Project ReXJ

[CaptainHenreh]

More than a month with no updates? I can explain.

See, I've been busy DRIVING this thing every day to get to work. Admittedly, on an average day it makes me want to :vomit: . It's not that it's bad, it's just, you know, such a truck from 1989. However, I have not stood idly by.

I've started disassembling the 258 I got from Boo Radley up there. I was able to get all the bolts off the manifolds by hand, which any of you who've actually removed exhaust fasteners know: That's a big fuckin' deal. I am going to try to toss the long block on the engine stand this week so I can remove the head, crank, and rods, and figure out what to do with the head and block. Doubt the scrapper would give me much for it, but maybe there are some Wrango guys out there who need a block to build? :dunno: They can have it. (Spread the word!)

Anyhoo, I've also got a more defined roadmap for the mods to this guy. They come in three stages basically:
Stage 1: Lift
Stage 2: Axles
Stage 3: Stroker

I've either acquired or identified all the parts I need for the first stage, and most of the second and third stages. I am waiting, however, on my stupid car to get here so that I can actually, you know, put a lift on this fucking thing. Hey SOA: :finger:

But all is not lost. Lest you think I am sitting idly by, rolling in the ReXJ with my collar popped and my yankees hat so crisp, I got a call at work this morning:

Dumbass: "Yeah man, I'm in a ditch."
Rex: You're in a WHAT?
Dumbass: "A ditch. Can you help?"
Yeah, I've got AAA, I will just tell the towtruck we were riding to work.
Dumbass: "Cool man. I'm at the corner of Dick and Asshole,*" *not real streets.
Yeah, be there in a minute.

So I drive there. And when he said the car was in a ditch, that weren't no jive! He was nose-first, at least 50┬░, hanging out in the ditch. Also, he was :vomit: . (But he wasn't drinking, he swears! He's just sick!) Apparently he didn't take the time to properly defrost his windshield missed his turn into asshole, locked up his brakes and was in the ditch before he knew what was up. He was fine, and the car was even running when he came to a stop. So I start dialing AAA when Five-Oh rolls up 2 deep. Well there goes my AAA idea. Can't exactly tell the tow truck I was riding with when Smokey here knows I wasn't. Shit.

So cop takes all of dumbass's information and is all like "Well, we need to get your car out or it's gonna cause more accidents. What are you going to do?"

Dumbass is all :dunno:
But Rex is:


Chain on tow hook, chain on hitch, put that fucker in Fo' Lo', and give her hell*! Pulled that korean bbq piece of shit right out of the ditch and he drove it into a nearby parking lot. Like a bawse. * actually not that much hell. Never went above 2500rpm

Then the cop tells him that he can't drive it anywhere because his license is suspended. :evileye: Dumbass is dumb. Oh well. I haul my GIANT FUCKING BALLS (because OMG, they are teh huge) back into my jeep and drive dumbass back to his crib so he can sleep off whatever is ailing him.

tl;dr: ReXJ pulls a dumbass out of a ditch, on New Year's Day, and that makes Rex Chieftain of Clan Badass. The end.

[Ryan T]

I haul my GIANT FUCKING BALLS (because OMG, they are teh huge) back into my jeep and drive dumbass back to his crib so he can sleep off whatever is ailing him.

tl;dr: ReXJ pulls a dumbass out of a ditch, on New Year's Day, and that makes Rex Chieftain of Clan Badass. The end.

Quoted for posterity and upcoming Rex and the tow truck story.

[NTIman]

I haul my GIANT FUCKING BALLS (because OMG, they are teh huge) back into my jeep and drive dumbass back to his crib so he can sleep off whatever is ailing him.

tl;dr: ReXJ pulls a dumbass out of a ditch, on New Year's Day, and that makes Rex Chieftain of Clan Badass. The end.

Quoted for posterity and upcoming Rex and the tow truck story.

GIANT FUCKING BUSTED BALLS?

[Mike]

TOO GOOD.

[CaptainHenreh]

hu┬Àbris/╦ê(h)yo═×obris/
Noun:
Excessive pride or self-confidence.
(in Greek tragedy) Excessive pride toward or defiance of the gods, leading to nemesis.

[ScottyB]

[CaptainHenreh]

Ok, so for those of you not my facebook friends, this happened today:

I was driving to Lowes with El Dieselsaurus so that I could get some 2X4's to box in my baller garage lights. I get past the first HBurg exit going Northbound when it starts to snow. I reduce my speed appropriately and proceed. As I approach the bridge right before port road exit, I see some brake lights and decide to change lanes to avoid a hypothetical situation on the exit ramp.

It is at this point my rear axle decides not to cooperate with this endeavor, and steps out to the right. I countersteer, not wanting to apply brakes until I was pointed in the direction I wanted to go. I proceed to go four off I-81, dorifto-ing through 2 orange VDOT barrels (10 points each) and into the very muddy median:


I come to a stop, jeep is still running, all gauges green, dog has shit in his seat, but is otherwise OK. I shift into 4HI and ease on the throttle. No movement. Try reverse to "rock it out", nothing. Get out of the car to find my RR tire up in the air, my LR tire tucked like a bawse, and my LF digging a rut in the mud. DAMN YOU OPEN DIFFS!

Towtruck comes an hour later, pulls me out of ditch, and I drive home.

The end.

*bows*

[Kaan]

at least you have a picture to remember the event!

[CaptainHenreh]

FWIW, I was far from the only guy to go on unplanned agricultural excursions:

[BLINGMW]

*bows*

[HAULN-SS]

I LOL'd hard when I saw this .gif

[CaptainHenreh]

So.

Contrary to popular belief, I am still planning on finishing this project. Current goal is to have this bitch lifted and on brandy new tires by the first weekend in May.

So towards that goal, I have (hopefully) acquired:

Bitchin' Roof Rack from Justin
Steel bumpers F/R with tow points.
Rubicon Shocks (hopefully with enough travel for my Unknown Height Lift)


The only things left are:
Steering Stabilizer
Tires
Extended Brake Lines
Fuel Pump & Seal kit

Then I'll be ready to go "Stage 1".

Stage 2 is the summer project, which is building up a beefy front axle and fully welding the tubes on the rear axle. It'd be nice to get these installed before winter comes, so I'd at least have ONE limited slip differential going into the wintertime.

Finally stage 3, the stroker, is looking like a "sometime next year" project, but that's ok. It's not a need, just a want.

[Kaan]

So after doing the lift on the TJ i've learned a couple of things...
1. you are going to need front and rear trac bars for the XJ. Definately a front. so add that to your list.
2. with an unknown lift height, you may need a SYE and drive shaft
3. with stock control arms you wont need brake lines... they bottom out before brake lines get anywhere close to stretching.
4. you probably wont need a steering stabilizer

[Seantn1k]

I haven't updated my build yet but I just put a three inch lift on mine. The brake lines are definitely near the limit of stretch with the lift. I would recommend something a bit longer for long term use.

Also, get ready to replace a number of bad bushings. The 2001 Cherokee definitely had its fair share of them, so I went with the rough country 3" lift to replace a number of them.

The rear shock mount bolts will probably sheer off, definitely knock them out with an air chisel and put bolts in. (I'll work to post pics).

-Sean

[CaptainHenreh]

So, the ReXJ Wrench Day was GREAT SUCCESS:

Put on the new bumperz:



(yes I know I need to trim my fenders, stfu)

Got in the new headliner:



(Baaaaawwliiiiiiiin)

And (not pictured) installed my gas tank skid. Next on the list is to buy tires and get this bitch up in da urrrr.

[CaptainHenreh]

I also went to the gun show yesterday. In addition to 1k rounds of 9mm, I also bought a nice ammo box for the back of the jeep. Previously I'd used a "double stack" .50 Cal can to hold my snatch strap and D-Rings, but it moved around a lot in the back. This can is maybe 2'x1'x1', and hinges at the top, so I figured I'd make a little "emergency toolbox" for the back of the jeep. It's divided into 3 foam sections (no doubt for the HEAP artillery rounds it once carried) and one section fits my snatch strap very nicely.

So I'm thinking for the other two sections:
Section 2:
Small first aid kit
10pack of chemlights
4pack of road flares
Roll of duct tape
Roll of electrical tape
Paracord

Section 3:
Small jeep-specific toolkit (Breaker bar + choice sockets/wrenches)
2x NIB U-joints
2x vice grips. (One standard, one needlenose)
2x d-rings.
1x Leatherman tool
1x Razor knife

Anything I've missed? I think this should fit all in this "locker", and then I can strap it opposite the stock spare location in the back.

[JPolen01]

Sterile container used to drink one's own piss if ever stranded bear grylls style?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[Kaan]

WTB MOAR PICS

i'm now pulling day shifts at FEMA... they wont leave me alone! sorry i missed the fun

[Jeff]

It was a good time you did miss some fun! Great to see everyone, we should do it again sometime. like....when we lift it!

[CaptainHenreh]

Ugh. This thing.

In exactly the opposite way of Goodies XJ, my XJ has had weird bullshit problem after weird bullshit problem.

Problem #1:

Driving it to work the other day, I notice that "Hey, my brake pedal is going to the floor. Neat!"

I pull off the wheels, check the wheel cylinders, fucking nothing. No leaks, WC's are grody but appear to function. I fill the "front" reservoir (which was empty as a motherfucker) and swap out the fluid in the rear. Bleed brakes, pump pedal, everything seems fine? Guess I'll keep an eye on it. I'm guessing a master cylinder job is in my future.

Problem #2: Fucking coolant.

So, when I got this thing, I replaced the water pump and the main radiator hoses. The lower hose was trim to fit and Jason wasn't confident that he had trimmed it correctly, so at the wrench day we fucked with it some more. Well, then it got *really* leaky, like, leaked out the whole (brand new, btw) coolant overflow tank in about a day. I can't have that shit leaking all over the goddam place with the dog, so I decided to get a brand spanking new radiator and while I'm at it, why not "upgrade" to the new-style radiator with a non-pressurized overflow tank. Well, once we got the old rad out, we found a crack in the solder at the lower outlet on the radiator. Put all the new stuff in: New heater hoses, new radiator hoses, new radiator, new thermostat, new thermostat housing. Literally every part involved in keeping this jeep from overheating has been replaced.

But where to put the overflow tank? If I put it in the old spot, I'd literally have the overflow line running diagonally across the engine bay...so I decided to eliminate the enormous airbox and replace it with a cone filter. It is 100% barrio rigged, but it seems to work fine. The guy at vatozone asked me if I was building a cold air intake, I wanted to tell him I was building a bong, but didn't think fast enough.

In the process there were a shitload of vacuum lines and vents attached to the old airbox...I guessed which ones were important (canister/egr) ghetto rigged ones that aren't (pcv "valve" now vents to atmo) and blocked off ones I could not identify.

Jeep seems to run ok, so I guess I did it right. Anyway, hopefully now my shit won't leak all over God's creation, and maybe my PCV being vented will keep a bunch of oil buildup out of my intake box, and reduce my oil "consumption" issue.

Oh, and I almost dropped a 4.2L engine block on my foot. Fun times.