XJ Build
Directly below the floor of the XJ in the cargo area sits the gas tank. Tucked tight between the frame rails it rests a mere 1/2" from the floor. The mount for the gas tank is also what braces the floor in the cargo area. Read more...
With the frame squared away I needed something that I could mount up the suspension to. The only thing holding in the rear axle at this point was the rear driveshaft and the front mounts of the leaf springs. Read more...
The driver side frame rail was in far worse shape than the passenger side on my XJ. I opted to replace the passenger side first since there’s a little less going on on that side. Read more...
Using a metal brake to bend up new frame rails wasn’t my plan A. Nor was it plan B. It was actually plan C. I was trying to fix my Jeep on the cheap because this repair wasn’t suppose to happen till spring. Read more...
Background I like to joke and say that anyone else would have sent my XJ to the junkyard. My Cherokee is rusty, has a laundry list of issues, gets 17 MPG on the good days, and is literally a brick on wheels. Read more...
The front axle of my Cherokee has been in desperate need of some attention for quite awhile. Just about every component on it was worn to the point of needing to be replaced and the axle housing itself had built up some pretty intense rust. Read more...
The Cherokee strikes again. A couple weeks back when my exhaust snapped just before the catalytic converter I noticed my muffler had a minor leak. It wasn’t anything major and wasn’t loud so I figured I could probably just run it till spring and deal with it when it was warmer out. Read more...
I’ve honestly been very lucky with my Jeep. My previous daily driver was a 2009 Subaru Legacy, and while it may have been excellent in the snow it had a very high cost of ownership. Read more...
Finishing Up With winter approaching fast, and my Civic only having summer tires I needed to hurry up and finish the Cherokee. The Civic was also suffering from a stuck open thermostat that ensured the engine temperature never reached operating temp, and my heat was always cold. Read more...
Patching Holes This post is a continuation of the mini series about restoring my old XJ cherokee. In the previous post I talked about cutting out and welding in a new rocker panel. Read more...