06JeepXKHEMI's Garage

[Matt]

What city are you in again?

[06JeepXKHEMI]

Charlotte! Quite the drive to you Matt hahaha

[hoaxci5]

Found her on craigslist, its probably worth a little less in value than my car but its really exactly what I'm looking for In an xj.. First order of business after getting her is protection I didn't see Any skid plates or diff guards, then sliders, MTRs and regear with front locker, any tips from a fellow xj owner?!?

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I've got 33's with 4.56 gears which seems to be pretty good. From what I read 4.88's have a tendency to break easier under load than the 4.56's but I obviously don't have any personal experience with that part.

If it still has the D35 in the rear you might want to upgrade that, apparently they are pretty weak. Again no personal experience though. I've got a 89 D44 axle under mine with the stock D30 up front.

I keep saying I'm going to get diff guards, but I have yet to hit my diffs, or really anything except rock rails under this jeep. I bought a oil pan skid and it's still never been touched, with solid axles and more ground clearance the undercarriage just isn't as vulnerable as the XK was.. My trans, t-case, and gas tank are all unprotected, and untouched.

If he didn't extend the bump stops (a lot) you will cut up 33's on 4.5", I extended my rear bump stops, and the front was already done when I got it, but not enough, I decided to remove the stock fender flairs and just cut the fenders for more clearance.


Common problems - rear main seal which will leak oil down between the motor/trans., cheap part but pain in the ass job I paid someone else to do it. Same with the other common problem which is the flex plate (would be the flywheel in a manual) they are notorious for cracking and then they make a bunch of noise/ticking. $100 part, but you have to pull the trans to replace it so expensive/big job labor wise. Keeping the motor cool is the other thing, mine had some issues, but they were pretty minor or self inflicted so I don't have a lot of experience there. The e-fan should turn on with the ac compressor, if it doesn't you might run into some cooling issues. Mine is all sorted now and runs 210 degrees all day long even towing my small 4x8 yard trailer with 1000lbs of rock/sand.

Rusty floorboards - pull the carpet and check, crawl underneath and poke around, I had to replace about 75% of the sheet metal under both the driver and passenger's feet..

I think thats all I got for now, if you have specific questions let me know.

[06JeepXKHEMI]

Thanks for the info, it's got the 8.25 rear and hp30 upfront. I dont know about the bump stops so Ill flex it out a bit and check clearances. The fenders are already cut and tires dont seem to have any cuts or rash on the consistent with rubbing. It seems to have the "open" cooling system not the closed one which is more problematic from my understanding with ZJs..

Ill look into 4.56s, but Im more interested in running an open front with LSD rear and np231 part time tcase would suffice when wheeling..??? Apparently the 231 is a stronger case for wheeling but this is an area Im unfamiliar with and thinking a np241 swap may be in order. Which case do you have?

Its got front disco's and Ive got rear discos in my storage, so after I determine the length of bump stops I can go from there. It does have the skyjacker 4.5" lift, not sure where the weak parts of the lift but Im assuming some nice shocks would be ideal, this will come after sliders which from you and others have said are ideal.

Definitely looking forward to wheeling this thing though!! RC trip soon????

[hoaxci5]

They switched to open cooling systems somewhere in the early 90's so yea that won't be a problem, but xj's in general still have cooling issues.

I've got a 231 t-case and read the same thing as you, I don't really see the benefit to switching to the 241, I've driven 2wd trucks through michigan winters, sure 4wd would have been nice, but I wouldn't drop the money on it. However I'd bet if you wanted to swap you could find someone with a 241 that would trade you straight across.

With a 4.5" lift the t-case should have a slip yoke eliminator (not required but 4.5" is sort of the tipping point)

Mine doesn't have a rear sway bar, which has been fine, and forgot to connect my front one time on the ride home and that was very noticeable.

You've got a long haul to RC now, I don't have any plans on going soon, I'm trying to save/convince the wife to let me pickup a tow rig and trailer

[06JeepXKHEMI]

Yea its probably a 6hr drive at least, Im sure there's local things around here but Im going to try to make the next RC trip.. And spare parts I should carry when wheeling besides spare?

Ill probably keep the 231 as I read more there is more aftermarket support for it. As far as the SYE, Im not sure if it has it, Ill pull up pics of the the difference and take a look when I have it..

He said the thermostat went bad at one point but hasnt had any issues since. Ill be going through it with a fine comb to see what it needs

[hoaxci5]

I've broken radiator (twice) - bad motor mounts allowed the motor to shift enough for the clutch fan to hit the radiator and spring a leak. I patched one with RTV to get off the trail (should have just drove it..) the second one, I gathered up all the containers I could from people and drove it home, leaking, as the temp would climb, I'd stop and refill, which was about every 45 minutes, but I only had a 2 hr ride home.

My big break was my drivers side front axle shaft. I'm not sure what order things happened in, but I ended up needing a new axle shaft because the lobes were tore off, u-joint (most likely failed and took the rest with it..), upper and lower ball joints. I might not have needed these had I noticed I broke sooner.

If you carry a breaker bar and a 36mm axle socket you can drive home with just the outer shaft in place because it is held against the unit bearing. So to keep parts small, I've just got an extra outer shaft since it will work on both sides. Special tools required to replace it are just the axle socket which should be the same size as yours but I'm not positive, and 12 point 13mm to remove the unit bearing. An allen key to remove the caliper I think 8mm but don't rely on that, and then the rest is just normal sockets.

This way you don't have to worry about trying to replace u-joints on the trail which can be done, but if they are old it's a pain in the ass I fought with mine at my house with a press and hammer for way longer that it should have taken. I can't imagine doing it on the trail with old ones at least.

So I guess an outer shaft and drive shaft u-joints, and extra fluids is about all I carry. Lots of tools

[06JeepXKHEMI]

Sounds good thanks again man! Are you still open upfront or did you reinstall the locker?

[hoaxci5]

I put the locker back in, which is why I didn't realize I had broken the axle.. the damn thing bang and clangs so much I just assumed it was that and kept driving until I tried to turn and the ball joints were toast..

[06JeepXKHEMI]

You're running 33x12.5x15 correct? I wonder what else Ill have to do to prevent rubbing since the current bfgs are 33x10.5.. Adam said for me to check backspacing so Ill do that and go form there