XK: MY Cherokee the final stage?

[Steve F]

So I've owned the XJ for 8 years now and it's changed a lot but is now going through it's last big one...... probably. When I first got it it was stock and had 32000km on it. Now it has over 150000km on it and needs a freshen up. Over the past 8 years it has been lifted several times and gone through several incarnations but this is probably going to be the last big one.

As it stands now it has 5.5" of lift, 32" tyres on 15x8 Cragar Soft 8's along with numerous other bits including homemade front and rear bars etc.

This is what it looks like.





And the plan.

First up the maintenance:-

Replace the seals on the auto and give it a freshen up (it has a leak but works perfectly)
Replace the rear main seal and sump gasket
Replace the Oil filter adapter o-rings
Replace the hubs and unis (one side done already, had to do before Coffs)

And the upgrade:-

Rough country drop brackets for the front control arms, did this a week or so ago and has massively improved the ride and on road feel
Fit the D44 I have in the garage to the rear after adding the locker and 4.56 ratios and the truss.
Fit the 4.56 ratios and new open carrier to the D30, install the axle end seals from Wooders, box in the lower control arm mounts (one is looking rough already) add a truss
Make some flares, either tube or fibreglass
Fit 33x12.5 OR 35x12.5 Maxxis Bighorns (laening towards the 35's at the moment)
Fit the aftermarket transmission cooler

All the parts for the build are either on my dining room table or on their way from numerous suppliers and overseas family All the smaller bits and pieces I'll be seeing Wooders for.

Pics to come.

Cheers
Steve

[Aaronsjeep]

sounds great.. Why not fit a front locker in? if this is its final incarnation, front and rear locked Xj, with trussed diffs, and 35s would be awesome

[Steve F]

Cost, I had a budget and had to do the best I could with it The front will get a locker eventually but who knows when It'll be an ARB when I do but being unlocked for 8 years I think I'll be happy with even one for now

Cheers
Steve

[TheOoz]

Good work Steve. Having parts on the dining room table confirms this has been prioritised up the list of odd jobs.

[Steve F]

The plan is to get it done for Jambo, but it wont have the tyres, mostly because I wont have time to make the flares

Yep, having the parts sitting there really helps, the Jeep is now officially off the road for the build as well which puts it to the top of the list as we are now a single car family until it's done. The worst but will be pulling the auto to fix the leak and freshen it up but having a overhaul kit sitting there means it should be easy enough.

Cheers
Steve

[Steve F]

And some pics of bits.

The truss for the D44, I'm not 100% I'm going to use it yet but since the TJ D44 has the same axle tubes as the D35 I thought I may as well truss it and this was given to me a while ago and needs to get used



Just need to make sure it'll fit above the diff and below the floor.

I'll mock up the front truss in cardboard (I have lots of big boxes with all this stuff ) before I drop the D30 and make that one myself.

And the drop brackets on. You loose some clearance but the tyres will make up for that, the ride is so much better it's worth it. The front is a bit low here as it's parked nose down on a steep hill so the arms are on a bit more of an angle than shown but not much. Way better than the steep angle before and a lot cheaper than long arms allowing me to spend in other places



Cheers
Steve

[murray]

nice .