IntrepidXJ's Adventure Weblog

After replacing the rear shocks on 3 different XJ’s before (much older than my 2000) I had only broken one upper bolt before, so I really wasn’t too worried about breaking any on my 2000. Was I wrong! I broke all 4 trying to remove them.

Instead of trying to drill out the broken bolts, or punch out the wled nut, I decided to build new mounts instead.

I had these tabs lying around from RuffStuff that I never used, so I figured I’d put them to use here.

So I went to the hardware store and got some metal sleeves that fit inside the bushings on my shocks alogn with some new bolts.

Then I cut a piece of 3/16″ flat stock to length.

Fit it up.

Then welded them up.

….and last I welded the new mount over the old one (Please ignore the crappy looking welds, I really suck at welding upside down). Fixed!

After knocking plenty of wheel weights off of the wheels on my old XJ, I decided to try something different with my new one. I figured I would try dynamic balancing on my new 32″ tires. After referencing the chart here, it looked like I would need about 8oz of weight per tire. In order to help keep costs down, I ended up going to Wal-Mart and picking up a container of Airsoft BB’s and a diet scale:

Next I went ahead and measured out 8oz on BB’s and placed them into 4 separate Ziploc bags.

Once that is done, it’s time to get them into the tires. My tires were already mounted on the wheels, so all I needed to do was break the bead so I could get them inside.
Lucky for me, I have the Harbor Freight Tire Changer (the $30 I spent on it was has been well worth it), so that made breaking the beads a simple task.

First, you gotta let all the air out of the tire. Removing the valve core makes it a quick task

Getting ready to break the bead:

Bead Broken:

Next I poured one bag of BB’s into the tire. Make sure they all fall inside and are not stuck on the bead of the tire.

Lastly, all you need to do is air up the tire again and make sure the bead seats again.

Now all my tires are ready to install, and I shouldn’t have to worry about them getting out of balance

I finally got tired of dealing with drum brakes…..so I decided to do something about it. By installing ZJ rear disc brakes on my XJ. I know there are a few write-ups out there already about this conversion, but figured I’d make this one since I know it will be around for a while

First thing you need to do, is acquire the rear disc brakes off of a ZJ. I managed to score a set on eBay for a pretty decent price, but you can also check your local salvage yard as well.

I managed to get everything I needed in one shot. Here is what you are going to need:

- 2 Caliper Brackets
- 2 Backing Plates (Only needed if you want to retain an e-brake)
- 2 Calipers (Mine were in good shape, otherwise you can get new ones from an auto part store)
- 2 Rotors (I had the ones I got cut with no problems)
- Set of Brake Pads (I went out and got new ones)

I also managed to get all the bolts and e-brake cables. I did need to have the rotors turned, but then they were as good as new (you can also see my new pads in the picture).

Once you have everything that you need, it’s time to start the install. The first step here is to jack up the rear end, remove the wheels, and get those old drums off.

Now you need to remove the differential cover and drain the gear oil. Next you need to remove the bolt holding the cross pin in the carrier (it’s 5/16″)

Then you can remove the cross pin as well

Now the axle shafts need to come out. All you need to do is push in each axle shaft until the c-clip falls out and the shafts will slide right out. Don’t lose the c-clips!

Then go ahead and remove the four bolts holding on the drum backing plates so you are left with only this:

If you need or want to replace your wheel bearings, now would be a great time to do that. I decided to skip that this time. Next I bent the hard brake line where I wanted it, and connected the new soft line to it. I routed it right now so that it comes up and then down again before connecting to the caliper. This will help keep it from getting snagged on the trails. I have not mounted the line yet, but plan to make a mount that will bolt to the leaf spring plate in the future. You can see the soft line in this picture:

Now comes the only modification that you need to make for this conversion to work. You need to enlarge the center holes of the caliper bracket and backing plate, and drill out the bolt holes just a little bit. I used a die grinder on the center hole and just a normal drill on the bolt holes. The modification is very simple, as not much material needs to be removed for it to fit.

Now you can go ahead and bolt up the caliper bracket. I used the nuts that came off of the ZJ to mount it to the axle.

Then you can reinstall the axle shafts:

Load up the calipers with the new pads:

Finally, install the rotors. Don’t forget to bleed your brakes.

Put your wheels back on, and take it out for a test drive. You should notice an increase in braking performance.

I have not done anything with the e-brake yet, but I do plan to in the future. When I do, I will add another tech article showing how I do it.

OK, nothing big here, but I do know people have asked about this in the past, so I figured I’d post some pics of what I did, in case they can help someone else in the future

Anyways, when my 92 was still in decent shape, I was running a Custom4×4Fabrication rear bumper with tire carrier. Now that I have a 2000, I decided to install that bumper on my new rig…..good thing I kept it around

Really, the only problem is the end caps. The hatch is wider on the 97+ so you can’t open the hatch with the old style bumper unless you modify it. I have seen someone bend the corners of the hatch to make it work, but I really didn’t like that idea. Instead I just cut down the end caps a little.

The bumper:

after i cut

test fit with some strap tacked in place

welded

blended

done. nice fit

sorry, dark pic

That’s all there is to it!

(A Pictorial)

After ordering my hydro assist stuff the other day, I figured it would be a good idea to tap a steering box that already has problems so I don’t mess up my good one (when I get one).

After it was all said and done, I have to agree that it is pretty easy. It probably took me 1.5 hours, but I was taking my time, and could probably have done it quicker. However, there are a few places you need to be careful…..not to mention the problem with keeping all the metal shavings out of the box (there are A LOT of them!).

Here’s some pictures.

pilot holes

7/16″ started

top hole drilled…the toughest part of this one is not hitting the worm gear. Unfortunately, when my drill broke through, I managed to nick the worm gear a bit and put a small mark into it. I doubt it would cause any problems, but I am going to try and be even more careful when I do the box I plan to use.

both hole drilled

then just tap them with the 1/4″ NPT

Anyways, a magnet helps a lot to keeping the metal shavings out of the box, but there are a lot of them and they get all over the place.

Everyone who wheels an XJ finds out just how much force the trackbar bracket and unibody rail at that point needs to stand up to, as it usually becomes a trouble area. In order to help relieve that area of extra stress, I decided to build a trackbar brace (similar to what Rubicon Express offers) for my T&T trackbar and bracket. Here’s what the bracket looks like.

I started out by fitting a piece of 1/4″ angle to the side of the existing bracket, and drilling a hole for the existing bolt to help with alignment and tie it in better. I then welded this piece to the bracket.

It fit nicely.

So that I could easily remove the bracket if necessary, I made up another plate that would bolt to the new bracket.

I then bent up the piece of 1″ x .120″ HREW to fit, and welded both bolt on ends to it.

Then all that was left was to bolt it up (except of course painting it)

This article isn’t a normal “how to” but more of a step by step process on how I built the replacement rockers for my XJ. It’s mainly to help give you ideas and help on building your own rockers.

After a few years of hard wheeling with my rock rails, they had managed to push up on the pinch seam so much, that it was being pushed up into the unibody and also pushing the floor up around it. It was also time to gain some more clearnace under the rockers, so I wouldn;t get hung up on them quite as much. So I decided the best route would be to replace my rockers with some boxed steel. I was originally going to buy the steel, but since I was going to be in Colorado I talked to Formatt and picked up a set of his replacement rockers, since they are the exact size I was looking for: 3×4x3/16″

Obviously, the first thing you have to do is cut out the existing rockers.

When most people replace the rockers, they only weld the tubing to the sheet metal of the XJ unibody. I didn’t feel that this setup would be strong enough to withstand my wheeling habits, so I decided to tie them into my cage.

Luckily, I had some spare tubing left over from my cage, so i decided to use it here. I took my trusty hole saw and made two holes in the inner rocker.

This will allow me to add two legs that will attach the rockers to the cage.

Once the legs were cut to length, I welded them to the rockers.

Now all I had to do was weld the top, weld the pinch seam, and weld the legs to the cage.

Once the welding is complete, just add paint.

Done. Check out the new clearance.

This article isn’t a normal “how to” but more of a step by step process on how I built these corners for my XJ. It’s mainly to help give you ideas and help on building your own corner protection.

After smashing up one of the rear quarters pretty good when I was out in Colorado, coupled with the fact that I was cutting my roof off in the back, I thought it would be a good idea for some quarter protection (and to cover up the existing damage).
At the same time, I was planning on getting rid of my tail light boxes, as they stuck out too far for my liking (since I no longer was running a hatch), and they kept getting peeled back when dragged along rocks and trees.

I figured it would be a good idea to combine the upper quarter protection with my new tail lights. Not only would it look pretty cool and be strong, it would also keep everything tight to the body of my XJ and smooth, so nothing would get cought up on a rock or tree.

I started out by ordering the upper quarter guards from Chris at Performance Metal Works, and bolting them up to the body. I then took some 1/8″ plate, cut it to size and tack welded it up where I wanted it.

Once I was sure everything was lined up, I welded a bead along the outside corner, and then used a flap-disk to grind it down smooth.

Next, I took the complete corner off, and welded the inside corner for added strength.

Next came the paint.

Last I got out my drill with a 4.5″ hole saw, and cut the holes for my tail lights.

…..and the final product.

After receiving my 10lb CO2 tank from Formatt Fabrications and getting it filled, I needed to find a place to mount it. After some searching around, I decided that I liked the way that Brian at projectXJ.com mounted his. I took a few more pics of my install that I thought others could benefit from if they decide to do the same thing, which is why I made this tech article.

Here’s what you start out with.

First I got some bolts that fit in the existing holes for the tire carrier support (I had lost mine a while back, otherwise I would have used those).

Unfortunately, none of the holes in the mounting bracket lined up, so I had to drill two new holes near the bottom.

Next I took an angle bracket I had laying around…..

….and cut it down to the proper length.

Next I bolted this angle bracket to the top part of the spare tire support that sticks out through the plastic trim.

Then I bolted the bracket up to these 3 locations.

All that’s left to do is put the tank in the bracket, and you are set!

After receiving my Alloy USA Chromoly Shafts from my rear Dana 44, I had to install the bearings and seals that were included with them. These shafts came with everything you need, except the retainer plates, which you can take from your current shafts if need be. I am keeping my current shafts for trail spares, which means I had to go to the dealer and pickup some new retainer plates. Also, don’t forget that XJ and TJ retainer plates are different, so m ake sure to get the right ones.

First thing that goes on the shaft is the retainer plate. Don’t forget this, otherwise you will be kicking yourself later when you have to remove everything else to get the plate on.

Next comes the seal. This one can be easily pushed on the shaft with your hands.

Now it’s time to press the bearings on.

Generally, the bearings are pressed on with a press, but I was being lazy and did not feel like driving to my friend’s shop with a press. SO I went ahead and found a pipe that had an inside diameter of 1.5″ and was about 48″ long which worked out perfectly. I then put the pipe over the shaft and rested it on the bearing.

Next I took my trusty sledge hammer and punded the bearing on. The bearings only took a few good whacks with the hammer before seating fully.

Next comes the retainer ring.

I installed this one the same way as the bearings, however, it took much longer and a lot more effort. After some determination and a sore arm, it did finally seat all the way.

That’s it. All that is left to do is to install the new wheel studs and install the shaft.