Budget XJ

[fl0w3n]

This is my attempt at a build thread, but since I'm not usually the best at remembering to take pictures we'll see how that goes. Nothing revolutionary or too hardcore going on here. Mainly just posting this to learn from others and ask questions.

I was originally going to call this my version of a 5KXJ, but all I could think about was how my original plans have snowballed out of proportion... I don't normally name my vehicles, but figured snowball was fitting since it's white.


Bought it for cheap off a high school age kid - he said it had problems randomly dying while driving. One look at the battery cables which had apparently been through a blender and taped back together and was pretty sure of the problem.



Spent time going through Cruiser's Renix tips (it's a 90) and got it going well enough to take it's first outing to Hollister.

Then I did what any reasonable person would do and tore it apart to "build" it. I found two used lift kits that I cobled together, a RE 5.5 kit and a BDS 3" kit. I used the RE front upper/lower control arms and track bar and track bar bracket, with the BDS 3" coils and 3" full leaf pack. I didn't use the LCA drops, hoping it was fine with a 3" coil

Picked up a JY 8.8 and started cleaning it up.

I didn't think to get a matching stock ratio in the 8.8 so I could at least start running it with the 31's that came on it, so I started thinking about the front and what to do about it.
Then this deal fell in my lap: WJ D30, 4.88's, Auburn ECTED selectable locker, RCV shafts, sleeved tubes, gusseted C's and a diff cover for $800. I was told the ECTED doesn't work, and it needs brakes... but I would have spent $800 on just gearing the stock HP 30 with the disconnect shit.

So I had the 8.8 regeared to 4.88 with a spool since I'm on the cheap

Assembled with race car calipers for traction

Front end ready for action

\

Got the 8.8 mocked in... that old saying about measure twice, I'm a dumbass and didn't double check side to side after setting pinion angle and wound up being off by almost 1.5". Debated it and wound up cutting the perches off and doing it again

WJ 30 slung in place with the RE arms

Used the cheapest SYE I could find since I couldn't find something used. I wound up snoozing on a used TerraLow 4:1 setup because I heard they're glass, but in hindsight I wish I had just ran it. It was like $400 or something local.

 

[fl0w3n]

Slung the case back under, tried rebuilding a front shaft myself, dropped a needle and messed it up, wound up paying to have a pro do it right and balance it.

Picked up a Ruff Stuff steering kit and some Barnes offset heim's to run OTK. Oh and put on a Rusty's $90 truss at some point on the WJ D30, it isn't welded to the pumpkin but figured just welded along the tubing an the upper arm mount should be better than nothing.

Found a deal on some used seats for like $100 or $200 for both, can't remember. Even torn up that seemed good cuz the stock seats suck balls.

At some point I decided it needed a shackle box

One of the down sides of trying to do stuff cheap and used is it takes longer to wait and find deals or what you need used, and sometimes it doesn't turn out right. I went through several sets of wheels and tires that all didn't work for one reason or another, namely I'm not 5x5 up front and 5x4.5 out back. But finally found a used set of 315/75/r16's and just bought the cheapest used steelies I could find.

Getting close

Rolling and on it's own weight for the first time out of the garage.

 

[fl0w3n]

First time out for a shake down run at Hollister. Needs trimming bad. Luckily the tires I got were used and I only paid $400 for them cuz they got shredded by the rear sheet metal.

Addressed a few punch list items from the run and had a last second slick rock trip cancel, so went back out to Hollister for the day.
Much better after hacking the rear.

Which brings me to today and prepping to run part of Dusy Ershim in a few weekends. One thing that still needs attention is the steering system, need to flush the fluid since I forgot to change and I'm sure it's original. Decided to add in a cheap cooler cuz why not.

I was lazy so I had the dog put it in.

Yup, looks like the dog installed that one.

 

[fl0w3n]

That brings me to today... Need to finish plumbing and flushing the steering.

The Auburn ECTED might not actually be dead... the LSD part is, there's 0 breakaway torque, but I can hear the magnet doing something if I apply 12v so I ordered up a new switch kit. If that doesn't work, then I think internal parts are shredded and I'm not sure it's worth fixing. It runs as an open setup that's the right ratio, and I'm not sure a LP 30 R&P will like "35's" being locked. With the RCV's the R&P is probably the fuse right now...

I'd like a front recovery point for Dusy in a couple weeks, but budget right now doesn't allow much more than a tow hook from the parts store.

 

[Rockwood]

What a piece of shit.

Nice build. Any reason you didn't weld the truss to the pumpkin?

 

[fl0w3n]

It fully is, I'm just surprised I was able to pull this off for right about $5k I see "built" XJ's getting listed for $7-10k with 33's and 5.5" lift on open stock diffs

The gap was not really fillable, there's a fingers width in some spaces between the pumpkin and truss. I suppose in some of the spots it does touch the pumpkin it could have been welded, but oh well.

Next winter I'd like to go to real 35's instead of these 315/75r16's which measure 33", add cheap hydro, and probably a long arm/3 link setup. I'd like to cage it just to feel better, but I don't want to go through with plating the unibody and all that hassle because at the end of the day... it's a piece of shit haha

 

[rockyota83]

plating the unibody should have been the very first thing you did

score on that front axle

 

[fl0w3n]

I've heard multiple people say that... it'll be much more difficult if I decide I actually want to do it later down the road once it's beat to shit.

My thought process has kind of been the Jeep was $850... I could raisin/tin can the thing and then just strip the running gear and dump the shell eventually. Maybe dumb thinking... we'll see

Budget is tight right now so I was thinking this would get me by for a year or two, realistically I'd like something with a real frame and some more space.

 

[Rockwood]

It’s gonna tear somewhere between the steering box and track bar. Ask me how I know…

With the PS cooler you have keeping the fluid at somewhere not boiling temps and no locker up front, shouldn’t have any issues turning 35s stock

 

[fl0w3n]

I do have an IRO outside bolt in steering brace and the inside spacer replacement for the aluminum one, hoping that will slow cracking.

It actually steers decent right now, it’s just whiney as hell.

I’m in the middle of diagnosing the Auburn ECTED selectable locker, I’m hoping it was just a bad switch for the last guy… it would be nice to have a selectable to use when I need it.

 

[fl0w3n]

I was stoked for a minute that the Auburn selectable actually worked and just needed a switch… but seems like that’s not the case and something internally in the locking mechanism is worn out.


The magnet Ohms out within spec, and when you apply 12v the collar slides over but sometimes doesn’t fully slide. Even manually sliding it over, I can feel something is barely linking the two wheels together but it’s extremely easy to overcome by hand and spin the wheels separately.

The only last hope I think is that it needs input torque to function and doing it up on jack stands by hand isn’t fully engaging it.

 

[DFW Rusty]

Pretty solid budget build.

 

[fl0w3n]

Had to scramble with last minute changes of plans but wound up running Mirror Lake on Friday. Pretty sweet short trail.
Definitely need to get the front clutch pack rebuilt, I made it back up everything but only after stacking rocks for a while and several attempts. The front being open was just killer. A new friend joined us with his slick JK on Dynatracs and 40s, making everything look easy.

 

[fl0w3n]

This was the most serious shake down runs so far after finishing the build and there's a few things that need fixing, one is definitely the rear shackle.

The shackles are bottoming hard on the box with any sort of travel at "speed". Creepy crawlin it seems to be fine, or at least not harsh.

The angle is 45*, so I'm not sure I want to shift it back one bolt and lose that angle. I might be able to trim some away from the shackle and the box to gain some clearance, but I'm not sure if that's the best thing.

I'd rather not lift the rear more, but if I swapped from a 5" eye to eye shackle to a 6" that should only net me .5" of lift, right? Or should I try out a boomerang style shackle?

 

[Rockwood]

I had to do boomerang shackles on mine.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

That's too steep for the amount of arch your leafs have. There is no magic angle that works for everything.

The way to set them correctly is:

Spring length (measured along the leaf) minus shackle length plus ~1/2"

This will give you the ideal distance between your front hanger and you shackle hanger.

Or just try the top hole 2nd from the back

 

[fl0w3n]

Okay so I went and measured spring length and it looked like 52", minus 5" shackle + the 1/2" puts me at 47.5" eye to bolt hole - coincidentally that's just about the hole it's in now.

Full droop it's near vertical.

I had originally thought I'd try the 2nd top from back too, but now I'm wondering if it would have issues inverting on compression after full droop?

 

[YotaAtieToo]

Okay so I went and measured spring length and it looked like 52", minus 5" shackle + the 1/2" puts me at 47.5" eye to bolt hole - coincidentally that's just about the hole it's in now.

Full droop it's near vertical.

I had originally thought I'd try the 2nd top from back too, but now I'm wondering if it would have issues inverting on compression after full droop?

Did you measure along the leaf or straight line?

I like to add stops to shackles to prevent them from inverting much past 90. Even if they won't do it under normal articulation, I've seen them do it when drooped out and backing into something.

You also might just be running too short of a shackle for how much travel those leads have. Leafs with more travel typically need longer shackles.

 

[fl0w3n]

I did measure along the leaf the best I could, not eye to eye. These are only 3” springs from BDS, but they do seem to have a lot of arch.

I swapped the position, and while it pushes back fine from inverted with a jack I can imagine in real world conditions it could invert like you said.

This shackle is 5”, and iron rock (that’s whose box it is) makes an adjustable 5.5” to 6.5” shackle I think I’ll just try out and probably move it one hole forward but keep it on the higher holes

 

[fl0w3n]

Considering picking up a Dana 300 this weekend and then getting an Ecobox-I to shove my 231 guts into... should be into that for about what I'm seeing Rubicon cases go for and it'll be deeper ratio with more options.

I'd really like to go to a selectable up front, arguably that's more critical than the t-case setup, but I think I'm just going to go with a rebuild kit for the Auburn for $350 which will give me the LSD and a "locker". Compared to the $1k-1.2k in parts + setup for a new selectable, I think I can live with a "locked" LSD.

 

[fl0w3n]

Is there wiring difference between the 95 aw4 and a 90? I want to go to 23 spline, and I'll be picking up a complete 95 aw4 tomorrow - am I better off just swapping outputs on my 90 unit or is the 95 easy enough to get working?

 

[RunningProblem]

Everything you ever wanted to know about the AW4

I've gotten enough questions concerning AW4 specs and "will x year AW4 fit into x year XJ?" that I figure I should probably just write it all up once and for all... so here goes! The AW4 transmission was used in 4.0L equipped XJs from 1987 through 2001. It was also rarely used in 2.5L equipped...

www.naxja.org

 

[fl0w3n]

Everything you ever wanted to know about the AW4

I've gotten enough questions concerning AW4 specs and "will x year AW4 fit into x year XJ?" that I figure I should probably just write it all up once and for all... so here goes! The AW4 transmission was used in 4.0L equipped XJs from 1987 through 2001. It was also rarely used in 2.5L equipped...

www.naxja.org

Hey listen here buddy, this is the internet, don’t give me that “figure it out yourself” stuff. I expect to be spoon fed and for you to read my mind.

That’s a little embarrassing considering I’m a NAXJA member and I’ve read that post in the past and forgot about it

 

[fl0w3n]

Picked up a 95 trans and a Dana 300 with a Tera 4:1 gear set and 1310s front and rear.

As of right now the plan is to build it over this winter with an ecobox-i using my 231 guts. I’ll need to add a shifter setup obviously and beef up the underbelly protection

 

[RunningProblem]

Hey listen here buddy, this is the internet, don’t give me that “figure it out yourself” stuff. I expect to be spoon fed and for you to read my mind.

That’s a little embarrassing considering I’m a NAXJA member and I’ve read that post in the past and forgot about it

Yeah, me too. I need a 23 spline transmission, or an atlas with 21 spline input. An atlas would probably be a better purchase than another transmission.

 

[fl0w3n]

I got the trans for free in the purchase of the 300 at asking price, and I've seen other AW4's for sale between free and $200

I figured 23 spline is more common, at least if I want to transfer all these parts to a TJ build after this I'm already set

 

[fl0w3n]

Bought another 23 spline aw4 today and it came with a whole XJ …

 

[06h3]

Picked up a 95 trans and a Dana 300 with a Tera 4:1 gear set and 1310s front and rear.

As of right now the plan is to build it over this winter with an ecobox-i using my 231 guts. I’ll need to add a shifter setup obviously and beef up the underbelly protection

FWIW, Teralow gears usually go boom. Especially in the Dana 300.

 

[fl0w3n]

FWIW, Teralow gears usually go boom. Especially in the Dana 300.

I have heard of issues with the old 231 kit, and I know they aren’t as strong as the JB ones, but didn’t think they were an issue in 300s really.

Do you personally know people who have blown up a 300 with them? We’re they LS power or crappy 250k 4.0s…?

 

[06h3]

I have heard of issues with the old 231 kit, and I know they aren’t as strong as the JB ones, but didn’t think they were an issue in 300s really.

Do you personally know people who have blown up a 300 with them? We’re they LS power or crappy 250k 4.0s…?

Yes, and not an LS but small block Chevys and small block fords. So they were V8s.

You may have some success with them. Maybe others will chime in.