestack]

...the thing i've actually been starting to find most difficult about wheeling is learning how do wheel a built rig with finesse.  i'm so used to taking up stock underpowered rigs that i always had to learn to find the line w/o letting the vehicle come to a complete stop.

True that.

[DutchVDub]

I was worried about trying to figure out all the details of setting up my front axle's mounting system, then TNT sent me this.





I also got my uniframe stiffners and both lockers. 









Yesterday was kind of a slow day, I got home late from work and didn't have much motivation.  I painted the rest of the passenger side and pulled my t-case apart.  Then the kid got fussy and w/ both him and the wife sick I had to go play doctor.

[sad_rocc]

Looks good! Rattle-canning it? If so, might want to shoot a few layers of clear over it. I've always had the paint kinda powder off after a couple years. Not fun when you forget and lean on the car. And, if you are spraying it and haven't gotten it yet, get the little sprayer-nozzle adapter thing. Fits on top of a spray can and has a trigger and makes it much easier to make smooth passes. Plus, no more hand cramps from holding down that little nozzle forever!

[Jesus]

Are you at least scuffing that paint up before you spray paint over it?

[sad_rocc]

Looks it from the shape of the hood. Unless he's just painting over dust and dirt and shit too.

[DutchVDub]

I washed the vehicle very well before I brought it into the garage.  As for scuffing the paint I went over it with a Scotch pad for a little bit.  I'm not overly worried though as its my offroading rig.  I have plenty of paint for touvhups, and I'm not concerned with blending.  The only reason I'm even painting it is because I wanted it to be flat green.  I actually liked the factory color to begin with.  If I was worried about it being pretty I would have just taken it somewhere to get repainted.  But why spend that kind of money on someting that is goiung to get scratched and dented on the trail?

[SwiftMKIII]

The parts hauler:

Looks vaguely familiar.  Dave's?

[Barry]

Dave's fo sho

[DutchVDub]

Well I haven't gotten much accomplished this last week. Between military duty over the weekend and a good friend's brother killing himself after returning from Iraq my week has been filled with late nights. Furthermore I'm trying to buy a house. I'm actually starting to get pretty depressed and am no longer counting on making November to Remember.

 

Even worse (in terms of the build), just now when I started to put my t-case back together I ran into a problem. The gears that need to be transferred over from the stock shaft to the new SYE shaft don't fit onto the SYE shaft. Not entirely sure why except the obvious thing is that the diameter of the SYE is greater than the diameter of the stock shaft. The size difference looks to be the exact thickness of the bearing that are pressed into the said gears. Its an Advance Adapters SYE kit, I'm going to give Rusty's a call and see whats up.



I did finish painting the majority of the Jeep last night though.  All thats left is the two doors I'd removed, the hood, and the roof.  The roof will have to wait until I can get the Jeep out of the garage.



My buddy Josh will be up tomorrow and we're going to weld the stuff onto the axles and weld up my uni-body stiffeners.  Then if we have time I'm going to make him help me throw the new gears/lockers in the axles.

[DutchVDub]

Well so far today I did manage to get a little done.  Right now I'm waiting on the wife to get back from work so i can head up to Lowes and get a few things.  We would have made more progress but Josh's Hobart 220V welder was giving us some major headaches.  I've never been overly impressed with Hobarts in the past and now I'm definately going to get a Lincoln when I finally buy a welder of my own.  Josh did leave me his 110V Lincoln and that'll be enough for me to finish up the welding, I'll just have to use the slowes wire speed and fight off carpul tunnel to get good penetration.  



Most of the jeep is painted now









I had to clean up after this mess





Old brackets and what-nots ground off axles

















Welded the tubes to the housing on the D44 (please forgive my welds, its been awhile and i've never mig welded w/o gas before)





Added a new hose onto the breather tube fro the D44





Where is the breather tube supposed to go?





Maybe here?





Yeah, that looks right.





I'm going to weld on the rear spring plates and weld the tubes into the housing on the 8.8 next, just waiting on the wifey.