My Jeep XJ

[BakeJurgess]

Hey guys! Been following on Instagram for a while. Decided to finally join up. Here's my jeep. I bought it a year ago today.

Before.

After.

I'll make a more in-depth post later when I have more time.

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[Daniel Etter]

Nice xj! Looking forward to seeing the list of modifications to it!


Sent from my iPhone using Overland Bound Talk

 

[ShawnR]

Nice XJ. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Carnivore]

Reminds me of my old XJ that we had when I was still in the army. Nice setup

Sadly that was taken back before digital cameras were affordable so this is the only pic I could find. 2001 or so.

 

[BakeJurgess]

Here it all is (if it works) quoted from a different forum.

Well, this is my first post. I've been stalking this forum for a while though.

I figured since my Instagram followers are probably getting tired of all of my progress pictures, I should just start up a build thread, so here goes.

Here's how she started out. I bought it from my uncle, the second owner, about 6 months ago. It had 270,000 miles on it and still going strong without issues.

First thing I did was a lift. I ordered a rough country 4.5" lift, and bought some 31" tires with wheels off craigslist.

Halfway done

And lifted.

Next thing I did was a lightbar. No, I didn't drop the dough on a name brand one, I just got a $70 amazon one and made my own brackets. Cheap and works great.

Then, I got tired of the look of the front bumper, so I took all the trim off and cut the corners off.

Flag pole mount, just because.

Then one day, me and my sister decided to paint it. Not bad for a $50 paint job.

Added bedliner/black emblems

Flag decals

Removable door mod.

Rock lights!

Then I welded together a JCR diy winch bumper kit.

And threw on some hella fog lights.

Some home depot quick discos.

Took off the front flares, because why not?

Some Skull Daddy Cherokee decals

Redneck wiper repair

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[BakeJurgess]

Some eBay faux projectors

Me and my dad took it up to the snow, and it did surprisingly well, but kinda lacked in the traction area,

so I mounted up a set of 32" kenda klevers.

Of course I had to test them out in some mud.

And that's how it currently stands! It's nowhere near done, I've got some stuff planned out for the future, such as a detours tailbone, a rear hatch rack, possibly a roof rack, and most likely a locker or two. Thanks for looking/reading! -Jake[/QUOTE]

Almost forgot my vhf radio setup.

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know. I'd be happy to hear from you guys!

Threw some flat black on the temporary bumper, so it at least looks presentable.

I had an extra pod light from when I did my rock lights, so I mounted it up in my hatch area and wired it in with my dome light.

Then the interior lights didn't look right because the yellow and white light didn't match, so I bought some LEDs and wired them up.

Got death wobble the other day and upon further investigation, I found that the axle side of the track bar was loose. I tightened it up and called it a day. Well, it happened again today so I pulled it off. Turns out, the hole had wallowed out quite a bit.

So I headed to Lowes and got a washer that would fit.

And welded it in place. The welds aren't pretty because I'm pretty low on co2, but I think they'll hold for now. When I get some more co2 I'll take it apart and reweld it.

Whoever thinks rock lights are stupid have never worked on their jeep at night time without a shop.

Haven't had much time to work on the jeep lately. I've got a viair kit to install, just no time. I did park like a jeep yesterday at the 50s roadhouse though. Sway bar's still connected.

Since I last updated this thread, I peeled the plastidip off the hood (I have yet to touch up the tan) and got some new led headlights from eBay. Also, as you can probably see, I've sprung a leak.

The headlights are probably the best thing I've done to the jeep.

Low beam:

High beam:

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[BakeJurgess]

I didn't have work today so I didn't have anything to do. Then I remembered this.

So I went to Wally world and Joann fabric and grabbed a small brush, a cheap pair of scissors, a can of 3m super 77, and 3 yards of some camo fleece fabric.

So I'm sure you're all familiar with how this process goes, you just remove all your trim pieces and it pretty much falls out.

Pulled the fabric and brushed off the old foam.

Here it is all glued and covered.

And installed.

Also, I got me some quadratec floor mats.

So today I was going to buy the materials to build a roof rack similar to this,

But my battery decided to take a dump, so I had to buy a battery instead. :mad: Got me a sick duralast though.

So anyway after that was done, I got a wild hair and decided to cut and fold my fenders.

Decided to go ahead and finish building my "temporary bumper". I'm gonna cut and fold my lower quarter panels and build fender guards, similar to this, but I doubt I'll be able to do it this clean.

I also bought the hardware to make a spare tire carrier. The swing-out section will also have Jerry can and hi-lift mounts, which I will fabricate myself.

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[BakeJurgess]

Got some work done today. I cut and folded my lower quarter panels.

Added the legs to my bumper,

Built my swing arm, and got my Jerry can mounted up.

Tomorrow I'm gonna cap all the ends, relocate my license plate, and figure out how I want to mount my spare. I'm also going to tie it into my hitch.

Progress.

Here's the spare mount, finished. I got on a roll and forgot to take pictures during the building part, but here are the finished pics.

Tomorrow I'm gonna do the hi-lift mount and fill in the gap under the tail lights. There's quite a bit of wobble, but I think that's mostly due to only using the stock mounting holes. Once it's all finished up I'm gonna tie it into the hitch.

Also, I'm gonna have to remake my license plate bracket in order to mount my hi-lift like I wanted.

Here's how I mounted the tire. I think you can figure it out from the picture.

Finally got it finished up! I forgot to take pictures of it on the jeep, but I'll take some tomorrow. Here's a few that I took as the paint was drying.

I'll get it mounted up tomorrow and tie it into the hitch, then it'll be totally done! I'll post more pictures or possibly a video once it's on the jeep. Overall, not bad for a 19 year old kid with a welder, imo.

Here it is installed. Turns out I need to replace my swing arm, because this one flexes quite a bit with the full load on it. It'll hold though.

I also got my matching spare in the mail.

Took it on a test drive down a bumpy dirt road at high speeds and the bumper didn't fly apart, so I guess it's good.

Here's a pic I took while mobbing (not sure what that means, but all the cool kids say it) through a buddies orchard.

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[BakeJurgess]

Been a couple weeks since I updated this. I got the tire carrier stiffened up with a piece of 1/4" thick angle iron. I have yet to tie it in to my hitch.

I also got started on a roof rack.

Hooked my rock lights and trailer plugs back up. I had them unhooked while I was working on my bumper. She's complete again!

I have an all4offroad light double sided taped in each front wheel well. The wires are tucked up under the rubber liner.

I have a cheap Amazon led pod in the center, lighting up the ground in front of the axle.

And then a pod behind each rear tire.

Got my roof rack all finished up and painted.

And added expanded metal to the empty space in my tube doors.

Who wore it better?

Took it out today. Didn't get to stay long but we had fun.

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[BakeJurgess]

I forgot to mention that I got my oba set up. It's a viair 380c compressor and a tank that I had laying around. I mounted it to the oem spare tire bracket. It's not the cleanest install ever, but it'll work.

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

So I decided to finally tie my bumper into my hitch. Here's what I did. I used some 1/4" thick 1x2 that I had laying around.

I also made up some water hose bushings to keep my high lift from rattling.

Cleaned up my tools, put the welder away, shut the hatch, went to latch the tire carrier, and snap. This happened.

So now I'm looking for different latch options because I ain't about to pay $65 for a name brand toggle latch.

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

Well, I decided that I didn't like my swing-out, so I made a new one. This one is much stiffer because I made it out of 3/16" thick tube, and closer to the body because the gas can is on the side of the spare instead of behind it. The jack also stands straight up instead of 45°. My favorite part is the latch though. Yes, it's a railroad spike.

I still need to remake my license plate bracket and put in some corner gussets that I ordered.

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

Well today sucked. Made another pass over the welds as suggested, pulled it all apart and painted, and it started raining. So I quickly pulled it under a canopy to dry. Then I started putting it together and stripped one of my hinge bolts. So I was just gonna finish putting it together and go get some grade 8 bolts. Got everything tightened up, swung it out, and CRASH! The whole thing fell to the ground. Snapped both pillow block housings, bent my hinge plate, and bent my high lift mount. I pulled the hitch pin out of the tire carrier to pick it up, and the thing flew back at me and the jack hit me in the ear and made it bleed. Anyway, I got it all pulled apart, and the bent pieces straightened. There's nowhere around here that sells those pillow blocks, so I have to order some new ones from Amazon. Not too big of a deal, but I'm leaving for Oklahoma tomorrow and wanted to finish it before I left. Oh well.

I guess I might as well take this opportunity to possibly upgrade. Any suggestions on a hinge that mounts to the face of the bumper instead of on top?

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[BakeJurgess]

So there it is. An entire build thread in one post (or six). I ended up just buying two more pillow block bearings. I figured they just broke due to a freak accident. We'll see how it works out this time.

EDIT: This thing is nowhere near finished, btw. Still have a lot more planned out.

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[Overland-Indiana]

Cool build, I currently own an XJ. Started out as a build but seems to be more of a full restoration lol

 

[BakeJurgess]

So I was bored today looking for something to do so I came up with this.

Push the casing down to shift.

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[BakeJurgess]

Got rid of the old Hellas and flush mounted up some led pods. I'll test them out tonight.

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[BakeJurgess]

I ended up ordering this. Hopefully it works better than the pillow block bearings. Sure looks better.

https://www.comp4x4.com/Tire-Carrier-Hinge-Kit-With-Dual-Shear-Bracket-Universal-mount.html

 

[BakeJurgess]

Finally got my corner gussets welded on. Now just waiting on my hinge, which was supposed to be here today, when I was home. [emoji35] Now it's coming tomorrow when I'm gonna be gone for two days.

Also in the background is my tent trailer, aka another one of my many future projects.

Planning on building a subframe for it on a 3,500 pound axle, 30" mud tires, a front rack for my quads, and possibly some crossbars for some kayaks.

 

[BakeJurgess]

Finally got home tonight and went straight to my package and opened it up. And low and behold........the wrong hinge. [emoji17]

It sucks because I REALLY wanted it to be finished by now. I've been way too long without a spare. I thought maybe I could make this one work but I'd have to make a whole new swing-out section. I'm just gonna have to try and get it exchanged.

 

[Seanrcaldwell]

Looks good sir

 

[BakeJurgess]

Well, I emailed comp4x4 and they sent me the right one! Already got it all welded up and finished, so here it is! The (finally) completed tire carrier.

Also, I had a little fun on 'Murica day.

 

[Marine7]

Very nice! I had a XJ...... It was my favorite Jeep, and I've had "tons" of Jeeps!