WJ: Tourer - From stocker to rocker!

[Raisins78]

I thought it was about time I started a build thread, mainly to keep track and use the forum as a kind of "build diary", but also to help anyone wanting to modify their own WJ.

Where it all began:
We drove our XJ from WA to Nsw and experienced the well documented overheating issues we all know about. With a return trip planned to include Darwin, we decided to offload the XJ and get something else.
After looking at everything from second hand Mercedes sedans, commodores, cruisers and patrols and even new cars like little hatchbacks, a new compass or 4 door wrangler.......we found the WJ.
Now we test drove most of the above cars, and I have owned Patrols etc. Except for maybe the Merc (2009, 60,000km's C200 Kompressor.....) the WJ was by far the best car out of everything we drove.
I am now in love with this model, and rate it much higher than any other 4x4 on the market (yes, including wranglers of all types!)
It is super quiet on the highway, smooth and comfortable, uses around 11L/100kms fully loaded for holidays, flex's better than anything from Toyota or Nissan in stock form, has plenty of grunt to make overtaking a dream (and a little fun too and they are so bloody cheap, I can't believe people aren't snapping them up.

So here is a series of pics and build notes from the day we got it until today, and in no way is this finished yet....

Where it all began. The XJ:
After selling my GU Ute for a tidy profit, I picked the below up for $2000 with rego. I replaced and rebuilt a large portion of the car to make it reliable and as comfortable as possible for our cross country trip. It was stock when I got it.....and I did all the work myself in the driveway. Here are a few pics.


after replacing many hoses and sensors


The solar system, stereo and dual battery

[Raisins78]

The new WJ:

Here it is, in all its stock glory the day we got it.
The only mod's on it from the previous owner were a CD Player, K&N Filter, 245/75R16 tyres and an Old man Emu suspension kit which sat it around 1 inch higher than a stock WJ




We drove it, fully loaded with our gear, fridge, chrissy presents etc all the way home via Darwin without incident. Averaged 10.4L per 100km, sitting on the speed limit (inc sitting on 130km/hr in the NT)
The air con worked great, my arse never fell asleep, it was like a first class seat vs being thrown in the luggage hold compared to the XJ.

Just for comparison, it is a 2002, 4.7 Laredo with Quadratech II. It had 180'000km's on the clock.
It had to have a pit inspection as it had no rego from the dealer, We also had it inspected by our very meticulous mechanic, both of which came back with the same report.
"The Jeep has been maintained as per the service book, has no faults found and looks to be in very good to mint condition mechanically."
The only fault our mechanic found was a "Battery has been disconnected" fault code, which was from me changing the battery for a new one when we picked it up.

[Raisins78]

After arriving home, and taking it out in the Pilbara outback a few times, the mod's begun.
First thing was power......electrical power!


The Jeep got a new Odyssey battery. While the old one was only a couple of months old, it was just a cheap Supercheap Auto one. I was more paranoid about having a flat battery during the trip so the new cheap one was just some cheap insurance. The Odyssey battery has much more AH and is almost bullet proof.
Along with that, I custom fitted a flat rack, same as I put on the XJ, and a 95w solar panel (also same as the XJ). This was run through a solar charge controller, and a socket outlet was installed in the rear for the fridge.

This system pretty much ensures we never have a flat battery while camping etc. With the Engel running, camp lights running and the stereo on for a few hours, the battery has never dropped below 12.3 volts by the morning.

Next to do was to chop the bumpers to stop them getting caught on a couple of step up's and rocks from previous outings

[Raisins78]

Next on the list was some lighting for the campsite. After trying 4 or 5 different LED globes for the cargo area light, I gave up and got some marine downlights. Once they were flush mounted into the tailgate and wired up, the test results were way better than expected!

As you can see, the difference is amazing, and this provides more than enough light to work out the back of the jeep (Fetch beverages, prepare dinner, grab the bushmans etc)

These lights aren't cheap(if anyone wanted to get some) but are completely worth it over cheaper options. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12V-CARAV...item3f2bb1cd11

[Raisins78]

Time to get serious:

After many months of searching, getting shipping quotes and pulling out my hair over a bull bar, I decided to make my own.
For $100 worth of steel and a $300 welder, It turned out better than I thought.

I found a build thread online and decide to copy the mounts.
This is a pic of the mounts we copied.


They sandwich the underside of the chassis rail section and protrude like this.


Once the mounts were made and installed, I basically just starting adding steel, trying to remember my old GU Bumper, but making this unique to my WJ. With A little help from my Boss, and the work shed, tube benders etc, it all fell together.

[Raisins78]

Since the bar was built I have added a few touches. Namely a roof awning, 3 inch cat back exhaust from IronRock (Super 40 muffler, great sound!) some more spot lights, camp lights, reverse lights, New projector headlights (no I am not wiring up the silly halo's lol)dash mount for my iPhone (Quadlock), slotted and dimpled brakes all round, new brake pads, weather strips (tinted) and today, finished off the snorkel install.
In between these last mods we took the WJ to the WA Jeep Safari and it went better than expected. Kept up with the Medium group without any troubles.

Here are some Safari pics and some recent ones with the snorkel etc.
Also if anyone reads the Jeep magazine, thats me in the long line of jeeps with the high vis work pants, sucking on a smoke lol.

[Raisins78]

Since I have a wedding coming up in April, the mods will be slowed until afterwards.
Future plans include new shoes (265/75R16's on the rims pictured below)
New springs (2.5 inch for now. Almost got a 4 inch long arm, but that will have to wait. The 2.5 inch is more than sufficient for where I live)
Gearbox cross member upgrade from IronRock (tucks it up 2 inches)
Cut out flares
Sliders
Fab up a rear bar with tyre carrier
Fuel tank tuck
Diff sleeving and gussets just for cheap insurance
Possibly a locker, but I have the opinion that lockers are cheating, and if you can't get there with suspension articulation and driver skill, you should be there... I may fold and get one anyway......


Hoping funds allow me to get these rims before the wedding, as the WJ needs new tyres before we drive cross country again anyway...... Have to talk the minister for finance around....