Quigibo's 98 XJ Build

[QuigiboReynolds]

In August I decided to finally get a hobby. So Dave Kauer and I went over to Seattle area looking for a starter rig.
See his post from August http://www.peakputters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4526
We ended up finding a 1998 XJ limited from an 18-19 year old "kid" that decided to buy a Miata instead.

Here are a few pictures from the day I bought it and got it washed up.


Quigibo's 1998 Jeep Cherokee Version 1.0














A couple days later it was in Mr. Kauer's garage getting worked on ...
We put a 4" lift on it with parts he had laying around in his garage.

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[QuigiboReynolds]

Quigibo's 1998 Jeep Cherokee Version 2.0

In mid-October after family Jeep run with Kauer's to Juniper I convinced "the family" to let me spend some money. This was after a death wobble incident while my wife was driving it on the highway.

I prefer buying from Amazon since we have Prime with 2x day shipping...
Ended up buying:

Rubicon Express RE1665 Track Bar Bracket
Rubicon Express RE1660 Track Bar
Rubicon Express RE1670 Track Bar Bracket Brace
Rough Country 1128 Front Sway Bar Quick Disconnect
Dana 30 Spartan Locker
Doestch Tech shocks (Mr Kauer would remember the exact part #
32" Cooper STT tires + black wheels from DiscountTire

Took a few days to get everything installed. Had to trim a bit here and there as well... Ended up cutting the bottom half of the front bumper off as well.

[QuigiboReynolds]

Quigibo's 1998 Jeep Cherokee Version 2.1

We went on a test run to Hover park and the rear bottomed out something fierce. Again Dave came to the rescue with old leaf springs he had laying outside. We cleaned and painted them up as well as added taller bump stops. After the mods, ended up gaining 1-2". We didn't measure exactly but since then haven't bottomed out and crushed anything back there.

[QuigiboReynolds]

Had a great time going Jeeping @ Naches with the group early November.

http://www.peakputters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4657

Here are 2 videos of the jeep going up Elephant Dung hill (posted by others, thanks!)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bQzjZp_kg1Q[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fhfKNm4mh-U[/youtube]

Note: I obviously have to have Dave show me how to post/link to Youtube videos..

[QuigiboReynolds]

Well......
We went camping on a "Guy's Trip" in November with folks from work. The highlight of the trip was a trip up to Darland. Needless to say we got stuck bad after making some "poor" decisions.

Here is a link to Dave's story he posted a couple months ago
http://www.peakputters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4675

Again, thanks to Dave's Dad and Paul for coming to the rescue.

Lesson learned..

[QuigiboReynolds]

Quigibo's 1998 Jeep Cherokee Version 3.0

After the lessons learned in getting stuck with Dave near Darland... it was time for some upgrades:

When I was frozen driving down from Darland after getting pulled out I noticed my heater wasn't working for crap. I brushed it off. Weeks later my wife said the same thing. Item #1 on to do list. After re-living the process of climbing out of the bowl with Dave in his Jeep, over and over... Item #2 = Winch , Item #3 = Bumper(s) with reliable recovery points..

After weeks of dragging my feet I ended up buying a few "Christmas presents"

New water pump, thermostat and housing
Spark plugs + wires
Oil filter, K&N Air filter (RE-0810)
Coil, Rotor, Cap
WARN M8000 Winch
Smittybilt 76810 XRC Front Bumper

After doing the first 4" lift months ago we noticed that the factory hooks were bent to h*ll and torn. It made it all but impossible to do quick trimming for the tires. This weekend I had to sledge the things a bit straighter in order to take the bumper off in prep for new bumper.







While waiting for new bumper to arrive, I decided the troubleshoot the HEATER issue. Needless to say what I found surprised both myself and Dave. We apparently hadn't opened the radiator cap EVER.. but did top off coolant tank before the runs we went on . All I can describe it as is "thick coffee". I got a flush kit from the store along with Prestone Super Flush. An entire day later and 6x Home Depot 5 gallon buckets later the engine was flowing clear water. The next day though the heater wasn't working again. Weird. This time we hooked up the flush kit directly to upper heater hose and disconnected bottom hose pointing directly into bucket. I ended up pooring some CLR into the heater core for 5-10 minutes, then I rigged up a water/air "T" contraption to blow compressed air and water through the heater core. magic.. What came out of the heater core again amazed me so much I didn't get pictures. This was the darkest of "thick coffee" you could imagine. Again 4-5 buckets of water came out until it flowed clear. Afterwards, perfect heat. So hot you have to turn it down (good!)









This is a video of the brown cr*p that came out during my first flush..



New Smittybilt bumper installed.. looks pretty good


WARN M8000 Winch installed, no issues other than a few missing bolts (nothing a trip to Lowe's couldn't solve)


Finished product...
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[QuigiboReynolds]

Quigibo's 1998 Jeep Cherokee Version 3.1

After all of the major "required" upgrades it was time to do a few cosmetic upgrades.
Since day #1 the speakers never worked right. Seemed to come and go. I ended up troubleshooting the speaker wire expected the standard breakage in the front doors but didn't find anything there. What started as a simple afternoon task ended up being an entire weekend job of ripping everything out to find the break. I ended up saying "screw it" and just ran all new speaker wires, buying 2x new speakers and buying a Pioneer radio from Dave. On the plus side, since so much was apart, I continued to take everything out and perform a "deep clean".



In the process of ripping everything out I found that my gear shift indicator (red thingy) was broken. I knew then that my wife wouldnt' want to drive the Jeep since you couldn't tell if you were going forward or reverse . A trip to the Pasco JY found 1x 98 XJ with the required part. It was faded pretty bad so I opted to take both apart and frankenstein something together.





After everything was put together I decided to rig up a license plate mount in front of the winch. Went to Lowe's and got some 1/4" stock and threw this together.







I had in mind to run 4 gauge wirerun back to rear of Jeep to have an "accessory" junction box. Opted not to this time around. Problem = The girls need power for IPAD/IPOD's during Jeep run .. instead of bought a Scosch reVOLT Dual 10 Watt USB car charger. Works much better than the free or $5 ones we all have that barely charge an Android. This puppy (along with 2x 10ft IOS chargers) will charge 2x IPAD's at once. Impressive.



With all of these major/minor tweaks I'm pretty sure we are "trail ready" and wanting to go Jeeping again!!!!!


Andrew....

[commando14]

Glad to see you posted some pics! I feel somewhat responsible for getting you involved with this expensive hobby... but we've had a lot of fun trips already and think of all the cool things you've learned about working on jeeps

[TJDave]

That is one great looking XJ. Nice work.

[QuigiboReynolds]

Quigibo's 1998 Jeep Cherokee Version 3.6

Been a while since I posted pictures of the work on my 98 XJ.
Dave Kauer and I have been searching WA/OR for an upgraded rear-end. We ended up finding a rolled 96 XJ in Seattle area. It look us a few days to decide to make an offer on it. The owner accepted our offer but then we got cold feet and backed out. The CL item disappeared and I was disappointed. Two days later the Jeep was back on CL, minus a few pieces for more than we originally negotiated with the original owner for (we felt like dorks). In the end 3/28 we ended up going to Seattle for an all day buying spree picking up the rolled XJ with D44/locker, another D44 spare and some cool rock sliders (not installed yet).

First things first, had to make room in Dave's garage to put both Jeep in to be worked on.


After swapping rear-ends, we found the brakes were completely shot.
Was amazed that they actually worked. Decided to go ahead and paint the drums a matching RED color.
Previously had also removed and painted the coil springs in the front to match as well. Also added extended bump stops.








This weekend I took a solo trip to The Dalles and picked up a factory spare tire swing.
Took a few hours to get it pieced back together and to mod things up a bit but after some paint looks alright.










Ready for Camp Shamp!!

[Livin4Today]

Quigibo's 1998 Jeep Cherokee Version 3.6

Been a while since I posted pictures of the work on my 98 XJ.
Dave Kauer and I have been searching WA/OR for an upgraded rear-end. We ended up finding a rolled 96 XJ in Seattle area. It look us a few days to decide to make an offer on it. The owner accepted our offer but then we got cold feet and backed out. The CL item disappeared and I was disappointed. Two days later the Jeep was back on CL, minus a few pieces for more than we originally negotiated with the original owner for (we felt like dorks). In the end 3/28 we ended up going to Seattle for an all day buying spree picking up the rolled XJ with D44/locker, another D44 spare and some cool rock sliders (not installed yet).

So where are your "cool sliders?" I'm trying to figure something out for Ms Mandi's rig...