The '90 by 1990JEEPXJ

12 minute(s) of a 112 minute read

well i got the jeep back on the road. the shock mount is still questionable since a lot of the threads were still good on it. and i welded some scrap metal to the bottom of the shock. but i will need a new bushing here soon.

as for the brakes i got all new shoes, wheel cylinders and drum rebuild kits for both sides. as for the backing plate and drum, the ones off my old D35 i still have lying around worked perfectly. that was sweet. i had the drum turned first of course. the backing plate bolted right up. also replaced the axle seal on the drivers side as well.

only thing left is to replace my tire and wheel. for now im using a friends spare 33x12.50 general grabber M/T on an ugly plain aluminum rim. so needless to say the passenger side of the jeep is now ugly, i wasnt about to put it on the drivers side, i wanted to look at it as little as possible. haha

2-16-2011

got a set of wheels today. same ones i had. they are almost new so i am not sure i want to paint them

black

or aluminum.

im not sure which i want to do yet. opinions?

3-7-2011

alright so i have a small little update. had a huge wheeling event this weekend, 5,000+ rigs. had an awesome time. BUT i also got my first breakage. snapped the H-yoke on my rear driveshaft trying to make it up some man made obstacle that had denied me all day. it was a small hill that was a mixtire of tractor tires and 2' diameter concrete pipe, made it up to the last section all day but just couldnt quite get the grip on the pipes to make it up the last hump. 

long story short, i gave it a good bump, and snap. h-yoke snapped, driveshaft slightly twisted and stuck collapsed, busted u-joint caps, and broke a small piece off the axle yoke. had to pull the shaft and drive the 130 miles home in front wheel drive doing about 50mph at most.

yes i know its blurry 

you can see the cap on the right is chipped

you can see needle bearings were exploded and stuck into the grease caked on the underbody

and the tab broken off the yoke

pretty sure i ruined my leafs too

and i was getting a nasty clunk up front by the time i got home. think the UCA bushing is toast?

new yoke, its shorter, but it fit fine and looks beefier actually

all put back together. new pinion seal too. i took my front shaft off and threw the flange adapter on it so i could use 2WD again. but look at my new pinion angle.it was perfect before i left... i think i need to start shopping for some better leafs

3-14-2011

went wheeling the other day and acquired some rock rash on the body. it isnt much but i was close to hitting that same spot on numerous occassions. i think some quarter panel armor is in order...i also need to get some new rear flares. they are all messed up too from rocks. i dont see how people go with bushwackers...

not the rear. the tires dont rub too bad in the back, nothing a sledge cant take care of in a few minutes.

but they do stick out enough to get some rock rash

gave my sliders a very good work out too

and i also need new front shaft u-joints in the JY unit i picked up.

i will be ordering new leafs in the next week or so

and i ordered another KM2 so that i can have a matching set again. should be here friday.

3-15-2011

the one picture we got from the weekend. i was just about stuck in this picture. the driver front and passenger wheel were teetering. stupid open diffs

3-16-2011

small little updates

got matching headrests and a new drivers side seat bottom from the JY that wasnt torn and stained as bad as mine was. snagged them from a 93. looks much more complete than before

also picked up a dash switch to use for my fan switch on my console. no more little blue switch (yes i know its not straight. it bugs me but there is barely enough room under the console for the big switch)

also pounded back the pinch seam in both front fenders. they were slicing my tires pretty badly

also got a little fixed mast antenna since my power one bit the dust and would constantly run after the ignition was off, killing my battery

3-21-2011

well the other day i flipped my rear leaf shims around to correct my pinion angle, which it did, only to find out that it put my pinion just far enough away to make my rear driveshaft not reach. awesome. so now im hunting for one that is 2-3" longer than a stock front shaft. i dont really like driving around in front wheel drive. i am guessing it has to do with my POS leafs being all messed up..

i also changed my UCA bushings and found out that if you grind down the little gnurls inside the sleeve, you can run a 1/2" bolt instead of the piddly little 10mm stock ones. but this only works for the clevite brand, factory replacement. my napa bushing sleeves werent big enough for the 1/2" bolt

3-23-2011

thank you sir there isnt much left to do aside from gears and lockers. $$$$$$

well i finally got rid of my mismatched tire and made it my spare. managed to fit a full 33, 12" sub and my tool bag, tow strap, and jumper cables in the cargo area. also mounted a fire extinguisher in there as well

and im probably going to be taking my driveshaft to a shop to have it lengthened. just one more thing i need to do before i can get new leafs.

3-29-2011

got my driveshaft back from the shop where it got lengthened a few inches. nice to be driving around in 2WD again. also actually finished doing my UCA bushings. did the drivers side today.

heres the new bolts im using vs. the old

it was quite a PITA to get that old bushing out. the rubber was in good shape but it somehow was working its way out of the bushing sleeve.

5-24-2011

well my ABS pump finally took a dump. supposedly the ABS on these older XJ's is a death trap. i now realize why. without the electric pump, there is almost ZERO brake pressure. i can barely stop the thing with the pedal to the floor. looks like ill be swapping in a WJ booster and MC here soon. ugh. maybe a complete WJ knuckle swap too.........hmmmmmmm

5-26-2011

out with the old:

5-27-2011

today i went to the JY to grab a few things for my brake swap and came across waggy tail lights and a couple different grilles i want to try and see if i like. stoked on the lights. those are hard to come by anymore. 

5-30-2011

ok well i finally finished up my WJ booster/ MC swap list night. i must say, although it is a great upgrade, i am not totally satisfied yet. i can stop plenty quick, but i think i may need to re-bleed everything or something. it should be a little better i think. but overall i am very pleased.

now when i first got everything put back together, the pedal would go to the floor but stopping power was there, just late in the pedal throw. so i decided that i would drill a new hole a little lower on the pedal to shorten the throw. worked great and made the pedal feel much better. i probabaly could have made it a little lower as it is still a pretty far pedal throw, but it is much better.

ill probabaly bleed everything again today and make sure no fittings are leaking.

also today, i swapped on each grille to see how they look. thoughts? for now i have the one from an '87 on there.

current grille, '87 grille, '84 wagoneer grille

so which grille looks best?

i also threw on the waggy tail lights.